Bachelor's Degree (BS) in Biomedical Engineering

4 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

University of Kentucky

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering combines engineering, biology, and medicine to prepare students to design technologies that address real healthcare challenges, making it a strong choice for students interested in medical devices, prosthetics, biomaterials, imaging, and healthcare innovation. Students begin with a broad engineering foundation before developing specialized biomedical engineering skills through design, analysis, experimental work, and a two-semester senior design project completed with interdisciplinary teams and industry or healthcare partners.

Curriculum Structure

First Year: Students build their engineering and scientific foundation through courses such as Calculus I, General University Physics, and Fundamentals of Engineering Computing, followed by Calculus II, General College Chemistry I, and Introductory Biology I. The First-Year Engineering experience also introduces students to different engineering disciplines and develops the technical foundation needed for later biomedical coursework.

Second Year: Students move deeper into mathematics, science, and biomedical engineering with Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, Human Anatomy for Design, and Electrical Circuits/Electron. Courses such as Calculus III, General University Physics, Introductory Biology II, Statics, and Chemistry II help students connect engineering principles with biological systems and human anatomy.

Third Year: The curriculum becomes more focused on biomedical design and experimentation through Design Strategies for Biomedical Engineering, Biotransport, and Experimental Methods in Biomedical Engineering. Students also study Materials and Processes, CAD through Means of Production III: CAD, ergonomics, engineering statistics, and advanced biomedical electives, building skills for designing and evaluating healthcare technologies.

Fourth Year: Students apply their knowledge to real-world biomedical challenges through Senior Design Project in BME I, Senior Design Project in BME II, and Integrated Entrepreneurship in Product Design. They also study Elementary Physiology and Case Studies in Physiology while completing advanced biomedical, engineering, and science electives that support their individual interests and career goals.

Focus areas

Biomedical engineering design, biomechanics, biomaterials, tissue engineering, medical imaging, physiological systems, biomedical devices, experimental methods, healthcare technology, engineering entrepreneurship

Learning outcomes

Students develop the ability to apply engineering, science, and mathematics to healthcare problems, design solutions that address biomedical needs, analyze biological and physiological systems, conduct experimental work, and collaborate across engineering, medical, and healthcare disciplines.

Professional alignment (accreditation)

The B.S. in Biomedical Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET under the criteria for Bioengineering and Biomedical and Similarly Named Engineering Programs. The program's educational objectives emphasize applying engineering, medicine, and design knowledge to healthcare problems and continuing professional learning after graduation.

Reputation (employability rankings)

The University of Kentucky reports an average biomedical engineering full-time undergraduate salary of $72,086 for 2023–2025 through its Pigman College of Engineering career data. The department also reports an average starting salary of $70,258 based on NACE 2023 data, demonstrating strong employment prospects for graduates.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

Students gain practical experience by moving beyond classroom theory into engineering design, laboratory experimentation, biomedical research, CAD-based product development, and interdisciplinary healthcare projects. The program's two-semester Senior Design sequence gives students an opportunity to work in teams on healthcare problems presented by industry or healthcare collaborators, while undergraduate research allows students to work directly with biomedical engineering faculty and graduate students on projects involving areas such as biomaterials, imaging, neural systems, cardiovascular engineering, and tissue mechanics.

The department also provides access to specialized research environments and shared facilities supporting smart medical-device development, mechanical testing, imaging, signal processing, computational analysis, and cellular and tissue mechanics. Students can gain research experience for academic credit, volunteer experience, hourly pay, or summer stipends, with some projects extending over multiple years.

Key practical opportunities include:

Two-semester Senior Design: BME 420 Senior Design Project in BME I and BME 421 Senior Design Project in BME II involve interdisciplinary healthcare-focused design projects.
Healthcare collaboration: Senior design teams work with industrial or healthcare partners, including projects developed with UK HealthCare clinical collaborators.
CAD and product development: PRD 230 – Means of Production III: CAD develops computer-aided design skills relevant to biomedical product development.
Biomedical experimentation: BME 330 – Experimental Methods in Biomedical Engineering provides direct experience with experimental approaches used in biomedical engineering.
Undergraduate research: Students can work alongside faculty and graduate researchers on real biomedical engineering projects and may earn academic credit, hourly wages, or summer stipends.
Bioanalytics and Integrative Bioengineering Laboratory: Research includes biosensor development, biomarker detection, tissue and implant-device characterization, and computational bioengineering.
Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine Lab: Students can engage with research involving biomaterials, immune responses, disease models, drug screening, and tissue regeneration.
Bio-Photonics Laboratory: Research uses optical spectroscopy and tomography to investigate blood flow, oxygenation, tissue metabolism, and biomedical imaging.
Bone Quality Laboratory: Two Instron servo-hydraulic mechanical testing systems support compression, tension, bending, and torsional testing of tissues and prosthetic devices.
Neural Systems Laboratory: Research includes physiological measurements, modelling, and signal analysis for areas such as epilepsy therapy, sleep monitoring, neuroprosthetics, and cognitive science.
Spectroscopic Imaging Laboratory: Students can encounter spectroscopy, microscopy, and spectral imaging technologies used in biomedical cancer research.
Shared research facilities: Department capabilities include smart medical-device development, electromechanical testing, microcomputed tomography, diffuse optical spectroscopy and tomography, cardiovascular and neural signal processing, computational musculoskeletal analysis, and cellular and tissue mechanics.

Progression & Future Opportunities

Graduates of the University of Kentucky's Biomedical Engineering program can move into technical, research, healthcare, government, and biomedical product-development careers, using their engineering and life-science training to solve problems involving medical devices, materials, software, imaging, and healthcare systems. The university also reports graduates working with organizations such as Baxter, General Electric, Siemens, Biomet, Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson, NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and biomedical consulting organizations.

Typical career roles include Biomedical Engineer, Medical Device Engineer, Biomaterials Engineer, Biomedical Research Engineer, with additional opportunities in medical imaging, healthcare technology, biotechnology, government regulation, consulting, and product development:

Career and Co-op Center: The Pigman College of Engineering's Career & Co-op Center supports students with job and co-op search skills, career development, networking, and opportunities to connect their education with professional experience.
Employment and salary outcomes: The university reports an average full-time undergraduate salary of $72,086 for Biomedical Engineering graduates for 2023–2025. For 2025–26, the reported average Biomedical Engineering internship/co-op salary is $22.50 per hour.
Industry and healthcare connections: The BME program's two-semester capstone works with industry and healthcare partners on real healthcare problems. Recent projects have involved UK HealthCare clinicians working with engineering and product-design students to develop healthcare products.
Employer network: University-reported BME graduates have joined organizations including Baxter, General Electric, Siemens, Biomet, Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Professional accreditation: ABET accreditation provides an established quality framework for biomedical engineering education and supports preparation for professional engineering and technical careers.
Interdisciplinary environment: Students can collaborate with experts across the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Arts and Sciences, as well as researchers connected with UK HealthCare and specialized university research centers.
Research preparation: Undergraduate research can lead to conference presentations and manuscript submissions and is specifically identified by the department as preparation for graduate study.

Further Academic Progression:
After completing the B.S., students can continue into graduate-level Biomedical Engineering study. The University of Kentucky's Department of Biomedical Engineering offers traditional Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs covering areas such as rehabilitation engineering, sports medicine, orthopedic implant design, medical instrumentation, diagnosis and image processing, biomaterials, and related biomedical engineering applications. The undergraduate program also participates in the University's Accelerated Master's Pathways, allowing eligible students to begin graduate-level study while completing their bachelor's degree.