Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

Degree Requirements

Prior to satisfactory completion of the entire preparatory program, no course may be taken toward the fulfillment of the graduate degree program without prior written permission of the student's advisor.

The graduate program consists of 30 credit hours of approved courses. These credits are distributed as follows:

  • Core courses (12 credits)
    • BIO 624 Foundations of Biomedical Physiology (3 credits)
    • BME 553 Cell and Tissue Biology (3 credits)
    • BME 570 Biomedical Signal Processing (3 credits)
    • One selected from the following (“key elective”):
      • Biomaterials (BME 655, 3 credits)
      • Medical Imaging (BME 659, 3 credits)
      • Biomechanical Engineering (BME 651, 3 credits)

Students who have had any of the core subjects as part of a previous degree program will substitute an elective, subject to advisor approval, for the required course.  Students will select either the thesis or design track, as described below.

The three core courses build the necessary foundation for the program in biomedical engineering.  The key elective courses represent several of the specialization fields found traditionally within the discipline of biomedical engineering.  These three specific areas were selected based on the expertise available from the participating faculty at CSU and The Cleveland Clinic.  The key elective course is selected by the student according to his/her career interest and will most likely complement the student’s background.  For example, a BS chemical engineering student is likely to select  Biomaterials or Biomechanical Engineering; a student with a BS in electrical or computer engineering may be likely to select Medical Imaging.

Thesis Track
This option is for the student who wants extensive research experience and a focus within a particular field.  Students who plan to enter the doctoral program in Applied Biomedical Engineering should select this track.  The requirements are:

  • Thesis credits (9). The student plans and completes a research project, which may lead to publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, under the direction of a faculty advisor.
  • Electives (9 credits)

Design Track
This option is for the student who wants to apply engineering skills to the design of a biomedical process or product that may have direct benefit to health-care and/or the health-care industry.  This option is especially appropriate for those who will seek industrial employment directly after completing the master’s program and/or are interested in starting their own business.  The requirements are:

  • BME 658 Medical Device Design (3 credits);  lecture-style course.  Students are presented with a problem in which they will modify or develop a simple biomedical device.  Students are guided through the steps of the design process as they work in teams to solve the assigned problem.  Topics include the FDA regulatory process for biomedical devices, intellectual property, and the  design process.  An example of a potential problem to be assigned to the class is the development of an extremely low-cost method for glucose measurements that can be used in third-world societies. 
  • BME 674 Biomedical Design Project I  (3 credits) and BME 675 Biomedical Design Project II (3 credits).  During this two-semester sequence, students will work in teams to identify a specific problem related to health-care; design a device or process to solve this problem; and prepare a business case for their design.  Each student team will be matched with an engineering mentor from either the Medical Device Solutions Department at the Cleveland Clinic, or from one of the biomedical device companies in the Cleveland area.   These mentors will pose some specific problems to the students, and perhaps some preliminary solution strategies.  The student teams will then analyze various solution strategies, and develop and design their own strategy.  Through the two-course sequence, each student team will develop a formal proposal and business plan for their design, and where possible, will either do computer simulations or actually build a prototype of the device or process. The students will then test their design and modify as necessary.
  • MLR 543 Entrepreneurship (3 credits) Students will explore the business-formation process, and the management and operation of new/smaller enterprises both within and apart from existing ventures. Students are required to develop a written business-venture plan. It is expected that students will be enrolled in MLR 543 simultaneously with BME 674.   This will allow the students to use their biomedical device project in BME 674 to be the subject of the business plan written for MLR 543.   Students without background in business require permission of the MLR department chair to enroll in MLR 543. The department chair’s letter of support for this program is given in Appendix D.  In the future, CHM 597 Science and Entrepreneurship can be an alternative for students lacking the necessary background for MLR 543.
  • Electives (6 credits)

Students must achieve at least a 3.00 grade-point average to graduate. Thesis students must submit a thesis to their graduate committee following the Thesis and Dissertation Format Guidelines available from the Graduate College Office, Fenn Tower, Room 1111. Acceptance of the thesis by the graduate committee and passing an oral defense of the thesis are required. Non-thesis students must prepare and present a formal report of their research.