On Friday, October 5, 2012, the International Steven Hoogendijk Award, consisting of a silver medal and an amount of 10,000 euros, was presented for the 5th time to Sir Alfred Cuschieri, professor of surgery in Pisa and Dundee and pioneer in the field of endoscopic surgery.

Prior to the presentation of the prize, a seminar on Prof. Cuschieri’s field of expertise was held on October 4 in Lecture Hall 2 of the new education center of the Erasmus MC. Its program was as follows:

• Prof.dr. J. IJzermans: Kidney Transplantation from a Living Donor: The ErasmusMC Experience
• Prof.dr. J. Ruurda: Robot assisted Oesophageal Resection and Reconstruction, the UMCU experience
• Dr.ir. P. Breedveld: Mechanical Octopus for Scull Base Surgery
• Prof.dr. J. Dankelman: Training Systems for Minimally Invasive Surgery Skills
• Sir Alfred Cuschieri: MAS past, present and future

The meeting ended with a drink.

On October 5, the ceremony started at 3 p.m. in the Citizens’ Hall of the Rotterdam City Hall. The program was:

• 3:00 PM Opening by the President
• 15:05 Lecture on the rise of minimally invasive surgery by prof.dr.ir. C.A. Grimbergen
• 15.35 musical intermezzo by Laura de Lange and Nienke Austria
• 15.50 laudatio by prof.dr. J. Dankelman
• 4:00 PM presentation of prize by Praeses Magnificus
• 4.15 pm musical intermezzo
• 16.30 word of thanks and explanation by Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri MD: “Operating from Images”
• 5 p.m. aperitif

Afterwards, a dinner was given in the society of the KR&ZV De Maas, in which both members of the Society and their spouses participated.