Tech's Biomed Engineering Program Tops with Women
By Dean Woodbeck (906-487-3327 or dlwoodbe@mtu.edu)

MTU News Video Report QuickTime 12.5 MB RealPlayer 5.8 MB Some Michigan Tech seniors are making a difference in our University's local community. The Copper Country Intermediate School District, a local educational organization, has teamed up with engineering seniors and provided design projects that can help improve their classrooms. For more information, see the video report.

Michigan Tech leads the country with the highest percentage of women enrolled in biomedical engineering, according to information compiled by The Whitaker Foundation. The Whitaker Foundation uses its resources to support biomedical engineering education and research. The foundation provided Michigan Tech with a $1 million grant in 1998 to develop its undergraduate biomedical engineering program. Michigan Tech's program now has 164 students. Of those, 103, or about 63 percent, are women. Nationwide, such programs average around 38 percent female, according to the Engineering Workforce Commission. Female enrollment in engineering, overall, is around 20 percent. "Women recognize this as a relatively new field; one having great advancement opportunities," says David Nelson, chair of Michigan Tech's biomedical engineering department. "It may be perceived as a field that is more welcoming to women." Biomedical engineers take an engineering approach toward solving medical problems, including medical instruments, diagnostic tools, imaging technologies, and even tissue engineering. Nelson says many students who go into traditional fields focus on the technology. "They want to work on new cars or aircraft. They like to tinker with things," he said. "The difference I see with biomedical engineering students is that they are much more focused on the social utility of what they do." Michigan Tech is one of the few universities in the country that has a biomedical engineering program but does not have a medical school. But, with one of the top 20 engineering schools in the nation, in terms of enrollment, there are plenty of resources, particularly when it comes to instrumentation. Faculty in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science and biological sciences all serve as affiliated faculty with biomedical engineering. The university has also developed working relationships with such places as the Mayo Clinic. "We don't have a clinical orientation," Nelson said. "We want students who are, first of all, engineers. Then we will help them understand the unique challenges in designing or making things that are going to be used on humans."