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Biomolecular Science & Engineering

Biomaterials & Bioengineering



Undergraduate Study


Curriculum and Course Guide | Concentrations | Minors | To Apply | Seminars & Lectures

 

What is Bioengineering? What are Biomaterials?

For career potential, few vocations offer the range available to chemical engineers. Chemical engineers use chemistry to solve problems by applying chemical engineering knowledge and technology to improve the lives of people everywhere. Materials engineers use MS&E to do the same thing but the materials tend to be solids rather than liquids. When chemical engineering or materials engineering involves biological materials or other materials in a biological situation we call the materials Biomaterials and the field is simply Bioengineering. So when a chemical engineer is working in the health sciences, he or she is a bioengineer. Think of some biomaterials. Bone, tissue, teeth, hair, skin… All these are biomaterials. Think of bioengineering. Drug delivery, tissue engineering, hip implants, knee replacements, new teeth…. These topics are all part of our field:Biomaterials & Bioengineering.

Remember that with an accredited chemical engineering degree you’ll enjoy the full spectrum of career choices in various research areas and industries world-wide. You’ll be immediately employable or you can head off to Grad School.

Among the types of challenges chemical engineers face every day in practice are:

  • Manufacturing pharmaceuticals and related chemicals
  • Pioneering of new medicines, prostheses and artificial organs, and designing treatment techniques and diagnostics

But we are also:

  • Development of new methods for enhancing food production and quality
  • Development of novel technologies for environmental preservation and remediation
  • Production and processing of sustainable energy sources, including fuel cells, biomass, and fossil fuels

Ask a biomaterials scientist:

What shall we use for a hip implant? I want it to last more than 10 years! Are nanoparticles safe? Are they really revolutionizing drug delivery? Why can’t we make other bone replacements more reliably?

Everyone has a stake in finding answers to these questions.