Current Projects

Current section projects are listed below. If you see a project you would like to be involved with, or have any comments, please contact the listed Committee Chair or project leader...

·         FORTH BIOENGINEERING SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS:  Over 100 presentations were made at the 2002 Annual Meeting in Baltimore.  A number of presenters have submitted papers to be included in an upcoming publication.  Status: Papers were collected and submitted prior to October 15, 2002.  Lead: Steve Amaral is leading the effort.

·         MEMBER SURVEY: An e-mail survey, to enhance communication, identify preferences for section activity and direction, identify those receptive to tasks and responsibilities, and prepare for a membership campaign was completed in 1999. Status: Completed; results available in September 1999 BES Newsletter (Vol. 16, No. 2). Lead: Jim Meade.  This needs to be updated!!!!!

·         STUDENT AWARD:  Develop a Bioengineering Student Award, including description of contest and application form. Provide materials to the Section Webmaster for posting at the Section web site. Status: No activity. This award was originally conceived in 1994 as a "student design project contest". Nothing has been accomplished.  Lead: OPEN. Anybody want to take on this project?

·         CERTIFICATION PROGRAM:  Finalize adoption status of the Bioengineering Certification Program in coordination with the Certification Program under the Parent AFS. Status: Preliminary description of program is currently available in the Procedures Manual. Do we need this program?  Lead: OPEN.

·         ELECTRONIC DIRECTORY:  Update the section membership directory. Use the Parent AFS member database for member name, organization, address, and phone, fax, and email.  Provide data to the Section Webmaster as a spreadsheet (e.g. MS Excel) or database (e.g. MS Access) file. Status: Not completed.  Needs to be repeated annually. Is it possible to automate this task or accomplish it through the parent society? Lead: Steve Amaral

·         NETWORKING:  Develop expertise/interest based networking groups, using the Section web site and email for network development and communication. Status: The FishPass Listserve is now on-line as a web page and can be found at www.fishpass.org.  The Bioengineering Section Website is seeking a Webmaster to maintain and update the site.  The site is no longer hosted by Oregon State University, but on its own server: http://bioeng.fisheries.org.  Ideas for improvements and helpful links are welcome.  Lead: Ken Bates - FishPass.org Moderator; Marcin Whitman - Website webmaster (temporary).

·         PUBLICATIONS:  Develop a list of Section publications, including short descriptions of contents and ordering information. Provide in html format to the Section Webmaster for posting at the Section web site. Maintain current version at the Section web site by resubmitting revised versions as required. Status: Use Parent AFS publication list (?). Lead: Don MacKinlay (?).

·         NEWSLETTER:  As each Section Newsletter is published, provide the Newsletter in html format to the Section Webmaster for posting at the Section web site. Establish mutually beneficial and complementary roles for the Section Newsletter and web site.  For future, consider not mailing newsletter to members that are satisfied with Web access only, where they would be notified by email when a new newsletter has been posted (via email list server). Status: Ongoing.  Lead: Alex Haro

·         STRATEGIC PLAN: The parent AFS and other such organizations find strategic plans to be useful. Does the Section need one? Status: See some discussion topics below. Lead: NONE.

 

  Bioengineering Section Strategic Plan

Some potential discussion items regarding development of a strategic plan for the Bioengineering Section are listed below. This listing is preliminary and incomplete. Inputs from the Section Membership and EXCOM are welcome.

• Initial questions to be addressed include whether a strategic plan is needed, the purpose and scope of the plan, and how best to develop a strategic plan.

• We should address the different situations of the Fishery Bioengineering (fish habitat and passage) and Aquacultural Engineering (fish culture and culture systems) constituencies of the Section.

While the fishery bioengineering constituency is represented mainly by the Section, the aquacultural engineering constituency may be represented by the Section and/or the Aquaculture Engineering Society (AES). In recent years, the AES has established a major presence in aquacultural engineering (membership now exceeds 200) and has in some ways duplicated activities of the Section in the area of aquacultural engineering. AES dues are $75/year and members receive newsletters and a subscription to the Aquacultural Engineering Journal.

It would be useful to establish a mutually beneficial and complementary relationship between the Section and the AES in the area of aquacultural engineering. The nature of this relationship should be based on the existing strengths of the Section and of the AES. Thus, a potential scenario for this relationship is 1) for the Section to focus on fish performance (behavior, survival, growth, feeding, metabolism, and physiology) in aquaculture production systems and on the rearing of fish specifically for wild release and fishery enhancement and 2) for the AES to focus on aquaculture system unit-processes of water transport, water treatment, and fish rearing units. This division of objectives will not necessarily represent any formal agreement between the Section and the AES, but rather a planning concept for internal Section use that draws on our existing strengths and unique capabilities and avoids overlap with the content of AES meetings and publications.

An additional consideration is the professional-meeting venues that best support and serve the fishery and aquaculture constituencies of the Section. These venues are likely to be the annual AFS meetings and periodic Passage/Habitat Symposia for fishery bioengineering, while World Aquaculture Society (WAS) and AES meetings may best serve people in aquacultural engineering. With our fishery-bioengineering presence at AFS meetings and Section symposia established, it seems appropriate to also establish a presence of the Section at the WAS and AES meetings, under the context of aquacultural engineering. This includes both Section sponsorship of technical sessions and symposia and an additional meeting opportunity for the Section Executive Committee.