5 Track Courses

Note: There have been changes in the track classes for the 2010 catalog year that are required for all students entering the program after September 1, 2009. Other students may opt to follow the new requirements after discussion with the Major Advisor.

To successfully complete the track course component of the program requires a selection of courses that meets the following goals:

1. a minimum of 15 credit hours of course work, of which
2. at least 5 hours must be from courses taught in the College of Engineering and/or the College of Mines & Earth Sciences* (ensures meeting ABET course requirements), and
3. at least 9 of the hours must be at the upper division level (3000 or above).
   
   
4. and of which up to 3 may come from upper division courses outside the colleges of Science and Engineering, provided they are approved by the Major Advisor before they are taken. The goal of such classes is to provide exposure to materials from other disciplines, e.g., Business, Law, Ethics, that directly support the individual goals of each student. All such courses must have a significant and direct link to engineeering and must deepen the skill set and exposure of students in a field related to Biomedical Engineering.
   
   

* When Math 3070 is substituted for BIOEN 3070, the requirement for College of Engineering classes increase from 5 of 15 hrs to 8 of 15 hrs.

Note: Transfer credits are generally only accepted for track if they are lower division (1000 and 2000 level) and must first be approved for transfer by means of a Petition for Transfer Credit or Variance (the ``tan sheet''). See Section 2.3 for more details on transfer classes.

A student's track plan must be approved by the Department's Major Advisor by submitting a Track Coursework Plan (the ``green sheet'') available from the BE office, the back pack of this handbook, or on the program web site. Seeking approval for the track plan should occur in the first semester after admission to major status and before starting the track sequence. Students who have not submitted a track sheet by the middle of the semester immediately following their admission will not be allowed to register for the following semester Bioengineering courses.

5.1 Tips for planning track classes

• A list of Bioengineering Department courses suitable for inclusion in a track appears at the end of this section.

• Pay attention to prerequisites to be sure the courses are taken in the correct order.

• Note that entry into upper division courses in other departments is often possible without the standard prerequisites for those departments as long as the associated BME core course is completed. For example, to enter upper division classes in Mechanical Engineering, ensure that the BIOEN 5201, Biomechanics, is completed first (or concurrently). When in doubt, contact the Program Director for clarification or assistance.

• Organic Chemistry II and the Physics lab courses typically required for entry to medical school are acceptable track classes.

• BIOEN 4200 UG Research must be taken once by all students who use data from an internship for their senior project (BIOEN 4201/4202). If students perform a second semester of internship with a company, they may take the class a second time for a maximum of 1 hour of track credit, even when the course contributes additional hours to the program of study.

• Directed reading, independent study, literature surveys, and special project classes do not generally qualify as track classes. Exceptions are possible but the Program Director must approve these beforehand.

• Some seminar classes (e.g., BIOEN 6480, BIOEN 6464) may be acceptable for 1 hour of track credit, but only when they are used only to ensure adequate college credit hours, i.e., they are not counted as part of the minimum 15 hours.

Below are some samples of course selections organized by track. Note that in many cases, Bioengineering students can progress directly to the upper division classes offered by other departments without completing the usual requirements for those classes. When in doubt, the Major Advisor or the instructor of the course can provide guidance.

5.2 Bioelectrical Engineering Track

BIOEN 5401	Medical Imaging Systems
BIOEN 5460	Engineering Aspects of Clinical Medicine
BIOEN 5480	Ultrasound
BIOEN 6330	Principles of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
BIOEN 6421	Fundamentals of Micromachining Processes
BIOEN 6500	Mathematics of Imaging
BIOEN 6640	Introduction to Image Processing
ECE 2260	Fundamentals of Electric Circuits
ECE 2280	Fundamentals of Engineering Electronics
ECE 3110	Engineering Electronics II
ECE 3300	Fundamentals of Electromagnetics and Transmission Lines
ECE 3500	Fundamentals of Signals and Systems
ECE 3510	Introduction to Feedback Systems
ECE 5325	Wireless Communication Systems
ECE 5340	Numerical Techniques in Electromagnetics
ECE 5410	Lasers and Their Applications
ECE 5530	Digital Signal Processing

