Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering

The Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering is awarded in strict conformity with the general requirements of the School of Engineering. At least 28 approved units must be satisfactorily completed, of which at least 19 units must be at the 500 level or above, and four units must be thesis BME 594abz.

The master's program provides students with a broad background, linking physiology with engineering science, necessary for entering interdisciplinary careers in medical technology or pursuing further graduate studies in a related field. It also introduces the student to graduate level research and the process of writing a master's thesis under the supervision of a three-member faculty committee chaired by the student's advisor.

Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering (Biomedical Imaging and Telemedicine)

The entrance requirements are identical to those for admission to the existing program for the Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering. Completion of the Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering (Biomedical Imaging and Telemedicine) requires that at least 28 approved units must be satisfactorily completed of which at least 19 units must be at the 500 level or above. There is no thesis requirement. The following courses are required:

Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering

The objective of the Doctor of Philosophy is to produce independent investigators who can make original scholarly contributions and apply advanced engineering concepts and techniques to the understanding and solution of biomedical problems. This program is intended to prepare the student for a career in academic research and teaching, or as an independent investigator in industrial or government laboratories.

The requirements listed are special to this department and must be read in conjunction with the general requirements of the Graduate School.

This program is designed to be normally completed in four years of full-time work beyond the Bachelor of Science degree (including summers). The first two years are devoted primarily to formal course work and preliminary research and the last two are fully dedicated to research. In view of the flexible program, each student is assigned an advisor who will guide him or her in the selection of courses and preliminary research. At the end of the first year of graduate study the student must pass a screening examination. During the second year he or she is required to make a tentative major field selection (e.g., computational and systems neuroscience, sensorimotor systems, cardiopulmonary system, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, medical imaging or electro-optics, biomedical system modeling and signal processing, etc.) and pass a qualifying examination. In accordance with the requirements of the Graduate School, at least 60 units of credit beyond the Bachelor of Science degree are required, with a minimum grade point average of 3.0. Students are required to take BME 533 (the graduate seminar course, for three semesters) in addition to the courses required for the Master of Science.

Requirements for Admission

Bachelor of Science degree in engineering or a natural science, and satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examinations. Undergraduate work should include a basic course in biology, physiology, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, engineering mathematics, statistics, and digital computation. Students lacking any of these will be required to make up the deficiency during the first year of graduate work by taking remedial courses.

Students who have completed all requirements for the Master of Science degree offered in this department may apply for admission to the Ph.D. program. In this case, all courses taken in the M.S. program may be applied toward the requirements of the doctoral degree.

Screening Examination

At the end of the first year of graduate study, all students admitted to the Ph.D. program must take the screening examination to determine whether or not they will be allowed to continue in the Doctor of Philosophy program. Those who fail cannot continue in the Ph.D. program, although they may choose to complete the additional requirements necessary to obtain the Master of Science degree.

Guidance Committee

During the third semester, the student must make a tentative major field selection as described above and form a guidance committee comprising five faculty members and chaired by the student's advisor, in accordance with the rules of the Graduate School. The Guidance Committee administers the qualifying examination described below.

Qualifying Examinations

The qualifying examinations will normally be taken during the fourth or fifth semester of full-time academic study. The examination requires the preparation of a comprehensive written research proposal which poses a well-formulated research question, critically reviews the pertinent literature and outlines the proposed experimental, analytical and computational procedures required to answer the question. The proposal must be defended in an oral examination. The students who pass the qualifying examination must perform and report the proposed research in the Ph.D. dissertation prepared according to the guidelines of the Graduate School. This dissertation must be successfully defended in an oral presentation to the Guidance Committee prior to graduation.