Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree Pathways

You can complete a BS degree in Biomedical, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering combined with an MS Degree in Biomedical Engineering. This combined degree pathway seamlessly combines a baccalaureate degree in biomedical mechanical or electrical engineering with a Masters in biomedical engineering.

TRACKS & SPECIALIZATIONS

To be eligible to change your major, or to transfer into the BME program from an outside institution the following must be satisfied:

For eligible students transferring in without an Associates in Arts (AA) degree from a Florida public institution (Fall 2003 or after) is required to fulfill the University Core Curriculum requirements.

If you have any questions about your ability to change your major, please make an appointment with a BME advisor.

View the full Undergraduate Course Catalog
(Current students need to refer to the catalog of the year they began their degree).

» Biomaterials & Biomechanics Course Map Flowchart

» Biosignals & Systems Course Map Flowchart

» Tissue Engineering/PreMed Course Map Flowchart

» General Course Map Flowchart

» Interactive/Customizable Course Map Flowchart

Maria Monje Professional Advisor Phone: (305) 348-0273 Email: mmonjera@fiu.edu

Camila Cadiz Professional Advisor Phone: (305) 348-0273 Email: ccadiz@fiu.edu

Please schedule an appointment. To schedule online, access the Panther Success Network (PSN) from your MyFIU portal. If you don’t have access to MyFIU portal, you may email the advisors to request an appointment.

1. Log onto MyFIU.
2. On your MyFIU homepage, select Student from the dropdown menu in the top center of the page
3. Click on the Academic Advising tile
4. Click on the Success Network tile
5. Click on the Go to Panther Success Network button
6. Finally, sign-in again using your FIU credentials

TRACKS & SPECIALIZATIONS

Students can apply for admission into one of two MS Tracks: 1) A Research Track that includes the defense of a thesis; 2) A Professional Track that prepares students for management positions in the biomedical industry.

Research Track

The research track is geared to prepare the graduate for further graduate study or a career in biomedical research.

Research Track: 30 credits
At least 24 credit hours of coursework. 6 Math credits, 3 Life Science credits, and 15 BME Elective credits (9+3+3).

At least 6 credit hours of thesis credit.
After submission of M2 (at least 3 per semester). Zero credit seminar requirement. Must attend at least 15 seminars.

Students electing the Master’s project will need to take one additional biomedical engineering elective course. All students in the research track are required to complete a research project under the supervision of an advisor and a committee.
» Refer to the catalog for specific course offerings and additional details.
(Current students need to refer to the catalog of the year they began their degree).

Course Requirements

Professional Track

This track is tailored primarily for engineers currently practicing in the biomedical industry and students interested in pursuing a management career in the biomedical industry.

Professional Track: 30 credits
At least 27 credit hours of coursework.3 Math credits, 3 Life Science credits, 15 BME Elective credits (9+3+3), and 6 Engineering Management credits.

3 credit hours of project credit.
Encouraged to attend seminars.

A student shall complete 27 credit hours of course work and a 3 credit hour capstone project. The courses are organized into four core areas: Life Sciences, Mathematics, Engineering Management, and Biomedical Engineering. Professional track students are required to take an oral final examination dealing with the objectives of their study plan. The student will briefly summarize the project report (20 minutes) as a part of the exam.
» Refer to the catalog for specific course offerings and additional details.

Course Requirements

Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree Pathways

This combined five-year degree pathway seamlessly integrates a baccalaureate degree in biomedical, mechanical, or electrical engineering with a Master’s in biomedical engineering. Students can apply for admission into one of three MS Tracks: 1) A Research Track that includes the defense of a thesis; 2) A Professional Track that prepares students for management positions in the biomedical industry; 3) An Orthotics and Prosthetics Specialty Track.

Students need only apply once to the combined degree pathway; the application is submitted to Graduate Admissions typically before the student starts the last 30 credits of the bachelor’s degree program. A student admitted to the combined degree pathway will be considered to have undergraduate status until the student applies for graduation from their bachelor’s degree program. Upon conferral of the bachelor’s degree, the student will be granted graduate status and be eligible for graduate assistantships.

Students enrolled in the pathway may count up to 9 hours of graduate-level courses (i.e., 5000 level or higher) as credits for both the undergraduate and graduate degree programs. For each of the courses counted as credits for both BS and MS degree, a minimum grade of ‘B’ is required. Upon completion of the combined BS/MS pathway, students must have accumulated a minimum of 24 hours of credits at the graduate (5000+) level. Students enrolled in the pathway are encouraged to seek employment with a department faculty member to work as student assistants on sponsored research projects.
» Refer to the catalog for specific course offerings and requirements.

