Overview
At Purdue's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, we're not just crossing the lines between academic disciplines, we're changing the biomedical field through innovative research and education...
Our History
It began with a then-anonymous gift from Purdue Trustee William A. Hillenbrand to establish a biomedical engineering center, and by Grace Showalter's subsequent endowment to create a distinguished professorship in biomedical engineering. These two gifts made it possible to recruit world-renowned engineer and scientist Dr. Leslie A. Geddes and a team of researchers to create the Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center in 1974.
The Hillenbrand Center pioneered applied research and industry partnerships that formed the framework for the Department of Biomedical Engineering. More than 100 U.S. patents have been issued based on Purdue discovery research in biomedical engineering, and more than half of these have been licensed for use by industry. Royalties from these patents are in excess of all other Purdue royalty sources combined, providing a tangible return to the University, as well as to the greater community.
A new era of biomedical engineering, research, and development has begun at Purdue. Thanks to the generous support of the Weldon Family, the biomedical engineering department is now the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.
Our mission remains the same:
To be the premier source of scientific discoveries and of well-educated biomedical engineers, fostering strong academic, industrial, and clinical ties, and achieving significant healthcare impact.
Our vision is:
To improve quality of life through pioneering scientific discoveries and their translation, and the education of future leaders in the medical device and biotechnology fields. From 1998-2012, we moved Purdue from having no formal academic programs in biomedical engineering to one with a preeminent and highly visible Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering with hundreds of top students, the finest faculty, ground-breaking research, cutting-edge facilities, and strategic partnerships.
Our goals are to:
- Continue to grow an outstanding, diverse, and research-intensive faculty through strategic recruitment;
- Expand and enhance the curriculum and student body of our educational programs;
- Broaden our research programs and capabilities, and amplify their industrial and clinical impact through extramural partnerships and entrepreneurship; and
- Heighten the visibility and recognition of all of our efforts.
To learn more
You can read our strategic plan or read about the history of BME at Purdue.