DOCUMENTS OF THE GENERAL FACULTY

CHANGES IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG, 2000-2002

Associate Dean Neal E. Armstrong of the College of Engineering filed with the secretary of the Faculty Council the proposal below to create a bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering. The edited proposal was received from the Office of Official Publications on November 7, 2000. The secretary has classified this proposal as legislation of exclusive application and primary interest to a single college or school.

If no objection is filed with the Office of the General Faculty by the date specified below, the legislation will be held to have been approved by the Faculty Council. If objection is filed within the prescribed period, the legislation will be presented to the Faculty Council at its next meeting. The objection, with reasons, must be signed by a member of the Faculty Council.

To be counted, a protest must be received in the Office of the General Faculty by November 17, 2000.

<signed>

John R. Durbin, Secretary
The Faculty Council

This legislation was posted on the Faculty Council web site (http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/) on November 9, 2000. Paper copies are available on request from the Office of the General Faculty, FAC 22, F9500.

CHANGES IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING CHAPTER OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG, 2000-2002

The changes set forth below are proposed for the College of Engineering in The Undergraduate Catalog, 2000-2002, of The University of Texas at Austin.

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

The mission of the Department of Biomedical Engineering is to provide a rigorous education at the intersection of engineering and science as these fields relate to the molecular diagnosis and prevention of disease. The main educational objective is a thorough training in the fundamentals of engineering science, design, and biology. The curriculum is designed to provide vertical integration of knowledge from the molecular and cellular levels to the tissue and organismal levels. The curriculum incorporates principles of vertical integration, followed by specialization tracks in biomedical imaging and instrumentation, cell and biomolecular engineering, and computational biomedical engineering, and culminates in a team capstone design experience. Research, industrial, and clinical internships provide students with novel educational experiences and unique perspectives on biomedical engineering applications. Students are expected to develop an understanding of industrial, research, and clinical biomedical engineering environments; an understanding of regulatory issues and biomedical ethics; the ability to identify, formulate, and solve biomedical engineering problems; the ability to design systems to meet needs in medical/life science applications; an understanding of life processes at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organismal levels; the ability to make measurements and interpret data in living systems; an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of biomedical engineering research; and the ability to use instrumentation to measure phenomena in living systems.

CURRICULUM

Course requirements are divided into three categories: basic sequence courses, major sequence courses, and other required courses. Enrollment in major sequence courses is restricted to students who have received credit for all of the basic sequence courses and have been admitted to the major sequence by the College of Engineering Admissions Committee. (Requirements for admission to a major sequence are given on pages 130-131.) Enrollment in other required courses is not restricted by completion of the basic sequence.

Courses used to fulfill technical and nontechnical elective requirements must be approved by the biomedical engineering faculty before the student enrolls in them. Courses that fulfill the social science and fine arts/humanities requirements are listed on pages 139-140.

Footnote: * Electrical Engineering 322 may be counted only once.

TECHNICAL AREA OPTIONS

The technical area option allows the student to choose eighteen semester hours of technical area coursework in biomedical imaging and instrumentation, cellular and biomolecular engineering, or computational biomedical engineering. Each student should choose a technical area by the end of the sophomore year and plan an academic program to meet the area requirements in the next two years.

AREA I, BIOMEDICAL IMAGING AND INSTRUMENTATION

The main educational objective of this track is to bring together new advances in imaging science, molecular markers of disease, and biomedical instrumentation and to use them in translational research. An important emphasis is the use of optical imaging for disease detection. Students must take Biomedical Engineering 311, Network Theory, in the sophomore year. In addition, all students in Area I must take the following four courses:

Electrical Engineering 319K, Introduction to Microcontrollers
Biomedical Engineering 343, Biomedical Engineering Signal and Systems Analysis
Electrical Engineering 438, Electronics
Electrical Engineering 345S, Real-Time Digital Signal Processing

Students then complete two elective courses, for a total of at least six semester hours, in one of the following options:

Option A: Digital Applications

Biomedical Engineering 374K, Biomedical Electronics
Electrical Engineering 345L, Microprocessor Applications
Electrical Engineering 345M, Microcomputer Interfacing Laboratory
Biomedical Engineering 374L, Applications of Biomedical Engineering

