Are you considering studying a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYD?
Well look no further! In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the degree from career paths to core units to student culture!
Let’s get into it!
What is a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYD?
Core Units and Majors
How to Get into a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYD
What’s the Teaching Format?
What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?
What is a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYD?
ABachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYDis a degree focused oncombining the knowledge of biological and life sciences with the technicality of engineering. Taking on this degree can give you a glimpse intothe mechanics of medical technology, and you’ll have the chance togain industry experienceas you work towards your qualification.
生物医学工程是对心脏非常结构化e units inChemistry, Biology and Engineeringwhich guide your development throughout your study. It’s greatfor students who want to work at the cusp of medical science and engineering!
The Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering degree is also anHonours degree! This means thatall students in their final year will undertake a research thesiswhich involves designing and demonstrating an innovative concept within Biomedical Engineering.
Career Paths
A Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYDcovers a good number of fields and specialities. There are many different roles or types of organisations in which graduates may end up:
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- Biomedical engineer within hospitals or government bodies
- Biomedical device designer
- Forensic engineer
- 他alth technology organisations
- Patent examiner and field service engineer
- Medical device assessor
- Clinical support specialist
Core Units and Majors
What are the Core Units?
The Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering degree requires the completion ofbiomedical stream core units. Some of the compulsory units you could find yourself diving into are:
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- Biomaterials
- Engineering Mechanics
- Regulatory Affairs in the Medical Industry
- Biomedical Design and Technology
- Computational Analysis for Biomedical Designs
What Majors are available?
If you’re planning to study this degree as a single honours degree, there are a multitude ofspecialisations or majorsyou can choose from:
| Major/Specialisation | Description |
|---|---|
| Biocomputation |
你喜欢使用软件和电脑吗?Then this major might be for you! The Biocomputation specialisation will develop your skills for working in biotechnology, research and healthcare settings. |
| Biomedical Modelling and Design | You might be wondering why engineers need to be so familiar with software like SolidWorks or AutoCAD. This is where design and modelling really comes into its own! The Biomedical Modelling and Design specialisation gives you the technical proficiency needed to innovate, design and manufacture biomedical implants and devices. |
| Bionics and Bioelectronics | Are you interested in learning about the technology used in modern hearing aids and implants? The Bionics and Bioelectronics specialisation will immerse you in the skills required to produce and invent bionics like cochlear implants or pacemakers. |
| Humanitarian Engineering | The Humanitarian Engineering major leans more towards streams like civil engineering where you’ll develop knowledge and skills surrounding the planning, implementation and maintenance of infrastructure in rural Australia and developing countries. |
| Nanoscale Biotechnology | This specialisation in Biomedical engineering equips you with the technical skills Biomedical engineers use in developing biomedical devices and therapeutic materials. Though specific, the skills from this major can be applied to pharmaceutical, orthopaedic and healthcare industries. |
| Thermofluids | Interested in thermodynamics? How about fluid mechanics? This specialisation deals with the fundamentals of heat transfer and fluid mechanics, allowing you to apply these skills in many, complex socio-environmental problems like flash-flooding or bushfire prevention. |
Work Experience
The Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYD has an integrated“Professional Engagement Program”, otherwise known as PEP. In the second part of this program, you willdedicate a portion of your third year study to industry placements!
This means internships andwork experience at various biomedical companies such as Cochlear and Resmed.
How to Get into a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYD
Theguaranteed ATARfor admission into a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USYD is anATAR of92.
However, if you are unable to attain this result, there’s no need to worry!There are alsoalternate pathways of entryinto this degree.
TheAcademic Excellence Schemeallows for an调整到5点添加到您的阿塔尔for achieving band 5 or 6 in high level English or Mathematics.
For general alternative pathways, such as disrupted schooling, elite athletes, academic and school leadership and more, check out this linkhere!
Prerequisites and Assumed Knowledge
This degree also has amathematics course prerequisite.Youmusteither have achieved aBand 4 or higher in Mathematics AdvancedoraBandE3 or higher in Mathematics Extension 1.
It’s also a good idea to have at least some experience in theAssumed Knowledgesubjects.
These are:HSC Mathematics Extension 1, Physics and/or Chemistry and/or Biology. If you haven’t taken these subjects in your senior years,bridging coursesare available to get you up to speed.
What scholarships are available?
The School of Biomedical Engineering at USYD does not have any degree specific scholarships, but you can check out a list of general ones for the Faculty of Engineeringhere!
What’s the Teaching Format?
A Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at Sydney Uni has one of the most diverse teaching environments at the university. The teaching period is split intotwosemestersand encompasseslectures, tutorials, seminars, laboratory work and industrial workshops.
How long do classes take?
The length of each of these classesdepends on the number of credit points (CP) that unit is worth.
For example, a unit worth 6 CP will demand a greater number of face-to-face contact hours compared to a 2 CP unit.
Usually your 6 CP units will have2 to 3 hours of lectures,1 to 2 hours of tutorials or seminarsanddepending on the unit, you may have labs or workshops.Typically, the number of hours dedicated to lectures and tutorials will differ over different faculties.
Laboratory and workshops also have varying lengths depending on the unit!They may be weekly or bi-weekly and generally can run from anywhere between 2 to 4 hours.
Class Structure
Lectures
Almost all your units will have some form of lecture-style content delivery. Most lectures have anywhere between100 to 500 students, but as you move into more specialised or elective subjects, youcould be in a cohort of only a dozen students!