View the full Graduate Course Catalog
(Current students need to refer to the catalog of the year they began their degree).

This handbook provides essential information about the MS program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Florida International University, from coursework, requirements, important forms and resources to perform successfully in our programs. It also summarizes the most important policies and procedures of our MS graduate program.

Basic Research in Engineered Tissue Model Systems
Basic Research in Engineered Tissue Model Systems research focuses on cell and engineered tissue mechanics with a particular focus on cardiovascular regenerative medicine. The goal is to understand and control the molecular and mechano-regulation of cellular phenotypes within tissues for therapeutic benefit. Research in this area includes the development of non-invasive strategies to restore normal tissue function and design and synthesis of living tissue replacements.

Diagnostic Bioimaging and Sensor Systems
Research in this area includes developing non-destructive optical and mechanical technologies that can detect disease development and tissue injuries in vivo. These techniques can be either one-dimensional (i.e., point detection) or multi-dimensional (i.e., imaging). The potential medical applications for such techniques, once developed, are abundant. For example, they may be used intraoperatively to guide tumor resection and to monitor the progression of a novel therapy.

There is also a strong focus on Optical imaging which is based on the principles of near-infrared light propagation in scattering media (such as biological tissues) and the use of external fluorescent contrast agents to better differentiate normal and diseased tissues based on the differences in their optical properties. The research work requires an understanding of transport phenomena in biological systems, application of experimental skills towards instrument development, incorporation of optimization and mathematical tools towards image reconstructions, and development of biomedical aspects of engineering towards practical applications, such as cancer diagnostics, drug delivery, and in general, body imaging.

Therapeutic and Reparative Neurotechnology
Research in Therapeutic and Reparative Neurotechnology focuses on biologically inspired technologies to interface with the nervous system to repair and promote recovery of lost function after trauma or disease. Research in this area includes behavioral studies, electrophysiology techniques, computational neuroscience, and machine learning methods to determine the mechanism of disease, create new research paradigms, and develop new treatments.

Research also spans both pre-clinical (i.e., animal) and clinical (i.e., human) neural engineering and neuropathophysiology, and includes investigations of motor and sensory function before, during, and after neuroprosthetic, pharmacological, and physical therapy-based interventions.

Current efforts focus on leveraging the differential effects of brainstem neuromodulatory centers on the spinal motor and sensory circuits to gain insights into the mechanisms underlying neurological impairments. Topics of particular interest within this area include:

• Pathologies: stroke, spinal cord injury, whiplash-associated disorders, and chronic pain.
• Physiology: neuromodulation (chemical and electrical), cortical and spinal reorganization, function and integrity of motor and sensory pathways post-injury, and activity-dependent neural plasticity.
• Techniques: robotics/quantification of motor deficits, biophysical signal processing, recurrent neural-computer interfaces, neuropharmacology, physical therapy, electrical stimulation of the central nervous system, magnetic resonance imaging.

The Ph.D. program requires a total of 75 credit hours beyond the BS degree. These credits are comprised of a minimum of 27 hours of coursework and a minimum of 24 hours of dissertation. You’ll choose three courses from the Engineering Management core based on personal training requirements.

Course Requirements
The program of study will require completion of courses (beyond the BS degree) in the following categories:

Biomedical Engineering – minimum of 15 credits
Courses in this area must cover the major and minor specialty areas of the student. The three current specialty areas within biomedical engineering are:
1. Basic research in engineered tissue model systems
2. Diagnostic bioimaging and sensor systems
3. Therapeutic and reparative neurotechnology

Engineering Mathematics – minimum of 6 credits
Courses in this area must cover the broad areas of statistics and theoretical/numerical modeling. Example courses in each of these areas are:

View the full Graduate Course Catalog
(Current students need to refer to the catalog of the year they began their degree).

This handbook provides essential information about the Ph.D. graduate program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Florida International University, from coursework, requirements for candidacy, important forms and resources to perform successfully in our programs. It also summarizes the most important policies and procedures of our Ph.D. graduate program.

Remedial Course Requirements for Graduate Studies in Biomedical Engineering

Non-engineering academic background In addition to the normal requirements for graduation, during your course of study at FIU you will be required to complete all of the following courses (or show evidence of prior successful completion of an equivalent course):

Non-biomedical academic backgroundIn addition to the normal requirements for graduation, during your course of study at FIU you will be required to complete all of the following courses (or show evidence of prior successful completion of an equivalent course):

BME 3700 Engineering Analysis of Biological Systems I
BME 3701 Engineering Analysis of Biological Systems II