Biomedical Engineering (BS)
The BS Biomedical Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Bioengineering and Biomedical and Similarly Named Engineering Programs. The Program Educational Objectives of the undergraduate program in biomedical engineering are as follows:
- Professional employment in areas such as the medical device industry, engineering consulting, biomechanics, biomedical imaging, and biotechnology
- Graduate studies in biomedical engineering or related fields;
- Attendance at medical or dental school.
The undergraduate program in biomedical engineering will prepare graduates to achieve the following Student Outcomes:
- an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
- an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
- an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
- an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
- an ability to function effectively on teams whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
- an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
- an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
The undergraduate curriculum is designed to provide broad knowledge of the physical and engineering sciences and their application to the solution of biological and medical problems. Students are strongly encouraged to take courses in the order specified in the course tables; deviations must be discussed with a departmental adviser and approved by the department before registration. The first two years provide a strong grounding in the physical and chemical sciences, engineering fundamentals, mathematics, and modern biology. This background is used to provide a unique physical approach to the study of biological systems. The last two years of the undergraduate program provide substantial exposure to fundamentals in biomedical engineering with emphasis on the integration of principles of biomedical engineering, quantitative analysis of physiology, and experimental quantification and measurements of biomedical systems.
The common core biomedical engineering curriculum provides a broad yet solid foundation in biomedical engineering. The flexible choice of technical electives in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, other departments in the Engineering School, as well as in other departments in the arts and sciences allows students to broaden their biomedical engineering education to their individualized interests for a personalized curriculum. These qualities allow the faculty to prepare students for activity in all contemporary areas of biomedical engineering. Graduates of the program are equipped for employment in the large industrial sector devoted to health care, which includes pharmaceuticals, medical devices, artificial organs, prosthetics and sensory aids, diagnostics, medical instrumentation, and medical imaging. Graduates also accept employment in oversight organizations (FDA, NIH, OSHA, and others), medical centers, and research institutes. They are prepared for graduate study in biomedical engineering and several related areas of engineering and the health sciences. Students can meet entrance requirements for graduate training in the various allied health professions. No more than three additional courses are required to satisfy entrance requirements for most U.S. medical schools.
All biomedical engineering students are expected to register for nontechnical electives, both those specifically required by the School of Engineering and Applied Science and those needed to meet the 27-point total of nontechnical electives required for graduation.
First and Second Years
As outlined in this bulletin, in the first two years, all engineering students are expected to complete a sequence of courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, engineering, modern biology, English composition, and physical education, as well as nontechnical electives including the humanities. For most of these sequences, the students may choose from two or more tracks. If there is a question regarding the acceptability of a course as a nontechnical elective, please consult the approved listing of courses in Liberal Arts Core for Columbia Engineering 27-Point Nontechnical Requirement or contact your advising dean for clarification.
Please see the charts in this section for a specific description of course requirements.
For students who are interested in the biomedical engineering major, they must take ELEN E1201 INTRO-ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. For the computer science requirement, students must take ENGI E1006 INTRO TO COMP FOR ENG/APP SCI. They must take the two-semester BIOL UN2005 INTRO BIO I: BIOCHEM,GEN,MOLEC and BIOL UN2006 INTRO BIO II:CELL BIO,DEV/PHYS in the second year, which gives students a comprehensive overview of modern biology from molecular to organ system levels. In addition, all students must take APMA E2101 INTRO TO APPLIED MATHEMATICS in their second year.
Third and Fourth Years
The biomedical engineering programs at Columbia are based on engineering and biological fundamentals. This is emphasized in our core requirements, which cannot be waived nor substituted. All students must take the two-semester introduction to biomedical engineering courses, BMEN E3010 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING I and BMEN E3020 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING II, which provide a broad yet solid foundation in the biomedical engineering discipline. In parallel, all students take the two-semester Quantitative physiology, I and II sequence (BMEN E4001 QUANTITATIVE PHYSIOLOGY I- BMEN E4002 QUANT PHYSIOLOGY II:ORGAN SYST), which is taught by biomedical engineering faculty and emphasizes quantitative applications of engineering principles in understanding biological systems and phenomena from molecular to organ system levels. In the fields of biomedical engineering, experimental techniques and principles are fundamental skills that good biomedical engineers must master. Beginning in junior year, all students take the two-semester sequence Biomedical engineering laboratory, I & II (BMEN E3810 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING LAB I, BMEN E3820 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING LAB II). In this two-semester series, students learn through hands-on experience the principles and methods of biomedical engineering experimentation, measurement techniques, quantitative theories of biomedical engineering, data analysis, and independent design of biomedical engineering experiments, in parallel to the Biomedical engineering I & II and Quantitative physiology I & II courses. In addition, all students must take BMEN E4110 BIOSTATISTICS FOR ENGINEERS. In the senior year, students are required to take a two-semester capstone design course, Biomedical engineering design (BMEN E3910 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN and BMEN E3920 BIOMEDICAL ENGIN DESIGN II), in which students work within a team to tackle an open-ended design project in biomedical engineering. The underlying philosophy of these core requirements is to provide our biomedical engineering students with a broad knowledge and understanding of topics in the field of biomedical engineering.
