biomedical engineering??

[CraKaJaX]

Originally posted by: SludgeFactory
Eh, I forgot about Industrial Eng, there were a good percentage of girls in that major, I might put them in at 3rd.

ME and EE were just dismal at my school for # of females, I think CS was better off at the time.

You shouldn't base your major on a male to female ratio. You're there for an education. Pick something you enjoy.

 

[Casawi]

Great if you plan to go to grad school, funding everywhere... fast growing field I would say. I was a biomed eng. but then I realized I prolly won't have a job after, so I changed majors. All people I knew went to grad school after... still there.No one I know got a job with just a BS

 

[SludgeFactory]

Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
You shouldn't base your major on a male to female ratio. You're there for an education. Pick something you enjoy.

We're just having a little fun, the male/female lament is part of the shared misery of the engineering undergrad. Although it's not too late for the OP to major in psychology :laugh:

 

[erub]

Originally posted by: Casawi
Great if you plan to go to grad school, funding everywhere... fast growing field I would say. I was a biomed eng. but then I realized I prolly won't have a job after, so I changed majors. All people I knew went to grad school after... still there.No one I know got a job with just a BS

Actually I had a couple friends that wanted to do BME for grad school, with undergrads from GT, and one of them couldn't get funding with decent credentials (although CS major--he's working for Amazon now, so he's no dumbass). The other (incidentally, his gf) did get funding for grad school in BME.

Originally posted by: brownboi512also thinking of chem engineering now. i plan on going to ga tech. i wouldnt mind going into the research field. same questions for chem engineering now. thanks so far guys, and yes i am a senior in high school right now.

lemme know if you have any questions about GT. I'm a grad student here, and while I didn't do my undergrad here, I have lots of friends that were current/former undergrads. GT has a vastly different culture from where I went to undergrad (Texas A&M), and the students are very motivated for the most part..but it can definitely be a grind. I'd definitely say joining a fraternity is pretty much a must here or you will not have very much fun (i hang out with one of the fraternities here, and they throw some pretty nice parties--but I think nowhere near the best).

don't be intimateded by the lack of girls, the GT girls get a kinda bad rap, and there are plenty available from Agnes

 

[darthsidious]

I think biomed engg. needs a very special kind of person. Most "hardcore" engineers I know hate biology, and most bio majors don't seem to think engg. is fun. In my experience, the person who likes both (and is good at both) is somewhat rare. I think too many people are jumping into the field thinking "it's cool"/there's a large market. I don't mean to downgrade the field - I think there is some tremendous opportunity for engineering with biological applications, but it isn't for most people. So be sure you want to do it before you commit to it. In many cases, you can simply get a BSEE, then take a bio-based Phd program to work in biomed.

The kind of person I think would be appropriate for biomed was my DSP class instructor at MIT. The first day of our class, the prof told us that he might have to leave class suddenly sometimes, as he carried a hospital pager from Mass. General Hospital, where he worked half the time. There's something cool about a doctor teaching a theoretical EE course at one of the top EE programs in the country, while practicing at one of the top hospitals in the country at the same time.

 

[BrownTown]

The thing is as an EE major you can do BME projects, but I feal by going BME you are pinholling yourself to that field. For example my college has a major of "computer engineering" which I strongly considered except that its only 2 classes different than EE and as an EE I took both those classes anyways as EE electives, and alot of people might not realize that a CompE major is just an EE with a different name and think you can't do other EE projects like electrical power or something, so I went EE which is more general. Really, I think you want to pinhole yourself as little as possible for as long as possible. I would just go ME or EE and then try to do internships or research on BME type projects, the non-BME jobs will still appreciate undergraduate research and job experience, and the BME jobs will LOVE them and not care so much that your degree doesn't have the words "BME" on it.

 

[magomago]

As a BME in his last year, I would say don't go there. BME itself is just a mixture of other engineerings~ and the pluses of a broad based education come with the negatives of the fact that you never delve deep into any one topic. You'll find soon that a company would rather hire a EE,MAE,CHEME for parts that need them. Kind of sucks, doesn't it? To watch all of your friends go to the companies that you are interested in yourself. Of course when desiging that circuit, an EE with 4 years of education in that is a far better option than a BME with 2-3 courses in circuits total. Its much easier to teach biology and have them read about it then to teach engineering. Hiring managers are also often unfamiliar with BME and go with what they know - which is the traditional Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical Engineers.

