Chairman’s Award 2017
Surgeon and VR evangelist Professor Shafi Ahmed was last night (6th June 2017) honoured with the Chairman’s Award at the launch of the official list of the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech 2017. He was presented the award by HRH The Duke of York, who established the Pitch@Palace entrepreneurship competition to help tech businesses scale-up globally, and sponsors Simon Collins, Chairman of KPMG; Anil Bhanot OBE, Chairman of the Ethnic Minority Foundation and Dilip Joshi MBE, Chairman of Diversity UK. The list celebrates diversity in the digital sector with a focus on disruptive technologies.
“Among all the disruptive technology in the marketplace today, for me the most vital is in healthcare technology (HealthTech). Innovations in wearable technology; the use of 3D visualisation techniques and the advent of augmented reality, which to date have been used mainly in the entertainment and games arena, are now helping to make a real difference to people’s lives. If we can use the sum of human knowledge and skill to lead healthier and longer lives, then surely this is the true value of technological advancement. This year’s Chairman’s Award winner, Professor Shafi Ahmed, Co-Founder of Medical Realities, is recognised for his Outstanding Contribution to HealthTech.”
Dilip Joshi MBE
Chairman – Diversity UK
Professor Shafi Ahmed
Co-Founder – Medical Realities
Shafi Ahmed is a surgeon, teacher, futurist, innovator, entrepreneur and an evangelist in augmented and virtual reality. Shafi was born in 1969 in Sylhet District, Bangladesh, and came to the United Kingdom as a child. He studied medicine at King’s College Hospital School of Medicine and completed his basic and higher surgical training in North East London in general surgery. He obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Edinburgh and Ireland in 2007–2008 and was appointed as a Consultant General, Laparoscopic and Colorectal surgeon to the Royal London Hospital and St Bartholomew’s Hospitals, Barts Health in 2007. He is an Associate Dean at Barts and the London Medical school and is an elected member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England where he leads the international surgical training programme. In May 2017, Shafi was appointed Honorary Professor at the University of Bradford where he was invited to take part in The Cantor Technology Lecture Series.
Shafi has been working on new technologies enhancing surgical education globally. His online videos have been watched thousands of times earning him the accolade of being the most watched surgeon in human history. His company Virtual Medics has developed the use of wearable technology in education and clinical practice. This has allowed the development of a web-based platform to stream live and interactive teaching. On 14 April 2016, he performed the world’s first virtual reality operation recorded and streamed live in 360 degrees which was watched by 55000 people in 142 countries. On 9 December 2016, he performed the world’s first live operation using Snapchat Spectacles where he trained 200 medical students and surgical trainees. The operation has been viewed over 100,000 times.
His Virtual Reality company, Medical Realities has launched the world’s first learning and training module in VR
He is also Vice-President of Proshanti, a local charity community project to set up a health programme in Bangladesh and teaches and trains surgeons in Dhaka, where he supports Rahetid, a postgraduate surgical training centre.