The BS in Biomedical Engineering requires completion of the courses in the Core Curriculum as well as five upper-level Tier courses beyond the Core, as described below. Students must meet all McKelvey School of Engineering and Washington University requirements, including the English proficiency requirement (please refer to the Engineering Degree Requirements page). They must also satisfy ABET requirements for a professional degree, which require the accrual of 47 engineering topics units over their coursework. A list of Topics Units - Engineering Courses is available on the Engineering Student Services website.
The Basic Core Curriculum
The Biomedical Engineering Core Curriculum consists of 80 credits, outlined below.
Physical Science (18 credit units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 1701 | General Chemistry I | 3 |
| or CHEM 1601 | Principles of General Chemistry I | |
| CHEM 1702 | General Chemistry II | 3 |
| or CHEM 1602 | Principles of General Chemistry II | |
| CHEM 1751 | General Chemistry Laboratory I | 2 |
| CHEM 1752 | General Chemistry Laboratory II | 2 |
| PHYSICS 1740 | Physics I | 3 |
| PHYSICS 1741 | Physics I Laboratory | 1 |
| PHYSICS 1742 | Physics II | 3 |
| PHYSICS 1743 | Physics II Laboratory | 1 |
| Total Units | 18 | |
Biological Science (7 credit units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 2960 | Principles of Biology I | 4 |
| BIOL 3057 | Physiological Control Systems | 3 |
| Total Units | 7 | |
Mathematics (18 credit units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 1520 | Calculus II | 3 |
| MATH 2130 | Calculus III | 3 |
| MATH 2500 | Differential Equations | 3 |
| ENGR 3180 | Engineering Mathematics A | 3 |
| ENGR 3190 | Engineering Mathematics B | 3 |
| ENGR 3280 | Engineering Statistics With Probability * | 3 |
| Total Units | 18 | |
- *
ESE 3260 Probability and Statistics for Engineering can be substituted for ENGR 3280 Engineering Statistics With Probability.
Engineering Science (3 credit units listed below plus 9 credit units of Tier II courses)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ENGR 1201 | Introduction to Engineering Computing | 3 |
| Total Units | 3 | |
Biomedical Engineering (29 credit units listed below plus 6 credit units of Tier I courses)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BME 1400 | Introduction to Biomedical Engineering | 3 |
| BME 2200 | Introduction to Biomedical Circuits * | 4 |
| BME 2400 | Biomechanics | 3 |
| BME 2401 | Biomechanics Laboratory | 1 |
| BME 3010 | Quantitative Physiology I | 4 |
| BME 3015 | Quantitative Physiology II | 4 |
| BME 3200 | Bioengineering Thermodynamics | 3 |
| BME 3660 | Transport Phenomena in Biomedical Engineering | 3 |
| BME 4970 | Senior Capstone Design A | 2 |
| BME 4971 | Senior Capstone Design B | 2 |
| Total Units | 29 | |
- *
ESE 2300 Introduction to Electrical and Electronic Circuits can be substituted for BME 2200 Introduction to Biomedical Circuits.
Other
| Course(s) | Units |
|---|---|
| Humanities and Social Sciences (H/SS)* | 18 |
| General Electives | 13 |
- *
3 units of H/SS must be CWP 150x: College Writing (H). This course may not be taken Pass/No Pass.
Tier I and Tier II Courses
Students must complete five upper-level Tier engineering courses (15 units), five humanities and social sciences courses (15 units), and three general electives courses (minimum 10 units) beyond the Core Curriculum to complete the major and to prepare for particular fields of employment or education beyond the baccalaureate degree. At least two of the five Tier electives need to be drawn from the Tier I course list below; the remaining three can be chosen from Tier I or Tier II. Students must complete a minimum of 120 units to meet the degree requirements.
Tier I
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BME 3290 | Biothermodynamics in Practice | 3 |
| BME 4191 | AI-Augmented Neuromedical Data Science | 3 |
| BME 4400 | Biomedical Data Science | 3 |
| BME 4710 | Bioelectric Phenomena | 3 |
| BME 5230 | Biomaterials Science | 3 |
| BME 5320 | Biomolecular Interaction Networks | 3 |
| BME 5330 | Biomedical Signal Processing | 3 |
| BME 5420 | Principles of Biomolecular Spectroscopy | 3 |
| BME 5430 | Molecular and Cellular Engineering | 3 |
| BME 5440 | Biomedical Instrumentation | 3 |
| BME 5501 | Translational Neuroengineering | 3 |
| BME 5642 | Human-Machine Interfaces | 3 |
| BME 5650 | Biosolid Mechanics | 3 |
| BME 5690 | Cardiac Electrophysiology | 3 |
| BME 5700 | Mathematics of Imaging Science | 3 |
| BME 5720 | Biological Neural Computation | 3 |
| BME 5750 | Molecular Basis of Bioelectrical Excitation | 3 |
| BME 5780 | Engineering for Women's Health | 3 |
| BME 5790 | Biofabrication & Medical Devices | 3 |
| BME 5910 | Biomedical Optics I: Principles | 3 |
| BME 5940 | Ultrasound Imaging | 3 |
| MEMS 5508 | Image-Based Measurement of Shape, Motion, and Deformation | 3 |
| MEMS 5564 | Orthopaedic Biomechanics-Cartilage/Tendon | 3 |
| MEMS 5565 | Mechanobiology of Cells and Matrices | 3 |
| MEMS 5566 | Engineering Mechanobiology | 3 |
| MEMS 5613 | Biomaterials Processing | 3 |
Tier II
Most upper-level (3000-5000) engineering elective courses offered by departments outside of BME that carry 3 engineering topics units count as Tier II electives.
Additional courses may be added to these lists as new courses are developed.