5.3 Biomaterials Engineering Track

BIOEN 5601	Scanning Electron Microscopy
BIOEN 6302	Biomaterials
BIOEN 6422	Biomedical Applications of Micromachining
MSE 2010	Introduction to Materials Science & Engineering
MSE 3010	Materials Processing Laboratory
MSE 3310	Introduction to Ceramics
MSE 3011	Structural Analysis of Materials
MSE 3210	Electronic Properties of Solids
MSE 3310	Introduction to Ceramics
MSE 3410	Introduction to Polymers
MSE 3510	Introduction to Metallic Materials
MSE 5010	X-ray Diffraction Techniques
MSE 5035	Electron Microscopy Techniques
MSE 5061	Transport Phenomena in Materials Science and Engineering
MSE 5201	Semiconductor Device Physics I
MSE 5202	Semiconductor Device Physics II
MSE 5211	Semiconductor Device Fabrication Laboratory I
MSE 5212	Semiconductor Device Fabrication Laboratory II
MSE 5240	Principles and Practice of Transmission Electron Microscopy
MSE 5353	Physical Ceramics
MSE 5354	Processing of Advanced Ceramics
MSE 5471	Polymer Processing
MSE 5473	Polymer Synthesis and Characterization
MSE 5475	Introduction to Composites
ME EN 1300	Statics and Strength of Materials
MET E 1620	Introduction to Physical Metallurgy
MET E 3530	Experimental Techniques in Metallurgy
MET E 5260	Physical Metallurgy I
MET E 5450	Mechanical Metallurgy
MET E 5600	Corrosion Engineering

5.4 Biomedical Imaging Track

BIOEN 5401	Medical Imaging Systems
BIOEN 5460	Engineering Aspects of Clinical Medicine
BIOEN 5480	Ultrasound
BIOEN 5601	Scanning Electron Microscopy
BIOEN 6330	Principles of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
BIOEN 6500	Mathematics of Imaging
BIOEN 6640	Introduction to Image Processing
BIOEN 7320	3-D Reconstruction Techniques in Medical Imaging
BIOEN 7330	Positron Emission Tomography

5.5 Biomechanical Engineering Track

BIOEN 5601	Scanning Electron Microscopy
BIOEN 6230	Functional Anatomy for Engineers
BIOEN 6240	Human Movement Analysis
BIOEN 6421	Fundamentals of Micromachining
BIOEN 7210	Biosolid Mechanics
BIOEN 7220	Biofluid Mechanics
ME EN 1300	Statics and Strength
ME EN 2080	Dynamics
ME EN 2300	Thermodynamics I
ME EN 2450	Numerical Techniques in Engineering
ME EN 3300	Strength of Materials
ME EN 3650	Heat Transfer
ME EN 3700	Fluid Mechanics
ME EN 5300	Advanced Strength of Materials
ME EN 5500	Engineering Elasticity
ME EN 5510	Introduction to Finite Elements
ME EN 5520	Composites
ME EN 5720	Comp. Fluid Mechanics