Of course before you think I'm bitching about BME and I am a failure bla bla bla. Let us say I have my ways and I'm pretty confident I'll be working next year Of course I also know that personally I want a higher degree (phd ftw!!!) for my personal satisfaction. But I don't think I'll go there until I work

Another problem like others mentioned is that the field right now requires MS and Phds for many jobs. Its very hard to get a job straight up at as a BS. I know friends that have found them - but "Entry level" really isn't much of an option. They want MS and PhD candidates. As BME as a whole (which is damned hard to characterize!!! The official definition adopted by whittaker translates to "anything related to thinking and the body") is still developing as is seen by the ever morphing curriculum at college campuses, and hasn't really moved into an "engineering technology"~ much of it is still "Engineering science". Areas like prosthetics (borrowing heavily from MAEs since a lot of elastic approximations of bones can be made) is very much in the technology ground, but other areas like tissue regeneration is almost exclusively academia and science right now.

If you really want to be a BME start off as an undeclared engineer. Then when you figure out what interests you in BME - take the most appropriate path of either ChemE,MAE, or EE. If you are interested in Biomechanics you will most likely go MAE or MSE as a pathway, if you get more interested in pharmaceutical application or tissue engineering (be prepared to go for a phd and spend your life in academia although it is incredibly interesting...), if you are more interested in signaling you will probably go EE. None of these paths are the only method - and there are many other facets of BME (computation, or even databasing for genetics) that doesn't necesarily involve actually chopping up the body. BME really is just anything dealing with "ideas and the body"! Once you have that, pack on a "BME minor" if your school offers it; if not, there are always electives in the biomedical related topics, and biology courses itself. That is really the best way to prepare for a path in BME. And that is the path - had I known it - that I would have taken

 

[brownboi512]

great post mangomago

i am now thinking of going MechE as BS then BioMed as a Masters. doable? anyone tried it? if i dont pursure the masters i always have the MechE BS to fall back on.

 

[zerocool1]

Originally posted by: brownboi512
great post mangomago

i am now thinking of going MechE as BS then BioMed as a Masters. doable? anyone tried it? if i dont pursure the masters i always have the MechE BS to fall back on.

my friend is did bme for her undergrad and is working on her MS in ME

 

[NoShangriLa]

4 years ago a very good friend of mine got 63K per annum as a biomedical researcher, and she have a BS bio/chem, MS biomed eng, and PHD biogenetic. She quit her med research job after 2 years to go to med school because the job wasn't challenging enough, and this summer she is going to start radiology specialty.

She soon will be 39 year old and have been in post secondary education for 16 years, and she still have 4 more years to go ++ practicum.

 

[Wheatmaster]

if you are at all interested in building systems (i.e. HVAC, lighting, etc), I definitely would check out Architectural Engineering. I currently at a junior at the Milwaukee School of Engineering majoring in AE with Building Environmental Systems (HVAC, Plumbing, Fire Protection) and it's the best decision I've every made.

 

[Rumpltzer]

In regards to mangomango's posting....

1) I think that the take-away from what he's written is that you will most likely want a PhD if you're thinking about BME.

2) I would never, ever encourage someone to go out and work before getting a technical PhD. I can see how you might have to do that for an MBA, but going back to school for an engineering PhD would be tough.

There are about 30 PhDs as far as my voice would carry right now. I don't know any of them to have "gone back" for their degrees. The financial payoff isn't that great. It's more whether you want to do something a little above and beyond what you can do with a BS.


Good luck!

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa
4 years ago a very good friend of mine got 63K per annum as a biomedical researcher, and she have a BS bio/chem, MS biomed eng, and PHD biogenetic. She quit her med research job after 2 years to go to med school because the job wasn't challenging enough, and this summer she is going to start radiology specialty.

She soon will be 39 year old and have been in post secondary education for 16 years, and she still have 4 more years to go ++ practicum.

$63K for a PhD is not very good. Is this chick in the States?? Maybe I don't know what a PhD in "biogenetic" is...

Here's a few numbers that I know off hand:
ChemE PhD 2003 $86K in Bay Area
EE PhD 2004 $92K near Los Angeles
MatScE PhD 2006 $90K in Bay Area
Chem PhD 2008 $92K in Bay Area

That being said, it's not so much how much you start at but how large your raises are over the years...

 

[jamesave]

but lots' of phd in engineering are paid (tuition, fees and stipends) by doing research.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: jamesave
but lots' of phd in engineering are paid (tuition, fees and stipends) by doing research.

I don't know any engineering PhDs who paid for school....

Tuition and fees are covered, and you get like $20K/year in stipend (it depends on the school). I assumed that this was generally known...

