On Wednesday, Sept. 3, the Villanova University Office of Undergraduate Admission posted an announcement on Instagram introducing Biomedical Engineering as the newest major in the College of Engineering.
According to the post, the new major takes inspiration from the popular biomedical engineering minor and graduate degree, focusing primarily on the mechanics behind medical device design, biomedical instrumentation, drug design and tissue engineering.
“This interdisciplinary major blends engineering, design and physiology to prepare students for careers improving human health” the Villanova University Office of Undergraduate Admission said in a release.
Prospective undergraduate students applying to the University this cycle will now be able to select this new degree.
For the students currently within the College of Engineering, this announcement came as a delightful surprise. Sophomore mechanical engineering student Emily St. Pierre is thrilled at the new possibilities available to future and current students.
“It’s a really cool opportunity… now that we have all these beautiful new labs in Drosdick, it’s amazing that these new students will be able to take advantage of them and help people in their future careers, because that’s what biomedical engineering, and all types [of] engineering, is really about,” St. Pierre said.
In addition to the announcement of biomedical engineering as the newest bachelor’s degree in the College of Engineering, the University is also offering a track in which students can obtain both a bachelor’s and a master’s of science in biomedical engineering in just five years. This program is geared towards students interested in pursuing careers in biomechanics, cell engineering and biomedical sensor engineering.
Biomedical engineering has been a popular minor in the University’s College of Engineering for quite some time, possessing similar qualities to the University’s biochemical engineering, cellular engineering and electrical engineering minors.
For sophomore mechanical engineering major JP Rogerson, the biomedical engineering minor has had been particularly influential on his academic career.
“I’m taking a basic physiology class so far, and it’s fascinating how all the ways in which our body maintains homeostasis can be traced back to engineering principles,” Rogerson said. ‘It goes to show the potential of the field, to reengineer the body, to use nature as a guide to solving long standing medical problems.”
The University’s bioengineering and biomedical research group currently includes faculty studying the potential of nanoparticles in traumatic brain injuries, gene delivery methods, nanomechanical modeling of cells and intercellular ice formation.
The addition of the biomedical engineering major to the College of Engineering marks an increase in the academic opportunities available to prospective undergraduate students drawn to the key tenets of the major.
Shannon Green is a current junior and mechanical engineer. She spoke with the Villanovan about what the addition of biomedical engineering can mean for prospective students especially.
“I think the biomedical engineering major is a great addition to the college of engineering,” junior mechanical engineering major Shannon Green said. “I know this will spark interest in many students applying to Villanova because I know of people who were drawn to other schools solely because they offered biomedical engineering as a major rather than a minor.”
The addition of biomedical engineering as the newest major in the University’s College of Engineering marks a significant academic inclusion, allowing current and future undergraduate students to explore biomechanics and healthcare engineering on a deeper level than previously offered.
Given the new addition of Drosdick Hall along with the new major, the engineering department at the University continues to advance.
