<p>Wait..am I hearing right? I've read like two threads on this board where someone said bioengineering/biomedical engineering isn't in demand. Are you kidding? Isn't that what ALL the cancer research and STDs and everything...thats ALL biomedical research. So how would a biomedical engineer not be in demand?</p>
<p>Well it depends on how you look at the situation, on the undergrad level which I assume the others were speaking of their is not alot of opportunities w/bioE degree as compared to other engineering degrees, but that is bc from what I hear that the undergrad is too broad based. But what i intend to do is major in chemE and focus in biotech, so that way one could go to grad school for bioE or something, so that may be what you may want to do, bc those jobs that pertain to the bio research I think require higher level degrees.</p>
<p>BioE undergrad is too broad. You basically get some bio, then pick and choose the rest of your classes from EE, ME, Chemistry, cell biology and so on. But employers don't want a group jack of all trades, they want a team of specialists. So instead of hiring a bunch of BioEs to design a biosensor, they hire a biologist for the biology, an EE for circuit design and a ME to design the part. John Hopkins has the best BioE program in the country and high recruitment rates for their graduates, but they make their BioEs pick a supplemental engineering major and focus only in that instead of diversifying. BioEs at even slightly less lower ranked schools still have a tough time compared to other engineering majors. As a result, like Dbate says, many BioEs often have to go to grad school and get an MS. </p>
<p>By the way, cancer, STD and other disease research is more chemistry, biology and pure science rather than engineering.</p>
<p>OK what about artifical organs? artifical heart, kidneys, etc? Prosthetic limbs?</p>
<p>Also, how is the BME @ Duke? I am planning on going into medical school after an undergrad degree in BME.</p>
<p>Duke is ranked #2 in the nation for BME at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>Artificial organs probably are more BioE related, but there's not very many companies working on them. Much of that research is done by MS and PhD students in grad school. </p>
<p>Engineering is a good backup for med school if you can handle it. Still, there's no requirement you have to take a bio or bioE as an undergrad to get in. It might still be better to take a more traditional major like EE or ME, however, if you do go to Duke and do well in BioE there, I think you should be fine.</p>
<p>
[quote]
OK what about artifical organs? artifical heart, kidneys, etc? Prosthetic limbs?
[/quote]
Once again, you can get a team of specialists, including no BioEs in order to create this stuff.</p>
<p>just don't make the mistake i did by switching out to ChemE and hating ChemE and not being allowed to switch back in to BioE</p>
<p>Biomedical engineers are expected to have 21 percent employment growth over the projections decade, much faster than the average for all occupations. The aging of the population and the focus on health issues will drive demand for better medical devices and equipment designed by biomedical engineers. Along with the demand for more sophisticated medical equipment and procedures, an increased concern for cost-effectiveness will boost demand for biomedical engineers, particularly in pharmaceutical manufacturing and related industries. However, because of the growing interest in this field, the number of degrees granted in biomedical engineering has increased greatly. Biomedical engineers, particularly those with only a bachelor’s degree, may face competition for jobs. Unlike many other engineering specialties, a graduate degree is recommended or required for many entry-level jobs.
