History

Coordinated research and teaching in biomedical engineering, bringing together faculty from across the colleges of engineering, science and computer science to address life sciences challenges, has been underway at Carnegie Mellon since the inception of the Biotechnology Program in 1967.  The program functioned as a loose confederation of faculty with shared research and teaching interests, granting the MS in Bioengineering and PhD in Bioengineering as stand-alone degrees or as joint degrees with the traditional engineering departments.  A biomedical engineering undergraduate minor program has also been in existence since 1967.  The first degree recipients graduated in 1970.  The program was renamed Biomedical Engineering in 1975, and Biomedical & Health Engineering in 1992.
  
Fresh attention was focused on the Biomedical & Health Engineering Program in 1998, as part of the key areas of investment identified by a university-wide Strategic Planning Committee.  The action items included establishing a new department and a double major program for undergraduate engineers; hiring new faculty members in biologically or medically oriented areas; maintaining a focus on quantitative modeling and experimentation; developing research and education thrusts in medical robotics, assisted living, tissue and organ engineering, and protein engineering; and providing seed funds to establish collaborative research between engineers and scientists.  In 1999, a unique undergraduate dual major program was approved for engineering students.  

Until 2000, the Biomedical & Health Engineering Program and its predecessors largely functioned as an all-volunteer organization with enthusiastic faculty members.  Based on the institutional recognition of the rise of biomedical engineering as a distinct field, and the faculty and student demand, formal approval for the founding of a new Biomedical Engineering Department was sought during the Fall of 2001.   On July 1, 2002, the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department was formally established.  The undergraduate BME program began enrolling students in partnership with the traditional engineering departments starting with the Class of 2003.  The student body rose rapidly to more than 150 undergraduate majors and 40 graduate students.  In 2008, the Department recruited a new Head to lead an aggressive development plan of its research and education, with particular emphasis placed on further enhancing synergistic interactions with its Partner departments throughout the university (see Partners).