The Pennsylvania State University © 2004
HERBERT H. LIPOWSKY, Head of
the Department
205 Hallowell Building
814-865-1407
814-863-0490 (Fax)
Degrees Conferred: Ph.D., M.S.
The Graduate Faculty
Harry R. Allcock, Ph.D. (London)
Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry
Abdellaziz Ben-Jebria, Ph.D. (Paris VI) Professor of Chemical Engineering
James G. Brasseur, Ph.D. (Stanford) Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Paul W. Brown, Ph.D. (Wisconsin) Professor of Ceramic Science and Engineering
Peter J. Butler, Ph.D. (CUNY) Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
Wenwu Cao, Ph.D. (Penn State) Professor of Mathematics and Materials Science
Ryan S. Clement, Ph.D. (Arizona State) Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
Christopher M. Collins, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania) Assistant Professor of Radiology
Wayne Curtis, Ph.D. (Purdue) Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Steven Deutsch, Ph.D. (Penn State) Senior Scientist in Applied Research and
Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering
Cheng Dong, Ph.D. (Columbia) Professor of Bioengineering
Henry Donahue, Ph.D. (California, Santa Barbara) Professor of Orthopaedics and
Rehabilitation, and Cellular and Molecular Physiology
Arnold A. Fontaine, Ph.D. (Penn State) Senior Scientists in Applied Research
Laboratory; Associate Professor of Bioengineering
Andris Freivalds, Ph.D. (Michigan) Professor of Industrial Management Systems
Engineering
Roger P. Gaumond, D.Sc. (Washington, St. Louis) Associate Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering
David B. Geselowitz, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania) Distinguished Professor Emeritus of
Bioengineering and Medicine
William O. Hancock, Ph.D. (Washington, Seattle) Associate Professor of Bioengineering
Ahmed Heikal, Ph.D. (Cal Tech) Associate Professor of Bioengineering
William E. Higgins, Ph.D. (Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) Professor of Electrical
Engineering
Kane M. High, M.D. (Penn State) Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Tony Jun Huang, Ph.D. (California, Los Angeles) Assistant Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics
Herbert H. Lipowsky, Ph.D. (California, San Diego) Professor of Bioengineering
Tao Lu Lowe, Ph.D. (U of Helsinki, Finland) Assistant Professor of Surgery and
Bioengineering
Keefe B. Manning, Ph.D. (Virginia Commonwealth) Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
Richard S. Meyer, Ph.D. (Penn State) Research Associate in Applied Research
Stephen J. Piazza, Ph.D. (Northwestern) Associate Professor of Kinesiology
William S. Pierce, M.D. (Pennsylvania) Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Surgery
Joseph L. Rose, Ph.D. (Drexel) Paul Morrow Professor of Engineering Science
and Mechanics in Design and Manufacturing
Gerson Rosenberg, Ph.D. (Penn State) Jane A. Fetter Professor of Surgery; Professor of Bioengineering
James Runt, Ph.D. (Penn State) Professor of Polymer Science
Robert Sainburg, Ph.D. (Rutgers) Associate Professor of Kinesiology
Jeffrey L. Schiano, Ph.D. (Illinois) Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
Christopher Siedlecki, Ph.D. (Case Western Reserve) Associate Professor of Surgery
and Bioengineering
Neil A. Sharkey, Ph.D. (California, Davis) Professor of Kinesiology, Orthopaedics,
and Rehabilitation
Nadine Barrie Smith, Ph.D. (Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Associate Professor
of Bioengineering
Alan J. Snyder, Ph.D. (Penn State) Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering
James S. Ultman, Ph.D. (Delaware) Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering
Akif Undar, Ph.D. (Texas, Austin) Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Surgery, and Bioengineering
Erwin A. Vogler, Ph.D. (Indiana) Associate Professor of Materials Science and
Engineering, and Bioengineering
Andrew Webb, Ph.D. (Cambridge, UK) Professor of Bioengineering
William J. Weiss, Ph.D. (Penn State) Associate Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering
Qing X. Yang, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech) Associate Professor of Radiology
Jun You, Ph.D. (Penn State) Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation
This intercollege program is designed to provide students with graduate level training in engineering and the life sciences by the application of engineering principles and techniques to the solution of problems in medicine and biology. Graduate instruction in bioengineering is under the direction of a program committee composed of graduate faculty representing several departments in the Colleges of Engineering, Health and Human Development, Science, and Medicine.