~U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Source:<a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm</a></p>
<p>aarosurf, do you go to UT, I plan on going there and maybe majoring in chemE, but I was wondering about the GPA stuff as I may want to go on to law or medical school could you tell me roughly the difficulty of the classes as well as the average GPA and stuff. Would it be hard to pull a 3.5+.</p>
<p>is biomed engineering a good backup for pharmacy??</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wait..am I hearing right? I've read like two threads on this board where someone said bioengineering/biomedical engineering isn't in demand. Are you kidding? Isn't that what ALL the cancer research and STDs and everything...thats ALL biomedical research. So how would a biomedical engineer not be in demand?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The answer boils down to the following points:</p>
<ul>
<li>BiomedE is in quite high demand, and that demand is projected to grow vigorously. The main problem is that the supply of BiomedE's bachelor's degree recipients is also growing extremely quickly, in fact, arguably, even faster than the demand, which is what the BLS data posted by ish718 states. Hence, the supply overwhelms the demand which allows firms to pit potential employees against each other. For example, firms can with confidence offer you a lowball salary and if you don't take it, they know they can easily find somebody else who will.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>As for why the demand has not kept up with supply, part of the reason is that BiomedE is still a relatively new and unestablished major and hence still does not have a well-established market. EE's, ME's, ChemE's - these are established degree programs that numerous industries understand and will hire. For example, a ChemE can (obviously) work in the chemical industry, but can also work in the semiconductor industry, the food processing industry, the energy industry, the biotechnology industry, etc. All of these industries understand what the chemical engineer can do for them because all of them have a long and successful history of employing chemical engineers. BiomedE does not yet have that sort of long and deep track record of success in diverse industries. In the future, they probably will. But that won't help you get a job *right now. </p>
<p>*The great bulk of the work in biomedE is still in the research and development phase. The other engineering disciplines have available to them extremely large-scale manufacturing and production processes. For example, mechanical engineers can work in the auto industry that churns out millions of cars a year in giant factories that that offer jobs aplenty for bachelor's degree mechanical engineers. Bachelor's degree EE's and ChemE's can work in huge semiconductor fabs that produce millions of microchips a year. But you don't have (I don't think) huge factories producing millions of prosthetic limbs a year. {At least, I hope we don't have that, as I hope there aren't millions of people losing limbs every year.} Most of the biomedE work is R&D oriented, where you generally need an advanced degree as Dbate said. </p>
<p>Generally speaking, at the bachelor's degree level, I think it is safer to get a traditional engineering degree (i.e. ME, ChemE, EE) and just take a few biomedE electives and (especially) to work at a BiomedE internship. With a traditional engineering degree, if nothing else, at least you can negotiate a better salary by credibly threatening to work in another industry that pays better (i.e. with a ChemE degree, you can say that you are going to take a high-paying oil refinery process engineering job) You can't really do that with a BiomedE bachelor's. There is really no other place for you to go, and companies know it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
OK what about artifical organs? artifical heart, kidneys, etc? Prosthetic limbs?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Cousins H does heart values: ME. </p>
<p>S got this to work: ME. YouTube</a> - Monkey controls a robotic arm</p>
<p>His advisor did EE, ME. uwnews.org</a> | UW computer engineer wins MacArthur Foundation 'genius' award | University of Washington News and Information</p>
<p>Cousins D does Cancer Research: Biochem</p>
<p>CMU requires all BMEs to double major in another engineering field. I think it's a good thing since it lets you focus on one aspect of bioengineering pertaining to your other engineering field of choice. Around one third to half of my friends in Materials Engineering did either a double major or minor in BME, and, for the most part, they felt it was worthwhile and helped them get jobs at biomedical companies or in either MSE or BME labs at the graduate level doing projects they were interested in.</p>
<p>"U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Biomedical engineers are expected to have 21 percent employment growth over the projections decade, much faster than the average for all occupations." But those demands have not been shown in the current market for an undergraduate. Because of being a more specialized field, there are less employers and post graduate study is needed.</p>
<p>S is a freshman and was planning to major in BioMed. He selected his major last week and decided on a different major (Systems). Last fall he sent me a list of companies recruiting is school and the type of jobs that are open for seniors and summer interns. No BioMed! Most job opens were: civil, construction, computer, consulting. Some mech and elec. I asked S to check the career center and talk to seniors in BioMed before making final major selection.</p>
<p>The BioE market depends heavily on where you live. Around here (Boston area) it is <em>huge</em>, tons of job opportunities, including quite a few at the bachelor's level. There are monoliths, startups with a single-digit number of employees, everything in between. In some other parts of the country, the market is almost nonexistent.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The BioE market depends heavily on where you live. Around here (Boston area) it is <em>huge</em>, tons of job opportunities, including quite a few at the bachelor's level. There are monoliths, startups with a single-digit number of employees, everything in between. In some other parts of the country, the market is almost nonexistent.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agree and that points to another problem with BioE: you can't really move around. If you want a job in your field, you are basically stuck in certain areas of the country.</p>
<p>Does the south have good BMED opportunities? What are some other areas with plenty of BMED jobs?</p>
<p>I agree with sakky's points.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does the south have good BMED opportunities?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Houston or other medical centered cities are your best shot.</p>