Lucian Dascalescu graduated with first class honors from the Electrical Engineering Faculty of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in 1978, and received the Dr. Eng. degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, in 1991. He obtained the Dr. Sci. degree in 1994, and then the HDR diploma in physics, both from the University of Grenoble. His professional carrier began at CUG Inc, Cluj-Napoca. In 1983, he moved to the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, as Ass. Prof. of Electr. Eng. From October 1991 to June 1992, he received a Research Fellowship at the Laboratory of Electrostatics and Dielectric Materials, Grenoble, France, where he returned in January 1994, after one year as an Invited Lecturer at Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan. For four years, he taught a course in electromechanical conversion of energy at IUT 1 Grenoble. In 1997, he was appointed Prof. of Electr. Eng. at the University of Poitiers, IUT Angoulême, where he is the head of the Applied Electrostatics Group. Dr. Dascalescu is the author of several textbooks in the field of electrical engineering and ionized gases. He holds 16 patents, has written more than 190 papers, is member of the editorial board of several scientific journals and international conferences, and was invited to lecture on the electrostatics of granular materials at various universities and international conferences all over the world. Prof. Dascalescu is Fellow IEEE, Past Chair of the Electrostatics Processes Committee IEEE, Vice-Chair of IEEE France section, and member of the board of the French Society of Electrostatics.

Plenary Lecture:          Modeling and Optimization of Electrostatic Processes by Using Design of Experiments Methodology

Abstract: Design of experiments (DOE) is a systematic method to determine the relationship between the control variables and the output of a process. Research and development of new processes can largely benefit from the use of this methodology, as demonstrated by several examples in which it has been successfully employed for the modeling and optimization of various electrostatic technologies. The presentation will briefly describe the recent advances achieved by the Applied Electrostatics Research Unit of the PPRIME Institute of the University of Poitiers, France, in the development of electrostatic processes for: (1) separation of granular mixtures originating from waste electric and electronic equipment; (2) tribo-charging of powders in food industry; (3) corona-charging of non-woven fabrics for air filtering applications.  In each of these cases, DOE enables the evaluation of the effects of the control variables, the identification of the optimal operation conditions, and the assessment of the robustness of the process.

Winfried Mayr studied Electrical Engineering with specialization on Electronics and Control Engineering at the Technical University in Vienna graduating in 1983. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering, thesis "Reactivation of Paralyzed Muscles by Electrical Stimulation via Implants", from the same university in 1992, after years of interdisciplinary research in the clinical environment of the 2nd Surgical University Clinic of the Vienna University. 1997 he became Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Physics and head of the research group "Clinic Co-operations", 2001 Associate Professor on Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Technology. In 2010 he received a honorary doctorate from the Technical University Cluj-Napoca. His current responsibilities include the research domain "Clinic related Translational Research and viennaFES", Neuroprosthetics and Rehabilitation Engineering at the Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering of the Vienna Medical University.

Actual research of his group focuses on technology and application of active (FES, biotelemetry and electro-mechanical) and passive implants (long-term stability and controlled degradation), limb prostheses and FES for restoration of movement in central and peripheral (muscle denervation) paralysis, spinal cord stimulation and mobility support for elderly - in close collaboration with clinical and industrial partners and basic sciences.

He is coordinator of the "Vienna Program for Restoration of Movement" (VPRM), section editor for Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) of the journal "Artificial Organs" and (co-)organizer of the triennial "Vienna International Workshop on Functional Electrical Stimulation" since the first edition in 1983, which is well established in the field and hosted the foundation of the "International Electrical Stimulation Society" (IFESS) in 1995. Since 2009 he chairs the "Austrian Society of Biomedical Engineering" (OeGBMT).

Plenary Lecture:          FES in movement rehabilitation after spinal cord injury, from biological brace to gating spinal network structures.

Abstract: Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) can be a versatile tool for support of movement rehabilitation. On basis of non-invasive (electrodes at the skin surface) or invasive (implanted electrodes) techniques there are 3 options for reactivation of lost muscle functions: 1) Stimulation of efferent nerves - neuromuscular stimulation - as an early and still established method, 2) Direct activation of muscle fibers - muscle stimulation - in absence of the motor nerve, which can lead to similar contraction responses, and 3) Stimulation of afferent nerve structures, which can lead to improvement in impaired movement patterns by artificially substitution of missing neural inputs to central neuronal networks in the spinal cord - movement pattern generators.

