Jessica
Are biodemical engineers highly needed in the STEM field?
I was looking at a few statistics online, and came across a few websites that listed stem careers in demand. Most of the are software developers , computer programmers and mechanical engineers. I'm a woman going into the biomedical engineering field and was concerned about all the hard work and I've been putting into my research. I'm quite passionate about this field, but I'm just scared it won't allow me to find a career that is in demand and that I'll enjoy. #engineering #science #math #biomedical-engineering #women-in-stem #women-in-tech
2 answers
Kalyan C. Mutyala
Kalyan C.’s Answer
Hi Jessica,
Biomedical engineering is a cross discipline that deals with mechanical engineering and biological science. Given the broad nature of this discipline, you can choose to move towards more of mechanical side dealing with simulations of human body parts (example: bones and their nature of failure) or biological side that deals more with cell culture and so forth. In my opinion, the field is going to be great in future. As the automation is everywhere and we (humans) are not far away from creating a complex artificial tissue such as brain. To achieve this, definitely STEM requires bio-medical engineers as well. If you are really concerned about career prospects, there are quite a good number of great companies that may provide unique opportunities for bio-medical engineers. Some of them are Stryker, Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer, GE, Philips, Novo Nordisk and so on. Please check the following link for a list
http://sbhse.engineering.asu.edu/academics/careers-and-employment/companies-that-hire-biomedical-engineers/
Hope this helps.!
Nick Cobane
Nick’s Answer
Jessica,
As a biomedical engineering graduate, I would highly recommend you pursue an education in a more specific engineering field, such as mechanical, electrical, or chemical engineering, and then concentrate on biomedical projects and research within that discipline. The Biomedical Engineering education is extremely broad and does not develop the deep technical expertise in any one area necessary to accomplish meaningful work in that field. Upon graduation, I found many of my biomedical peers were passed over by Stryker, Ethicon, Zimmer, etc for mechanical, electrical, or chemical engineers who had skills more specific to the challenges the company faces. BME graduates are commonly referred to as "jacks of all trades, masters of none," and I found even a master's in biomedical engineering to be nearly unhireable for traditional engineering roles.
The exception would be if you plan to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering, in which you can build that technical domain expertise, although I would still recommend an undergraduate education in a more core engineering field.
Hope you find this helpful!