Request for Authorization to Plan a New Degree Program in ...

Request for Approval for a Joint
UNC-CH / NC State Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering Date: November 4, 2002 Constituent Institutions: North Carolina State University at Raleigh and
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CIP Number/Discipline Title: 14.0501 Biomedical Engineering
Type of Degree: MS and PhD
Proposed Date of Establishment: July 1, 2003 Submitted by the Organizing Committee: |Campus: |North Carolina State |University of North Carolina|
| |University at Raleigh |at Chapel Hill |
| | | |
|Faculty: |H. Troy Nagle, PhD, MD |Stephen B. Knisley, PhD |
|Title: |Professor |Assoc. Prof. & Interim Chair|
|Department: |Electrical and Computer |Biomedical Engineering |
| |Engineering | |
| | | |
|Faculty: |Susan M. Blanchard, PhD |Carol L. Lucas, PhD |
|Title: |Professor |Professor |
|Department: |Biological and Agricultural |Biomedical Engineering |
| |Engineering | |
Approvals: |Campus: |North Carolina State |University of North Carolina |
| |University at Raleigh |at Chapel Hill |
| | | |
|Chancellor: | | |
|Date: | | |
| | | |
|Dean: | | |
|College: |Engineering |Medicine |
|Date: | | |
| | | |
CONTENTS
Page
Section 1: Description of Joint BME Graduate Degree Program 1
A. Statement of Educational Objectives 2
B. Relationship of Proposed Biomedical Engineering Graduate
Degree Program to Institutional Missions 5
C. Relationship of Proposed Program to Existing Programs 6
D. Special Features or Conditions that Make NC State and
UNC-CH an Appropriate and Unique Place to Initiate
the Proposed Joint Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program 7
Section 2: Other Institutions Offering Similar Programs 7
Section 3: Current and Projected Demand for Graduates 9
Section 4: Opportunities for Research Support 10
Section 5: Enrollment Estimates 12
Section 6: Anticipated Procedures Appendix 1. Joint BME Graduate Program Curriculum and Administration
13
Appendix 2. Anticipated Management Procedures 37
Appendix 23. Biomedical Engineering Course Descriptions 38
Appendix 34. Biographical Sketches of the Organizing Committee 54
Appendix 45. Summary of Affiliated Graduate Faculty 63
1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAM This is a proposal to create joint Masters and PhD degrees in biomedical
engineering (BME) at NC State and UNC Chapel Hill. The existing MS and PhD
degree programs in the Biomedical Engineering Department at UNC-CH will be
expanded, augmented, and extended to the NC State campus. The strengths of
both campuses (the Medical and Dental schools at UNC-CH and the Colleges of
Engineering, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine at NC
State) will be leveraged into additional technical specialty areas (called
program tracks in this document). A richer collection of course offerings
will be available to the students as compared to the offerings available on
each separate campus. Students and faculty will interact between the two
campuses enriching their academic and research experiences. The new
expanded joint BME graduate program will be operated by a combined graduate
faculty with members serving from both research institutions. Uniform
requirements and academic standards will be adopted on each campus. A
joint faculty committee will authorize admissions to the joint degree
programs. A Director of Graduate Studies on each campus will jointly
administer the program. Classes will be jointly conducted using state-of-
the-art information technologies and distance learning facilities on each
campus. The program will empower the faculty and graduate students at both
institutions to explore new directions in their intellectual pursuits.
This new joint academic program will promote greater interaction and
cooperation between the two campuses, and hence foster the development of
collaborative research projects among the students, faculties and
laboratories on each campus. This new model for implementing graduate education offers advantages for
all its stakeholders. Creation of the joint academic and research programs
will benefit NC State by allowing access to UNC School of Business,
Computer Science Department and Materials Science Department as well as the
UNC-CH Medical Center, courses, faculty, and facilities and. to cutting-
edge biomedical research activities funded by National Institutes of
Health, which have up to now been concentrated mainly at UNC-CH. It will
also give NC State access to graduate BME degrees so that graduate students
and faculty could be recruited on an equal basis with other Colleges of
Engineering across the country. The development of this relationship will
also be beneficial to the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC-CH
because it is currently critically short of space, faculty positions, and a
School of Engineering with basic engineering courses and a traditional
engineering focus. AlsoIn addition, faculty at UNC-CH will have direct
access to state-of-the-art engineering research activities that have been
ongoing at NC State. External reviews of the UNC-CH BME Department over the
last ten years have unanimously recommended that they develop stronger ties
to the "traditional" engineering programs at NC State. The Department of
Biomedical Engineering at UNC-CH needs access to NC State courses, faculty,
and facilities to improve their curriculum and graduate student recruiting
efforts. From the viewpoint of the UNC Office of the President, this course
of action avoids duplication of programs within the University of North
Carolina System. From the viewpoint of the State of North Carolina, this
program will serve as a test bed for the development of distance learning
tools that can be employed to by a multitude of other academic programs
across the state. Another important measure of the success of this
proposed activity is that the end result of the proposed joint academic and
research programs could be to provide biomedical engineers for the growing
number of medical device industry and biomedical research facilities the
formation of a new Medical Device industry here in North Carolina. The tax
base of the State will be increased, as will be the State's contribution
toward improving the healthcare of the people of North Carolina, the nation
and the world. In summary, joining BME faculties at NC State and UNC-CH
will create a synergistic relationship in which the final result is much
greater than the sum of the two separate segments. Together, this joint
faculty and student endeavor will attain national and international
prominence and make North Carolina a leader in the new and emerging
biomedical engineering field. The need for biomedical engineering research and education can be seen by
the rapid proliferation of biomedical engineering programs nationally and
internationally. The University of North Carolina System is falling behind
its competition in this important field. The Federal Government in recent
years has set priorities toward reducing health care costs. Biomedical
engineering is and will continue to play a key role in developing new
technologies to improve patient care while reducing costs. Now is the time
for the UNC System to launch new research and education programs in this
field. 1.A. Statement of Educational Objectives The Study of Biomedical Engineering As biomedical engineering is defined broadly as the application of
engineering principles to medical problems, biomedical engineers work in
academia, industry and government in positions with titles similar to other
engineering disciplines - professors, research associates, software
engineers, hardware engineers, lead scientists, etc. The common thread is
the focus on medical applications. For example, a list of the "wonders of
biomedical engineering" might include: renal dialysis, cardiac bypass,
artificial heart valves, CAT and MRI imaging technologies, the Swan-Ganz
catheter, automated blood chemistry, hip replacement devices, implantable
pacemakers, fiber optic imaging and advances in respirator technology
(Steve Lewis, BMES Bulletin, Nov. 1990). A broader example of the areas in
which biomedical engineers practice can be seen in the interest categories
of members of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES): Artificial internal organs, Biochemical processes/kinetics, Bioelectric
signals, Biofluid mechanics, Biomechanics, Biomedical instrumentation,
Biomedical materials, Biomedical sensors, Biotransport processes,
Brain, Cellular systems/processes, Clinical engineering, Clinical
medicine, Diagnostic devices/methods, Environmental effects, Health-
care delivery, Heart & cardiovascular system, Mathematical modeling,
Medical imaging, Medical informatics, Membrane systems/processes,
Metabolic/endocrine systems, Microvascular processes, Mo