Department of Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineering combines engineering expertise with physical, chemical and mathematical sciences to solve problems in biology, medicine, behavior and health. Biomedical engineers are employed by pharmaceutical industries, government agencies, biomedical product companies, universities, medical center labs and emerging high-tech industries.

About the Department

Biomedical engineering at Ohio State started in 1971 as a center within the Department of Electrical Engineering as a result of an award from the National Science Foundation. Professor Herman Weed, who also is an Ohio State alumnus, pioneered the center and developed a graduate program to address the applications of engineering to health care and agriculture and to address the basic science approach in physiology, engineering and physics.

The Biomedical Engineering Center’s connections to five Ohio State colleges — Engineering, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Arts and Sciences and Agriculture — allowed the department to grow during the succeeding 34 years. The center awarded its first master’s degree in 1975 and doctoral degree in 1977. In 1988, it became an independent academic unit within the College of Engineering. Eventually, interdisciplinary research and teaching were aided by 60 participating faculty members from 29 departments in nine colleges.

In November 2005, the Ohio State University Board of Trustees approved the center’s departmental status within the College of Engineering.

Research

Biomedical engineering research at Ohio State covers a great spectrum of technology and medical applications. Today, 16 scientists serve as core faculty of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and more than 60 researchers from throughout the university collaborate to provide extensive resources. Their research and teaching covers three closely related areas: