Going into Bioengineering Field as an EE

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>So I'll be a junior EE major. This summer, I had an internship that I liked, but not a ton, working on designing HMIs for power plants. After it ended, I took some time to seriously think about what I want to do with my life. Here's what I've been thinking:</p>

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<li><p>My internship didn't really utilize the EE knowledge I have, so I'm still not 100% sure about what I'll do as an EE and if I'll like it. The only aspect of EE I've truly enjoyed in school so far is digital logic/computer stuff, not the semiconductor/physics side.</p></li>
<li><p>I think I might enjoy doing something with BioE. I really want a job in a field I have a passion for, and I just don't have a passion for the fields that utilize EE that I know of (I can't get excited about helping automate a power plant or making a computer a little faster). I think working with making new medical devices would be cool. Reading about nutrition and health really interest me, and I would be happy contributing to the well-being of humans. Science-wise, I enjoy chem and bio, not physics, and this would cater to that as well.</p></li>
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<p>Is this enough reason to start taking some BioE classes? I could go for a BioE minor if I stayed for an extra semester. Should I try to help BioE professors with research this semester if they need it? I haven't taken any bio classes since AP Bio in high school, so I'm wary to jump into this without some advice. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Usually you have to go to grad school from the EE major to get anywhere in BME because the field is getting a bit saturated and its growth is far from explosive.
Definitely do research and take a few classes though. There’s a lot of place of EEs in BME but it’s a small field with steady but not explosive growth.</p>

3

<p>Yeah, I was just reading about how the field is pretty small and saturated. But if it’s what I enjoy doing, I think I can make myself stand out. I’ll just have to see how I like it first. I just hope doing BioE research and taking BioE classes doesn’t hurt my chances of getting an EE job in case I can’t find a BioE job.</p>

4

<p>It won’t hurt too much. You do have some non-BioE internships, after all.
But you really can’t get anywhere without at least a Masters. I know quite a few very talented people in just my university that want to go into the biomed field, and even they don’t try to do it without a graduate degree.
Focus some effort on being a competitive grad school applicant.</p>