Parallel to these studies in core courses, students are required to take flexible technical elective courses, which are defined in the following section. The curriculum prepares students who wish to pursue careers in medicine by satisfying most requirements in the premedical programs with no more than three additional courses. Some of these additional courses may also be counted as nonengineering technical electives. Please see the course tables for schedules leading to a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering.
It is strongly advised that students take required courses during the specific term that they are designated in the course tables, as scheduling conflicts may arise if courses are taken out of sequence.
Technical Elective Requirements
Technical electives provide in-depth understanding of a student's chosen interests. A technical elective is defined as a 3000-level or above course taught in SEAS or 3000-level or above course in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, or biotechnology. 2000-level organic chemistry and biochemistry courses may also count toward technical electives; please consult your adviser.
Students are required to take 21 points of technical electives. Of these, at least 15 points must be clearly engineering in nature (Engineering Content Technical Electives) as defined below. In addition, at least 6 points of the Engineering Content electives must be from courses in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
- Engineering Content Technical Electives provide sufficient engineering content to count toward the 48 units of engineering courses required for ABET accreditation and are defined as:
- All 3000-level or higher courses in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, except
Course List Code Title Points BMEN E4010 BMEN E4103 BMEN E4104 BMEN E4105 BMEN E4106 BMEN E4107 BMEN E4108 BMEN E6510 STEM CELL, GENOME ENG ＆ REGEN MED BMEN E4000 SPECIAL TOPICS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (fall 2019)
(Note that only 3 points of BMEN E3998 PROJECTS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGIN may be counted toward technical elective degree requirements.) - All 3000-level or higher courses in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, except MECE E4007 CREATIVE ENG ＆ ENTREPRENEURSHP
- All 3000-level or higher courses in the Department of Chemical Engineering, except CHEN E4020 PROTECTN OF INDUST/INTELL PROP
- All 3000-level or higher courses in the Department of Electrical Engineering, except EEHS E3900
- All 3000-level or higher courses in the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics program, except
Course List Code Title Points CIEN E4128 CIEN E4129 MANAGING ENG ＆ CONST PROCESSES CIEN E4130 DESIGN OF CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS CIEN E4131 PRIN OF CONSTRUCTN TECHNIQUES CIEN E4132 PREV＆RESOL OF CONSTR DISPUTES CIEN E4133 CAPITAL FACILITY PLANNING/FIN CIEN E4134 CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY LAW CIEN E4135 STRATEGIC MGT - ENG ＆ CONSTR CIEN E4136 Entrepreneurship in Engineering and Construction CIEN E4138 REAL ESTATE FIN/CONST MANAG CIEN E4140 ENVIR,HLTH,SAFETY CONC CONSTR - All 3000-level or higher courses in the Earth and Environmental Engineering program
- All 3000-level or higher courses in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, except
- Courses from the following departments are not allowed to count toward the required 48 units of engineering courses:
- Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
- Department of Computer Science
- Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
- Program of Materials Science and Engineering
Once 48 points of engineering content are satisfied, students may choose their remaining technical electives as defined at the beginning of this section.
If a 3000-level or greater course is cross listed between two departments, eligibility as an engineering content technical elective is determined by either of the listed departments in its designation, independent of order. At least one of the programs that are listed must be ABET-accredited to be considered engineering content. For example, APBM E4560 Anatomy for physicists & engineers and BMCH E4810 ARTIFICAL ORGANS are both engineering content technical electives. Finally, a cross-listed course that is greater than or equal to 3000 level and with BMEN in its call letters will qualify as a BME Engineering Technical Elective.
