Undergraduate Program Accreditation, Mission, Educational Objectives, and Student Outcomes

Program Accreditation

The Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering’s B.S. BME program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org. Accreditation is a peer review process which ensures educational quality. The accrediting body for applied science, computing, technology, and engineering programs is ABET. Accreditation through this body ensures that the Biomedical Engineering undergraduate program meets the quality standards established by the BME profession for which it prepares its students. The Biomedical Engineering undergraduate program received ABET accreditation in 2008.

To meet this mission, the faculty and staff of the Weldon School, have defined educational objectives that are intended to guide the development, implementation and continuous improvement of our B.S. BME degree program in order to meet the needs of our constituents, which include our current students, alumni, and industrial advisory board members. The educational objectives are regularly reviewed and assessed for their continued relevance and effective implementation by our constituents, faculty, and staff. To learn more about our continuous assessment and improvement plan, please read our Continuous Improvement Guide.

Program Educational Objectives

The educational objectives for our B.S. BME degree program describe the expected accomplishments of our graduates during the first few years after graduation.

Within a few years of graduation, graduates of the BME engineering program will have:

1. Demonstrated their technical and practical skills by solving open-ended engineering problems with biological, medical, or healthcare systems relevance in their field of expertise.
2. Demonstrated their ability to understand, respect, and integrate contributions from multiple disciplines to address problems with biological, medical, and healthcare systems relevance.
3. Demonstrated their ability to practice engineering in biological, medical and healthcare systems related fields or to continue their training in relevant professional and graduate school programs.

Student Outcomes

In order to fulfill the program educational objectives we have defined and implemented specific student performance outcomes (listed below) to be met at the time of graduation. These performance outcomes were defined from the general requirements set forth by ABET for Biomedical Engineering undergraduate programs and are supported by performance indicators that are used to measure the knowledge and capabilities of students at the time of graduation.

 

ABET EAC General Student Performance Outcomes

1. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
2. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
3. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
4. An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
5. An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
6. An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
7. An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies

 

Weldon School Program Specific Student Performance Outcomes

8. An understanding of biology and physiology
9. The ability to address problems associated with the interaction between living and non-living materials and systems