GNBTS Group, formally Unit of Trieste of the
National Bioengineering Group (GNB: Gruppo Nazionale di Bioingegneria) of
the National Research Council (CNR: Centro Nazionale
Ricerche), was founded at the University of Trieste in 1980, in the context
of the birth of that GNB, occurred during the 81st Annual Meeting of the Italian
Electrical and Electronics Association (A.E.I.: Associazione Elettrotecnica
ed Elettronica Italiana), held in that year at the University of Trieste
with topic "Electric and electronic methods and technologies in bioengineering".
The previous year, at the University of Trieste the bioengineering studies had been set up within the Doctoral degree in Electronic Engineering (5 years).
From then in Trieste there was a large growth in this field. At first in basic and applied research in bioengineering - leading, among other things, to the constitution, at the end of the 80s', of the Center for Studies in Biomedical & Health Technologies (Centro Studi Tecnologie Biomediche e Sanitarie) in the Area Science Park of Trieste and to the birth of the Health and Biomedical Technologies Network (TBS - Tecnologie Biomediche e Sanitarie - www.tbs.trieste.it). Later in the 90s', coordinated with previous developments, there was a large growth in education at post-graduate level, with the Doctorate Studies (PhD) in Information Engineering - Curriculum of Bioengineering, but, in particular, with the institution of the Specialization School in Clinical Engineering (SSIC: Scuola di Specializzazione in Ingegneria Clinica) - which for 12 years has trained all the Italian specialists in clinical engineering; these specialists have been employed to coordinate the services of Clinical Engineering either internally or in outsourcing, working in services societies.
GNBTS has been an important attraction pole in the Citadel of Science and Technology of Trieste, known today as "Trieste System", which counts, since the beginning of year 2000, a density of 40 workers in scientific jobs every 1000 (compared to the 3.5 on 1000 average in Italy). Moreover GNBTS has been for years promoter of many national and international projects and networks of scientific and techological cooperation, particularly for the growth of the countries of Central-Eastern Europe. GNBTS developed many laboratories in the field of Biomedical Engineering and in several other fields of the Information Society, from distributed medical informatics and telemedicine to e-learning, e-government, territorial management, etc.
Noteworthy was, in the last years, the development of educational activities, widened after the application of the Bologna Declaration upon revision of university studies. This was also due to the large experience acquired with SSIC and with the European network it helped to create.
By Italian law most of the Specialization Schools must become Masters and/or Specialist Laurea Degrees, so Academic Year 2003/2004 will see the definitive closing of the Specialization School (with the ending of its 12th cycle, exceptionally authorized by the Ministry MIUR to ensure continuity in Clinical Engineering education in Italy). Two Master Courses have been activated instead: one of first level - "Ingegneria Clinica" (Clinical Engineering) - MIC and one of second level, specialistic (in English language) - "Management in Clinical Engineering" - SMMCE. The two Masters are coordinated in the context of the newly constituted "Higher Education in Clinical Engineering": HECE (in Italian SSIC: "Studi Superiori in Ingegneria Clinica"), realized in the sphere of the Central European cooperation and particularly of the network ABIC-BME (UNIADRION - Adriatic-Ionian Initiative) and of the establishing CEI University (CEI - Central-European Initiative).
The birth of the three years' laurea degree in Biomedical Engineering (currently, officially, Electronic Engineering - Biomedical curriculum) with 7 courses in Biomedical Engineering giving basic notions in electronic, industrial, informatics and communications sub-fields of bioengineering, and the activation due to happen in Academic Year 2004/2005 of the interuniversity Specialistic Laurea Degree in Biomedical-Clinical Engineering complete the picture of organization of biomedical engineering education in Trieste.
Meanwhile, there is a strenghtening of the cooperation of the Group with private and public Institutions, Regions, hospitals, health systems, health ministries, small and middle enterprises and large multinational firms. This on one side allows the group to export its know-how, and on another side lets us import knowledge, cooperation and funds for education and moreover cooperation for wide research programs at European and international levels.
Activities carried on by the GNBTS group of bioengineering are described briefly in this portal www.bioing.units.it. Activities relevant to the context of SSIC (either SSIC/Specialization School or SSIC-HECE/Higher Education) are contained in the site www.ssic.units.it, linked anyway in this portal.
Activities of Trieste System, and national or international activities in which GNBTS group is either manager or involved in partnership, are reported in the portal of Health and Biomedical Technologies of the University of Trieste www.tbs.trieste.it.