The accompanying charts describe the eight-semester degree program schedule of courses leading to the bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering.
The undergraduate Biomedical Engineering program is designed to provide a solid biomedical engineering curriculum through its core requirements while providing flexibility to meet the individualized interests of the students. All students are encouraged to design their own educational paths through technical electives. The following grouped courses provide a useful guide for students who wish to focus their studies in a particular Biomedical Engineering topic. The requirements for these elective concentrations are identical to those of the major’s course requirements. To declare and earn this designation a student must take at least four of the courses listed for that concentration, and at least two of those must be biomedical engineering courses. It is not necessary to declare a concentration for the B.S. program.
To meet entrance requirements of most U.S. medical schools, students will need to take BIOC GU4501 BIOCHEM I-STRUCTURE/METABOLISM (4), CHEM UN2543 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY LABORATORY Organic chemistry laboratory (3), PHYS UN1494 INTRO TO EXPERIMENTAL PHYS-LAB (3), and PSYC UN1001 THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY (3) as well.
Biofabrication and Nanotechnology
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| MECE E3100 | INTRO TO MECHANCIS OF FLUIDS | |
| MECE E3113 | ||
| MSAE E4090 | NANOTECHNOLOGY | |
| MECE E4212 | MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS | |
| BMEN E4550 | MICRO/NANO STRUCT CELL ENG | |
| BMEN E4580 | FOUND OF NANOBIOSCI/NANOBIOTECH | |
| BMEN E4590 | BIOMEMS:CELL/MOLECULAR APPLIC |
Bioinformatics and Machine Learning
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL UN3041 | CELL BIOLOGY | |
| COMS W3101 | PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES | |
| COMS W3137 | HONORS DATA STRUCTURES ＆ ALGOL | |
| BINF G4006 | TRANSLATIONAL BIOINFORMATICS | |
| BINF G4015 | ||
| ECBM E4040 | NEURAL NETWRKS ＆ DEEP LEARNING | |
| ECBM E4060 | INTRO-GENOMIC INFO SCI ＆ TECH | |
| STAT GU4241 | STATISTICAL MACHINE LEARNING | |
| COMS W4252 | INTRO-COMPUTATIONAL LEARN THRY | |
| BMEN E4420 | SIGNAL MODELING | |
| BMEN E4460 | Deep Learning in Biomedical Imaging | |
| BMEN E4470 | Deep Learning for Biomedical Signal Processing | |
| COMS W4701 | ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | |
| CBMF W4761 | COMPUTATIONAL GENOMICS | |
| COMS W4771 | MACHINE LEARNING | |
| BMEN E4895 | Analysis and Quantification of Medical Images |
Biomaterials
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| MSAE E3010 | FOUNDATIONS OF MATERIALS SCIENCE | |
| BMEN E4501 | Biomaterials and Scaffold Design | |
| BMEN E4510 | TISSUE ENGINEERING | |
| BMEN E4520 | SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY:PRIN GENETIC CIRCUITS | |
| BMEN E4530 | DRUG AND GENE DELIVERY | |
| BMEN E4590 | BIOMEMS:CELL/MOLECULAR APPLIC | |
| MEBM E4710 | MORPHOGENESIS:BIOL MAT SHP/STR | |
| CHEN E4800 | Protein engineering |
Biomechanics
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| MECE E3100 | INTRO TO MECHANCIS OF FLUIDS | |
| ENME E3105 | MECHANICS | |
| MECE E3113 | ||
| MECE E3301 | THERMODYNAMICS | |
| BMEN E4301 | ||
| BMEN E4302 | BIOMECHANICS OF MUSCULOSKELETAL SOFT TIS | |
| BMEN E4310 | SOLID BIOMECHANICS | |
| BMEN E4320 | FLUID BIOMECHANICS | |
| BMEN E4340 | BIOMECHANICS OF CELLS | |
| MEBM E4710 | MORPHOGENESIS:BIOL MAT SHP/STR | |
| BMEN E4750 | SOUND AND HEARING |
