Biomedical Engineering PhD
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Degree Awarded: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 90.0
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 14.0501
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 17-2031
About the Program
The curriculum develops graduates who can identify and address unmet clinical, diagnostic, and healthcare needs by using their knowledge of modern theories, engineering systems, and mathematical and engineering tools. Biomedical engineers require the analytical tools and broad knowledge of modern engineering and science, fundamental understanding of the biological or physiological system, and familiarity with recent technological breakthroughs.
Additional Information
Natalia Broz
Associate Director for Graduate Programs
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Email: njb33@drexel.edu
Carolyn Riley
Associate Director of Professional Programs
215-895-2215
Email: cr63@drexel.edu
Andres Kriete, PhD
Associate Director for Graduate Studies
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Email: ak3652@drexel.edu
For more information, visit the the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems website.
Degree Requirements
To be awarded the PhD degree, students must complete 90.0 required credits and fulfill the one-year residency requirement.
The following milestones have to be satisfied during the course of the program:
- Students must successfully pass the candidacy examination.
- Students must submit a PhD dissertation proposal and successfully defend it.
- Students must write a dissertation and successfully pass final oral defense.
Post-Baccalaureate Requirements and Post-Master's Requirements
Both post-baccalaureate and post-master's students are admitted into the doctoral program in Biomedical Engineering but have slightly differing sets of requirements.
For post-master’s students, 45.0 of the credits that they earned toward their master’s degree may be applied toward the PhD. If coming from the master’s program in Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University, those courses they took would apply. For non-Drexel students who have completed their master’s elsewhere, there may be exceptions made. If these students believe that they have covered the material of the required courses in another program, they must show evidence of such material and obtain a formal waiver of this requirement from the graduate advisor.
For post-baccalaureate students, students must complete a minimum of 90.0 credits and a research thesis. These 90.0 credits include the core courses required by Drexel’s MS in Biomedical Engineering.
| Core Courses | ||
| BMES 501 | Medical Sciences I | 3.0 |
| BMES 502 | Medical Sciences II | 3.0 |
| BMES 864 | Seminar | 0.0 |
| BMES 870 | Graduate Research Talks (must be taken 9 times) * | 9.0 |
| Modeling-Intensive Courses: Select two | 6.0 | |
| Biological Control Systems | ||
| Transport Phenomena in Living Systems I | ||
| Biosimulation I | ||
| Biosimulation II | ||
| Mathematical Modeling of Cellular Behavior | ||
| Biocomputational Modeling and Simulation | ||
| Neural Signals | ||
| Additional Courses ** | ||
| BMES 510 | Biomedical Statistics | 4.0 |
| BMES 538 | Biomedical Ethics and Law | 3.0 |
| BMES 546 | Biocomputational Languages | 4.0 |
| or BMES 550 | Advanced Biocomputational Languages | |
| BMES Electives | 10.0 | |
| Medical Sciences III | ||
| Cardiovascular Engineering | ||
| Entrepreneurship for Biomedical Engineering and Science | ||
| Experimental Design in Biomedical Research | ||
| Intermediate Biostatistics | ||
| Interpretation of Biomedical Data | ||
| Introduction to Biosensors | ||
| Pediatric Engineering I | ||
| Pediatric Engineering II | ||
| Chronobioengineering I | ||
| Chronobioengineering II | ||
| Design Thinking for Biomedical Engineers | ||
| Introduction to Product Design for Biomedical Engineers | ||
| Nano and Molecular Mechanics of Biological Materials | ||
| Quantitative Systems Biology | ||
| Genome Information Engineering | ||
| Structural Bioinformatics and Drug Design | ||
| Genomic and Sequencing Technologies | ||
| Biomedical Signal Processing | ||
| Medical Device Development | ||
| Pharmacogenomics | ||
| Biological Control Systems | ||
| Medical Imaging Systems I | ||
| Medical Imaging Systems II | ||
| Medical Imaging Systems III | ||
| Tissue Engineering I | ||
| Tissue Engineering II | ||
| Biomedical Mechanics I | ||
| Biomedical Mechanics II | ||
| Transport Phenomena in Living Systems I | ||
| Biomaterials I | ||
| Biomaterials II | ||
| Biosimulation I | ||
| Biosimulation II | ||
| Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering III | ||
| Mathematical Modeling of Cellular Behavior | ||
| Biocomputational Modeling and Simulation | ||
| Experimental Methods in Neuroengineering | ||
| Neural Signals | ||
| Principles in Neuroengineering | ||
| Neural Aspects of Posture and Locomotion I | ||
| Neural Networks | ||
| Medical Instrumentation | ||
| Medical Instrumentation II | ||
| Hospital Administration | ||
| Research | ||
| BMES 897 | Research | 48.0 |
| Total Credits | 90.0 | |
- *
PHD students in the 2nd through 4th years are required to enroll in BMES 870 for the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters (thus taking the course 9 times). Students with extenuating circumstances (e.g., study or research abroad, leave of absence) may petition the graduate advisor to waive the requirement for a given term.
