UW Bioengineering
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The University of Washington Department of Bioengineering (UW Bioengineering) is a joint department of the College of Engineering and
School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...
, and is located in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, USA.


Overview

The Department of Bioengineering offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in
bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...
, a field at the interface between medicine and engineering. As of 2022, the department includes 51 active core faculty, including six members of the National Academy of Engineering. The faculty conduct a mix of basic and applied multi-disciplinary research; particularly in the following six areas: regenerative medicine & biomaterials,
molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...
& cellular engineering; instrumentation, imaging & image-guided therapy; systems, synthetic and quantitative biology; neural engineering and technology for expanding access to health care. In 2022, UW Bioengineering was awarded US$30,219,529 million in research funding, primarily from federal sources such as the
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
,
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
and
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
. In addition to the core faculty, which is 38% female, the department comprises 49 adjunct faculty, 51 affiliate faculty, 53 postdoctoral fellows, 195 graduate students and 221 undergraduate students.


History

The UW Center for Bioengineering was founded in 1967 by Robert Rushmer as a joint research enterprise of the UW College of Engineering and the UW School of Medicine to study the cardiovascular system. A main focus was groundbreaking work on the development of quieter, portable Doppler
ultrasound Ultrasound is sound waves with frequency, frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing range, hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hea ...
instruments for monitoring the cardiovascular system and fetal heart rate, building on work that Rushmer had begun at the UW in 1958. These developments formed the basis for a strong local ultrasound industry that persist to this day. With the Center for Bioengineering, Dr. Rushmer aimed to develop a joint research enterprise of the UW College of Engineering and UW School of Medicine to study the cardiovascular system. As its research foci expanded, the Center received the ability to grant PhD degrees in 1984. Undergraduate courses were added in 1985. The Center became the Department of Bioengineering in 1997. Its undergraduate program was approved in 2000, which was accredited by the
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology The ABET (incorporated as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.) is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineering ...

ABET
in 2008 (retroactive to 2006). In 2006, the department moved into the new William H. Foege Building, a 265,000 sq. ft. research facility on campus adjacent to Seattle’s Portage Bay that includes offices, laboratories, and support facilities.


Degrees offered

UW Bioengineering offers the following degree programs: * Bachelor of Science (ABET-accredited) * Master of Science * 5 year combined Bachelor/Master of Science * Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) * Master of Applied Bioengineering (MAB) * Master of Pharmaceutical Bioengineering (PharBE) - online professional master's degree program, offered in partnership with UW Professional and Continuing Education *Certificates in basic bioscience, translational pharmaceutics, and drug discovery and design, in partnership with UW Professional and Continuing Education. Bioengineering students may also participate in the MD/PhD program, administered by the UW Medical Scientist Training Program.


Admissions

Admission to UW Bioengineering is competitive.


Graduate programs

The number of applications to the PhD program averages at around 500 per year. The average acceptance rate is 14%. The GRE exam is optional for applying to all graduate programs. The average GPAs of students accepted are as follows: * Ph.D. program: (GPA): 3.8 * M.S. program (GPA): 3.7


Undergraduate program

The Bioengineering Undergraduate students progress sequentially through a core curriculum, with opportunities for electives and hands-on research and design projects. Direct to College of Engineering (DTC) students request placement at the end of freshman year. Transfer students and current UW students apply to the department during their sophomore year. Each cohort is made up of DTC, transfer and current UW students. All students must be major-ready for the Bioengineering program in the Spring by completing all the prerequisites by the end of Winter quarter. The Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering is a capacity-constrained major and UW Bioengineering uses a holistic process to review applications and requests. Factors include grade trends, especially in prerequisite courses, the personal statement, and considerations such as difficulty of completed courses, overcoming hardships, applicable work or research experience, and an understanding of the field of bioengineering.


Commercialization (Technology Transfer)

Thanks to close association with the clinical departments in the UW School of Medicine, and strong local biomedical and biotech industries, the department has a long history of translational research. Today, as an active partner wit
UW’s CoMotion
UW Bioengineering is continually inventing new technologies and moving them from the lab to the bedside. Bioengineering typically ranks 1st or 2nd among UW departments in reporting inventions. As of 2022, commercialization efforts in UW Bioengineering have yielded 1,918 patents filed, 550 patents issued, 107 active licenses and 1005 invention disclosures. Forty-seven existing start-up companies have benefited from the intellectual property generated by faculty and student research includin
AltPep
an
Anavasi Diagnostics
In 2015, UW Bioengineering launched its UW BioEngage Program. The BioEngage program aims to build sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships with individuals, nonprofits, and industry in Seattle and around the world, and foster UW Bioengineering students' professional development and preparation for careers in biomedical industries.


References


External links


UW Bioengineering

University of Washington

UW College of Engineering

UW Medicine
{{Authority control Colleges, schools, and departments of the University of Washington