Welcome to the Department of Biomedical Engineering
The recent rapid progress 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. Ultra-fast and ultra-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 but a few of the many new technologies that are quickly becoming widely available. While providing answers to old questions, these technologies are also opening up entire new fields of study and horizons of knowledge. Biomedical engineering – a field 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. Whether the subject involves equipment for diagnosis or treatment, the use of computers or robots, support for natural processes, or artificial limbs, the successful Biomedical Engineer must take a multi-disciplinary approach to the problem.
Students in the Department of Biomedical Engineering receive extensive training in both the medical and engineering fields. The aim is to train engineers who will be able to conduct – and lead – research and development projects in both the University research environment and the dynamic high-tech world, as well as to develop and provide 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 broad basic knowledge as well as more specific skills in these areas that are essential for a Biomedical Engineer.
Our undergraduate education is geared towards the best and brightest students. The course work is extensive and exacting, since students are required to both acquire a very broad knowledge base for the multi-disciplinary demands of Biomedical Engineering and to develop specific expertise. In the fourth year, our students undertake directed engineering projects in the research labs of the University, in the high-tech biomedical industry, or in hospitals. During the course of the project, each student masters a specific field of knowledge and then uses it to develop a biomedical engineering application. To further encourage the development of each student’s specific interests, outstanding students are encouraged 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.
