2009-2010 Bulletin – PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University

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as the science departments within the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
The availability of these courses in a university
that contains a large medical
center and enjoys a basic commitment
to interdisciplinary research is important
to the quality and strength of the program.
Educational programs at all levels are
based on engineering and biological fundamentals.
From this basis, the program
branches into concentrations along three
tracks: biomechanics, cell and tissue
engineering, and biomedical imaging.
The intrinsic breadth included within
these tracks, plus a substantial elective
content, prepare bachelor’s and master’s
students to commence professional
activity in any area of biomedical engineering
or to go on to graduate school
for further studies in related fields. The
program also provides excellent preparation
for the health sciences and the
study of medicine. Graduates of the
doctoral program are prepared for
research activities at the highest level.
Areas of particular interest to Columbia
faculty include orthopaedic and musculoskeletal
biomechanics (Professors
Ateshian, Guo, Hess, Huang, Jacobs,
and Mow), cardiovascular biomechanics
(Professor Homma), cellular and tissue
engineering and artificial organs
(Professors Hung, Kam, Leonard,
H. H. Lu, Morrison, Sia, and Vunjak-
Novakovic), auditory biophysics
(Professor Olson), and biomedical
imaging (Professors Brown, Hielscher,
Hillman, DeLaPaz, Konofagou, Laine, Z.
F. Lu, Pile-Spellman, Sajda, and Smith).
Facilities
The Department of Biomedical Engineering
has been supported by University
funding, awards from the Whitaker
Foundation, and research funding from
the NIH, NSF, and numerous research
foundations. The extensive new facilities
that have recently been added both at the
Medical Center and Morningside campus
include new teaching and research
laboratories that provide students with
unusual access to contemporary research
equipment specially selected for its
relevance to biomedical engineering. An
undergraduate wet laboratory devoted
to biomechanics and cell and tissue
engineering has been added, together
with a biomedical imaging and data processing
laboratory. Each laboratory incorporates
equipment normally reserved for
advanced research and provides exceptional
access to current practices in biomedical
engineering and related sciences.
Adjacent to the new laboratories is a
lounge that serves as a meeting point for
biomedical engineering undergraduate
and graduate students.
Research facilities of the Biomedical
Engineering faculty include the Liu Ping
Laboratory for Functional Tissue Research
(Professor Mow), the Hatch MRI Research
Center (Professor Brown), the Heffner
Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (Professor
Laine), the Laboratory for Intelligent
Imaging and Neural Computing (Professor
Sajda), the Biophotonics and Optical
Radiology Laboratory (Professor Hielscher),
the Bone Bioengineering Laboratory
(Professor Guo), the Cell and Tissue
Engineering Laboratory (Professor Hung),
the Biomaterial and Interface Tissue
Engineering Laboratory (Professor Lu),
the Neurotrauma and Repair Laboratory
(Professor Morrison), the Laboratory
for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering
(Professor Vunjak-Novakovic), the Ultrasound
and Elasticity Imaging Laboratory
(Professor Konofagou), the Microscale
Biocomplexity Laboratory (Professor
Kam), the Molecular and Microscale
Bioengineering Laboratory (Professor
Sia), the Laboratory for Functional
Optical Imaging (Professor Hillman),
the Cell and Molecular Biomechanics
Laboratory (Professor Jacobs), and the
Biomechanics and Mechanotransduction
Laboratory (Professor Huang). These
laboratories are supplemented with core
facilities, including a tissue culture facility,
a histology facility, a confocal microscope,
an atomic force microscope, a 2-
photon microscope, an epifluorescence
microscope, a freezer room, biomechanics
facilities, a machine shop, and a specimen
prep room.
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
The objectives of the undergraduate
program in biomedical engineering are
as follows:
1.professional employment in areas
such as the medical device industry,
engineering consulting, biomechanics,
biomedical imaging, and biotechnology;
2.graduate studies in biomedical engineering
or related fields;
3.attendance at medical or dental school.
The undergraduate curriculum is
designed to provide broad knowledge
of the physical and engineering sciences
and their application to the solution of
biological and medical problems.
Students are strongly encouraged to
take courses in the order specified in the
course tables on pages 74–77; implications
of deviations should be discussed
with a departmental adviser before registration.
The first two years provide a
strong grounding in the physical and
chemical sciences, engineering fundamentals,
and mathematics. This background
is used to provide a unique
physical approach to the study of biological
systems. The last two years of
the undergraduate program provide
substantial exposure to modern biology
and include courses in engineering and
engineering science that extend the
work of the first two years. The program
also offers three tracks to guide students
in the choice of technical courses, while
sharing a common core curriculum. The
tracks are different from one another,
and there is great breadth within each.
These qualities allow the faculty to prepare
students for activity in all contemporary
areas of biomedical engineering.
Graduates of the program are equipped
for employment in the large industrial
sector devoted to health care, which
includes pharmaceuticals, medical
devices, artificial organs, prosthetics
and sensory aids, diagnostics, medical
instrumentation, and medical imaging.
Graduates also accept employment
in oversight organizations (FDA, NIH,
OSHA, and others), medical centers,
and research institutes. They are prepared
for graduate study in biomedical
engineering and several related areas of
engineering and the health sciences.
Students in all three tracks of the program
can meet entrance requirements
for graduate training in the various allied
health professions. No more than three
additional courses are required in any of
the tracks to satisfy entrance requirements
for most U.S. medical schools.
All biomedical engineering students
are expected to register for nontechnical
electives, both those specifically required
by the School of Engineering and
Applied Science and those needed to
meet the 27-point total of nontechnical
electives required for graduation.
SEAS 2009–2010