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What is Biomedical Engineering (BME)?

Biomedical engineering is the application of the concepts and methods of the physical and engineering sciences to biology and medicine. By its nature this field is inherently transdisciplinary. Biomedical engineering integrates physical, chemical, mathematical, and computational sciences and engineering principles to study biology and medicine with an end goal of improving health care.

Biomedical engineers bridge the gap between technology and medicine or biology.

Career Opportunities

Employment opportunities in Australia and overseas include hospitals, biotechnology companies, medical equipment manufacturers, research institutes, regulatory authorities (eg. FDA) and government health departments.

Program Structure

For the first time, in 2003 The University of Queensland is offering a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering. Students entering engineering in 2003 can undertake a 5-year program leading to a BE/M.E. (Biomedical). This is an exciting program aimed at producing graduates with a competitive edge who are the specialist biomedical engineers. In this program, students will complete their BE in either Electrical, or Computer Systems Engineering on their way to their Masters degree. BME can also be undertaken as a minor as part of a 4 year Bachelor of Engineering degree majoring in any of the above disciplines.

Studies associated with Electrical or Computer Systems Engineering focus on the technology associated with hospital equipment – medical imaging and instrumentation.

Students in all Biomedical Engineering streams undertake some studies in life sciences, mainly anatomy and physiology.

For more information contact the program director:

Prof. Stuart Crozier (stuart@itee.uq.edu.au)

ph 3365-7098

Example plan – BE Elect. Eng.(major)/ BME (minor) – see Elect. Eng. Plan rules for EE major requirements

Example Electrical/Biomedical Engineering plan for students entering in 2003
Year 1 Semester 1	Intro to Elec Engineering ELEC1000	Intro to SW Engineering COMP1500	Professional Engineering ENGG1000	Maths MATH1050 or MATH1051
Year 1 Semester 2	Intro to Comp Engineering COMP1300	Free Elective or MATH1051	BME Elective or PHYS1180	Maths MATH1052
Year 2 Semester 1	Physics PHYS1002	Electro-mechanics & Electronics ELEC2003	Fund of Digital Systems COMP2100	Maths MATH2000
Year 2 Semester 2	Team Project I ELEC2800	Circuits, Signals and Systems ELEC2004	BME Elective	Maths MATH2010/STAT2202
Year 3 Semester 1	EE Elective	EE Elective	BME Elective	EE Elective
Year 3 Semester 2	Team Project II ELEC3800	EE Elective	BME Elective	EE Elective
Year 4 Semester 1	Thesis ELEC4801	EE Elective	BME Elective	EE Elective
Year 4 Semester 2	Thesis ELEC4801	Project Management ELEC4800	BME Elective	EE Elective

For Computer Systems Engineering please see CSE course plan.

Biomedical Engineering Minor (BME Elective Slots)

Students enrolled in Computer Systems Engineering or Electrical Engineering may apply to enrol in the minor stream of Biomedical Engineering. Students must complete #6 from Part A, #2 from Part B and #4 from Part C—

Part A

ELEC4401 2 Biomedical Instrumentation

ELEC4601 2 Biomedical Imaging

ELEC4602 2 Magnetic Resonance Technology

Part B

COMP2500 2 Programming in the Large

COMP3201 2 Computer Graphics

COMP3202 2 Modelling & Visualisation

COMP3300 2 Operating Systems

ELEC3400 2 Electronic Circuits

ELEC3600 2 Signal & Image Processing I

Part C

BIOL1014 2 Molecular & Microbial Biology

BIOL1015 2 Human Biology

BIOM2007 2 Human Physiology

BIOM2008 2 Integrative Physiology

BIOM2019 2 Human Anatomy

HMST1900 2 Biophysical Foundations of Human Movement

CHEM1013 2 Chemistry IB

ENGG1020 2 Physics & Engineering of Materials

MMME4303 2 Advanced Materials Design

Recommended study plan

5-year BE/ME (Biomed) complete the 4-year program above and the requirements listed below for the ME program.

