Biomedical Engineering Concentration

Innovation for Health. Hope for the Future.

At A Glance

## Description
## Description

Program Type

Concentration of the engineering major (BS)

Accreditation

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)

Recognition

U.S. News and World Report “Best Undergraduate” engineering program

On this page:

Biomedical device is demonstrated on a student's arm

You’re eager to join the medical arena, but sticking people with needles or performing operations aren’t exactly your thing. Here’s some good news: biomedical engineering lives at the intersection of engineering and healthcare, and the solutions developed in this field can prolong and save lives. What role will you play in this high-impact, life-changing profession?

Biomedical engineers use engineering ingenuity to solve medical and health-related problems. Often they do research in tandem with scientists to develop and evaluate things such as artificial joints and organs, prostheses, instrumentation, medical information systems, and health management and care delivery systems. If this sounds intriguing, the biomedical engineering concentration within our engineering major may be right for you.

100% of our engineering graduates have a job or are in graduate school within the first six months after graduation.

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One Concentration, Two Tracks

At George Fox, you have the option of two biomedical engineering tracks:

Develop a Prosthetic Limb or an Artificial Heart Valve

The biomedical engineering field covers a broad spectrum, combining aspects of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, chemistry, mathematics, human biology, and computer science and engineering to improve human health, whether it be to develop an advanced prosthetic limb, an artificial heart valve, or make a breakthrough in identifying proteins within cells.

You could also specialize in pharmaceutical delivery systems and tissue engineering, or develop biomechanical sports equipment. Or, you may design surgical instruments, medical imaging systems, or create devices such as heart pacemakers or those used to automate insulin injections.

Read more about what biomedical engineers do and the career possibilities that await!

servant engineering students work in a home

Servant Engineering: Creative Solutions for the Underserved

We take Christ's call to use our God-given gifts and abilities to serve others. To put that into practice, the Servant Engineering program is a core curricular requirement. In it, you will team up with industry professionals to research, design and deliver engineering solutions to address humanitarian needs.

All our third-year students work on interdisciplinary teams, creating solutions to significant technical challenges through a human-centered design approach.

Among our recent projects:

  • Clean cook-stove technologies for meeting the basic needs of refugees, impoverished people and communities in the developing world
  • Augmentative communication and physical therapy devices for patients and staff at the Providence Center for Medically Fragile Children in Portland
  • Design of a bridge at a ranch for fatherless youth in Yamhill, Oregon
  • An auto-resistive enhancement to an exercise bicycle for use in focused physical therapy
  • Rugged wheelchair designs for individuals suffering with cerebral palsy in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya
  • Creation of a prosthetic device to assist one of our own – an engineering student born with symbrachydactyly, a condition characterized by limb abnormalities
  • Design of “The Bouncinator 3000,” a custom-made device that gives a young girl with physical disabilities newfound freedom

Mentorship Opportunities

Students in the engineering program have the opportunity to engage in industry mentorship through the Ignite program. As an Ignite member, you are matched with Christians in the industry. You’ll meet monthly to discover opportunities, develop connections, address career gaps, and ask questions. 

Watch video: Meet the Major: Biomedical Engineering | George Fox University
Watch video: This Project Tested Our Engineering Majors Limits | George Fox University
Watch video: How a Student Engineering Project Can Change Lives: Bouncinator 3000

Program Distinctives Why Study Biomedical Engineering at George Fox?

Courses / Curriculum What Will I Study?

Students in the Maker Hub

Our spaces/Where Will I Learn?

Maker Space: Where Innovative Ideas Come to Life

The facility includes:

  • A 24-station computing lab
  • Eight meeting rooms with 48-inch monitors
  • A wood shop with a large computer numerical control (CNC) router
  • A metal shop with a CNC milling machine
  • And so much more 

These spaces surround an open configurable collaboration space known as "the Hub," a 6,000-square-foot area used by students representing a wide range of majors. The computer labs have the processors and computer systems needed to accommodate the demands of our major.

Career Outlook What’s After George Fox

Job growth for engineers is expected to rise, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due to an infrastructure that continues to age (civil engineering), the ever-increasing demand for highly skilled computer scientists, and the ability of electrical and mechanical engineers to develop and apply new technologies. 

“Job prospects may be best for those who stay abreast of the most recent advances in technology,” notes the BLS.

  • Electrical Failure Analysis Engineer, Intel
  • Embedded Software Design Engineer, Tektronix
  • Semiconductor Design Engineer, Teradyne
  • Reliability Engineer, Lattice Semiconductor
  • Various engineering positions, Daimler Trucks North America
  • Applications Engineer, MCAD Technologies
  • Development Engineer, Contech Engineered Solutions
  • Project Engineer, Anderson Construction
  • Civil Design Engineer, KPFF Consulting Engineers
  • Teradyne, Portland
  • CUI, Portland
  • Intel, Beaverton, Oregon
  • Lattice Semiconductor, Portland
  • HP, Boise, Idaho
  • 3D Systems, Wilsonville, Oregon
  • Tektronix, Beaverton, Oregon
  • Climax, Newberg, Oregon
  • Cascade Steel, McMinnville, Oregon
  • MIT (Mechanical Engineering)
  • Cal Poly (Electrical Engineering)
  • Johns Hopkins University (Biomedical Engineering)
  • Purdue University (Mechanical Engineering, Astronautics Engineering)
  • USC (Astronautical Engineering)
  • Virginia Tech (Biomedical Engineering)
  • Wake Forest (Biomedical Engineering)
  • UC San Diego
  • Oregon State University (Electrical/Computer Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering)
  • University of Washington (Electrical/Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering)
Student in graduation cap and gown

Creating Biomedical, Virtual-Reality, Servant Engineers

The Oregon Bioscience Association interviewed Robert Harder, dean of the College of Engineering, and profiled our biomedical engineering program, identifying it as "one of the area's most comprehensive academic biomedical engineering programs."

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Madelynne Pirkl

In the four years I was at Fox I became a much more confident, independent and well-rounded human being, while also developing the training and knowledge that I need to be a great engineer.

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“What’s your favorite class?”

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“What do you do in your free time?”

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