2011-2012 Bulletin – PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University

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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 biosignals and biomedical imaging
(Professors 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 biosignals and 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 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 Ultra- sound
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), the
Nanobiotechnology and Synthetic
Biology Laboratory (Professor Hess).
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 74–75;
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.
First and Second Years
As outlined in this bulletin, in the first
two years all engineering students are
expected to complete a sequence
engineering 2011–2012