Colorado State University Introduces Region’s First Biomedical Engineering Master’s Degree Program

In coordination with the beginning of the fall semester on Aug. 25, Colorado State University is introducing the first master’s degree program for biomedical engineering within the Western states of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico. The program will provide students with an advanced interdisciplinary degree in a field that seeks to improve human health and the quality of life.

The Master of Engineering-Specialization in Biomedical Engineering is a one-year, professional coursework-only degree program designed to train practitioners working in the field and to allow students to take a variety of biomedical engineering classes without having to complete research or a thesis.

"Biomedical engineering is a diverse field with great potential," said Tina Rinker, assistant professor of chemical engineering and faculty member in the Biomedical Engineering Program. "Our program takes an interdisciplinary approach by combining foundation biomedical engineering classes with electives from the top-ranked Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science program. By building on Colorado State’s strengths in engineering and life sciences, this should be a very successful program, facilitating growth of the field in the state."

The Biomedical Engineering Program in the Departments of Chemical and Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State was created to address the regional and national need to educate qualified people for jobs in biomedical engineering, particularly in the areas of biomechanics and biomaterials, molecular, cellular and tissue engineering, and medical diagnostics, devices and imaging. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of biomedical engineering jobs is expected to grow more than 30 percent by 2010.

Colorado State began its interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate biomedical engineering certificate program in 2000 and has graduated 40 students to date. The new master’s degree program was created in response to high student demand to provide significant breadth and depth in biomedical engineering beyond that attainable with the certificate program.

For more information about Colorado State’s Biomedical Engineering Program, call (970) 491-1055 or visit the Web at www.engr.colostate.edu/bep.

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