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| THE DISCIPLINE OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING |
Biomedical Engineering is the application of techniques drawn from engineering to the analysis and solution of problems in biology and medicine. It differs
from other branches of engineering in that there is no particular subject matter or set of techniques which belong exclusively to biomedical engineering.
Rather, biomedical engineering applies the techniques of all the classical engineering disciplines to problems encountered in living systems. Living
systems present a number of technological problems not encountered in physical systems. Biomedical engineering education aims to train engineers who
can analyze a problem from both an engineering and biological perspective; they should be able to anticipate the special difficulties in working with
living systems and evaluate a wider range of possible approaches to solutions.
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Career Opportunities in Biomedical Engineering
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Basic and applied research in engineering, biology or medicine. Graduates from these programs conduct basic and applied
research at universities, government laboratories, and large industries in an area of biomedical science or engineering.
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Medical practice or research. These are graduates who have gone to medical or other professional schools. After completion,
graduates practice medicine and/or perform research. Biomedical engineering has advantages as a premedical major due to the increasing
technological complexity in medicine.
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Professional engineering practice. Working in industrial settings, hospitals or other biomedical institutions, these
graduates use multiple facets of science to pursue industrial jobs in biomedical engineering. This includes engineering research and
development, engineering design and product development, and business aspects of engineering, such as sales, customer engineering, and
technical management.
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Advising |
General Information
General information about the University's advising system and procedures involved in course selection are given in
the Arts and Science/Engineering Catalog (http://www.advising.jhu.edu/academic_manual/index.html).
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Major Advising Procedures
The director of the undergraduate program is Dr. Leslie Tung (ltung@jhu.edu).
The coordinator for the undergraduate program is Ms. Cathy M. Jancuk (cjancuk@jhu.edu).
Freshmen will be assigned advisors through the Biomedical Engineering Office, Room 318 Clark Hall. Students keep the same advisor from
year to year unless a change is requested or their advisor is unavailable for an extended period of time. To change advisors, students
must talk with Cathy.
Students are required to make appointments with their advisors during spring and fall advising when
they are planning their course of study. It is imperative that the advisee print and bring with him/her 2 copies
of his/her online checklist. The coordinator will not sign registration forms for students who have not met with their advisor. (Approximately
one week prior to the start of the advising period, sign-up sheets are posted outside of the BME Office.) Students must also consult
their advisors when making changes to their classes. This may be accomplished by sending an e-mail to the advisor.
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Study Abroad
It is possible for all BME majors to study abroad with appropriate planning. Please consult the JHU Study Abroad
website (http://www.jhu.edu/~advising/StAbd.htm)
for more information on specific protocol and programs. Dr. Ruth Aranow (raranow@jhu.edu)
is the person with whom one should speak about specificities of the study abroad programs.
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Vredenburg Scholarship
The Vredenburg Scholarship is open to all current sophomores and juniors. It provides the opportunity for
School of Engineering students to have summer exploration opportunities including academic experiences (research and study abroad) and
internships with a private company, nonprofit organization or NGO (paid or unpaid). There are both early decision and regular decision
deadlines. Please consult the Vredenburg web site (http://engineering.jhu.edu/academicaffairs/vredenburg/)
or Steph Schreckinger (stephs@jhu.edu) in 126 NEB for more information.
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Degree Programs / Requirements |
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Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering Students graduating with a B.S. must be
able to function competently in an engineering role and therefore must devote a major portion of their undergraduate education to engineering
course work. The B.S. program is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Those students who intend
to work as engineers or pursue graduate programs in engineering must graduate with a B.S. degree.
Credit / Course Breakdown
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Bachelor of Arts in Biomedical Engineering This program is designed
for students who want more flexibility and diversity in their education than is possible within the B.S. program. The amount of required
engineering is less than in the B.S. program leaving more time for electives. This program is suitable for a student who wants a general
background in engineering but plans to continue his or her education at the graduate level in some field outside of engineering.
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Combined B.S.-M.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering The master's
degree program in biomedical engineering can be integrated with the undergraduate B.S. program into a single 5 year program. This allows
the student to extend his or her studies into advanced areas of engineering and gain practical experience through a laboratory research
or design project. Students apply and are admitted to the 5 year program during their junior year. The M.S.E. program is designed to
provide advanced study in any area of research interest of the BME faculty. If an integrated B.S.-M.S.E. program is chosen, the student
should plan accordingly so the requirements of both programs can be completed in five years. A requirement of the program is completion
of a thesis project. Students should begin work on this project during their senior year.
