The recent explosion of growth in the natural sciences and engineering has enabled us to use the tools of engineering to answer many questions that have troubled humanity since its very beginnings. Super fast and super powerful supercomputers, the mapping of the human genome, interfaces that connect directly to the brain, nanotechnology-driven molecular-sized implants, fast internet-based communication technologies are just a sampling of the many new technologies that are quickly becoming widely available. These technologies are providing answers to old questions, but they are also opening up entire new fields of study and horizons of knowledge. Biomedical engineering – a profession that is multi-disciplinary by nature – seeks to apply these technological advances in the service of biology and medicine. The problems facing the biomedical engineer are problems of diagnosis and testing on the one hand and actual medical treatment on the other. No matter whether the subject involves equipment for diagnosis or treatment, the use of computers or robots, support for natural processes or artificial limbs, a multi-disciplinary approach is necessary for the successful Biomedical Engineer.

Students of Biomedical Engineering receive extensive training in both medicine and engineering. The goal is to train engineers who will be able to fit into and lead research and development projects in both the University research environment and the dynamic high tech business world, as well as to develop and support for engineering equipment in hospitals. Responsibility for training Biomedical Engineers is shared by the Faculties of Health Sciences and Engineering. Our students take courses in both faculties, gaining a broad basic knowledge set as well as more specific skills in those areas that are essential for a Biomedical Engineer.

Our undergraduate education is geared towards students at the highest levels, and the course work is extensive and exacting. The students need a very broad base of knowledge for the multi-disciplinary demands of Biomedical Engineering, yet they also develop specific expertise. In their fourth year, our students undertake directed engineering projects in the university research labs, in the high tech biomedical industry or in hospitals. In the course of the project, each student masters a specific field of knowledge and then uses it to develop a Biomedical Engineering application. In order to further encourage the development of each student’s specific interests, outstanding students are allowed to develop their fourth year projects into a larger research project. These students will finish their fourth year with extensive research experience and a command of their selected area of focus.