Note that ME students with an appropriate background (eg a 4-year degree in an approved field of engineering from a recognised university) may apply for up to #8 of credit in which case the student is required to complete a further #16 for the ME. That is, for UQ students completing an Electrical or Computer Systems Engineering BE with a Biomedical Minor, the Masters program is ONE year full-time. Contact stuart@itee.uq.edu.au for example study plans.

GCEng/GDipEng/ME – Biomedical Engineering programs

A student is required to obtain –

For the GCEng, total of #8, comprising of up to #6 from Part A and up to #4 from Part B and ENGG7800

For the GDipEng, total of #16, comprising of up to #6 from Part A, up to #8 from Part B, at least #4 from Part C, and #4 from Part E

For the ME, total of #24, comprising of up to #6 from Part A, up to #8 from Part B, #10 from Part C, up to #6 from Part D, and #8 of Part E

Part A

COMP7100 2 Digital System Design I

COMP7302 2 Systems Interface Programming

COMS7100 2 Introduction to Communications

COMS7201 2 Computer Networks I

ELEC7002 2 Special Topics in Electrical Engineering 7A

ELEC7101 2 Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Fields & Waves

ELEC7201 2 Principles of Semiconductor Devices

ELEC7401 2 Electronic Circuits

ELEC7601 2 Signal & Image Processing I

METR7200 2 Introduction to Control System

Part B

COMP7101 2 Digital System Design II

COMP7102 2 Computer System Design Project

COMP7301 2 Distributed Computing

COMP7304 2 Embedded System Design

COMP7700 2 Machine Learning

COMS7102 2 Optical Communication System

COMS7105 2 Advanced Digital Communications

COMS7200 2 Computer Networks II

COMS7400 2 Photonic Devices & Applications

ELEC7003 2 Special Topics in Electrical Engineering 7B

ELEC7202 2 Advanced VLSI Device Physics & Technology

ELEC7402 2 Advanced Electronic & Power Electronics Design

ELEC7602 2 Signal & Image Processing II

ELEC7700 2 Robotics

METR7201 2 Advanced Control

Part C

ELEC7403 2 Biomedical Instrumentation

ELEC7606 2 Biomedical Imaging

ELEC7607 2 Magnetic Resonance Technology

ELEC7901⁶ 2 Advanced Medical Device Engineering

ELEC7902⁶ 2 Clinical Biomedical Engineering)

Part D

COMP7000 2 Special Topics in Computer Science 7A

COMP7001 2 Special Topics in Computer Science 7B

COMP7002 2 Advanced Topics in Computer Systems Engineering

COMP7003 2 Advanced Topics in Computer Hardware I

COMP7004 2 Advanced Topics in Computer Hardware II

COMP7005 2 Advanced Topics in Computer Software I

COMP7006 2 Advanced Topics in Computer Software II

COMP7200 2 VLSI Systems

COMS7000 2 3G Mobile Communication System

COMS7001 2 Advanced Topics in Communications

COMS7103 2 Wireless Technology: Design & Applications

COMS7300 2 Electromagnetic Modelling

COMS7301 2 Advanced Microwave & Photonics Laboratory

ELEC7000 2 Advanced Topics in Electrical Engineering

ELEC7001 2 Fundamental Modelling for Electrical Systems

ELEC7100 2 Advanced Topics in Electromagnetics

ELEC7200 2 Advanced Topics in Photonics & Semiconductors

ELEC7400 2 Advanced Topics in Circuits

ELEC7500 2 Advanced Topics in Systems

ELEC7501 2 Systems Modelling

ELEC7600 2 Advanced Topics in Signal & Image Processing

ELEC7605 2 Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition

ELEC7900 2 Advanced Topics in Biomedical Engineering

ENGG7000 2 Systems Engineering

Part E

ENGG7800 2 Engineering Project Management

ENGG7801 2 Engineering Postgraduate Project A

[ENGG7802³ 4 Engineering Postgraduate Project B

[or

[ENGG7803¹ 4 Engineering Postgraduate Project B

[or

[ENGG7804² 4 Engineering Postgraduate Project B

ENGG7805 6 Engineering Postgraduate Project C

[ENGG7807¹ 8 Engineering Postgraduate Project D

[or

[ENGG7808² 8 Engineering Postgraduate Project D