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Rules and Limitations for All Degree Programs
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D Credit/Poor Grades
No more than 6 credits of courses in which a grade of D was received may be applied to engineering, science and mathematics
requirements. Students may absolve any grade that is a C+ or below by repeating a course. Repeated courses must be taken at Johns Hopkins
(see Undergraduate Academic Manual).
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Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Engineering courses beyond the 56 engineering credits for the B.S. (30 for the B.A.), 24 mathematics, and 28 basic science courses may
be taken S/U. This only applies for classes
taken after first semester freshman year since ALL student take
first semester freshman year S/U. Please consult the Undergraduate
Academic Manual for guidelines regarding S/U credits.
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Transfer Courses
Evening and summer school courses and courses (up to 12 credits) taken at other institutions may be included in the
student's program, but only with prior approval from the student's advisor. This limit does not apply to AP courses or to transfer students.
Such courses may be used to fulfill requirements if a similar course taught at Hopkins would be appropriate.
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Transfer Students
B.A. and B.S. students from other institutions) must take at least 24 engineering credits at Hopkins. Engineering credit for courses
taken at the transfer student's prior institution will be assigned by the Directors of the Undergraduate Program according to course content
and to the criteria applied to similar courses at Hopkins.
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Limited Courses
The following lists give courses for which there are limitations on the number of credits that may be included in a program:
- No more than 6 credits of 100-level engineering courses may be counted toward graduation requirements.
- No more than 6 credits of 100-level programming language courses.
- Credits are not given for both Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (550.291) and Linear Algebra (110.201) nor for both Linear
Algebra (550.291) and Differential Equations with Applications (110.302).
- General Engineering Business courses may not be counted toward the engineering course requirements. (even if they are designated E)
- Arts and Science courses that carry an E designation must be pre-approved to count as engineering credits.
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BME Design Team/Group
- BME Design Team is a full year course (except in the freshman year). If you are signing up for it, please remember that you are making
a commitment to be part of a team for the entire year. BME students must complete the entire year to receive credit.
- Students will receive the following credits for BME Design Team:
| Year |
Fall |
Spring |
| Freshman |
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3 |
| Upperclassman |
3 |
3 |
| Team Leader |
4 |
4 |
- *Note, not all
of these credits will be counted towards graduation.
The limits are described below. Any excess credits
a student receives will be listed on his transcript
and factored into his GPA – similar to research.
- Freshman Year – Students may enter a design team in the spring semester as part of a selection process. Students
will receive 3 credits toward the 130 total credits
needed to graduate, but these credits do not fulfill
distribution requirements.
- Sophomore-Senior
Year – Juniors and seniors may use 3 credits of a full year commitment toward fulfillment of their BME
elective. Otherwise, design team mimics
independent research.
- Senior Design -
In order for BME Design Team to fulfill the senior
design requirement, students must enroll during
the fall and spring semesters of the senior year. A student does not need to be a team leader in order to fulfill this requirement. If
a student is using Design Team as their senior design
experience, it cannot be double-counted as a BME or
advanced engineering elective.
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Research / Independent Study
The rules and procedures are found on the back of the Research/Independent
Study Form.
Fulfilling the Senior Design Experience
The new ABET guidelines reflect an increased emphasis on an
outcomes-based approach to education which means that
there will no longer be a strict "accounting" of
engineering science credits and design credits. What
this new system does reflect is a need for students
to participate in meaningful educational experiences that,
among other things, allow for multidisciplinary approaches
to problem solving and design.
