Biomedical Engineering
Faculty
Professors: John H. L. Hansen, Philipos Loizou, Raimund Ober, Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, Li Zhang
Associate Professors: Dinesh Bhatia, Jinming
Gao
Assistant Professors: Leonidas Bleris, Walter Hu, Hyun-Joo Nam
Objectives
The objective of the Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering is to train exceptional persons to become leaders in the field through high quality original research work, supplemented as appropriate by a broad range of interdisciplinary courses. The new generation of biomedical engineers will address fundamental scientific questions, provide answers to critical problems and develop novel applications with commercial potential. The opportunities for interdisciplinary research and course work in several branches of engineering coupled with the life sciences will allow the graduates of this program to tackle complex life sciences-related problems in novel ways and to create solutions for the future.
The objective of the MS degree program in Biomedical Engineering is to produce BME graduates who will be capable of undertaking challenging BME-related projects. The primary educational objective of the M.S. program is to expose students to the latest developments in biomedicine and to provide them with the appropriate tools to understand and contribute further to these developments. The M.S. degree program will provide the necessary education and immediately applicable skills that will enable both recent baccalaureate graduates and experienced biomedical engineers to develop new life science related technologies and applications.
Facilities
The Engineering and Computer Science Building and the new Natural Science and Engineering Research Laboratory provide extensive wet lab, fabrication, instrumentation, and high performance computing facilities to foster biomedical engineering and nano-technology research. A Class 10000 microelectronics clean room facility, including e-beam lithography, sputter deposition, PECVD, LPCVD, etch, ash and evaporation, is available for student projects and research. In addition to the facilities on campus, students in this program will also have an opportunity to work closely with researchers in the UT Southwestern Medical School.
Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering
Admission Requirements
The
University’s general admission requirements are discussed here.
A student lacking undergraduate prerequisites for graduate courses in biomedical engineering must complete these prerequisites or receive approval from the graduate adviser and the course instructor.
An entrance examination may be required. Specific admission requirements follow.
The student entering the M.S.B.M.E. program should meet the following guidelines:
• An undergraduate preparation equivalent to a baccalaureate in a field of engineering or the sciences,
• A grade point average in upper-division quantitative course work of 3.0 or better on a 4-point scale, and
• GRE scores of 500, 700 and 4 for the verbal, quantitative and analytical writing components, respectively, are advisable based on our experience with student success in the program.
Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation from individuals who are able to judge the candidate’s probability of success in pursuing a program of study leading to the master’s degree. Applicants must also submit an essay outlining the candidate’s background, education and professional goals.
Degree Requirements
The
University’s general degree requirements are discussed here.
The M.S.B.M.E. requires the completion of a minimum of 33 semester hours.
All students must have an academic advisor and an approved degree plan.
For the M.S.B.M.E program, all students must pass the following courses with a grade of B- or better:
• BMEN 6376 Lecture Course in Biomedical Engineering Applications
• BMEN 6373 Anatomy and Human Physiology for Engineers
• BMEN 6374 Genes, Proteins and Cell Biology for Engineers
The M.S.B.M.E. program has both a thesis and a non-thesis option. All part-time M.S.B.M.E. students will be assigned initially to the non-thesis option. Those wishing to elect the thesis option may do so by obtaining the approval of a faculty thesis supervisor. Research and thesis hours cannot be counted in a M.S.B.M.E. degree plan unless a thesis is written and successfully defended.
Students must achieve an overall GPA of 3.0 or better, a GPA of 3.0 or better in their core MSBME classes, and a grade of B- or better in all their core MSBME classes in order to satisfy their degree requirements.
All full-time, supported students are required to participate in the thesis option.
Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering
Admission Requirements
The
University’s general admission requirements are discussed here.
The Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering is awarded primarily to acknowledge the student’s success in an original research project, the description of which is a significant contribution to the literature of the discipline. Applicants for the doctoral program are therefore selected by the Biomedical Engineering Program Graduate Committee on the basis of research aptitude, as well as academic record. Applications for the doctoral program are considered on an individual basis.
The following are guidelines for admission to the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering:
• A master’s degree in engineering or one of the sciences from an accredited U.S. institution, or from an acceptable foreign university. Consideration will be given to highly qualified students wishing to pursue the doctorate without satisfying all of the requirements for a master’s degree.
• A grade point average in graduate course work of 3.5 or better on a 4-point scale.
• GRE scores of 500, 700 and 4 for the verbal, quantitative and analytical writing components, respectively, are advisable based on our experience with student success in the program.
Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation on official school or business letterhead or the UTD Letter of Recommendation Form from individuals who are familiar with the student’s record and able to judge the candidate’s probability of success in pursuing doctoral study in biomedical engineering.
Applicants must also submit a narrative describing their motivation for doctoral study and how it relates to their professional goals.
For students who are interested in a Ph.D. but are unable to attend school full-time, there is a part-time option. The guidelines for admission to the program and the degree requirements are the same as for full-time Ph.D. students.
All students must have an academic adviser and an approved plan of study.
Degree Requirements
The
University’s general degree requirements are discussed here.
Each program for doctoral study is individually tailored to the student’s background and research objectives by the student’s supervisory committee. The program will require a minimum of 75 semester credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. These credits must include at least 18 semester hours of graduate level courses beyond the baccalaureate level in the major concentration. All PhD students must demonstrate competence in the Master's level core courses in their research area. All students must have an academic advisor and an approved plan of study.
Also required are:
• A research oriented oral qualifying examination (QE) demonstrating competence in the Ph.D. candidate’s research area. A student must make an oral presentation based on a review of 2 to 4 papers followed by a question-answer session. A student entering the Ph.D. program with a M.S.B.M.E. must pass this exam within 3 long semesters, and a student entering without an M.S.B.M.E. must pass this exam within 4 long semesters. A student has at most two attempts at this qualifying exam. The exam will be given during the fall and spring semesters.
• A comprehensive exam consisting of: a written dissertation proposal, a public seminar, and a private oral examination conducted by the Ph.D. candidate’s supervising committee.
• Completion of a major research project culminating in a dissertation demonstrating an original contribution to scientific knowledge and engineering practice. The dissertation will be defended publicly. The rules for this defense are specified by the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies. Neither a foreign language nor a minor is required for the Ph.D. However, the student’s supervisory committee may impose these or other requirements that it feels are necessary and appropriate to the student’s degree program.
