Latest American biomedical engineering research launched in Vietnam

American company National Instruments and the Biomedical Engineering Department of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City last week announced a strategic collaboration to raise the standards of biomedical engineering education using the latest research and training tools.

“The announcement is the first step of our joint investment partnership. National Instruments selected the department because we share many similarities in what we want to do,” said Chandran Nair, managing director of National Instruments, Southeast Asia.
The department, set up in 2009, is the first in Vietnam that offers a Biomedical Engineering degree and Master’s degrees.

Under the new partnership, the department, chaired by high profile Vietnamese American professor Vo Van Toi, former executive director of the US-based Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), will leverage some of the world’s most advanced educational laboratory tools to accelerate studying and innovation.

Vietnam is a key market for National Instruments in Southeast Asia, said Nair. “We’re looking forward to expanding our partnerships here.”

Biomedical Engineering is a new applied science in the world that seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine by combining the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to advance healthcare treatment.

Toi said the partnership would support his department in research and development (R&D) of made-in-Vietnam medical tools.

“The partnership is beneficial to our faculty and students who can now access to advanced educational tools that help facilitate the utilisation of bio-sensors in the research and the design of new medical devices,” he said.

His department has just signed a deal with the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Medical Equipment Makers for R&D for medical devices.

Toi is a respected medical engineer on the global stage and from 2004 to 2007, he was a member of the Board of Directors of VEF, a U.S. federal agency established by Congress to bring the US and Vietnam closer through educational exchanges.