Mar 19, 2024  
2013-2014 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2013-2014 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Biomedical Engineering Major, BS in Biomedical Engineering


The biomedical engineering curriculum integrates selected engineering sciences and design methods with life science course work. The program prepares students for careers in a variety of health care related professions including work for medical device manufacturers and regulatory governmental agencies. The course content of the biomedical engineering curriculum complements the departmental strengths in mechanical engineering and includes a comprehensive coverage of engineering materials and biomechanics applications. Elective courses are available to allow students to specialize their curriculum to areas of particular current interest in the marketplace such as cellular and tissue engineering applications. The biomedical engineering program also allows students to take medical school admission requirements with an appropriate selection of technical electives.

The educational objectives of the biomedical engineering program are

  • either to be an entrepreneur or to be employed in industry, government, academia or a nongovernmental organization, and
  • to continue professional development by participating in structured professional activities and/or by obtaining professional registration or certification, post-graduate credits and/or graduate degrees.

uTrack Requirements (for first-year students)

Universal Tracking (uTrack) is an academic monitoring system designed to help students stay on track for timely graduation. In order to remain on track, students must complete the minimum requirements for each tracking semester known as milestones. Milestones may include successful completion of specified courses and/or attainment of a minimum GPA. uTrack requirements only affect first-time, first-year, full-time, degree-seeking students entering Fall 2013.

PROGRESSION POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS

Progression

The first two years of the curriculum are considered to be lower-division and the two remaining years upper-division. Students must apply for progression to departmental upper division courses, which depends on academic performance. Factors considered include overall grade point average, performance in selected lower division courses and evidence of orderly progression through the prescribed curriculum.

Full Status

A lower-division student may apply for progression to upper division after completing CHEM 120*, MATH 231, ME 202, ME 231, ME 321, and PHYS 231*, as well as BME 271 for biomedical engineers, with a grade of C or better in each, and an overall GPA of at least 2.4.

Provisional Status

Students who have completed CHEM 120*, ME 202, MATH 231, ME 231 and ME 321, and PHYS 231* with a grade of C or better and have an overall GPA between 2.0 and 2.4 may apply for provisional status. The granting of provisional status is based on the availability of space in departmental programs after full status students have been accommodated. Provisional status students are required to demonstrate their ability to perform satisfactorily in upper-division by attaining a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the first 12 hours of 300-level required engineering courses. Award of upper-division full status is dependent upon this performance. Students with an overall GPA less than 2.0 will not be admitted to upper-division. Students who have not progressed to upper-division will be dropped from departmental class rolls.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering


Term 1 Hours Milestone Notes
CHEM 120 * or CHEM 128 * 4 MATH 130  or higher or one Arts and Humanities*, Cultures and Civilizations*, or Social Sciences* Elective
EF 105  1  
EF 151 * or EF 157 * 4  
1ENGL 101 * or ENGL 118 * 3  
MATH 141 * or MATH 147 * 4  
Term 2
CHEM 130 * or CHEM 138 * 4 MATH 130  or higher
EF 152 * or EF 158 * 4  
ENGL 102 * 3  
MATH 142 * or MATH 148 * 4  
ME 202  2  
Term 3
BCMB 230  5 EF 151 * or PHYS 135 *
MATH 231  3  
ME 231  3  
PHYS 231 * 3  
STAT 251  3  
Term 4
BME 271  3 EF 152 * or PHYS 136 *
MATH 200 ; MATH 241  or MATH 247  5  
ME 321  3  
MSE 201  3  
Term 5
AE 341  or AE 347  3 CBE 201  or COSC 102 * or ME 202  or MSE 201 
2Arts and Humanities Elective * 3  
BME 363  or BME 367 ; BME 474  6  
ECE 301  3  
Term 6
2Arts and Humanities Elective * 3 No milestones
BME 315 , BME 345 BME 409  9  
PHYS 232 * 4  
Term 7
BME 410 *, BME 430 *, BME 455 , BME 473  or BME 477  10 No milestones
ECON 201 * or ECON 207 * 4  
2Social Sciences Elective * 3  
Term 8
4Biomedical Engineering Elective 3 No milestones
BME 469  3  
2Cultures and Civilizations Elective * 6  
EF 402  1  
3Technical Elective 3  
     
TOTAL 128  

* Meets University General Education Requirement .
1 Students receiving a grade of A or B in ENGL 118 * will complete their first year composition requirement by choosing ENGL 102 *, a sophomore literature course in the English Department, or ENGL 355 *.
2 Choose any course from the University General Education list .
3 Technical Elective: Restricted to any 300-500 biomedical engineering course not required for the degree or CHEM 350  or CHEM 358 CHEM 360  or CHEM 368 .
4 Biomedical Engineering Elective: Restricted to any 300-500 biomedical engineering course not required for the degree.

Honors Biomedical Engineering Concentration


In addition to satisfying the requirements for the biomedical engineering major, candidates for the honors concentration must also complete the following requirements.

  • First-year courses for honors concentrations in the engineering majors. (Note: Most of the honors requirements are course substitutions for the biomedical engineering major.)
  • Two upper-division honors courses in biomedical engineering (BME 367 , BME 477 ).
  • A minimum of 3-credit hours of an honors senior design course. This requirement is normally satisfied as part of the senior capstone design course (BME 469 ).

Five-Year BS/MS Biomedical Engineering Program


The department offers a 5 year BS-MS program for qualified students. The primary component of the program is that qualified students may take up to 9 hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Tennessee. This program is designed for students attending the University of Tennessee for their Master of Science degree because other universities may not accept these courses for graduate credit since they were used to satisfy requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree. Significant components of the program are:

  • Students must have an overall GPA of at least 3.4 to be admitted to the program. Conditional admission may be granted after completing 64 hours of required course work while full admission is granted after completing 96 hours of required course work with a minimum overall GPA of 3.4 in required course work.
  • Students must at least have conditional admission before taking graduate courses for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. All courses taken for graduate credit must be approved by the departmental chair of the program. Students admitted to the program must request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit. Students admitted to the program must also follow the normal procedure for admission to the Graduate School.
  • Admission of students into this program must be approved by the department and the Graduate School.
  • Students will not be eligible for graduate assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.