All students should choose to participate in one of two options:
1. A Departmental Senior Design Course:
- (3.0) Senior Design II (510.434)
- (3.0) FPGA Projects Laboratory (520.425)
- (3.0) Advanced Electronics Laboratory (520.448)
- (3.0) Control Systems Design (520.454)
- (4.0) Microfabrication Laboratory (520.495)
- (3.0) Senior Design Project (520.498)
- (3.0) Senior Design Project II (520.499)
- (3.0) Mechatronics (530.421)
- (4.0) Microfabrication Laboratory (530.495)
- (4.0) Chemical Engineering Process Design (540.314)
- (3.0) BME Design Team - Senior (580.411-412)
- (8.0) BME Design Team Leader (580.413-414)
- (3.0) Instrumentation II (580.470)
- (4.0) Microfabrication Laboratory (580.495)
- (2.0) Honors Biomedical Instrumentation (580.571)
- (4.0) BME Senior Design (580.580)
- (3.0) Computer Integrated Surgery II (600.446)
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2. Individual senior design project:
580.580 Senior Design Project. Students have the option
of perusing individual senior design projects. The project carried out in labs at JHU, requires a substantial design component
in accordance with the following definition:
The process of devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. It is a decision-making process (often iterative), in which
the basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet a stated objective. The engineering
design component of a curriculum must include at least some of the following features: development of student creativity, use of open-ended
problems, development and use of design methodology, formulation of design problem statements and specifications, consideration of alternative
solutions, feasibility considerations, and detailed system descriptions.
- Submit project proposal to Dr. Robert Allen (rha@jhu.edu) by deadline posted in course schedule;
- Dr. Allen will approve proposal or recommend changes;
- Register for 580.580 with Dr. Allen's signature;
- Submit a project report (20 page minimum) with advisor signature OR copy of published/accepted design paper to Dr. Allen at
the end of the semester;
The verbal requirements for 580.580 are that you write a proposal and prepare a report or publish a paper. There are no formal
guidelines for a design proposal. Common items within a proposal should include the following:
- title page,
- abstract (summary of work to be done),
- introduction, background and problem solution
- statement of proposed design work,
- expected outcomes and how they are to be measured, and
- time line and bibliography.
Not including 1) and 2), five pages or so should be sufficient.
Note: Students will receive 3 credits for this effort. Expected time involved during the semester = 160 hours. Additional time
may be expended for lab meeting or journal clubs.
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Focus Areas |
Biological Systems Focus Area Course List
Computational Biology Focus Area Course
List
Cell / Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Focus Area Course
List
Sensors / Micro/Nanotechnology / Instrumentation Focus Area Course
List
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Humanities and Social Sciences |
It is required that students take 18 H/S elective credits of their choosing. Many times, student
use these credits as an opportunity to pursue a minor or to look at science from a humanistic view through courses in the department of
Science, Medicine, and Technology.
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Writing Requirement
All undergraduates are required to fulfill the University writing requirement before graduation. "W" courses, which require
a number of written papers, are found throughout the curriculum. Any course taken to satisfy the writing requirement cannot be taken on
a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Students pursuing a BS must complete 2 "W" courses while students pursuing a BA must complete
4.
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Guidelines for Research/Independent Study
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No more than 6 credits of Undergraduate Research (580.50X, 580.53X) and Independent Study (580.51X,
580.54X) may be applied toward the requirement for engineering (E) credits. Independent study may not be used to satisfy the basic science
or mathematics requirements. Students should use research and independent study to augment their classroom experiences, not replace them.
Credits received for research and independent study do not count toward the minimum 9 credits of BME courses (6 credits for B.A. students) that must be
taken by all students. Those 9/6 credits must be in regular classroom or laboratory courses.
The following policies and procedures apply to research and independent study. Note also that the University has a number of policies that apply to research
and independent study which are detailed in the Undergraduate Advising Manual.
- Independent Study (580.51X, 580.54X) should be used for reading courses, literature reviews, etc. A pass/fail grade will be
given unless the student produces written work (a paper, homework problems, etc.) which can be objectively graded. An oral presentation
or exam may be substituted if appropriate.
- Research (580.50X, 580.53X) should be used for laboratory work, computer programming, design and construction of equipment,
or other practical work or bench work. Only a pass/fail grade may be given for research unless there is an objective basis for a grade
(a paper or report).
- Freshmen and sophomores may only take 580.50X or 580.51X. Upperclassmen may take 580.53X or 580.54X if, in the preceptor's opinion,
the student's project qualifies as 300 level (advanced undergraduate) work. Only research/independent study credits in the 580.53X, 580.54X
series may be used to satisfy requirements for junior-senior engineering course work.
- The work should also be classified as E (engineering) or N (natural science) and any engineering design content should be noted and
justified.
- The Report for Research/Independent Study summarizing the
work done, the distribution of credit between design and engineering science, and the basis for grading must be submitted to the BME
Office (318 Clark Hall). THIS APPLIES TO RESEARCH DONE IN THE BME DEPARTMENT AND TO RESEARCH DONE ELSEWHERE
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