Bioengineering (BIOE)
Program Home Page (Opens New Window)
CHENG DONG, Head of the Department
205 Hallowell Building
814-865-1407
814-863-0490 (Fax)
Degrees Conferred:
Ph.D., M.S.
The Graduate Faculty
- Mohammad Reza Abidian, Ph.D. (Michigan) Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Chemical Engineering
- James H. Adair, Ph.D. (Florida) Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Bioengineering
- Reka Albert, Ph.D. (Notre Dame) Professor of Physics
- Harry R. Allcock, Ph.D. (London) Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry
- James G. Brasseur, Ph.D. (Stanford) Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering
- Justin Brown, Ph.D. (Virginia) Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
- Paul W. Brown, Ph.D. (Wisconsin) Professor of Ceramic Science and Engineering
- Peter J. Butler, Ph.D. (CUNY) Associate Professor of Bioengineering
- Wenwu Cao, Ph.D. (Penn State) Professor of Mathematics and Materials Science
- Brent A. Craven, Ph.D. (Penn State) Research Associate in Applied Science
- Wayne Curtis, Ph.D. (Purdue) Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
- Melik C. Demirel, Ph.D. (Carnegie Mellon) Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics
- Henry Donahue, Ph.D. (California, Santa Barbara) Michael and Myrtle Baker Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, and Cellular and Molecular Physiology, and Bioengineering
- Cheng Dong, Ph.D. (Columbia) Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering, and Engineering Science and Mechanics
- Patrick Drew, Ph.D. (Brandeis) Assistant Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, and Neurosurgery
- Qiang Du, Ph.D. (Carnegie Mellon) Professor of Mathematics
- Arnold A. Fontaine, Ph.D. (Penn State) Senior Scientist in Applied Research Laboratory
- Mary I. Frecker, Ph.D. (Michigan) Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering
- Andris Freivalds, Ph.D. (Michigan) Professor of Industrial Management Systems Engineering
- Bruce Gluckman, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania) Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Neurosurgery, and Bioengineering; Associate Director, Penn State Center for Neural Engineering
- Esther Gomez, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering
- William O. Hancock, Ph.D. (Washington, Seattle) Professor of Bioengineering
- William E. Higgins, Ph.D. (Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) Professor of Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering
- Kane M. High, M.D. (Penn State) Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
- Jun (Tony) Huang, Ph.D. (UCLA) Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics
- Christine Keating, Ph.D. (Penn State) Professor of Chemistry
- Michael H. Krane, Ph.D. (Penn State) Research Associate, Applied Research Laboratory
- Robert F. Kunz, Ph.D. (Penn State) Senior Research Associate, Applied Research Laboratory; Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering
- Herbert H. Lipowsky, Ph.D. (California, San Diego) Professor of Bioengineering, and Engineering Science and Mechanics
- Sheereen Majd, Ph.D. (Michigan) Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
- Keefe B. Manning, Ph.D. (Virginia Commonwealth) Associate Professor of Bioengineering
- Costas D. Maranas, Ph.D. (Princeton) Donald B. Broughton Professor of Chemical Engineering
- Richard S. Meyer, Ph.D. (Penn State) Research Associate in Applied Research
- Thomas Neuberger, Ph.D. (Wurzburg, Germany) Research Assistant, The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
- 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 and Bioengineering
- Jeffrey L. Schiano, Ph.D. (Illinois) Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
- Steven J. Schiff, M.D., Ph.D. (Duke) Brush Chair Professor of Engineering; Professor of Neurosurgery, and Engineering Science and Mechanics; Director, Penn State Center for Neural Engineering
- Neil A. Sharkey, Ph.D. (California, Davis) Professor of Kinesiology, Orthopaedics, and Rehabilitation
- Christopher Siedlecki, Ph.D. (Case Western Reserve) Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering
- Margaret Slattery, Ph.D. (Penn State) Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
- Srinivas Tadigadapa, Ph.D. (Cambridge) Professor of Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering
- Akif Undar, Ph.D. (Texas, Austin) Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Surgery, and Bioengineering
- Erwin A. Vogler, Ph.D. (Indiana) Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Bioengineering
- William J. Weiss, Ph.D. (Penn State) Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering
- Qing X. Yang, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech) Professor of Radiology and Bioengineering
- John Yen, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) University Professor of Information Sciences and Technology; Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, and Bioengineering
- Qiming Zhang, Ph.D. (Penn State) Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering
- Sulin Zhang, Ph.D. (Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, and Bioengineering
- Siyang Zheng, Ph.D. (Cal Tech) Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
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:
- three Biotransport courses (9 credits)
- two Life Science courses (6)
- five Engineering or Life Science courses (15)
- IBIOS 590. COLLOQUIUM (twice) (2)
- IBIOS 591. ETHICS IN LIFE SCIENCES (1)
- IBIOS 595. INTERNSHIP (optional) (1)
- IBIOS 596. LABORATORY ROTATIONS (1)
- IBIOS 602. TEACHING EXPERIENCE (twice) (2)
Student Aid
Graduate assistantships and other forms of student aid are described in the STUDENT AID section of the Graduate Bulletin.
Courses
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
Last reviewed by Graduate School: 5/24/04
Faculty updated: 10/5/12
