Cornell’s newly established master of engineering degree in biomedical engineering has been approved by New York State Department of Education. The degree program is part of the two-year-old Biomedical Engineering program (BME), which integrates the life sciences into engineering education, both at the graduate and undergraduate levels 

The master’s program is recruiting for fall 2004 students, the first of whom will graduate in May 2005.

Michael Shuler, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor in Chemical Enginering at Cornell, director of the cross-campus BME program, says that the new M.Eng. degree will prepare students for professional practice in biomedical engineering. “Students in the program will acquire a broad perspective on the biomedical engineering discipline that complements their undergraduate training in engineering or science, and in-depth knowledge of an essential area in biomedical engineering,” he says.

The degree’s three areas of focus are: biomedical mechanics and materials; bioinstrumentation/diagnostics; and drug delivery and cellular/tissue engineering. Graduates will be equipped to design biomedical devices and develop therapeutic strategies within the bounds of heath-care economics, the needs of patients and physicians, the regulatory environment for medical devices and pharmaceuticals, and stringent ethical standards of biomedical engineering practice.

“We believe that the breadth and depth of knowledge needed in biomedical engineering makes a four-year B.S. degree program impractical. By combining the M.Eng. in BME with a strong B.S. program, a student can obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to be an effective professional biomedical engineer,” Shuler says. Students will be able to link their undergraduate training to the new master’s program to create a five-year program in biomedical engineering.

In addition, an undergraduate minor in biomedical engineering, accessible to a broad range of students, was initiated in February 2003.

—David Brand, Cornell News Service