Biosignals and Biomedical Imaging
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| ELEN E3810 | ||
| BMEN E4410 | PRIN OF ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE | |
| BMEN E4420 | SIGNAL MODELING | |
| BMEN E4430 | PRIN OF MAG RESONANCE IMAGING | |
| BMEE E4740 | BIOINSTRUMENTATION | |
| ELEN E4810 | DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING | |
| BMEN E4894 | BIOMEDICAL IMAGING | |
| BMEN E4898 | BIOPHOTONICS |
Cell and Tissue Engineering
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM UN2443 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I-LECTURES | |
| CHEM UN2444 | ORGANIC CHEMSTRY II-LECTURES | |
| BMEN E4210 | DRIVING FORCES OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS | |
| BMEN E4310 | SOLID BIOMECHANICS | |
| BMEN E4501 | Biomaterials and Scaffold Design | |
| BMEN E4510 | TISSUE ENGINEERING | |
| BMEN E4550 | MICRO/NANO STRUCT CELL ENG |
Design, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| MECE E3408 | COMPUTER GRAPHICS ＆ DESIGN | |
| ENGI W4100 | RESEARCH TO REVENUE | |
| BIOT GU4160 | BIOTECHNOLOGY LAW | |
| BIOT GU4161 | ETHICS IN BIOPHARM PAT/REG LAW | |
| BIOT GU4200 | BIOPHARMACEUTICAL DEV ＆ REG | |
| BIOT GU4201 | SEM-BIOTECH DEVPT ＆ REGULATION | |
| BMEE E4740 | BIOINSTRUMENTATION | |
| CHEN E4920 | PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY FOR ENGINEERS |
Genomics and Systems Biology
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| CHBM E4321 | The genome and the cell | |
| APMA E4400 | INTRO TO BIOPHYSICAL MODELING | |
| BMEN E4420 | SIGNAL MODELING | |
| BMEN E4520 | SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY:PRIN GENETIC CIRCUITS | |
| BMEN E4530 | DRUG AND GENE DELIVERY | |
| BMEN E4590 | BIOMEMS:CELL/MOLECULAR APPLIC | |
| CHEN E4700 | PRINCIPLES OF GENOMIC TECHNOL | |
| CHEN E4760 | ||
| CHEN E4800 | Protein engineering |
Neural Engineering
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| ELEN E3810 | ||
| BMEB W4020 | Computational neuroscience: circuits in the brain | |
| BMEE E4030 | NEURAL CONTROL ENGINEERING | |
| BMEN E4050 | ELECTROPHYS OF HUM MEMORY * NAVIGATION | |
| BMEN E4310 | SOLID BIOMECHANICS | |
| BMEN E4420 | SIGNAL MODELING | |
| BMEN E4430 | PRIN OF MAG RESONANCE IMAGING | |
| ELEN E4810 | DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING | |
| BMEN E4894 | BIOMEDICAL IMAGING |
Premed and Pre-Health Professional
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM UN2443 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I-LECTURES | |
| CHEM UN2444 | ORGANIC CHEMSTRY II-LECTURES | |
| CHEM UN2493 | ORGANIC CHEM. LAB I TECHNIQUES | |
| CHEM UN2494 | ORGANIC CHEM. LAB II SYNTHESIS | |
| BIOC UN3300 | BIOCHEMISTRY | |
| BMEN E4320 | FLUID BIOMECHANICS | |
| BMEN E4410 | PRIN OF ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE | |
| BMEN E4530 | DRUG AND GENE DELIVERY |
Robotics and Control of Biological Systems
| Code | Title | Points |
|---|---|---|
| MECE E3100 | INTRO TO MECHANCIS OF FLUIDS | |
| ENME E3105 | MECHANICS | |
| MECE E3113 | ||
| BMEE E4030 | NEURAL CONTROL ENGINEERING | |
| BMEN E4050 | ELECTROPHYS OF HUM MEMORY * NAVIGATION | |
| MEBM E4439 | MODELING ＆ ID OF DYNAMIC SYST | |
| MECE E4602 | INTRODUCTION TO ROBOTICS | |
| BMEE E4740 | BIOINSTRUMENTATION |
Biomedical Engineering Program
An overview of the degree track in PDF format can be found here.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Semester I | ||
| MATH UN1102 | CALCULUS II | |
| Choose one of the following Physics courses depending on track: | ||
| INTRO TO MECHANICS ＆ THERMO | ||
| PHYSICS I:MECHANICS/RELATIVITY | ||
