Program Information
Program Director: Nowak
The practice of medicine has seen an accelerated incorporation of technical innovations. Biomedical Engineering has emerged as a specialty combining medicine and engineering to provide materials, tools and techniques advancing health care research, diagnosis and treatment. Highly motivated students who wish to focus their engineering careers on assisting in the struggle against illness and disease may concentrate their efforts in Biomedical Engineering.
The Biomedical Engineering Program encompasses three concentration options: the standard option, a premed option, and an electrical engineering option. The standard option presents the student with a solid and diverse background in solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, biomaterials, and instrumentation aspects of the field. The premed concentration modifies the standard option to include Organic Chemistry, to allow the student to pursue a career in the health professions. The electrical engineering concentration is designed for those who wish to focus on the design, evaluation, and maintenance of electronic medical instrumentation. Electrical Engineering concentration students who choose an appropriate professional elective, and achieve the required grades, will be granted a minor in Electrical Engineering upon graduation. All concentrations share the same basic program requirements, with additional courses for their special interests.
Educational Objectives
The Biomedical Engineering program seeks to prepare qualified students for productive, rewarding careers in the engineering profession, either for entry-level practice in biomedical engineering or for entrance into appropriate graduate programs. During their careers, our alumni
- will become successful practicing engineers in biomedical engineering fields and will advance professionally by accepting responsibilities and, potentially, pursuing leadership roles;
- who enter the health professions will utilize their engineering knowledge in this pursuit; and
- will advance their knowledge of engineering, both formally and informally, by engaging in lifelong learning experiences.
The engineering design experience is distributed over the entire engineering curriculum. This experience begins in the first year with engineering and design and continues through and culminates with a Senior Design Capstone experience. The Senior Capstone work ensures that the students have mastered preparatory engineering and engineering science courses.
Basic concepts of physics, chemistry, and mathematics are the foundations on which all engineering education is built. Basic tools of engineering, such as graphic communications, computer usage, mechanics, and thermofluids complete the introductory phase of the program.
All Biomedical Engineering program graduates are required to complete courses designed to give the students a grounding in anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, biofluids, bioinstrumentation, and the structure of materials used by biomedical engineers. Along with the engineering courses, students are required to obtain a background in solid mechanics and electrical engineering.
Extensive laboratory experience augments the course work. There are required laboratory classes in the sciences, materials, engineering, and natural phenomena. Written communication of laboratory results is required.
Through participation in the University Interdisciplinary Studies and additional elective courses in the humanities and/or social sciences, students are given the opportunity to broaden their perspectives and to take part in the larger learning community of the University. It is imperative that engineers understand and appreciate the special role that technology plays in our society, as well as the interactions among the various components of our society.
The Biomedical Engineering program has three basic concentrations: the standard, one designed for those students who wish to enter the health professions, and the electrical engineering concentration. Those students who wish to enter health professions are required to take a full year of organic chemistry prior to their senior year. All students who are interested in the health professions are required to join the pre-health professions program. The Pre-Health Profession Advisory Committee has developed a 3 - 1-credit courses for each of the first three undergraduate years to help students prepare for health profession graduate school applications.