Biomedical Engineering, M.S.

The master’s program in biomedical engineering allows the engineer the opportunity to apply recent technological developments to the solution of current biomedical engineering problems in the areas of biomaterials, biotransport, bioinstrumentation and biomechanics. Electives in other areas to broaden the student’s exposure are also required.

Admission Requirements

The applicant must have a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering or its equivalent. Applicants with degrees in other fields of engineering, or in science or mathematics, are ordinarily required to successfully complete preparatory undergraduate coursework before starting the program. These courses are established by the faculty advisor and the department head when the student is admitted to the program.

General admission requirements and the application process are presented in the Academic Overview  section.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering is offered with both thesis and nonthesis options. Each option requires satisfactory completion of 30 semester credit hours. Before completion of nine credit hours, the student must submit a master’s degree program plan indicating specific courses to be taken. For the thesis option, up to six semester credit hours of thesis (BME 5999 ) may be included in the 30 credit hour requirement. For the nonthesis option a student will replace the thesis with three credit hours of a faculty-supervised graduate project ( BME 5998 ) and an additional elective course.

The thesis option requires completion and successful defense of a thesis, while the nonthesis option requires a passing score on the final program examination based on both a written report and an oral presentation on the graduate project before the student’s faculty committee. A thesis or graduate project proposal must be approved in advance by the faculty committee. All graduate students partly or fully supported by teaching or research assistantships are required to enroll in the thesis option. Generally, students wishing to pursue an academic career are encouraged to choose the thesis option. Required courses also include the zero-credit Biomedical Engineering Seminar (BME 5900 ) that all graduate students are required to register for and attend every semester.

Curriculum

The program requirements consist of two required courses, a zero-credit seminar and three core courses from a specified list; for a total of 15 semester credit hours. The remaining 15 credit hours consist of elective courses selected in consultation with the academic advisor and six credit hours of thesis, or three credit hours of a faculty-supervised graduate project.

Students enrolled in Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering are expected to complete the following requirements: