# Almir Badnjević

Almir Badnjević (born 1986) is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian scientist, entrepreneur, and academic specializing in biomedical engineering, medical devices, artificial intelligence, and clinical engineering. He is currently serving as the director of the Agency for Identification Documents, Records, and Data Exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IDDEEA), a member of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) and a regular member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA).
* Founder of Verlab d.o.o. and Verlab Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Medical Devices, and Artificial Intelligence
* Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sarajevo
* Editor-in-Chief of the journal "Technology and Health Care", Sage Publishing
* Member of the Board of Directors of the Clinical Engineering Division of the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE)
* Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) TC for Cardiopulmonary Systems and Standards Board
* Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) EMBS Distinguished Lecturer
* Chairman of the International Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering (CMBEBIH)

## Early life and education

Almir Badnjević was born in 1986 in Bosanska Krupa, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He completed his undergraduate and master's studies at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Sarajevo, and he earned his PhD in 2015 at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb.

## Professional career

Since 2008, he has been actively involved in two fields, business and academia. He is one of the founders of the idea of integrating medical devices with measuring functions into legal metrology, and establishing measurement traceability for medical measurements on a global level. Based on this idea, he established one of the most equipped laboratories for testing and verification of medical devices in Europe, the Verlab laboratory, in Sarajevo in 2014. In addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina, similar laboratories have been established in 18 other countries worldwide. Based on the experience gained in this field, as one of the editors, he wrote the book "Inspection of medical devices – for regulatory purposes" in 2017, which was published by the world's largest publishing house, Springer Nature, and serves as the fundamental literature for this field in all countries worldwide. The second edition of this book was published in 2023. In 2022, he founded the first private research institute called "Verlab Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Medical Devices, and Artificial Intelligence," which today employs 15 PhDs and master's graduates.
From 2010 to 2014, he worked in the medical device industry, in the field of respiratory technology and blood gas analysis, and completed over 20 specializations in these fields across Europe.
The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina appointed Badnjević as the director of the Agency for Identification Documents, Records, and Data Exchange (IDDEEA) for the term from 2023 to 2028. During his tenure, the Agency has made significant progress in the field of digital transformation and service modernization. Among the key achievements are:
Launching the integration of electronic certificates into citizens' ID cards, enabling online access to many services. Opening registration offices across the country for issuing qualified electronic signatures. Implementing advanced technologies in the electoral process, including biometric voter identification. Cooperation with domestic and international partners, such as BH Telecom and GIZ, on digital transformation projects. Record issuance of personal documents and improvement of technological solutions for citizen records.
These successes highlight his vision and ability to improve technological and administrative processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

## Academic contributions

In his academic career, since 2015, Badnjević has started working as an assistant professor and head of the Department of Genetics and Bioengineering at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, International Burch University, in Sarajevo. That same year, he established the Master's and Doctoral programs in bioengineering in Sarajevo, the first of their kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since 2015, he has also worked as a visiting lecturer at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom). His academic titles include:
In 2018, he was appointed as an associate professor in the field of general electronics.
In 2019, he was appointed as an associate professor in the field of pharmaceutical informatics at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sarajevo.
In 2022, he was appointed as a full professor at the Faculty of Information Systems and Technology at the University of Donja Gorica in Montenegro and senior research associate in the field of engineering and technology at the Verlab Institute. His academic work includes over 200 scientific papers, books, book chapters, and articles at international conferences.

## Awards and recognition

* Included in the top 2% of the most cited scientists worldwide according to the list for 2024 published by Stanford University in collaboration with the global publisher Elsevier.
* Regular member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IANUBIH) (2022)
* Regular member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2022)
* Member of the World Academy of Art and Science (2023)
* IFMBE award for the best paper in the field of clinical engineering (2018)
* Man of the Year in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SNL Magazine, 2018)
* IN Man of the Year (Ladies In magazine, 2020)
* CD Personality of the Year (Face TV, 2020)

## International contributions

Badnjević was a member of the international committee of the Clinical Engineering Division (CED) at the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) from 2018 to 2024. He was also an advisor on regulatory issues for the European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering (EAMBES) and the coordinator for IEEE standards for Region 8 (Europe, the Middle East, Africa).
In 2015, he founded the Society for Medical and Biological Engineering in Bosnia and Herzegovina (DMBIUBIH), which represents Bosnia and Herzegovina in the IFMBE and EAMBES. The Society organizes the International Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering (CMBEBIH), which gathers around 700 participants from 40 countries every two years.