Located in Baltimore, Maryland, John Hopkins University is a private, nonsectarian college, home to more than 19,000 undergraduate and graduate students. In 2010, "U.S. News and World Report" ranked the bioengineering program at the university's Whiting School of Engineering first among schools in the United States. Students in the undergraduate program participate in a Design Team course, in which they work with a small group of their peers to design a new medical device. As of 2010, two of these group projects led to actual start-up companies to produce the developed device, and two were sold to companies for manufacturing. For the Master of Science in Engineering offered at the university, all students develop an individual biomedical device, build a prototype and create a sales plan for their invention prior to graduation.
Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering
3400 North Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218
410-516-8174
jhu.edu
Founded in 1876, the University of California at San Diego is a public college with more than 27,000 undergraduate and graduate students at its suburban campus approximately 12 miles from downtown San Diego. The university's Jacobs School of Engineering received the second-place ranking among all bioengineering programs in the United States as of 2010. Undergraduates have the option to major in general bioengineering or to specialize in biotechnology or bioinformatics. Students participate in a series of design courses, producing a number of products independently. Internships are available for undergraduates at firms in the San Diego area. The university offers a five-year bioengineering program that allows students to graduate with both bachelor's and master's degrees in the field. Traditional master's and doctoral degrees are also available in bioengineering.
University of California at San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093
858-534-3555
jacobsschool.ucsd.edu
The bioengineering program at Rice University received the eighth-place ranking from "U.S. News and World Report" in 2010. Home to only about 5,400 students, the private, nonsectarian college is located in Houston, Texas. The bioengineering department at the university's George R. Brown School of Engineering had only 114 undergraduate and 98 graduate students enrolled in its programs as of May 2010. The college grants Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Master of Bioengineering, Master of Science in Bioengineering and a doctorate degree in the field. Areas of interest for research at the university include biomaterials, drug delivery, biomedical imaging, cellular engineering, bioinformatics, supramolecular biophysics and tissue engineering. Even at the undergraduate level, students are expected to conduct individual research and can assist with faculty research studies as well.
Rice University George R. Brown School of Engineering
P.O. Box 1892
MS 364
Houston, TX 77251
713-348-4002
engr.rice.edu