Bioinformatics: a new field in engineering education

Bioinformatics is a new engineering field poorly served by traditional engineering curricula. Bioinformatics can be defined in several ways, but the emphasis is always on the use of computer and statistical methods to understand biological data, such as the voluminous data produced by high-throughput biological experimentation including gene sequencing and gene chips. As the demand has outpaced the supply of bioinformaticians, the UCSC School of Engineering is establishing undergraduate and graduate degrees in bioinformatics. Although many schools have or are proposing graduate programs in bioinformatics, few are creating undergraduate programs. In this paper we explore the blend of mathematics, engineering, science, and bioinformatics topics and courses needed for an undergraduate degree in this new field