Graduate Courses in Bioengineering
For a complete overview of all graduate degree requirements, including credits, transfer credits, courses, research aptitude exams, oral defenses, dissertations and theses, typical timeline/program, and advisor selection, please visit our graduate degree requirements page »
Schedules of classes and course descriptions can also be found at: www.testudo.umd.edu.
Required Courses (12 credits)
BIOE 601: Biomolecular and Cellular Rate Processes (3 credits)
Presentation of techniques for characterizing and manipulating non-linear biochemical reaction networks. Advanced topics to include mathematical modeling of the dynamics of biological systems; separation techniques for heat sensitive biologically active materials; and rate processes in cellular and biomolecular systems. Methods are applied to current biotechnological systems, some include: recombinant bacteria; plant, insect and mammalian cells; and transformed cell lines.
BIOE 604: Transport Phenomena in Bioengineering Systems (3 credits)
A study of the transport processes of fluid flow, heat transfer, and mass transfer applied to biological organisms and systems, using analogical and systems approaches.
BIOE 605/606: Laboratory Rotations (2 credits total)
For BioE majors only.
Provides the opportunity to experience different laboratory environments. Students gain exposure to graduate research, learn a wide variety of laboratory and/or computational techniques, become familiar with BIOE program faculty, and develop insight on personal research interests and direction. Laboratory rotations are required in Fall and Spring of the first year of the Ph.D. Program.
BIOE 608: Bioengineering Seminar Series (1 credit)
A variety of topics related to Bioengineering will be presented in weekly seminars.
BIOE 612: Physiological Evaluation of Bioengineering Designs (3 credits)
Dissertation and Thesis Requirements (18+ Credits)
In addition to the core courses, a minimum of 18 credit hours of Dissertation Research (BIOE 899) is required of all Ph.D. students. M.S. students are required to take a minimum of 6 credit hours of Thesis Research (BIOE 799).
Other Course Requirements
- Two restricted elective courses (6 credits), in topics such as biology, cell biology and molecular genetics, biochemistry, and neuroscience.
- Three unrestricted elective courses (9 credits), in topics such as engineering, mathematics, or computer science.
Courses must be selected in consultation with the research advisor and approved by the BIOE Program Director. A partial list of courses that fulfill the elective requirements follows. Course descriptions can be found at: www.testudo.umd.edu/.
Restricted Elective Courses (2 Courses, 6 credits)
Restricted elective courses consist of topics spanning fundamental bioengineering disciplines. Courses include:
BIOE 602: Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics (3 credits)
Introduction to the fundamentals of biomechanics including force analysis, mechanics of deformable bodies, stress and strain, multiaxial deformations, stress analysis, and viscoelasticity. Biomechanics of soft and hard tissues.
BIOE 603: Quantitative Cell Physiology (3 credits)
Introduction to the electrophysiology of the cell membrane. Development of mathematical models of different types of ionic membrane currents and fluid compartment models, culminating in the development of functional whole-cell models for neurons and muscle (cardiac, skeletal and smooth muscle) cells. Characterization of volume conductor boundary value problems encountered in electrophysiology consisting of the adequate description of the bioelectric current source and the volume conductor (surrounding tissue) medium.
BIOE 611: Tissue Engineering (3 credits)
A review of the fundamental principles involved in the design of engineered tissues and organs. Both biological and engineering fundamentals will be considered. We recommend one advanced biology course and one advanced engineering math course prior to taking BIOE 611.
BIOE 620: Modern Methods of Drug Delivery (3 credits)
Basic concepts and physiochemical principles of drug delivery will be discussed. The course has three modules: orally and nasally inhaled drug products; introduction of statistical thermodynamics and its applications; novel nanomedicine; and design considerations and applications.
BIOE 631: Biosensor Instrumentation and Techniques (3 credits)
BIOE 653: Biomaterials (3 credits)
BIOE 689C: Biomedical Optics (3 credits)
Optical imaging, spectroscopy, and microscopy have become indispensable tools in modern biomedical research. This course will cover the principles and instrumentation of various biomedical optical techniques, including fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy, confocal and multi-photon microscopy, optical coherence tomography, and diffuse optical tomography. Biomedical applications will also be discussed.
BIOE 689M: Cell Engineering (3 credits)
Unrestricted Electives (3 Courses, 9 Credits)
Three more unrestricted elective courses will be selected in consultation with the student's advisor. The list below provides examples of courses taken by our students in the past.
AMSC 666: Numerical Analysis I
BCHM 676: Biological Mass Spectronomy
Also cross-listed as BIOE 689B and CHEM 699A.
BIOE 689: Special Topics in Bioengineering: Evolutionary Computation and Artificial Life (also offered as CMSC 828R)
BIOE 689: Special Topics in Bioengineering: Medical Imaging and Imaging Analysis (also offered as ENEE 739)
BIOE 689: Special Topics in Bioengineering: Introduction to Biomaterials (also offered as ENMA 698)
BIOE 689: Special Topics in Bioengineering: Polymers, Bio-Polymers and their Applications in Nano- and Bio-Technology
BIOE 689: Special Topics in Bioengineering: Chemical and Biological Detection (also offered as ENPM 808B)
BIOE 689N: Special Topics in Bioengineering: Bionanotechnology: Physical Priciples
BIOE 689Q: Special Topics in Bioengineering: Quantitative Cell Physiology
CHEM 705: Nuclear chemistry
CMSC 828U: Advanced Topics in Information Processing: Exploiting Biological Resources
ENCH 620: Methods of Engineering Analysis
ENCH 648: Special Topics in Chemical Engineering: Advanced Biochemical Engineering
ENEE 631: Digital Imaging Processing
ENEE 719: Advanced Topics in Microelectronics: Mixed Signal VLSI Circuit Design
ENMA 620: Polymer Physics
MOCB 630: Eukaryote Molecular Genetics
MOCB 639: Advanced Cell Biology
MOCB 640: Protein Structure and Function
NACS 641: Introduction to Neurosciences
NACS 728R: Computational Neuroscience