Tutorials
Tutorials in Biomedical Engineering or Engineering in general areled by 1-2 tutors,where the beginning of the lesson revolves aroundrecapping lecture content from the prior week. Most of the tutorial time is spent working on problems and asking questions and will typically only have25 studentsin the class.
Seminarsare great environments for group work as they generally have alarger class size than tutorials. You’ll probably encounter seminars inone or two of your units as they’re not too common in Biomedical Engineering, but when you are in one, you’ll most likely be met with some sort of presentation or engage in group work.
Labs
The University of Sydney has somestate of the art laboratorieswhich are generally classified into‘dry’ or ‘wet’ labs.
A wet lab is a lab wheredrugs, chemicals and biological or chemical matter can be analysed involving liquids. Most web labs have large numbers of students anywhere from40 to 80 students.
A dry lab focuses oncomputational mathematics, engineering computing and circuitry. Dry labs are typically a little smaller with only30 to 50 students.
It’s important to note that labs (especially wet labs) are relatively high risk environments and personal protective equipment (PPE) (lab coats, goggles, gloves, enclosed shoes) needs to be worn!
Industrial Workshops
Industrial workshop units aremostly undertaken in first yearto establish thefundamentals of using engineering equipment.These tend to decrease in later years with wet and dry lab components becoming more prominent for the Biomedical stream.
Workshops are generally quite small with8 to 10 students, led by a tutor. Again, it’s important to note that workshops are relatively high risk environments andpersonal protective equipment (PPE) (lab coats, goggles, gloves, enclosed shoes) needs to be worn.
How many hours do you need to go to university?
Studying a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at USyd, like most other STEM degrees means you’ll probably have tospend a lot of time on campus.
If you attend all your lectures, tutorials and lab classes, a 6 CP unit might demand approximately6 to 7 hours of face-to-face classes.A full academic load consists of 24 CP so this will equate toapproximately 24 to 28 hours of face-to-face contact at University.
This means that most engineering students spend the majority of their week on campus and may either have one or no days off in the working week.
What are assessments like?
Assessments will differ depending on the unit you take and will generally span over a variety of theoretical and practical assessments.
For STEM degrees, it is not uncommon to have up to or even greater than5 assessments per subject.
Types of Assessments
In general, you will probably come acrossquizzes (weekly or every few weeks), essays, presentations, mid-semester exams, laboratory note write-ups, laboratory skills tests, design projects, lab workand afinal exam.
Essays, research papers or research journalsare generally assigned in earlier years and can span from 1000 to 2000 word papers.
Good scientific practiceis a concept emphasised in all units with practical components and generally skills such as pipetting, running a PCR machine or using aseptic technique contributes about 10% to your final mark.
Some units havemid-semester examsand others don’t.Mid-semester exams are usually allocated a weighting of 30%and thefinal exam is usually allocated between 40-50%.
Note:Some STEM units require double passes or have hurdle tasks. Adouble passmay mean you need topass both the final exam and other components (> 50%). Ahurdle taskmeans that you mustsurpass a certain mark to pass the entire unit.
What are the skills you develop?
You’ll undertake units which will help youdevelop your maths and computing skills, allowing you to work with quintessential engineeringsoftware like Matlab and Solidworks.
Your Biomedical Engineering degree will also take you through fundamental units likeMechanics, Circuitry and Biomedical Design. This is where Biomedical Engineering diverts from your conventional engineering pathways like Mechatronics and Civil Engineering.
You’ll develop skills not only in working with structures and mechanical engineering but you’ll also have the opportunity to learn aboutbiological sciencesandscientific laboratory techniques– analysing genetic sequences using qPCR and practical investigations of human anatomy and physiology.
Fun Fact!
qPCR stands forquantitative polymerase chain reaction.It’s a commonly used laboratory technique for amplifying small amounts of DNA and quantifying it.
A Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering degree not only lets you develop the technical skills of becoming a Biomedical Engineer but also thesoft skills.
TheProfessional Engagement Program(PEP) and integrated engineering units allow you to build up yourleadership, planning, teamwork and communication skills. At the end of your degree, you will graduate withover 600 hours of experience in professional engagement!
What’s the Faculty and Culture Like?
The School of Biomedical Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering at USYD in generalhave a reputation for being draconian in dealing with students.Though this might be true in matters of Academic Dishonesty, the majority of the School of Biomedical Engineeringstaff are genuine and caring academics who are passionatein what they teach and how they teach it.
Culture
Everybody thinks that Engo students are not exactly the most socially-oriented or outgoing people and while this may be true for some,the majority buck the trend!
The very essence of engineering is based onteamwork and cooperationand you’ll find that many of your colleagues strive to ensure that all the voices of your cohort can be heard.
Generally engineering studentsdo not involve themselves too much around campus or university politics.通常你会发现他们在组织挤在一起ps on the engineering side of campus discussinggroup projects, sharing somefriendly banter or pulling all-nightersin the study hub.
Accessibility Programs
The University of Sydney has one of the largestWomen in Engineering programs, supporting future female leaders in STEM fields.
With multiple scholarships, high school programs and female engineering societies, theproportion of female undergraduates studying engineering is double the national average.
Have a look at this link here to find out more aboutWomen in Engineering at USyd!
Interested in the pros and cons of Biomedical Engineering at USYD? Check out our article here!
Alex Gaois an Art of Smart mentor and blogger who is passionate about teaching students the skills and know-how of high school. Alex has a great interest in the field of Biology, avidly blogging about the topic whilst also aspiring to become a Biomedical Engineer. Alex graduated in 2018 and was listed on the Distinguished Achievers list for Advanced English, Extension 1 English and Biology.
