Hamlyn’s signature symposium a success

Researchers and clinicians from across the world came together to discuss latest developments in robot assisted surgery and clinical applications.

Researchers and clinicians from across the world came together to discuss the latest developments in robot assisted surgery and clinical applications earlier this month at the annual Hamlyn Symposium.

Covering a range of topics from flexible robots to microbot design and applications, the Hamlyn Centre’s annual conference heard from over 50 researchers over a period of three days.

For the first time, the programme included the Karl Storz-Hopkins lecture, which was formally introduced by Kelvin Hopkins MP for Luton North and son of Professor Harold Hopkins. Professor Hopkins, a former Physics lecturer at Imperial in the 1940’s, is credited as the father of the modern optics field, paving the way for the zoom lens in particular.     

The lecture itself was delivered by Richard Satava, Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center and Senior Science Advisor at the US Army, who spoke about the future trends for the field of medical robotics and how global challenges, such as healthcare, are driving technological innovation.

Professor Guang-Zhong Yang, director of the Hamlyn Centre, said:

“The annual Hamlyn Symposium is the Centre’s signature conference and a chance to bring together researchers, clinicians and industry representatives from around the globe to understand the latest developments in vast array of multiple disciplines around robotic technologies. This year’s conference saw research highlights from a number of key fields and a record number of paper submissions for inclusion in the programme.”