<p>I'm going to Rice next year, and I'm really uncertain what to major in. I want to be a bioengineer. Biomedical engineering (i.e. building medical devices and prostheses) doesn't interest me as much; I want my career to be centered around things like synthetic biology, cell engineering, tissue engineering, etc. I know that to do so I will have to go to graduate school and possibly get a PhD. My first thought was to major in bioengineering, but then I heard from several people that this would be inferior when applying for postgraduate education because it makes you somewhat of a dilettante in several areas (biology, electrical engineering, etc.) rather than giving you real knowledge in one. Now I'm considering chemical engineering, but I don't think this would emphasize biology enough...do you guys have any advice?</p>
<p>Grad study in the Bioengineering Dept. at Rice has 5 tracks: 1.Translational Bioengineering Cancer Research (TBCR); 2. Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Engineering (MCTE); 3. Bioimaging and Optics (BIO); 4. Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering (BBTE), and
5. Computational and Theoretical Bioengineering (CTBE). So, it seems that not everything is about building medical devices and prostheses. Check the research centers in that dept. too—it seems like there’s plenty of activity in the areas that interest you. Since there are some joint programs with local medical centers, you probably would have some pretty good research opportunities in those areas, too.</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant to say that I am going to Rice <em>this</em> year, as an undergraduate. I probably won’t go to graduate school at Rice. And thanks for the information, zapfino, but that really doesn’t give me any insight into what I should major in…</p>
<p>Well, even as an undergrad, the dept. still must offer coursework and research opportunities in those areas that interest you. Certainly, there are faculty in the areas of your interests. Why don’t you email them and ask them about your concerns directly.</p>
<p>If it’s engineering you’re wanting to go into definitely do an engineering major. There’s lots of stuff like thermodynamics, mass transport, and mechanics that you will need for grad school in engineering but won’t get with a more biology-based degree. Honestly I would go for chemical engineering as an undergrad. Sure there won’t be much, if any biology, but you can always to go a grad program in chemical and biomolecular engineering. Biomedical engineering is going to be heavily mechanics and electrical based.</p>
<p>I must warn you that it’s dangerous to define your career in terms of application, instead of methods. For example, synthetic biology and tissue engineering might sound similar, but they’re pretty different. Synthetic biology has a lot in common with molecular biology - e.g. Dr. Craig Venter, the guy who just made a synthetic genome and stuck in in an empty bacterium, is a geneticist by training and worked on genetics projects (like the human genome project) before his work on synthetic biology. Tissue engineering, however, ismuch more engineering-based. The cell is largely a black box - mechanical force in, observed cell response out. It involves figuring out mechanical and electrical properties of scaffolding to get stem cells to do what you want them to. So figure out what you like doing first (chemistry? physics?) and don’t worry about the application until later on down the road.</p>
<p>I know of chemical engineering professors who study bacteria and biofilm formation, model active sites in enzymes, and study liposomes for drug delivery. It’s definitely possible to become very biology-oriented with a chemical engineering degree and I think that would be in your best interests.</p>
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I understand that they’re different, it’s just that both of those interest me. Thanks for your advice on chemical engineering. With that degree I would be able to go on to work in either field, right? Also, should I consider getting a minor in biology or something?</p>