Answers from the Experts

A Career in Engineering

"I am a junior at high school. I write this letter to you because I would like to know more about college majors. I would like to know about a specific major I have not got information on: this major is Bioengineering. I am interested in chemistry, biology, physics, and math but I do not know what subjects do people taking this major focus on or what the major studies in general. For a long time I have been thinking on becoming a chemical engineer, but the subjects dealing with cellular biology have appealed to me the most. Could you send me some information on how could I become more familiarized with this bioengineering major?"

Responses were sent from:
The University of Vermont, Juniata College, and Ventures Scholars Program.

Member Institution and Association Answers:

From The University of Vermont:

That’s a very good and very complicated question. What I can tell you is about the Biomedical Engineering program available at the University of Vermont. The Biomedical Engineering program is a graduate program, meaning that you must complete an undergraduate degree first. The Biomedical Engineering Program is interdisciplinary and offers advanced courses in engineering, life sciences and biomedical engineering. These courses are combined with rigorous training in biomedical engineering research. The goal of this highly interdisciplinary program is to provide advanced education and research training in physiology, rehabilitation engineering, biomechanics, biomedical instrumentation systems, and in the scientific principles underlying the origination of therapeutic devices and processes. Undergraduate biomedical engineering options in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, and cooperative efforts with UVM's College of Medicine and biomedical engineering industries further enhance the biomedical education and research environment at UVM.

Devin Harmon
Assistant Director of Admissions
The University of Vermont
194 South Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05401
Phone: (802) 656-4624
Fax: (802) 656-4663
E-mail: Devin.Harmon@uvm.edu
web: http://www.uvm.edu

From Juniata College:

The Chemistry, Biology and Engineering chairs at Juniata seem to agree that Bio-Engineering is something you should pursue in graduate school, with an undergraduate degree that incorporates Mathematics, biology, Chemistry and Physics/Engineering. That being said, if you have your heart set on an undergraduate degree in Bio-Engineering, Juniata offers a cooperative program with Pennsylvania State University that would allow you to complete two degrees in 5 years! We have similar programs that would allow you to pursue Bachelors degrees in Chemical Engineering.

Heather R. Doyle
Admission Counselor
Multicultural Recruitment
Juniata College
Huntingdon, PA
(814)641-3430
doyleh@juniata.edu

From Ventures Scholars Program:

A Career in Biomedical Engineering
http://www.bmes.org/careers.asp
http://129.94.131.101/embs/docs/careerguide.pdf  (PDF File)

American Society of Microbiology
http://www.asm.org/Education/index.asp?bid=1208

Site on Cell Biology
http://www.geocities.com/bunni20004/CellBiology

Carmen Andoh
Coordinator
Ventures Scholars Program
c/o Ventures In Education, Inc.
15 Maiden Lane, Suite 200
New York, NY 10038
Phone: 212-566-2522 ext. 103
Email: candoh@ventures.org
Fax: 212-566-2536
Web: www.venturescholar.org