<p>pharmacy is a great degree and all...but the job is boring...let's admit that. It's basically filling bottles and working your whole life in a *<strong><em>ty retail environment dealing with *</em></strong>ty people....</p>
<p>yea but there r alot ppl out there who go into pharm d. coz of the money......</p>
<p>the demand is just crazy though....just becaus of the baby boomers</p>
<p>Chem E is looking like the next fad major, no offense."</p>
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<p>may i ask you WHY?</p>
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<p>Chemical Engineering: Bioprocess & Biomolecular Engineering Option (BBE)
View the Bioprocess and Biomolecular Engineering Option course schedule.pdf</p>
<p>Recent advances in the life sciences - the sequencing of the human genome, the development of transgenic animals and plants, the use of recombinant DNA technology, and the unraveling of the molecular basis of disease - have opened up exciting new opportunities for Chemical Engineers. By combining these advances in molecular biology with the unique capabilities of chemical engineering, Chemical Engineers are making novel contributions to the production of new medicines, the development of artificial organs, the detection of biological and chemical toxins, and to our quantitative understanding of complex biological processes and systems. </p>
<p>In order to effectively contribute to this diverse field, students in the Bioprocessing and Biomolecular Engineering Option need to develop a strong foundation in molecular and cell biology, biochemistry, biomolecular engineering, and the biophysical processes required to purify biological molecules. This is accomplished through a combination of core science and engineering courses, along with a set of electives that give students an opportunity to pursue specialized areas of particular interest. The impact of biological advances on human health, agriculture, industry, and the environment will increasingly depend upon the skills of chemical engineers who have a strong understanding of the life sciences. Employment opportunities for students in the Bioprocessing and Biomolecular Engineering Option are thus expected to be very good. There are currently over 1200 smaller biotechnology companies in the U.S., in addition to a number of very large pharmaceutical companies. And many traditional chemical companies are now developing significant "life sciences" programs. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) estimates that 15-20% of all chemical engineering graduates are currently employed in biotechnology and biopharmaceutical related industries.</p>
<p>FROM PENN STATE CHEM ENG. WEBSITE.
i find this option interesting.</p>
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<p>i lot of people are planning to be a pharmacist, the demand is just huge, why not try that?
do you agree w/ the fact that the demand for pharmacists is great?</p>
<p>Tom,
You seem angry or agitated for some reason.</p>
<p>pharmacy is another one of those fad majors. absolute garbage.</p>
<p>ChemE is the next fad major because a lot of pre-meds are doing it, but this might be less of an issue at good engineering schools that will not hesitate to flunk the pre-meds.</p>
<p>i am not angry or agitated...</p>
<hr>
<p>so in your opinion what would be a good major in engineering?</p>
<p>and i don't think a lot of pre-meds go for chem eng., i think biomed is more popular eng. major among pre-meds.
atleast thats how its in my school</p>
<p>and i don't think chem eng. is the next fad or anything coz its been in demand for a long long time.</p>
<p>still, a lot of people just enter the BME field.
the number of people in the field is going to increase greatly.</p>
<p>Holy kicking-a-dead-horse, Batman!</p>
<p>I'm a first year student at case western reserve university who's thinking about majoring in biomedical engineering. I've heard that it's hard to get jobs with solely an undergraduate BME degree. Looking at the required and recommended courses for BME majors here, it seems that completing these courses doesn't really prepare you to do any advanced engineering work in the industry. I think if your'e going to major in bioengineering or anything of that sort, it's better to focus your biomedical studies with a more traditional type of engineering, such as electrical, mechanical, etc. Or maybe even business. A lone undergraduate BME degree really doesn't fulfill any strong demand, because medical and healthcare firms are looking for mostly specialized workers. For example, if you did BME with emphasis on electrical engineering, you could help design biotechnology or healthcare equipment. The key is to fulfill a demand and make yourself useful.</p>
<p>just thought i’d provide a data point from someone who’s been working for a while. i graduated from Cal with B.S. in EECS in 2002. i wanted to do BioMEMS, but found it hard to find almost any job at all… maybe it was combination of being a little idealistic and wanting to find something i really wanted to do and avoid doing something else and getting pigeon-holed, which was advice that i had heard, and fall-out from the dot-com bust. but in any case i ended up doing not much of anything. i worked as a software system analyst for GE and doing an internship with a optical MEMS startup at night, for the most part. even did some tutoring. i decided to go back to school a couple years later in 2004, and went to UC Irvine. </p>
<p>i still had a passion for bioMEMS, so when i started my program, i talked to a professor to gain advice on whether i should change my major (to BioE), or stick with with EECS. he said basically i could go either way. if i changed to BioE, it would take an extra year of prerequisites before i could officially get into the program. i could then graduate with an M.S. without doing a thesis and look for work. if i stick with EECS, he recommended that i do a thesis so that i could emphasize in bioMEMS. i wanted to save time, so i stuck with EECS. but it turned out that i didn’t save any time, because doing research added just as much time, if not more, than a year of BioE prereqs. my thesis was in microfluidics.</p>
<p>looking for a job in 2007, i still found it hard to find a good fit for a job. it took a 6 months of looking, and i ended up as a MEMS test engineer at an aerospace company. i worked on accelerometers mostly. but i wasn’t happy there with either the work or the environment, and switched jobs. i had been keeping my eye out and applying to biomedical device-related positions, but never had any luck. i went back to Cal, this time as a staff engineer, working under a professor fabricating RF MEMS. i’ve been there ever since, and now i’m still looking for a job in the biomedical device industry. i came close to getting one with a late-stage start up earlier this year. i went through a phone interview and on-site interview. i heard that they liked me, and called my references. i spoke to my references and they said they gave me good recommendations for the job. but in the end they gave to job to someone else that had 1) more industry/manufacturing experience, and 2) more experience with plastics and chemistry.</p>
<p>to be honest, throughout all these years since graduating with EECS from Cal, there have been many, many job openings that i liked and applied for, but which listed BioE and MechE as their preferred qualifications. each time i saw that i kicked myself for sticking with EECS.</p>
<p>long story short, i’ve had a hard time getting into the biomedical device industry as an EECS major. since i’m hearing that BioE is not any better, i guess mechanical would’ve been the best path to take (for me).</p>
<p>i just noticed that this is quite an old thread! thing might be better for BioE grads now? i think BioE has better recognition in the industry as a major, and curriculums are being fleshed out more.</p>
<p>I’m a first semester Junior at a mediocre state university majoring in Biomedical Engineering.
I want to work with biomechanics in an industrial envrionment and after reading this thread it seems like getting a mechanical engineering degree would’ve been a better choice. </p>
<p>While there’s still time to take all the ME courses in three semesters…i’d have to cram 3 19 credit hours semesters…not sure if I should stick to BE or switch to ME at this point.</p>
<p>Bioengineering may be popular with students who cannot decide between engineering and pre-med (other engineering majors, except possibly chemical, are fairly difficult to squeeze in the pre-med courses around). But it does not seem to do well in career surveys of graduates (though better than biology).</p>