5.6 Biochemical Engineering Track

BIOEN 5501	Biomolecular Engineering
BIOEN 6002	Molecular Biophysics
BIOEN 6140	Fundamentals of Tissue Engineering
BIOEN 6302	Biomaterials
BIOEN 6421	Fundamentals of Micromachining Processes
BIOEN 6505	Biotransport Phenomena
BIOEN 7111	Physicochemical Approach to Proteins and Nucleic Acids
BIOEN 7120	Biocompatibility
BIOL 2030	Genetics
BIOL 3215	Cell Biology Laboratory
BIOL 3230	Developmental Biology
CH EN 5103	Biochemical Engineering
CH EN 5104	Biochemical Engineering Laboratory
CHEM 3510	Biological Chemistry I
CHEM 3515	Biological Chemistry Laboratory
CHEM 3520	Biological Chemistry II
CHEM 3525	Molecular Biology of DNA Lab
CHEM 5810	Nanoscience: Where Biology, Chemistry and Physics Intersect
CHEM 5090	Biophysical Chemistry
MSE 2010	Introduction to Materials Science & Engineering
MSE 3410	Introduction to Polymers
MSE 5010	X-ray Diffraction Techniques
MSE 5035	Electron Microscopy Techniques
MSE 5061	Transport Phenomena in Materials Science and Engineering
PATH 5030	Basic Immunology

5.7 Computational Bioengineering Track

BIOEN 6500	Mathematics of Imaging
BIOEN 6640	Introduction to Image Processing
BIOEN 6760	Modeling and Analysis of Biological Network
BIOEN 7320	3-D Reconstruction Techniques in Medical Imaging
CS 1010	Introduction to Unix
CS 2000	Introduction to Programming in C
CS 2010	Discrete Structures
CS 3200	Scientific Computation
CS 3500	Software Practice I
CS 3505	Software Practice II
CS 3700	Fundamentals of Digital System Design
CS 4100	Advanced Algorithms and Data Structures
CS 5300	Artificial Intelligence
CS 5310	Robotics
CS 5320	Computer Vision
CS 5530	Database Systems
CS 5540	Human/Computer Interaction
CS 5600	Introduction to Computer Graphics
CS 5610	Interactive Computer Graphics
CS 5630	Scientific Visualization
CS 6210	Advanced Scientific Computing I
CS 6220	Advanced Scientific Computing II
ECE 3700	Fundamentals of Digital System Design
ECE 5340	Numerical Techniques in Electromagnetics
CH EN 5353	Computational Fluid Dynamics
CH EN 6703	Applied Numerical Methods
ME EN 5510	Introduction to Finite Elements
MATH 5110	Mathematical Biology I
MATH 5120	Mathematical Biology II
MATH 5600	Survey Numerical Analysis
MATH 5610	Intr. Numerical Analysis I
MATH 5740	Mathematical Modeling

5.8 Premedical Track

Students planning on applying to medical school may wish to design a track that supports this goal. The track courses selected should meet, to the extent possible, three criteria:

1. Students complete course requirements set by the medical schools for admission;
2. The selected courses are from a subject area in which the student does well;
3. The courses provide the student a sound foundation for an alternative career choice should the medical schools not respond favorably.

The BS program in Biomedical Engineering generally meets all the course requirements for medical school with the exception of Organic Chemistry II (lecture and laboratory) and laboratories in introductory courses in Biology and Physics. However, the Biomedical Engineering core courses taken in the junior and senior years supply laboratory course hours which may be accepted in lieu of these explicit laboratory courses. Some medical schools also require an upper division writing course, i.e., they do not accept the Senior Project classes BIOEN 4201/4202 as equivalent.

Because there is considerable variability in what is both recommended and required among different medical schools, students should review the entrance requirements of the medical schools to which they are considering applying and determine which of the following courses (or equivalent) to include in their tracks.

BIOEN 5401	Medical Imaging Systems
BIOEN 5480	Ultrasound
BIOEN 5501	Biomolecular Engineering
BIOEN 5601	Scanning Electron Microscopy
BIOEN 6000	Systems Physiology I: Cardiovascular System
BIOEN 6140	Fundamentals of Tissue Engineering
BIOEN 6230	Functional Anatomy for Engineers
BIOEN 6240	Human Movement Analysis
BIOEN 6430	Systems Neuroscience
BIOEN 6440	Neural Engineering
BIOEN 7330	Positron Emission Tomography
BIOL 2030	Genetics
BIOL 3215	Cell Biology Lab
BIOL 3230	Developmental Biology
BIOL 3510	Biological Chemistry I
BIOL 3515	Biological Chemistry Lab
BIOL 3520	Biological Chemistry II
PATH 5030	Basic Immunology

5.9 Department of Bioengineering courses approved for inclusion in BME tracks

The following courses are all recommended and approved for inclusion in the track plan for Biomedical Engineering. This course list is changing constantly and course offerings change in other departments so please consult with the Major Advisor whenever making a decision on the track plan. It is up to the individual student to ensure that the courses in the track exist and are offered at the time the student wishes to take them. Note that many courses are taught only every second year.

