Bioengineering (or biomedical?) / Materials Science and Engineering / Chemical Engineering???

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hello!
Can someone please answer any of these questions?

I originally thought I’d major in Bioengineering, but I hear that students in this field learn a little bit of everything and nothing about one specific area (which puts them at a disadvantage, since they have less expertise than ChemE’s and MechE’s).
--------Is this true for students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree in engineering?

If I majored in this field, I’d want to go into research - centered around fighting diseases, cancers, and such. I’m not as interested in the medical devices / artificial organs / tissue generation.
--------Are my interests well suited for this field?

Although the Bureau of Labor Stats says that the job oulook for bioengineers is great - faster growth than that of most other jobs’, are the job prospects really that great in the current market? I’ve heard of many who’ve graduated with a BS/BE in Bioeng who are struggling to find jobs and was wondering if generally, this is the case.
--------Is the outlook poor for those w/a bachelors? For those with grad school education who’re in research?
--------Can anyone who’s graduated with a bachelor’s in bioeng share their experiences about the job market?

I’m also extremely interested in Material Science and Engineering, but my parents are nervous about my choice, since they haven’t heard much about the field. I’m interested in nanotech, biomaterials, drug delivery, etc. The college offering me the best aid package (half tuition) don’t offer Material science as a major - only as a minor.
--------How are the job prospects for Materials Scientists?
--------If I’m going into research, should I seek graduate school education? Is it unwise to major in another related (bioeng or chemeng) field for my undergraduate studies, then specialize in materials for a masters or PhD, or is there no harm in not initially majoring in the field I’d like to pursue?

What do chemical engineers do? I may be pigeonholing their work, but when I think of ChemE’s I think pumps, manufacturing, modelling, and processing of goods, which doesn’t sound too interesting to me. Although I know of some Chemical Engineers who do pharmaceutical work, I’d like to know what jobs are most available for ChemE’s.

2

Sure, yeah. You can also do these things with degrees in mechanical engineering or chemical engineering, in addition to bioE and BME.

One thing to always consider when you hear about fast-growing fields is the actual number of jobs. Using random numbers for the sake of illustration, if there are a total of 100 jobs in Field A and 50 new jobs are created in that area next year, it’s grown 50%. If there are 10,000 jobs in Field B and 500 new jobs are created in that area next year, it has grown 5%. Even though Field A is ostensibly growing at a much faster rate, it will be harder to find a job in that area since the number of jobs is still incredibly low. In this way, the growth rate on its own can be misleading.

This seems to be the case with BME/BioE, which is still a relatively new and small field. Moreover, most jobs in the field tend to go to those from traditional engineering majors–ME, EE, ChemE. You don’t need a BME/BioE degree to work in BME or BioE.

The outlook is significantly better, probably on par with other areas, after a Master’s (and certainly after a PhD).

If you want to do research, then you need to go to graduate school. You will never do any significant, substantial research work with a Bachelor’s degree. In academia, this means a PhD. In industry, it means a thesis-based MS or a PhD–depending on exactly what your goal is, the PhD may be necessary.