Message from the Chair
The Biomedical Engineering Department (BME) at the University of Michigan is one of the premier biomedical engineering departments in the country. With a top-ten ranked medical school and a top-ten ranked engineering college on the same campus, the University of Michigan provides a superb environment for bioengineering research and education. The BME Department has leveraged the combined strengths of these two world-class institutions to develop strong programs in nearly every area of biomedical engineering. Each concentration: bioelectrics, biomechanics, biotechnology, biomaterials, biomedical imaging, rehabilitation engineering and ergonomics, provides a rich and diverse curriculum that exposes students to the latest thinking in the field.
One of our primary departmental goals is to train young engineers to become innovators and leaders in this exciting new discipline. BME students at Michigan receive an intensive engineering education filled with a rich experience in the life sciences. All participate in research at the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. levels, and all have experience in laboratories in the Medical School or the College of Engineering. Teamwork and communication skills are emphasized throughout the program to help produce future industrial and academic leaders for the rapidly expanding biotechnology and bioengineering sectors of the economy.
The generous support of The Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation, The Whitaker Foundation and The Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation has allowed U-M BME to grow enormously, with new faculty, facilities, students, and degree programs. The Biomedical Engineering Department occupies three state-of-the-art research and educational facilities on the University of Michigan’s North Campus: the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Biomedical Engineering Building, the Carl A. Gerstacker Building, and the Bonisteel Interdisciplinary Research Building housing the fMRI Center. Our Functional MRI Center combines cognitive neuroscience, clinical neuroscience, and biomedical engineering research. The Michigan Nanofabrication Facility, one of the best university facilities in the country for the design and manufacture of microelectronic circuits, is used extensively for implantable biosensor transducers and bioMEMS devices. A new addition to the clean room, more than doubling current space, is already underway. Our Center for Neural Communication Technology (CNCT) develops neural probe technologies for interfaces to the central nervous systems.
The BME Department continues to foster collaborations among College of Engineering faculty and researchers throughout the University. Our Wallace H. Coulter Translational Research Partnership award is helping us move promising university technologies toward commercialization and clinical practice. Funded projects involve a BME core faculty member partnering with a clinician on translational work driven by clinical needs. Commercialization of new BME technologies is enhanced by access to the resources of the U of M’s top ranked business school and its world-class entrepreneurship institute.
With the largest BME graduate program in the U.S. and a fast growing undergraduate program, a talented and committed core faculty and a large and strong community of affiliated biomedical engineers at the U-M Medical School, Dental School and other engineering departments, we provide an exciting environment for education and innovation.
Douglas C. Noll, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Radiology
Co-Director, Functional MRI Laboratory