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: Rumpltzer

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa
4 years ago a very good friend of mine got 63K per annum as a biomedical researcher, and she have a BS bio/chem, MS biomed eng, and PHD biogenetic. She quit her med research job after 2 years to go to med school because the job wasn't challenging enough, and this summer she is going to start radiology specialty.

She soon will be 39 year old and have been in post secondary education for 16 years, and she still have 4 more years to go ++ practicum.

$63K for a PhD is not very good. Is this chick in the States?? Maybe I don't know what a PhD in "biogenetic" is...

Here's a few numbers that I know off hand:
ChemE PhD 2003 $86K in Bay Area
EE PhD 2004 $92K near Los Angeles
MatScE PhD 2006 $90K in Bay Area
Chem PhD 2008 $92K in Bay Area

That being said, it's not so much how much you start at but how large your raises are over the years...

It was in AB Canada.

 

[Mo0o]

It's a huge med school feeder. I only know one BME major who didn't end up going to med school and she's working at MSFT right now

 

[irishScott]

You could do what I'm doing:

Biology/Computer Engineering Double major (my school also lacks a BioMedE program), with plans to go into Biomed for my masters. Granted, I'm only a sophomore, so this could change, but if it doesn't pan out, I can always get a job with my CE degree.

 

[GoSharks]

Hm I guess I missed this thread the first time around. I graduated from Hopkins BME last May and have just sent in applications for PhD programs in BME.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Originally posted by: irishScott
You could do what I'm doing:

Biology/Computer Engineering Double major (my school also lacks a BioMedE program), with plans to go into Biomed for my masters. Granted, I'm only a sophomore, so this could change, but if it doesn't pan out, I can always get a job with my CE degree.

Wow, I'd imagine that must be an insane amount of credits and years of your life ahead, But to each his own (And good luck).

I'm currently a Biochemistry Major teetering on whether to minor in Computer Science (amongst other fields), and after under-grad I plan to go for my PhD in either Biochemistry or Bioinformatics research.

BME is very rapidly growing in strong demand; I agree that you'll likely need to get a PhD or at the least Masters because the field is still mostly Research more-so than full force Application. That being said, It's is a very rigorous academic field. I can't imagine what Organic Chem and Engineering Courses in the same semester must do to one's mental state

 

[Justin218]

I'm an EE with a specialization in biomedical instrumentation. I had to take one class that was a combination of BMEs and EEs and we had a design project. From what I gathered, yes most of them just do try and go to med school. They didn't seem to really know any specific area too well, and therefore were not of much help designing our project, other than some rudimentary background bio research.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

You do NOT have to be PhD status to get a job as a biomedical engineer. You can get an engineering position with a Bachelors but its highly recommended to pursue that MS ASAP. I worked at a Biomedical devices company and half my team was going to grad school while working. Sure we were manufacturing engineers, but even the R&D guys had plenty of newgrads.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: Rockinacoustic

Originally posted by: irishScott
You could do what I'm doing:

Biology/Computer Engineering Double major (my school also lacks a BioMedE program), with plans to go into Biomed for my masters. Granted, I'm only a sophomore, so this could change, but if it doesn't pan out, I can always get a job with my CE degree.

Wow, I'd imagine that must be an insane amount of credits and years of your life ahead, But to each his own (And good luck).

I'm currently a Biochemistry Major teetering on whether to minor in Computer Science (amongst other fields), and after under-grad I plan to go for my PhD in either Biochemistry or Bioinformatics research.

BME is very rapidly growing in strong demand; I agree that you'll likely need to get a PhD or at the least Masters because the field is still mostly Research more-so than full force Application. That being said, It's is a very rigorous academic field. I can't imagine what Organic Chem and Engineering Courses in the same semester must do to one's mental state

Oh, I'm going to take a little longer than 4 years

Still, at least I don't have to do those insane ME 6-hour statics problems.

 

[Dacalo]

Originally posted by: brownboi512
interesting...i do not want to become a MD down the line tho. anyone else?

I once was a biomed eng. I switched though (should have done earlier in my school years, took all physics and calculus courses, and also chemistry isgust; ). Anyways, if your aspiration is not in the medical field, you can also work in food processing (manufacturing) and such as well. You can also work with plants and enhancing yield from grains, etc.

EDIT: WTF, is disgust emoticon broken?

 

[GoSharks]

Originally posted by: Dacalo
Anyways, if your aspiration is not in the medical field, you can also work in food processing (manufacturing) and such as well. You can also work with plants and enhancing yield from grains, etc

Maybe in bioengineering, but there's no way a typical [Hopkins] BME could ever end up in those fields. No overlap with that stuff at all.