Department of Biomedical Engineering

Mission: To promote learning and discovery that integrate engineering and life sciences for the advancement of human health.

 

Herman Weed records a radio broadcast in a photo from the 1970s.
Herman Weed (left) served as the first director of the Biomedical Engineering Center in 1971

Biomedical engineering was officially founded as a department in 2006, but traces its beginnings to 1971 as a center within the Department of Electrical Engineering focused on interdisciplinary research and graduate education. The total number of biomedical faculty has grown to 32, with over 50 affiliated graduate faculty.

Faculty members are leading/key contributors to prestigious research programs including the Spine Research Institute, the Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, the James Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cell-Based Therapies.

The undergraduate degree program completed its second ABET Accreditation in 2017 and graduates 80 students per year. The 2019-20 class is the most academically accomplished in program history.

The student-led Biomedical Engineering Society chapter is one of the largest in the nation and includes over 150 students. Their profound work has led them to receive national BMES awards for excellent work in industry partnerships and mentoring programs.

The BME Graduate Student Association hosts an annual BME Industry Symposium on campus that attracts growing companies and provides graduate students with resources for obtaining industry careers.

 

Samir Ghadiali, Department Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering (headshot)
"The Department of Biomedical Engineering collaborates closely with the College of Medicine, which helps us translate our technology to patients in a clinical environment. The Biomedical and Materials Engineering Complex will open up a world of opportunity, increasing access to our engineering collaborators especially with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The disease-based research neighborhoods will bring together engineers across disciplines to develop technologies that will be used in the Wexner Medical Center and beyond to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.

For undergraduates, the location on central campus will be transformative. With the Fisher College of Business across the street, there will be more opportunities for entrepreneurial collaboration. And with education on display in the atrium, the general public can see what biomedical engineering is all about.

The building is so well designed, with attractive spaces that people will naturally want to use. That will lead to more coffee cup conversations and collaborations."

Department Chair Samir Ghadiali

Learn more about the Department of Biomedical Engineering by visiting their website.