About

Biomedical engineering is an evolving discipline in engineering that draws on collaboration among engineers, physicians, and scientists to provide interdisciplinary insight into medical and biological problems. The field has developed its own knowledge base and principles that are the foundation for the academic programs designed by the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. 

The programs in biomedical engineering at Columbia (BS, MS, PhD, EngScD, and MD/PhD) prepare students to apply engineering and applied science to problems in biology, medicine, and the understanding of living systems and their behavior, and to develop biomedical systems and devices. Modern engineering encompasses sophisticated approaches to measurement, data acquisition and analysis, simulation, and systems identification. These approaches are useful in the study of individual cells, organs, entire organisms, and populations of organisms. The increasing value of mathematical models in the analysis of living systems is an important sign of the success of contemporary activity. Programs in biomedical engineering are taught by our own faculty, members of other Engineering departments, and faculty from other university divisions who have strong interests and involvement in biomedical engineering. Several of the faculty hold joint appointments in Biomedical Engineering and other University departments.

Courses

Courses offered by the Department of Biomedical Engineering are complemented by courses offered by other departments in The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and by many departments in the Faculty of Medicine, the College of Dental Medicine, and the Mailman School of Public Health, as well as the science departments within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Research Areas

Areas of particular interest to Columbia faculty include biomechanics, cellular and tissue engineering and artificial organs, auditory biophysics, and biosignals and biomedical imaging.