To prepare students to work in the rapidly changing field of biomedical engineering, the programs focus on developing intellectual breadth in the many aspects of biomedical engineering, as well as depth in one particular area of engineering. Throughout their program, students work closely with biological and clinical scientists, integrate knowledge from a broad range of fields to synthesize solutions, and use their technical problem-solving skills to translate ideas into needed products. For all M.S. and Ph.D. engineers, including biomedical engineers, career opportunities in U.S. industry have been fundamentally restructured as the importance of research and development in small firms has increased. Firms now emphasize flexibility and the ability to bring discoveries to market with great speed. Seeing research and development as an interactive, nonlinear system is key to bridging basic science and societally useful technology.
Teamwork is paramount.
Graduates interested in academic positions need similar skills to work successfully in interdisciplinary collaborations and at the interface of traditional disciplines. Cornell's graduate programs offer the education that students need to develop these attributes. Each student's graduate program is supervised by a Special Committee composed of Graduate Faculty members chosen by the student to represent the student's major and minor subjects. Academic rigor is maintained through the intense scrutiny given by the Special Committee to each student's individual program. M.S. students select one minor, usually in a traditional engineering field.