Bioengineering

Create medical engineering technologies for rehabilitation, therapeutics, and medical informatics with thisBioengineering degree from theUniversity of Canterbury.

Bioengineering is a quickly growing field in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world. Recent demographic and economic forecasts have indicated that increased mechanisation of health care will be required to cope with the longer life expectancy and increased rates of chronic disease due to sedentary lifestyles. Hence, clinicians and medical instrumentation companies are increasingly looking to engineers for solutions.

Bioengineering involves the application of biological and engineering principles to areas of medicine and healthcare. It encompasses Medical Engineering, Biomaterials, Biomechanics, Rehabilitation, Medical Modelling, Therapeutics, and Medical Informatics Technology. Engineering within the context of the human body requires knowledge across a wide spectrum of disciplines from basic science to concept design.

Career opportunities

• Studying Bioengineering at postgraduate level develops your skills in communication, problem solving, and project management, and extends your knowledge in your chosen subject area.
• This means you are highly employable in a Research and Development role in a company that wants to find a new way of doing things or is looking for someone at the forefront of research in a particular area.
• Postgraduate study atthe University of Canterbury can also lead to a research or teaching career in a tertiary institution.

Some of the current Biomedical research areas are:

• Active insulin control and monitoring

• Mechanical ventilation modelling and optimisation

• Sedation-agitation sensor for intubated patients in the ICU

• Modelling and control of the sedation-agitation curve in ICU patients

• Physiological systems modelling

• Characterising human strength for the design of assistive devices