Biomedical Engineering

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What is biomedical engineering?

A young and rapidly growing discipline, biomedical engineering applies the methods and techniques of the engineer to the sciences of living organisms, in particular towards therapeutic ends. It concerns above all research and development, within domains such as:

- bioinformatics
- medical imaging
- processing of images and physiological images
- bioinstrumentation
- biomechanics
- biomaterials
- systemic and synthetic biology
- ...

For the 2^nd year of the bachelor, the minor option in biomedical engineering offers 30 credits specific to the introduction of the sciences of living organisms: introduction to biomedical engineering, biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, bio-instrumentation, molecular and cellular physiology, systems physiology, introduction of neurosciences.

1^st master

30 credits are devoted to disciplines specific to biomedical engineering: medical imaging, bioinformatics, biomechanics, bioinstrumentation, modeling of biological systems, and phenomena of transport in biology.

The 30 remaining credits are chosen amongst the compulsory technical courses in the other Applied Sciences programmes (electricity and electronics, computer sciences, mechanical, physics, chemistry and materials sciences). This technical training will prepare you for the orientation chosen in the 2^nd Masters.

2^nd master with Research Focus

In the final year, in addition to carrying out an end of study work in conjunction with a business or research department active in the biomedical field, you will settle on your specialisation. Optional courses are divided into 5 fields. It is also possible to do an internship within a company or a research centre.

• Imagery and Bioinstrumentation
  The application of the disciplines of electronics, signal processing, image processing and computer sciences engaged in technologies of the living organism, in particularly measuring physiological magnitudes and the scientific exploration of the brain.
• Bioinformatics and Modeling
  Introduction to the computer tools, statistics and algorithms which help to decipher and better understand the gigantic databases originating in molecular biology.
• Bioméchanics
  Application of the disciplines of physics, mechanics and digital stimulation to the world of the living organism, from the exploration of the mechanical properties of living organisms to the production of artificial prostheses.
• Chemistry and Materials sciences
  Characterisation and synthesis of materials and of their interaction with the world of living organisms.
• Biomedical engineering
  Advanced classes in emerging fields such as biomimetism, tissue engineering or synthetic biology.

Career opportunities

Biomedics is numbered amongst one of the sectors experiencing the strongest growth at the present time, particularly in research and development. A biomedical engineer is especially well prepared for an engineering profession in a company turned towards the life sciences.

Medical and clinical orientation

The hospital sector, the instrumentation and medical appliances sector (with large companies such as Siemens and Philips) and small and medium sized businesses, often specialized in a very specific niche and close to the world of research.

Biological orientation

The agrofoods sector, the biotechnologies sector, the pharmaceutical sector, which counts an important number of large companies (such as UCB and GlaxoSmithKline) and small and medium sized businesses close to the world of research.

For each of these sectors we find engineers in the professions of production, consultancy, development and research. But, in comparison with more traditional industrial sectors, the proportion of research and development engineers is broadly greater than that of production engineers. Innovation is in effect the key to the development of all the activities in biomedical engineering. It is thus above all in this sector that an engineer's biomedical education finds its fullest expression.

Because it constitutes a developing sector, biomedical engineering is also a sector in which a complementary education and the doctorate are given more value than in an engineer's traditional disciplines. We find a growing number of doctors in applied sciences in consultancy positions for the hospital sector, in positions of responsibility in the research and development departments of small and medium sized businesses and in spin-offs and start-ups.

More information here

For a general overview of the career paths connected to engineering studies, consult in addition the site http://www.ingenieur-metiers.be

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