Biomedical engineering is the application of engineering skills, principles, and tools to problems in biology and medicine. The undergraduate program at Louisiana Tech University combines the practical aspects of engineering with biology and medicine to produce an engineer capable of solving special kinds of problems. Biomedical engineers are alert and sensitive to the challenges of designing and using products for living systems and of studying these systems. The program provides medical and biological instruction in typical pre-medical courses (e.g., general biology, anatomy, physiology, organic chemistry) and engineering instruction in fundamental engineering courses. The biological training is integrated with the engineering training by means of a series of coordinated biomedical engineering courses taught at the sophomore, junior, and senior academic levels. In order to obtain depth and focus in technical abilities, students select one of the following concentrations: chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer information, micro-systems, or pre-medicine.
Internships are available in both clinical and industrial environments. Interns experience breadth of interactions, procedures, and technology, and they complete significant engineering projects.
Biomedical engineers work in many rewarding areas: for example, design and construction of artificial internal organs; design and application of the electronics and instrumentation associated with hospital operating rooms, intensive care units, and automated clinical laboratories; development and instrumentation of biomedical computer systems; functional rehabilitation of disabled persons through appropriate application and development of technology; clinical engineering; biomedical device field engineer; aerospace medicine and life science; basic research using engineering analysis principles aimed at understanding the basic mechanisms that regulate the human body. Employment opportunities for biomedical engineers exist in hospitals, rehabilitation engineering centers, national research foundations, governmental research institutions and agencies (e.g., NASA and FDA), companies in the fields of chemical products, pharmaceutical, hospital products, medical instrumentation and computers, orthopedic implants, and aerospace life science companies. Also, entrepreneurial activity in the health-related industries is prospering. Innovative medical and health care products can be manufactured and marketed by resourceful biomedical engineers. In industry, Louisiana Tech biomedical engineering graduates are responsible for manufacturing, quality control, research and development, management, and marketing.
Upon or before graduation, students may complete the basic requirements necessary for admission to medical school. The program provides a strong quantitative background for graduates who wish to pursue a future medical career. Each graduate will also be adequately prepared to continue his/her education at the graduate level by pursuing a Master of Science and/or the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biomedical Engineering. Continued professional education in business, law, and the basic medical sciences is also possible.