Speaking as an engineer who has been in industry as well as academe, I can say that nothing spurs the creative process as much as the prospect of bettering people's lives and improving society as a whole. Moreover, AMI-USC holds great promise for stimulating the biotech and biomedical industries in this region. To have his name on this institute says something important about what AMI-USC is intended to accomplish. By carrying the research through to engineering designs for actual commercial products, this institute will be able to make new medical devices available to doctors and the public faster than is currently feasible.
Biomedical engineering has the third largest undergraduate program in the school.
Its extensive basic research program includes particular strength in applications of computers to a wide range of biomedical problems, including medical imaging and the design of artificial organs and tissues. The department maintains strong interdisciplinary ties with the departments of electrical engineering and computer science, and with other USC programs, including the neurosciences program in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Bio-medical engineering faculty also collaborate intensively with colleagues in the medical, dental and pharmacy schools. Berger's team includes researchers from electrical engineering, neurosciences and pharmacy in addition to his home department of biomedical engineering. In 1985 he sold Pacesetter Inc., which he had founded, to Siemens AG, but he remains chairman emeritus of the concern, the second largest heart pacemaker manufacturer in the world.