<p>I have recently been reconsidering my choice to become a Bioengineering major here at Pitt. From what I have been reading about the future of BME as a major, it seems that most BME companies would rather hire Chemical Engineers or EEs for engineer tasks based on the view that:
"It's easier to teach an engineer biology than to teach engineering to a biologist."
Now I don't know if this is true or not. There is only 3 main Bio courses in Pitt's Bioengineering curriculum. But can anyone confirm that this is true?
I might pursue a ChemE degree with a few classes in the biological sciences/bioengineering.</p>
<p>My opinion is that the BME major is too new and needs a little bit more time to mature before it finds mainstream success. Of course if you attend a program already with an established reputation this won't be a problem.</p>
<p>I think it would be a lot safer to pursue ChemE as an under graduate, supplement your education with Bio/BioE courses and pursue BME in graduate school.</p>
<p>This way you are still very versatile in terms of job opportunities and you can still go to graduate school for BME. Also, most BME courses/degrees are made up of ChemE/MechE courses that are modified for "BME students".</p>
<p>Since BME is a new eng. major in the undergraduate level its better to major in Chem E.
Besides the starting salary is one of the highest for Chem E, its around 50-60k.</p>
<p>''From what I have been reading about the future of BME as a major, it seems that most BME companies would rather hire Chemical Engineers or EEs for engineer tasks based on the view that''</p>
<p>the main reason for hiring EEs and Chem E over BMEs is because BME is a new degree in the undergraduate level. Most colleges didn't have a BME program until the 90s and 2000s decade.
Since you are in U Pitt, I suggest that you major in Chem E or some other Eng. major.</p>
<p>these are some of the sub-fields of bioengineering/BME, and it shows which eng. major to take to enter the field:</p>
<p>1) Electrical Engineering - for students wishing to study the design and development of medical devices, signal processing, and medical imaging. </p>
<p>2) Chemical Engineering - for studies of transport within physiological systems, drug delivery, pharmacology and development of engineered tissues. </p>
<p>3) Mechanical Engineering - for studies of the mechanics of the human body in health and disease and applications to medical devices and orthopedics. </p>
<p>4) Materials E - for studies of biomaterials that are designed to interact with living tissues at the cellular and molecular level and tailored to affect tissues in a prescribed manner</p>
<p>so, you could, basically, major in EE, ME, Chem E, or Mat E and minor in BME/Bio E.</p>