Graduate Program
Biomedical Engineering represents an interface between engineering, medicine, and science. Consequently, it must draw on the full range of knowledge accumulated in the life sciences, medicine, the physical sciences and mathematics, and engineering. Technological development as well as the implementation of concepts, methods, and products in biomedical engineering requires competency in both the fields of engineering and medicine.
The ME, MS, and PhD degrees form the core of the BME graduate educational program. These degrees have the broad goal of educating students with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in careers in research and development. Successful completion of these degrees will require that a student meet the following expectations, in addition to the formal degree requirements:
1. Completion of original research. Students will complete a research project under direction of their faculty advisor. The end goal of this work should be experimental or simulation results, methods, and analysis which are of a level of quality sufficient for presentation in a refereed publication. To achieve this end, students will need to make a novel contribution to their respective fields. Students should always be aware that research is not a job performed for the benefit of his or her faculty advisor, but rather is an integral part of graduate education. As such, students must take initiative and responsibility for the success of their research.
2. An ability to think critically. Successful students will be able to evaluate the validity of new results and ideas. They will be able to make precise statements about limitations of experimental methods and identify the weaknesses of new and existing hypotheses. They will be able to identify the next step in their research and design experiments to test their hypotheses and/or designs.
3. Critical knowledge of the core literature in their field. Students should know the central literature in their field. They should be aware of the important implications and possible limitations of existing knowledge.
4. Excellent oral and written presentation skills. Success in both academics and industry requires clear communication of ideas to technical and lay audiences. Students should use graduate school as an opportunity to hone presentation skills.
5. Completion of formal course requirements. Course work provides students with basic knowledge and problem solving skills central to the field of Biomedical Engineering. In addition, advanced courses in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and in the School of Medicine offer knowledge and skills that can be applied to specialized areas of research.