Biomedical engineering is an evolving discipline in engineering that draws on collaboration among engineers, physicians, and scientists to provide interdisciplinary insight into medical and biological problems. The field has developed its own knowledge base and principles that are the foundation for the academic programs designed by the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia.The programs in biomedical engineering at Columbia (B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Eng.Sc.D., and M.D./Ph.D.) prepare students to apply engineering and applied science to problems in biology, medicine, and the understanding of living systems and their behavior, and to develop biomedical systems and devices. Modern engineering encompasses sophisticated approaches to measurement, data acquisition and analysis, simulation, and systems identification. These approaches are useful in the study of individual cells, organs, entire organisms, and populations of organisms. The increasing value of mathematical models in the analysis of living systems is an important sign of the success of contemporary activity. The programs offered in the Department of Biomedical Engineering seek to emphasize the confluence of basic engineering science and applied engineering with the physical and biological sciences, particularly in the areas of biomechanics, cell and tissue engineering, and biosignals and biomedical imaging. Programs in biomedical engineering are taught by its own faculty, members of other Engineering departments, and faculty from other University divisions who have strong interests and involvement in biomedical engineering. Several of the faculty hold joint appointments in Biomedical Engineering and other University departments. Courses offered by the Department of Biomedical Engineering are complemented by courses offered by other departments in The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, and by many departments in the Faculty of Medicine, the College of Dental Medicine, and the Mailman School of Public Health, as well as the science departments within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The availability of these courses in a university that contains a large medical center and enjoys a basic commitment to interdisciplinary research is important to the quality and strength of the program. Educational programs at all levels are based on engineering and biological fundamentals. From this basis, the program branches into concentrations along three tracks: biomechanics, cell and tissue engineering, and biosignals and biomedical imaging. The intrinsic breadth of these tracks, and a substantial elective content, prepare bachelor’s and master’s students to commence professional activity in any area of biomedical engineering or to go on to graduate school for further studies in related fields. The program also provides excellent preparation for the health sciences and the study of medicine. Graduates of the doctoral program are prepared for research activities at the highest level.

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