BME Overview
Biomedical engineers advance the understanding of living systems and the quality of human health, by integrating powerful technologies derived from traditional scientific and engineering disciplines with the knowledge of biology, physiology, and clinical medicine. Biomedical engineering (BME) education at Carnegie Mellon reflects the belief that a top biomedical engineer must be deeply trained in both a traditional engineering practice and biomedical sciences, in order to apply techniques of science, mathematics, and technology effectively to medical and biological problems. Emphasis of the training is placed on analyzing biological organisms as engineering systems and applying engineering approaches to clinical and biomedical research problems.
Although Carnegie Mellon does not have a medical school, it leverages extensive collaborations with researchers and physicians in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the Western Pennsylvania/Allegheny Hospital System, and the Children’s Hospital system in Pittsburgh. This collaborative approach both within and outside Carnegie Mellon, combined with a rigorous engineering education, confers a distinct advantage to BME graduates and allows them to shape the future of BME in industrial, clinical, and academic settings.
The BME undergraduate curriculum at Carnegie Mellon is structured to provide both breadth and depth. The current system offers an “additional major B.S. degree” in official language. Undergraduate students who elect BME as a major must also declare a major in one of the traditional engineering disciplines: Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering. This ensures that Carnegie Mellon BME students gain as much engineering expertise as students who pursue a traditional engineering major, while at the same time developing a deep understanding of biomedical engineering specialties. The curriculum is demanding due to its interdisciplinary nature, but is quite feasible and highly rewarding to motivated students (for more information see FAQ and Step by Step).
BME Major Curriculum
The BME major curriculum takes advantage of overlapping elective and required courses with the traditional engineering majors, such that the additional major can be obtained with a modest increase in the total number of units required at graduation. The BME curriculum is comprised of three parts: the BME core, the BME tracks, and the BME capstone design course. The core exposes BME students to multiple facets of BME and builds a common background in life sciences. The track system allows students to select and build depth in a particular aspect of BME that parallels one or more traditional engineering disciplines: Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Materials Science & Engineering. Each track starts with a gateway course that provides a common foundation, followed by three electives. Collaborations among the CIT departments allow these courses to be taught by experts, whether they are formally appointed in BME or in a partner department. A general biomedical engineering track is also available for those students intending on pursuing graduate studies or medical school. In addition, a self-designed biomedical engineering track allows students to pursue specific areas not covered by the above tracks.
The BME program culminates in the BME Design courses during the senior year. These courses organize BME students of different traditional engineering backgrounds into teams, to tackle industry- and clinic-sponsored projects for products and product concepts relevant to human health and life sciences. These projects have resulted in patent applications and licensing opportunities.
Course Requirements
In order to graduate, a student must meet three sets of requirements: for BME, for a partner traditional engineering department, and for the CIT General Education sequence. The Quality Point Average for BME core, track and design courses must be 2.00 or better.
The course requirements for the BME portion of the additional major are as follows:
Core Courses (all required)
42-101 Introduction to Biomedical Engineering - Fall and Spring
42-201 Professional Issues in Biomedical Engineering - Fall and Spring
42-202 Physiology - Fall and Spring
42-203 Biomedical Engineering Laboratory# - Fall and Spring
03-121 Modern Biology - Fall and Spring
42-401 Foundations of BME Design* - Fall
42-402 BME Design – Spring
# Also known as 03-206 for pre-med students.
*42-401 serves as the precursor/pre-requisite for 42-402 BME Design.
Tracks (Completion of one track is required, see pages for each track for specific requirements)
- Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (BMTE)
- Biomechanics (BMEC)
- Biomedical Signal and Image Processing (BSIP)
- Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology (CMBT)
- General Biomedical Engineering (GBME)
- Self-Designed Biomedical Engineering (SBME)
(Updated 07/18/09)
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