Biomedical Engineering

Faculty

M.C.H. van der Meulen, Director; S. Adie, Associate Director and DUS; J. Antaki, S. D. Archer, L. Bonassar, I. Brito, J.T. Butcher, N. Cira, B. Cosgrove, N. de Faria, Masters of Engineering Director, I. De Vlaminck, P. C. Doerschuk, C. Fischbach-Teschl, S. Jiang, A. Kwan, J. Lammerding, Director of Graduate Studies, E. Lee, K. Lewis, N. Nishimura, W. L. Olbricht, D. A. Putnam, M. Saikia, C. B. Schaffer, J. Thompson, Ya. Wang, Y. Wang, W. R. Zipfel.

Biomedical Engineering

Offered by the Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering

Contact: 121B Weill Hall, (607) 254-3368

This major is accredited by: NY State Department of Education.

Program Mission

Cornell’s vision for Biomedical Engineering centers around a quantitative approach to understanding biology across length and time scales, with a focus on issues related to human health. The quantitative nature of this program distinguishes the major from traditional programs in biology, while the focus on human health is distinct from other programs in engineering that include the study of biological systems (e.g. Biological and Environmental Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering). Additionally, its focus on multiscale analysis of biological systems is a unique signature of Cornell Biomedical Engineering relative to programs at peer institutions.

Program Objectives

Biomedical Engineering is a leader in developing research that spans the Ithaca and New York City campuses, including Weill Cornell Medical College and Cornell Tech. Our objective is to create world-class graduates to meet the 21st century needs of biomedical-related industries focused on medical devices and pharmaceuticals, as well as government and private consulting practice. We also aim to produce intellectual and technical leaders for graduate education in medicine or engineering. Most importantly, we aim to create a diverse community of life-long learners who are innovation confident, collaborative across disciplines, and community engaged.

Objective 1: Teach our students to apply engineering principles to understand and predict the behavior of biological and physiological systems relevant to human health and disease
Objective 2: Train our students in the theory and practice of biomedical engineering design and technology creation
Objective 3: Train our students to engineer robust solutions within highly variable and complex biomedical problems
Objective 4: Build critical leadership, interpersonal and professional skills to thrive within diverse team environments and prepare for life-long learning
Objective 5: Provide our students with opportunities for an experiential learning approach based on biomedical applications
Objective 6: To provide a complementary liberal education in humanities, history and social sciences

Program Requirements

The academic requirements for students majoring in Biomedical Engineering are outlined below. Students must complete a minimum of 129 total credit hours to graduate.

Engineering Distribution Courses:

Required:

Major Program:

Students may substitute CHEM 1570 , CHEM 3530 , or CHEM 3570 for PHYS 2214 in the common curriculum (see note below). The following courses are required in addition to those required for the Common Curriculum.

Core Courses:

Biomedical Engineering Concentrations (must choose one: 13 credits minimum)

1. Molecular, Cellular, and Systems Engineering (MCSE)

Required Courses:

Electives (choose 6 credits from the following courses):

2. Biomedical Materials and Drug Delivery (BMDD)

Required Courses:

Electives (choose 6 credits from the following courses):

BEE 3400 - Design and Analysis of Biomaterials
BIOAP/BIOMS 4140 - Principles of Pharmacology
BME 5830 - Cell-Biomaterials Interactions
BME 5850 - Current Practice in Tissue Engineering
BME 6210 - Engineering Principles for Drug Delivery
CHEME 5430 - Bioprocess Engineering
FSAD 6160 - [Rheology of Solids: Dynamic Mechanical Analysis of Fibers and Polymers]
MAE 4670 - Polymer Mechanics
MSE 5210 - Properties of Solid Polymers
MSE 5550 - [Introduction to Composite Materials]
BME 5810 - Soft Tissue Biomechanics or
MAE 4640 - Orthopaedic Tissue Mechanics or
MSE 4020 - Mechanical Properties of Materials, Processing, and Design or MAE 6670 - [Soft Tissue Biomechanics II: Viscoelasticity and Phasic Theory]
MSE 4610 - [Biomedical Materials and Their Applications]

3. Biomedical Imaging and Instrumentation (BMII)

Required Courses:

Electives (choose 6 credits from the following courses):

4. Biomedical Mechanics and Mechanobiology (BMMB)

Required Courses:

Electives (choose 6 credits from the following courses):

Additional Requirements

In addition to the two First-year Writing Seminars, a technical writing course must be taken. This requirement will be satisfied with the BME Concentration Laboratory.

Notes

1. ENGRD 2020 satisfies the Common Curriculum distribution requirement and also fulfills a required Major course. It is best taken during semester 3 and must be completed before semester 5. If taken as a second ENGRD, then total required credits to graduate drop to 125 credits rather than 129 credits.

2. CEE 3040 or ENGRD 2700 alternatively satisfies this course.

3. PHYS 2214 is required for the BMII concentration; CHEM 1570 is required for the MCSE and BMDD concentrations. CHEM 1570 or PHYS 2214 is required for the BMMB concentration.

Academic Standing

Majors in Biomedical Engineering are expected to meet the following standards:

Semester GPA > 2.3
Cumulative GPA > 2.1
No grade below C- in any Core or Concentration Course Required for Graduation (note1)
No failing grade
Minimum of 12 credits per semester completed with passing grades (note2)

Notes:

Only one course below a C- within major required courses is allowed for graduation.
No course with a grade lower than C- may be used to satisfy a prerequisite for a subsequent BME course.

Biomedical Engineering Honors Program

To participate in this honors program, students must meet the Majors Honors Programs criteria as delineated above, and must have at least 9 credits beyond the minimum required for graduation in BME (therefore the minimum number of credits to graduate is 139). These 9 credits shall include:

A significant research experience or honors project under the supervision of a BME faculty member using BME 4900 - Independent Undergraduate Project in Biomedical Engineering and BME 4901 - Honors Thesis , to be completed in their fourth year. A written senior honors thesis must be submitted as part of the second component. A minimum grade of A- in both courses is required for successful completion of this honors requirement. The two research courses will be taken in consecutive semesters. (6+ credits)
A significant teaching experience under the supervision of a BME faculty member or as part of a regularly recognized course in the department under BME 4970 : Undergraduate Teaching. (3+ credits)

Please note: BTRY 3020 : Biological Statistics II, or ILRST 2110 : Introductory Statistics for the Social Sciences (4 credits) —with a grade of at least B+ is also required for the Honors Program and may be counted as an Advisor-approved Elective in the BME major (not included in the 9 credit minimum above).

Additional criteria:

1. The student must present a poster or oral presentation in a public research forum such as a national or regional professional society meeting, Bio Expo, or other public university event by the end of the student’s project.

2. Project teams are not acceptable for Honors Thesis research unless there is a clearly defined project outside of the team effort attested by the project faculty advisor.

3. No research, independent study, or teaching experience for which the student is paid may be counted towards the credits required for the honors program.

Application Timing:

All interested students must complete a written application (available 121B Weill Hall) no later than the end of the third week of their 7th semester, but students are encouraged to make arrangements with a faculty member during their junior year.