Applications of electrical stimulation for restoration of movement reach back in the 18th century. At this time stimulators based on electrostatic discharge became available and were applied for treatment of post-stroke movement disorders. Though over the years we see a constant growth in the knowledge on physiology and pathophysiology of movement, technical equipment progress was limited till the invention of the bipolar transistor, mid 20th century, that suddenly enabled the construction of compact battery-powered stimulators. Numerous non-invasive and implantable devices for various applications where develop since, for experimental and clinical research, only few got transferred to market and permanent availability for patients in need.

Earlier concepts focused on stimulation of efferent motor nerves for direct reactivation of paralysed muscles or muscle groups; FES induced muscle contractions acted as kind of biological braces. Extension of these concepts to multiple channels and inclusion of bio-signal and sensor feedbacks led to closed-loop approaches with the intention of achieving complex "more natural" movement patterns. Many difficulties were experienced regarding handling of equipment, costs and achievable stability of control.

In the recent past new developments started to rely more in taking advantage from remaining intact neural structures in and below the lesion zone in the spinal cord. There are promising developments in using non-invasive stimulation of posterior roots at the lumbar spinal cord level to assess, in combination with multi-channel EMG and sensor recordings, functional injury profiles. These can be of value for primary post injury assessment and intervention planning as well as for monitoring of applied protocols and biological developments with time.  Similar setups can act as neuroprosthesis for enabling, augmenting or modifying movements by influencing altered central control mechanisms via non-invasively or epidurally placed electrode arrangements.

Eugen Gheorghiu (born: 1957) director of the International Centre of Biodynamics (ICB); Physicist, Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics, Institute for Atomic Physics, Bucharest 1994; JSPS fellow (1996-1997).

Research Interests: Modeling & data analysis and experimental aspects of non-invasive analysis of dynamics of living cells and bio-interfaces using (coupled) electric & optical (plasmonic) and magnetic S(M)PR assays. The goal is to assess gentle (non-lethal) bioeffects of various stimuli including environmental ones using time based electro-optical (on bioaffinity and cellular platforms); Assessment of fish dynamics in relation to the quality of their aquatic environment.

Professional Honors: “Stefan Procopiu” Award for Physics of the Romanian Academy, 1995

Teaching: PhD thesis advisor within the University of Bucharest since 2004.

Synergistic Activities: Expert of European Commission- Evaluator of Proposals on biosensing- since 1995; Member of Selection Committee for European Young Researchers’ Award - since 2010; Member of Evaluation Commissions of PhD thesis of: University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, National University of Singapore, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca and Polytechnic University of Bucharest; Review Panel member- European Science Foundation – EuroBioSAS; Promoter of 16 International Research Grants most representative: 3 FP7: DYNANO (Contract People ITN 2011- 289033); “PROARGUS” (coordinator) (Contract-PIRG08-GA-2010-277126), NanoMagma (Contract - NMP3-SL-2008-214107), 2 FP6: ROBIOS (coordinator) Contract- INCO-2004-ACC-RSTP CHARPAN, (Contract - IP 515803) and 1FP5: Aframilk- (Contract- GRD1-2000-25801); Co-Director of 13 National Research Grants (during the last 10 years) including Director of the Complex Research Project BIOSCOPE, Contract No. 11/ 2012, PN-II-ID-PCCE-2011-2-0075; Member of the Steering Committee ESOF2008 (Barcelona).

Plenary Lecture:       Plasmonic based Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy, P-EIS: theoretical and experimental aspects

Abstract: The main advantage of P-EIS versus the classical EIS analysis is given by the increased spatial resolution of P-EIS assays without using (arrays) of microelectrodes or implementing scanning electrochemical microscopy. When performing P-EIS measurements, the whole sensing area is accessible with exquisite spatial resolution, which is not limited by the size or distribution of the electrodes (as in the case of EIS) but solely by the (lateral) propagation length of the surface plasmons. Depending on sensor structure and incident light wavelength, this spatial resolution could reach low, sub-micrometer range. The applicative potential of the technique is outstanding, yet important theoretical and experimental advances have yet to be realized. The basic formalism relating SPR to the local surface charge density when applying an AC potential modulation to an electrode (also presenting plasmonic properties) and the interfacial impedance was already developed [1, 2].

We now highlight the main results [3] and detail the actual conditions allowing assessment of the amplitude and phase of the impedance (as measured by conventional EIS) from P-EIS signal.

Moreover, based on the Drude model and a transfer-matrix approach we emphasize the effect of the AC field not only on the oscillation of the SPR angle but on the entire reflectivity curve, as well.