| ACCELERATED PHYSICS I | ||
| Choose one of the following Chemistry courses depending on track: | ||
| GENERAL CHEMISTRY I-LECTURES | ||
CHEM UN1500 (taken Semester l or ll) | GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY | |
| 2ND TERM GEN CHEM (INTENSIVE) | ||
| INTENSVE ORGANIC CHEMISTRY | ||
| ENGL CC1010 (taken Semester l or ll) | UNIVERSITY WRITING | |
| ENGI E1006 (taken Semester l or ll) | INTRO TO COMP FOR ENG/APP SCI | |
| PHED UN10011 | ||
| ENGI E1102 (taken Semester l or ll)1 | THE ART OF ENGINEERING | |
| HUMA UN1121 or UN1123 (taken Semester l or ll)1 | MASTERPIECES OF WESTERN ART | |
| Semester II | ||
| APMA E2000 (taken Semester ll or lll) | MULTV. CALC. FOR ENGI ＆ APP SCI | |
| APMA E2001 (taken Semester ll or lll) | MULTV. CALC. FOR ENGI ＆ APP SCI | |
| Choose one of the following Physics courses depending on track: | ||
| INTRO ELEC/MAGNETSM ＆ OPTCS | ||
| PHYSICS II: THERMO, ELEC ＆ MAG | ||
| ACCELERATED PHYSICS II | ||
| Choose one of the following Chemistry courses depending on track: | ||
| GENERAL CHEMISTRY II-LECTURES | ||
CHEM UN1500 (taken Semester l or ll) | GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY | |
| INTENSVE GENERAL CHEMISTRY-LAB | ||
| INTENSVE ORG CHEM-FOR 1ST YEAR | ||
| ENGL CC1010 (taken Semester l or ll) | UNIVERSITY WRITING | |
| PHED UN10021 | ||
| ENGI E1102 (taken Semester l or ll)1 | THE ART OF ENGINEERING | |
| HUMA UN1121 or UN1123 (taken Semester l or ll)1 | MASTERPIECES OF WESTERN ART | |
| Second Year | ||
| Semester III | ||
| APMA E2000 (taken Semester ll or lll) | MULTV. CALC. FOR ENGI ＆ APP SCI | |
| APMA E2001 (taken Semester ll or lll) | MULTV. CALC. FOR ENGI ＆ APP SCI | |
| Choose one of the following Physics courses depending on track: | ||
| INTRO-CLASSCL ＆ QUANTUM WAVES | ||
| PHYSICS III:CLASS/QUANTUM WAVE | ||
| Choose one of the following Nontechnical Requirements:1 | ||
| EURPN LIT-PHILOS MASTERPIECS I | ||
| CONTEMP WESTERN CIVILIZATION I | ||
Global Core (3-4) | ||
| ELEN E1201 | INTRO-ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING | |
| BIOL UN2005 | INTRO BIO I: BIOCHEM,GEN,MOLEC | |
| Semester IV | ||
| Choose one of the following Nontechnical Requirements:1 | ||
| EURPN LIT-PHILOS MASTRPIECS II | ||
| CONTEMP WESTRN CIVILIZATION II | ||
Global Core (3-4) | ||
| ECON UN1105 - ECON UN1155 | PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS | |
| APMA E2101 | INTRO TO APPLIED MATHEMATICS | |
| BIOL UN2006 | INTRO BIO II:CELL BIO,DEV/PHYS | |
| Third Year | ||
| Semester V | ||
| BMEN E3010 | BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING I | |
| BMEN E3810 | BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING LAB I | |
| BMEN E4001 | QUANTITATIVE PHYSIOLOGY I | |
| BMEN E4110 | BIOSTATISTICS FOR ENGINEERS | |
| Nontech Elective (3 points) | ||
| Semester VI | ||
| BMEN E3020 | BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING II | |
| BMEN E3820 | BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING LAB II | |
| BMEN E4002 | QUANT PHYSIOLOGY II:ORGAN SYST | |
| Technical Elective (3 points)2 | ||
| Nontech Elective (3 points) | ||
| Fourth Year | ||
| Semester VII | ||
| BMEN E3910 | BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN | |
| Technical Electives (9 points)2 | ||
| Nontech Electives (3 points) | ||
| Semester VIII | ||
| BMEN E3920 | BIOMEDICAL ENGIN DESIGN II | |
| Technical Electives (9 points)2 | ||
- 1
Students can mix these requirements according to what is available.
- 2
Five of seven technical electives must have engineering content, and two of them must be from the Biomedical Engineering Department.