Program Director

Dr. Faisal Shaikh
Office: CC-252
Phone: (414) 277-7325
Email: shaikh@msoe.edu

Biomolecular engineering is a diverse, application-driven discipline at the interface of molecular biology, bioengineering and chemical engineering. Globally, chemical and biotechnology industries seek engineering graduates who are trained to work up to the cellular and molecular level in life-science-related fields. BioMolecular engineering (BioE), a four-year bachelor of science degree program at MSOE, meets this need. The curriculum of the BioE program is a balanced combination of engineering, math, science, computation, and humanities and social science courses. Along with rigorous, hands-on laboratory training, these courses address the cross-disciplinary nature of BioE.

Working at the interface of engineering and molecular biology, graduates from this program solve engineering problems, and improve current and develop new products and processes.

In addition to BioE curriculum track courses, the BioE program faculty offer students with interest in particular areas an opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty member as part of an independent study, EB 499 .

The BioMolecular engineering program at MSOE enables BioE students to:

• Gain a solid foundation in basic mathematics and sciences
• Learn and apply theoretical principles in modern and well-equipped laboratories
• Experience involved discussions with program alums and industrial and academic contacts via a series of seminar courses and invited guest talks that emphasize biomolecular engineering projects and foster academic and professional discussions, group learning, and entrepreneurship
• Work at the molecular level with simple and complex molecules through courses that cover concepts of biotechnology, thermodynamics, transport phenomena, cell engineering, bioinformatics, engineering control of drug delivery, biotechnology, synthetic biology, and metabolic engineering
• Learn cell culture and its applications in the design and development of products through the BioE program’s BSL-II cell culture facility
• Mathematically model biomolecules and biological processes and quantitatively measure, visualize, and analyze with instruments like the atomic force microscope
• Engineer new or improved bioactive compounds or machines or improve process efficiencies for such systems via the senior design experience
• Learn a diverse range of topics via the EB elective courses of the curriculum

The BioE curriculum prepares graduates to handle the changing face of the chemical and bio-industries, thus allowing flexibility of career opportunities in a dynamic job market. The curriculum also prepares graduates to pursue quality graduate programs worldwide.

The BioMolecular engineering program at MSOE is defined as follows:

Biomolecular engineering is a discipline that applies engineering principles, design concepts, and problem-solving skills to the life sciences up to the molecular level to promote both fundamental and applied advancements in biological sciences, engineering and many related fields.

Relationship to Chemical engineering and Biomedical engineering:

The BioE program utilizes life sciences through the exploration of hybrid biological fields which leads to the design of new products or processes. Since the BioE program curriculum applies core chemical engineering principles, the concepts and skills of the chemical processes that convert raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms can also be practiced by the BioE program graduates.

The program is distinct from Biomedical engineering due to the scale at which the design is practiced and the applications associated with it. While the biomedical field heavily impacts the field of medicine, the Biomolecular engineering program at MSOE is tailored such that applications can be stretched over various industrial and academic fields, that include biopharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, biomaterials, cell culture, bioprocesses, biotechnology, bioinformatics, food technology, biosynthetics and metabolites, biopathways, biocircuits and other related fields.

Program Educational Objectives

The BioE program prepares graduates to exhibit and achieve the following attributes within a few years of graduation:

Professional Skills

BioE alumni will:

• Possess and demonstrate skills to solve complex challenges
• Demonstrate sustained professional development

Sense of Excellence and Achievement

BioE alumni will:

• Exhibit inclusion and ethical responsibilities in professional practices
• Compete for positions at the local, state, national or international levels
• Engage in continuous learning and/or career-appropriate options

Social Skills

BioE alumni will:

• Demonstrate management and leadership skills
• Function within diverse cultural and professional environments

BioE Program Student Outcomes

Graduates of the Biomolecular engineering program, at the time of graduation, will have:

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
8. a foundation in the basic sciences sufficient to design, analyze, and control physical, chemical and biological products and processes
9. a foundation in the safety and hazards associated with the physical, chemical, and biological products and processes

 

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