About the Department
Founded in 2003, the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering is a unique collaboration between North Carolina’s two flagship universities: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Our inter-institutional department provides an ideal environment to integrate engineering and medicine to improve human health and quality of life. Additionally, the shared commitment between UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State functions as a nexus to promote the translation of academic research to the commercial marketplace.
Our graduates are competitive for engineering positions in the healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries. The nationally ranked UNC Health system and the School of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill provide an excellent clinical environment for students to gain experience in medicine. The College of Engineering at NC State is based on Centennial Campus, one of the premier research parks in North America and home to more than 70 industry, government and nonprofit partners.
Additionally, our department is established in The Biomedical Partnership Center, which is located on the Biomedical Centennial Campus along with the College of Veterinary Medicine. In this center, our department occupies more than 4,000 sq. ft. of laboratory space for interdisciplinary research in regenerative medicine, drug delivery, biomaterials and biomechanics. This facility promotes collaboration and translation, which is enhanced by our Good Manufacturing Practices facility, on-site veterinary school faculty and use of small and large animal models.
In addition to our 50 primary teaching and research faculty members, our approximate 600 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students have opportunities for collaboration across schools of pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, veterinary medicine and textiles.
At the completion of the undergraduate program, graduates obtain a bachelor of science degree in Biomedical and Health Sciences Engineering from both UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University. The joint undergraduate program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
Along with the traditional areas of biomedical engineering, Master’s and doctoral students can select from five specialty areas:
- Biomedical Microdevices
- Medical Imaging
- Pharmacoengineering
- Rehabilitation Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
For undergraduate program information, please contact the undergraduate program office at BME_Student_Services@unc.edu. For graduate program information, please contact Dr. Matt Fisher at (919) 515-5242 or mbfisher@ncsu.edu.
