Inauguration of AIMES - a new center bridging medicine and engineering sciences
The Center for the Advancement of Integrated Medical and Engineering Sciences, AIMES, is a collaboration between KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Karolinska Institutet, in partnership with Getinge, with the vision to enhance the exchange of expertise within academia and industry. The center was officially inaugurated on 30 September 2020, in Biomedicum, Solna (and via Youtube).
The new center, located in Biomedicum in Solna, is a joint initiative to further education, interdisciplinary research, innovation, implementation and entrepreneurship.
"We create the long-term conditions required, both scientifically and financially, to secure the emergence of younger so-called intrinsically interdisciplinary researchers and students, whose competencies are required to successfully address societal challenges", explains Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience, co-founder and Director of AIMES.
President Ole Petter Ottersen, not only embraced the initiative but stressed the need for a "better dialogue between engineering and medicine" and that "interdisciplinarity is the key to progress".
Sigbritt Karlsson, President of KTH, was inspired and overwhelmed by the joint efforts between the two universities. The future of healthcare depends on the development of technology and vice versa, so eventually this initiative will benefit us all.
Carl Bennet, owner of Getinge, talked about the basic and applied research strengthening Sweden's competitiveness at an international scale and how AIMES drives new ways of thinking.
A few members of the team shared snapshots of ongoing research and Pam Fredman, current Chair of AIMES' Steering group and former President of Gothenburg University, reflected on the importance of cooperation with external stakeholders and on acting as a role model for interdisciplinary approach.
After concluding remarks from vice-Director Ulrica Edlund and Director Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, the ceremony ended with a symbolic "tying of knots" between KI, a world leading medical university, and KTH, a world leading university for engineering and technology.