Opportunities for specialized research revolve around a delineation of the electrical, mechanical, and biophysical properties of biological materials at the cellular, tissue, and organ levels. Specific applications include: development of artificial organs, with an emphasis on the artificial heart and heart assist devices; cardiovascular hemodynamics, with an emphasis on the structure and function of the capillary network, and blood behavior in contact with the walls of blood vessels and artificial surfaces; cardiac and auditory electrophysiology; lung mechanics and pulmonary function; and non-invasive diagnostic techniques, with an emphasis on ultrasound and X-ray devices and medical imaging. Extensive computer facilities and specialized equipment are available to support a combination of studies that employ experimental observations and their analysis through mathematical modeling and computer simulations.
Admission Requirements
Scores from the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) are required for admission. However, a student may be admitted provisionally for graduate study in a program without these scores. Requirements listed here are in addition to general Graduate School requirements stated in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of the Graduate Bulletin.
Students with a degree in engineering, physics, or the life sciences will be eligible for admission. All students must have a strong background in physics and mathematics. This background should include 6 credits in chemistry, 9 credits in calculus-based physics, and mathematics through calculus and differential equations. Students who lack one or two courses may still be considered for admission but will have to make up any deficiency early in their graduate program. Students with a 3.0 junior/senior grade-point average and with appropriate course backgrounds will be considered for admission. The best-qualified applicants will be accepted up to the number of spaces available. Exceptions to the minimum average may be made for students with special backgrounds, abilities, and interests.
Master's Degree Requirements
The particular course of study depends
on the student's background and area of research specialization. Courses are
selected from the life sciences, engineering, and bioengineering. Course requirements
include BIOE 401, BIOE 402, and BIOE 403 plus two 500-level courses in bioengineering,
6 credits in the life sciences (including BIOL 472), and 6 credits in technically
oriented courses outside bioengineering and the life sciences. In addition,
students without a previous degree in engineering or physics are required to
complete up to 24 additional credits in engineering. Most of this additional
course work will be at the undergraduate level and typically includes statics
and dynamics, electric circuits and fields, electronic devices, fluid mechanics,
and linear systems.
A thesis is required for the M.S. degree. Students must continue to register
at appropriate times until the thesis is approved.
Doctoral Degree Requirements
Candidates for the Ph.D. degree generally are expected to complete PHSIO 571 (BIOL 571) and PHSIO 572 (BIOL 572) plus several additional courses in the life sciences, five courses in bioengineering, and five graduate-level courses in engineering, mathematics, and physics. Supporting courses are available at University Park and the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in anatomy, biochemistry, biology, biophysics, chemistry, laboratory animal medicine, materials science, mathematics, physics, physiology, and the engineering departments.
The communication and foreign language requirement for the Ph.D. degree may be satisfied by demonstrating intermediate knowledge of an acceptable foreign language, or by taking an advanced technical writing course and presenting a formal proposal for thesis research to the doctoral committee.
Students must continue to register at appropriate times until the thesis is approved.
Biomolecular Transport Dynamics
Option
The Biomolecular Transport Dynamics option requires the following courses in
addition to the doctoral dissertation, candidacy, and comprehensive examinations:
Student Aid
Graduate assistantships and other forms of student aid are described in the STUDENT AID section of the Graduate Bulletin.
Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 599 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.
BIOENGINEERING (BIOE) course list
The Pennsylvania State University
© 2004
The University reserves the right to change the requirements and regulations listed here and to determine whether a student has satisfactorily met its requirements for admission or graduation, and to reject any applicant for any reason the University determines to be material to the applicant's qualifications to pursue higher education. Nothing in this material should be considered a guarantee that completion of a program and graduation from the University will result in employment.
This electronic Graduate Bulletin is a version of the official bulletin of The Pennsylvania State University. It is suggested that users refer to this electronic bulletin when seeking the latest information about the University's academic programs and courses. Printed versions of the Bulletin are also official copies of the programs, courses, and policies in effect at the time of printing.
DATE LAST REVIEWED BY THE GRADUATE SCHOOL: 5/24/04
DATE LAST REVIEWED BY PUBLICATIONS: 10/27/06