A Clinically Oriented Bioengineering Program for Undergraduates

The well-documented emergence of Bioengineering from independent research into clinical problem-solving has influenced the development of Bioengineering education at Carnegie-Mellon. Offered as an option to undergraduates, Bioengineering supplements the basic curriculum of an Engineering department with courses in the life sciences, clinical and instrumentation laboratories, and a hospital internship. These laboratories and internship, which are described here in detail, have as their purpose to provide the student with a familiarity with engineering applications in the medical field and to encourage the ability to work cooperatively in the clinical environment. These specific skills are to be added to the general engineering excellence and ability for independent growth which are the goals of the basic departmental curricula. Two years from its introduction, enrollment in the option has grown to a total of 49 undergraduates for the current academic year.