- **
In addition to the required courses, post-baccalaureate PhD students must take at least 21.0 more credits in courses approved by their academic advisor. The balance may be taken as research and/or thesis/dissertation credits.
For post-master's students, 45.0 of the credits that they earned toward their Master's degree may be applied toward the PhD. If coming from the Master's program in Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University, those courses they took would apply. For non-Drexel students who have completed their master's elsewhere, there may be exceptions made. If these students believe that they have covered the material of the required courses in another program, they must show evidence of such material and obtain a formal waiver of this requirement from the Graduate Advisor.
Sample Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BMES 501 | 3.0 | BMES 502 | 3.0 | BMES 538 | 3.0 | BMES 897 | 5.0 |
| BMES 510 | 4.0 | BMES 864 | 0.0 | BMES 864 | 0.0 | BMES Elective | 4.0 |
| BMES 546 or 550 | 4.0 | Modeling-Intensive Course | 3.0 | Modeling-Intensive Course | 3.0 | ||
| BMES 864 | 0.0 | BMES Elective | 3.0 | BMES Elective | 3.0 | ||
| 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BMES 870 | 1.0 | BMES 870 | 1.0 | BMES 870 | 1.0 | VACATION | |
| BMES 897 | 8.0 | BMES 897 | 8.0 | BMES 897 | 8.0 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| BMES 870 | 1.0 | BMES 870 | 1.0 | BMES 870 | 1.0 | ||
| BMES 897 | 8.0 | BMES 897 | 8.0 | BMES 897 | 6.0 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 7 | |||||
| Total Credits 90 | |||||||
Areas of Specialization
Areas of specialization can be pursued within the Biomedical Engineering graduate program. Students can plan their own focus area that will give them strength in a particular sub-discipline. Alternatively, the student can specialize by conducting research and writing a thesis.
Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering
Biomaterials and tissue engineering is designed to provide students with advanced training in cellular and molecular biology relevant to tissue engineering and behavior of materials used in biomedical applications.
Biomedical Technology Development
Students pursuing the concentration will develop an understanding of critical regulatory, economic, and legal issues in addition to the project management skills that facilitate the development of new medical devices and positive working relationships with intellectual property lawyers, insurance companies, and the federal government. (This is a formal concentration with specific course requirements.)
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics emphasizes a systems engineering approach to provide a foundation in systems biology and pathology informatics. Students are provided with hands-on experience in the application of genomic, proteomic, and other large-scale information to biomedical engineering as well as experience in advanced computational methods used in systems biology: pathway and circuitry, feedback and control, cellular automata, sets of partial differential equations, stochastic analysis, and biostatistics.
Biomechanics and Human Performance Engineering
Biomechanics and human performance engineering is designed to meet two objectives: to acquaint students with the responses of biological tissues to mechanical loads as well as with the mechanical properties of living systems, and to provide students with the background and skills needed to create work and living environments which improve human health and enhance performance. Biomechanics and human performance also involves the study of orthopedic appliances and the broader aspect of rehabilitation engineering and the management of disability.
Biomedical Systems and Imaging
Biomedical systems and imaging focuses on the theoretical and practical issues related to machine vision, image processing and analysis, and signal processing associated with such medical applications as well biomedical instrumentation and product development.
Neuroengineering
Neuroengineering is broadly defined to include the modeling of neural and endocrine systems, neural networks, complexity in physiological systems, evolutionary influences in biological control systems, neurocontrol, neurorobotics, and neuroprosthetics.