Comparison between classical EIS and P-EIS measurement with emphasis on experimental limitations is also presented in the context of a novel plasmonic EIS microscopy system, which is currently developed at ICB.

Octavian Adrian Postolache (M’99, SM’2006) graduated in Electrical Engineering at the Gh. Asachi Technical University of Iasi, Romania, in 1992 and he received the PhD degree in 1999 from the same university, he worked as assistant professor. In 2000 he became principal researcher of Instituto de Telecomunicações and Assistant Professor of EST/IPS Setubalin 2001. In 2012 he joined ISCTE-IUL Lisbon where he is currently assistant professor. His fields of interests are smart sensors for biomedical and environmental applications, pervasive sensing and computing, wireless sensor networks, signal processing with application in biomedical and telecommunications, non-destructive testing and diagnosis based on smart eddy currents smart sensors, computational intelligence with application in automated measurement systems. He is currently leader of project regarding the implementation of Electronic Health Records for Physiotherapy (EHR-Physio). He is vice-director of Instituto de Telecomunicações/ISCTE-IUL delegation, and he was leader of several collaboration projects between the Instituto de Telecomunicaçoes and the industry such as Home TeleCare project with Portuguese Telecommunication Agency for Innovation (PT Inovação), Integrated Spectrum Monitoring project with National Communication Agency (ANACOM). He is active member of national and international research teams involved in Portuguese and EU and International projects. Dr. Postolache is author and co-author of 9 patents, 7 books, 14 book chapters, 61 papers in international journals with peer review, more than 195 papers in proceedings of international conferences. He is IEEE Senior Member I&M Society, chair of IEEE I&MSTC-13 Wireless and Telecomunications in Measurements, member of IEEEI&MSTC-17, IEEEI&MSTC-18, IEEE I&MS TC-25, IEEE EMBS Portugal Chapter, He is active member of IEEE IMS TC-25 Subcommittee on Objective Blood Pressure Measurement Standard. He is Associate Editor of IEEE Sensors Journal, chair of IEEE MeMeA 2014 and received IEEE best reviewer and the best associate editor in 2011 and 2013. He was involved in the organization of different conferences thus he was member of IMEKO World Congress Organizing Committee, 2009. He served as co-chair of Sensornets 2012, Rome, Italy, Sensornets 2013 Barcelona, Spain, and Sensornets 2014, Lisboa, Portugal, and as chair of Pervasive HealthCare Workshop, 2012, SanDiego, USA, general chair of IEEE MeMeA 2014, Lisbon, Portugal and as TPC co-chair of ICST 2014, Liverpool, UK. He is regular member of Technical Committee of IEEE IMTC, IEEEMeMeA, IEEE IDAACS and IEEE ICST.

Plenary Lecture:          Modeling and Optimization of Unobtrusive Smart Sensing and Pervasive Computing for Healthcare

Abastract: The world’s population is ageing fast. According to the United Nations the median age for all world countries will rise from 28 now to 38 by 2050. Also, is estimated that by 2050, the population over 60 years will increase worldwide from 11% to 22%, a higher percentage (33%) of elderly population will be in developed countries. In this context, governments and private investors, in addition to work for increase efficiency and quality of healthcare, are searching for sustainable solutions to prevent increase expenditure on healthcare related with higher care demands of elderly people. As such, instrumented environments, pervasive computing and deployment of a seemingly invisible infrastructure of various wired and/or wireless communication networks, intelligent, real-time interactions between different players such as health professionals, informal caregiver and assessed people, are created and developed in various research institutions and healthcare system.

This presentation reviews the recent advances in the development of sensing solutions for vital signals and daily activity monitoring.

Concerning the embedded processing, communication and interoperability requirements for smart sensing devices a critical analysis of the existent solutions and a proposed innovatory solutions are discussed. Special attention is granted to wireless sensor network, M2M and IoT as so as to ubiquitous computing particularly smartphone apps applications for healthcare. A fast prototyping vital signs and motor activity monitor as so as the usage of IEEE1451.X smart sensor standards for biomedical applications are included in the presentation.

The creation of novel smart environments including remote vital signs and motor activity monitoring devices for health monitoring and physiotherapy interventions promote preventive, personalized and participative medicine, as in-home rehabilitation that can provide more comfort to the patients, better efficiency of treatments, and lower recovery periods and healthcare costs. The use of unobtrusive smart sensing and pervasive computing for health monitoring and physiotherapy interventions allow better assessment and communication between health professionals and clients, and increase likelihood of development and adoption of best practice based on adopting recognized research-based techniques and technologies, and sharing knowledge and expertise.