For biomedical engineers who have just finished their undergraduate degrees or who have been in the field for a few years and want to apply their skills to developing innovative medical technologies.
UVA’s Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering features a 15-month curriculum of carefully sequenced courses that give students the end-to-end skills needed to develop and commercialize biomedical innovations. At the same time, students have the opportunity to put this knowledge to work developing a product or process that they will unveil in their final semester.
The program brings together a number of advantages to create a uniquely powerful educational experience. You will experience all these opportunities in the context of instruction and mentorship from faculty at one of the most translational biomedical engineering departments in the nation.
The BME Department is co-located in the midst of a regional medical center with a series of top-ranked programs.
While the Department of Biomedical Engineering has close ties with other disciplines at UVA Engineering, it has the added advantage of being co-located in the midst of a large regional medical center with top-ranked programs in a wide range of clinical specialties. You will observe UVA physicians, nurses and technical staff in the operating room as well as at the bedside, gaining in-depth understanding of the way biomedical technology is embedded in clinical practice as well as the clinical, economic and social factors that will shape its development going forward.
You will gain a window into the future of biomedical technology by interacting with faculty at the forefront of their fields.
UVA is highly regarded as a leading biomedical engineering program. You will gain a window into the future of biomedical technology when you interact with faculty members who are advancing the boundaries of knowledge in such fields as medical imaging, biomanufacturing, biomedical data sciences, and cancer and vascular diseases.
Our faculty lead start-ups and have relationships with major biomedical and pharmaceutical companies.
Moving technology into the marketplace has long been a department priority. Our faculty lead start-ups and cultivate relationships with major companies like AstraZeneca, our Coulter Translational Research Partnership program is one of the most active in the nation and the University’s Licensing & Ventures Group has an impressive record of bringing innovations discovered at UVA into the marketplace. As a student in the Master of Engineering program, you’ll have the perfect vantage point to acquire skills in the end-to-end process of developing and commercializing biomedical innovations.
The curriculum includes faculty participation from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Arts & Sciences.
UVA is the ideal size for a research university: large enough to support world-class programs yet small enough that collaboration comes naturally. As a result, you will be exposed to a broad range of skills and perspectives, thanks to the participation in the BME Master of Engineering program by faculty from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Architecture as well as from the College of Arts & Sciences.
You’ll gain an understanding of machine learning, large data management and database systems in the context of biomedical product and process development.
Unlike most university data science centers, which are based in computer science departments, UVA’s Data Science Institute serves the entire University. As a result, you’ll gain an understanding of machine learning, large data management and database systems as they specifically apply to biomedical product and process development. An added plus: Philip Bourne, the institute’s director, is a former associate director for data science at the National Institutes of Health and is a member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Through the Architecture School’s Center for Design and Health, you will gain skills in such techniques as empathizing, ideation and prototyping.
Methodologies like Agile, Lean and Design Thinking have overturned the orthodoxies that governed product development for decades. Through the Design + initiative in the School of Architecture and its Center for Design and Health, you will gain skills in such techniques as empathizing, ideation and prototyping, knowledge that you will immediately put into practice as you pursue your own design project.
The inaugural class of BME Master of Engineering students, pictured here, graduated in December 2020. While in the program, each student observed 60-100 hours of patient care and clinical procedures, developed a product or process that advances the current standard of care, and completed a paid BIOME internship with UVA Health or a local biotechnology company. Now they are contributing to the future of healthcare through positions around the country, including Charlottesville, VA.
Curriculum
The UVA Department of Biomedical Engineering introduced its Master of Engineering program with a straightforward goal: connect young engineers who want to bring innovative medical technologies to the private sector with the knowledge and skills to do so.
The program has been carefully conceived to give you the precise set of skills and hands-on experiences you’ll need to build a successful private-sector career in biomedical product and process development. This includes immersion in the day-to-day clinical activities of a major regional medical center, intensive training in the biomedical data sciences and a deep dive into the kind of design thinking that has revolutionized product development.
The carefully structured curriculum take you step-by-step through the process of developing your own solution, either as an individual or part of a team, to a clinical challenge that you identify. It includes a series of required courses as well as a number of electives, both in BME and in other disciplines, that you can choose to support your project.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering is one of the most dynamic at the University of Virginia. Our faculty lead major university-wide centers and initiatives, including the Data Science Institute, the Coulter Translational Research Partnership, the Center for Advanced Biomanufacturing and the Fibrosis Initiative.
Program Director Jonathan Rosen’s broad set of credentials ensures the relevancy of the program. He holds an MBA in strategic planning as well as a doctorate in biomaterials science. During a three-decade corporate career in medical devices, he was chief technology officer for Johnson & Johnson’s Surgical Division and founded four start-ups. Since that time, he has taught for MIT, Harvard and Boston University, where he created its Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering.
Dates and Deadlines
Application review is on a rolling basis December through April.
The First Step to a More Satisfying Career
To learn more about the Master of Engineering and how to apply, contact the Professor of the Practice and Director of Professional Studies Jonathan Rosen at jjr7mg@virginia.edu.
Professor of the Practice and Director of Professional Studies
Dr. Jonathan Rosen joined the Biomedical Engineering faculty to offer BME Master of Engineering students an enriched and expanded graduate biomedical educational experience. Contact him by email to see if this program is a good fit for your goals and objectives: jjr7mg@virginia.edu.
Kim helps BME grad students get the most out of their time at UVA. Contact her with nearly any question... but especially questions about program logistics, academic milestone, the application process, and the student experience: kaf5r@virginia.edu.
Licensure Disclosure
As a member of the State Authorizations Reciprocity Agreement, the University of Virginia (UVA) is authorized to provide curriculum in a distance learning environment to students located in all states in the United States except for California. (34 CFR 668.43(a)(6)& 34 CFR 668.72(n)).
Upon completion of an engineering degree program which prepares graduates for licensure or certification, graduates may be eligible for initial professional licensure in another U.S. state by applying to the licensing board or agency in that state. Please visit the University’s state authorization web pages to make an informed decision regarding which states’ educational requirements for initial licensure are met by this program. (668.43(a)(5) (v)(A) - (C))
Enrolled students who change their current (or mailing) address to a state other than Virginia should update this information immediately in the Student Information System as it may impact their ability to complete internship, practicum, or clinical hours, use Title IV funds, or meet licensure or certification requirements in the new state. (34 CFR 668.402).
