University of South Dakota

The University of South Dakota's Biomedical Research Program is based in Sioux Falls at the Graduate Education and Applied Research Center (GEAR Center), 4800 N. Career Ave., Suite 221, Sioux Falls, SD  57107.

BME Program - Fall 2011

Annemarie Gallo and Sujan Lamichhane were awarded the STAR Award (Student Travel Achievement Recognition) recently at the Society For Biomaterials' 2013 Annual Meeting in Boston, MA.  This award is given to students for outstanding research.  Congratulations Annemarie and Sujan!

Program Directors:

• Daniel Engebretson, Ph.D., Chair of Biomedical Engineering
• Laurie Becvar, Ed.D., Dean of Graduate Education

Faculty Members:

• Dr. Ying Deng
• Dr. Gopinath Mani

The BME program is rapidly growing, for faculty, post-doctoral and technician opportunities, visit: https://yourfuture.sdbor.edu

GEAR Research is Making Headlines:

Top 10 Health Innovations of 2009 - see #7

The following instrumentation is available to outside users:

• FEI, Quanta 450 SEM
  Quanta 450 SEM 
  To schedule usage of the FEI, Quanta 450 SEM with the BME lab, or for more information, contact: bme.sem@usd.edu
  
  
• Zeiss, Axiovert 200 Fluorescence Microscope
  Axiovert 200 
  To schedule usage of the Avert200 with the BME lab, or for more information, contact: bme.fm@usd.edu 

Program Description:

Biomedical engineering (BME) focuses on the application of engineering and science methodologies to the analysis of biological and physiological problems and to the development and delivery of health-care technologies.  The biomedical engineer serves as an interface between traditional engineering disciplines and living systems and may work in either direction, applying the patterns of living organisms to engineering design or engineering new approaches to human health.  Both the Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees are cross-disciplinary degrees.  The objective of the M.S. program is to prepare a student for research and development careers in biomedical industry and for additional training at the doctoral level.  The Ph.D. program will prepare a student for a career as a researcher who advances the frontiers of biomedical science and engineering with attention to generating new ideas for commercialization.

Current Focus Areas of Faculty Activity within the Program are:

1. Biomaterials for Drug Delivery
2. Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
3. Nanomaterials for Biological Sensing

Admission Requirements:

• All Graduate School Admission Requirements must be met.
• An appropriate baccalaureate degree (biomedical, chemical, electrical, mechanical, or metallurgical engineering; materials science and engineering; or other related discipline).
• The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test is required.
• Undergraduate GPA of 2.7 or Graduate GPA of 3.0.
• Proficiency Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) by scoring a 79 on the Internet-Based TOEFL (IBT) or 550 on the written TOEFL.  The International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) Exam is also accepted with a minimum score of 6.0.  Students from English-speaking countries are not required to submit a TOEFL score if their academic records indicate that English was the classroom language for the majority of their schoolwork.  Foreign students who have obtained an undergraduate or graduate degree from an American college or university are not required to submit a TOEFL score.  Please see Graduate International Admissions for more information.
• Calculus 3 is required for full admission.  One can be provisionally admitted without Calculus 3 provided that Calc 3 is successfully completed in the first semester after admission.
• Subject to program approval, applicants who do not meet all of the criteria may be admitted on a provisional basis.
• Applicants are encouraged to apply early.  Assistantship decisions are typically made in mid-March.

Apply Now - Graduate School Application

Required Courses for both M.S. and Ph.D.

Master of Science (33 credits)         M.S. Student Handbook
Doctor of Philosophy (84 credits)     Ph.D. Student Handbook

Biomedical Engineering is an extremely broad discipline.  A consequence of this breadth is that it is difficult to define a set of core courses that will satisfy the needs of all students.  In USD's program, we have identified a short list of courses that we believe are essential for all students, and this list is enumerated below.  In addition to the listed courses, a graduate student's advisor as well as their advisory committee may require that a student take other courses (from Biomedical Engineering and other disciplines as appropriate) that are relevant to their research and career goals.  Up to 21 credits of prior graduate level coursework may be applied toward the Ph.D. program at the discretion of the student's advisory committee. 

Course Number	Course Title	Credits
BME 601	Biomaterials	3 credits
BME 602	Anatomy & Physiology for Engineers	3 credits
BME 603	Molecular Biology for Engineers	3 credits
BME 608	Biomedical Engineering	3 credits
BME 610	Experimental Design & Analysis	3 credits
BME 790	Seminar (Master's Students)	3 credits
BME 790	Seminar (Ph.D. Students)	6 credits
BME 798	Master's Thesis (M.S. Students)	6 credits
BME 898	Dissertation (Ph.D. Students)	30 credits
	Approved Electives (M.S. Students)	9 credits
	Approved Electives (Ph.D. Students)	33 credits

Financial Support:

Graduate Assistantships are available ($6,314 - $30,000 yr.) on a competitive basis.  Awarding of assistantships is based on:

• Availability
• Ability to communicate well in oral/written English
• Satisfactory performance in coursework

For Additional Information, Contact:

Dr. Dan Engebretson
University of South Dakota
Chair of Biomedical Engineering
4800 N. Career Ave., Suite 221
Sioux Falls, SD  57107
Phone: 605-367-7762
Fax: 605-782-3280
E-Mail: daniel.engebretson@usd.edu