You’ve decided to take the plunge into earning your degree in biomedical engineering—a complex and highly rewarding field of study that entails several important components you need to know.
Like other engineering disciplines, it is essential to have a solid interest in science and mathematics that enables you to decipher extremely technical problems. Biomedical engineering necessitates medical and life sciences knowledge to understand the foundation of the obstacles you will solve.
The interdisciplinary nature of biomedical engineering makes it unique from traditional engineering education. You must be willing to embrace additional areas of knowledge to be successful in your academic and professional careers. Consequently, if you enjoy the challenge of working on solving problems that will directly improve the health and wellbeing of humanity, then biomedical engineering is for you.
Why Biomedical Engineering is Important
Biomedical engineering is among the cutting-edge industries in the workforce that are producing innovative healthcare technology and research—the likes of which we are only at the cusp of fully benefitting from.
This humanistic component is partly what makes biomedical engineering an attractive field of study for many people. When you enter the industry with a degree in biomedical engineering, the work you do will transform healthcare and improve the lives of people around you.
You can invent innovative drug delivery devices, create improved joint or limb replacements, discover new uses for imaging, and potentially grow artificial organs in a lab for research or clinical use.
Another advantage of a degree in biomedical engineering is the opportunity to work with a wide range of academic professionals from healthcare and other engineering fields. In healthcare, biomedical engineers often work with physicians, nurses, and clinical laboratory scientists. Other engineering fields related to biomedical engineering include chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering.
Working with this diverse range of industry professionals carries a requirement for robust communication skills. As a biomedical engineer, you will simultaneously learn the language of engineering and medicine—another unique tool to add to your bag of skills.
Biomedical Engineering Research Areas & Careers
The University of Texas at Austin Department of Biomedical Engineering is rich with collaboration and creativity. It continues to be recognized as one of the top 25 graduate programs in the nation, a status held since the founding of the department in 2001. In addition to outstanding facilities, there are four research centers and partnerships with physicians at UT Austin and beyond to provide students with multiple avenues for innovating human healthcare through engineering.
While earning your biomedical engineering degree at UT Austin, you have four research areas to choose from:
Whichever research area you decide is best for you, there will be a variety of career opportunities when you cross the finish line. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the job market for bioengineers and biomedical engineers will expand at 10 percent—double the average growth rate across all industries. The Bureau estimates there will be approximately 1,200 new job openings for bioengineers and biomedical engineers each year over the next decade.
These amazing opportunities lie ahead of completing a challenging and exciting academic career. Watch the video below to see what other UT Austin biomedical engineering students enjoy about earning their degree.
Dive Deep into the World of Biomedical Engineering:
WRITTEN BY JOSHUA KLEINSTREUER
