AREAS OF SPECIALTY

UPPER DIVISION REQUIREMENTS

Areas of Specialization

Because Biomedical Engineering is defined so broadly, a degree in Biomedical Engineering can mean many different things. Specializing in a subfield of engineering can help to provide more in depth expertise in a focus area.  You have the option choose to specialize in a subfield of Biomedical Engineering through judicious selection of your upper division electives in consultation with a staff or faculty advisor.  One of the strengths of the UC Davis program is this flexibility to design your own emphasis of study. Biomedical Engineering includes a number of diverse areas of study including:

Bioinstrumentation

Development of devices used in diagnosis and treatment of disease or in biomedical research.  This area applies electronics principles and techniques and can involve computer hardware design.

Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

The study of living materials or the development of implantable synthetic materials.  In this field Biomedical Engineers design materials that are nontoxic, noncarcinogenic, and chemically and mechanically stable to last a lifetime in the human body. This area draws heavily from knowledge in the chemical sciences.

Biomechanics

This is a broad subfield that includes orthopedic/rehabilitation engineering—design of wheelchairs, prosthetics etc, and the study of mechanical forces produced by biological systems.  For example, biomechanics allows a better understanding of the fluid dynamics and forces acting on tissue in the artery, to allow design of better cardiology interventions.  This field involves more intensive study of mechanics, dynamics and thermodynamics.

Medical imaging

The visualization of living tissues for diagnosis of disease. An imaging scientist can work in areas ranging from developing instruments for imaging, to creating algorithm for three-dimensional reconstruction of imaging data, to generating new contrast agents for enhancing image quality. Depending upon the area of medical imaging of interest, this field can require more in depth study in electronics, chemistry or computer programming.

Systems Engineering

Study of basic biological and physiological processes using engineering principles. Techniques and principles from engineering are applied to understand biological systems at a fundamental level.  For example, stresses and strains are studied in cells to better understand how they propel themselves through tissues; modeling of biochemical processes allows engineers to mathematically describe chemical reactions occurring in cells, in order to predict abnormalities that may lead to development of disease.

Premedical students

If you intend to apply to medical school you will need to fulfill additional coursework to meet admissions requirements for the various medical school programs.  These courses will be in addition to the listed curricular requirements.