BIOEN 4200	Biomedical Research (max 1 Credit Hour)
BIOEN 4990	Internships and Cooperative Education (max 1 Credit Hour)
BIOEN 5401	Medical Imaging Systems
BIOEN 5460	Engineering Aspects of Clinical Medicine
BIOEN 5480	Ultrasound
BIOEN 5501	Biomolecular Engineering
BIOEN 5601	Scanning Electron Microscopy
BIOEN 6000	Systems Physiology I: Cardiovascular System
BIOEN 6002	Molecular Biophysics
BIOEN 6003	Cellular Electrophysiology and Biophysics
BIOEN 6050	Cellular Physiology for Engineers
BIOEN 6080	Ideas Into Dollars: Writing Grant Proposals
BIOEN 6140	Fundamentals of Tissue Engineering
BIOEN 6230	Functional Anatomy for Engineers
BIOEN 6240	Human Movement Analysis
BIOEN 6302	Biomaterials
BIOEN 6330	Principles of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
BIOEN 6421	Fundamentals of Micromachining Processes
BIOEN 6422	Biomedical Applications of Micromachining
BIOEN 6430	Systems Neuroscience
BIOEN 6440	Neural Engineering
BIOEN 6460	Electrophysiology and Bioelectricity
BIOEN 7111	Physicochemical Approach to Proteins and Nucleic Acids
BIOEN 7120	Biocompatibility
BIOEN 7130	Pharmaceutical Applications of Colloid and Interfacial Science
BIOEN 7140	Advanced Topics in Tissue Engineering
BIOEN 7150	Introduction to Biomimetic Engineering
BIOEN 7160	Physical Nature of Surfaces
BIOEN 7168	Proteins at Interfaces and in Membranes
BIOEN 7210	Biosolid Mechanics
BIOEN 7220	Biofluid Mechanics
BIOEN 7310	Advanced Topics in Magnetic Resonance Imaging
BIOEN 7320	3D Reconstruction Techniques in Medical Imaging

5.10 Courses NOT acceptable for inclusion as a track elective

The following courses are not acceptable as a track elective for the Biomedical Engineering program. The reasons for excluding courses include:

• course does not include adequate engineering or biomedical content;
• course overlaps too much with a course already in the core curriculum of the BME program;
• course level, requirements, or evaluation are not equivalent to the rest of the BME program;
• course does not require active participation of the student

BE 4999	Honors Thesis/Project
BE 5020	Interactive Science Exhibits
BE 5950/6910	Independent Study
BE 6090/1	Department Seminar
BE 6062	Biomedical Engineering Literature Survey
BE 6480	Biomechanics Seminar*
BE 6464	Cardiac Electrophysiology and Biophysics Seminar*
BE 6900	Special Topics**
BE 6930	Special Project
MSE 2160	Elements of Materials Science and Engineering
	Take MSE 2010 instead (Introduction to Materials Science & Engineering)
MSE 2170	Elements of Materials Science and Engineering
	Take MSE 2010 instead (Introduction to Materials Science & Engineering)
ME 5960	Project Management
PHYS 3110	Physics of the Human Body I
PHYS 3111	Physics of the Human Body II
	Language training courses

* students may take these courses for track credit only if they otherwise have adequate numbers of hours but need to achieve the required number of college hours.

** Special topics class may count for track electives depending on the type and structure of the course. Please see the Major Advisor before taking a special topics class to determine its status.