Option B: Imaging Applications

Biomedical Engineering 357, Biomedical Imaging Modalities
Physics 333, Modern Optics; and Physics 133L, Laboratory for Physics 333
Electrical Engineering 351M, Digital Signal Processing
Astronomy 376, Topic: Astronomical Instrumentation
Electrical Engineering 371R, Digital Image and Video Processing

AREA II, CELL AND BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING

The major objective of this area is to teach students how to integrate knowledge in cell and molecular biology and engineering analysis so that they can address problems in molecular-based medicine. Three disciplines within this track are tissue engineering as it relates to the underlying molecular biology issues; materials science, with an emphasis on bioactive materials and construction of nanoscale devices and probes; and bioengineering analysis of infectious diseases and immunological responses. Students must take Chemical Engineering 350, Materials, in the sophomore year. In addition, students must take the following three courses:

Biomedical Engineering 339, Biochemical Engineering
Biomedical Engineering 352, Advanced Engineering Biomaterials
Biology 325, Genetics

Students must complete three electives from the following list; one course, one must have a laboratory and one must be in engineering.

Biomedical Engineering 379, Cell and Tissue Engineering
Biomedical Engineering 354, Molecular Sensors and Nanodevices for Biomedical Engineering Applications
Chemistry 618B, Organic Chemistry, and Chemistry 118K, Organic Chemistry Laboratory
Biology 344, Molecular Biology
Biology 323L, Laboratory Studies in Cell Biology
Biology 325L, Experience in Molecular Biology Laboratory
Biology 226R, General Microbiology: Microbial Cell Structure and Genetics, and Biology 126L, General Microbiology Laboratory

AREA III, COMPUTATIONAL BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

The objective of this area is to provide students with the knowledge and skills that will enable them to use computational algorithms and techniques in engineering and information science to study problems encountered in cell and molecular biology. For example, performing computer simulations of molecular processes inside cells to predict drug effects on humans will help to advance pharmaceutical research. Computational prognostics and diagnostics that combine clinical data with patient-specific genotyping and molecular profiling may one day be used to produce significantly improved choices of therapies for individual patients.

Students must take Electrical Engineering 322, Programming II, in the sophomore year. They must also complete the following four courses:

Mathematics 340L, Matrices and Matrix Calculations
Electrical Engineering 360C, Data Structures in C++
Biomedical Engineering 341, Engineering Tools for Computational Biology Laboratory
Computer Sciences 323E, Elements of Scientific Computing

In addition, students complete two electives from the following list; one of these courses must be in engineering.

Computer Sciences 313E, Elements of Software Design
Computer Sciences 327E, Elements of Databases
Engineering Mechanics 314, Mechanics
Biomedical Engineering 342, Computational Biomechanics
Biomedical Engineering 345, Graphics and Visualization
Electrical Engineering 360D, Data Management

SENIOR ENGINEERING ELECTIVES

All students must take two senior engineering electives for a total of six semester hours. The following may be counted toward this requirement:

The industrial internship program consists of summer internships at partner biomedical companies. In the research internship program, students perform biomedical research with biomedical engineering faculty at UT Austin and/or the Texas Medical Center. The clinical research internship program allows students to perform research in laboratories at either UT M.D. Anderson or UT Health Science Center in Houston. The clinical medical internship program gives students the opportunity to work directly with a single physician or a team of practicing physicians at UT M.D. Anderson or UT Health Science Center in Houston. In the clinical medical internship, students participate in clinical in-patient rounds, out-patient visits, operating room, and medical grand rounds. This gives them direct experience with the medical needs that can be addressed by biomedical engineering.

SUGGESTED ARRANGEMENT OF COURSES

First Year – Fall Semester

First Year – Spring Semester

Second Year – Fall Semester

Second Year – Spring Semester

Footnote: * Electrical Engineering 322 may be counted only once.

Third Year – Fall Semester

Third Year – Spring Semester

Fourth Year – Fall Semester

Fourth Year – Spring Semester

RATIONALE

This curriculum is for the new Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering. The University of Texas System has developed internationally recognized programs in cellular and molecular biology, in engineering, and in molecular medicine. We propose to integrate and expand these areas of excellence to form a Department of Biomedical Engineering at UT Austin, emphasizing formal educational and research collaborations with The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.