BIOE-BS - Bioengineering (BS)
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Program Overview
The Stanford Bioengineering major enables students to combine engineering and the life sciences in ways that advance scientific discovery, health care and medicine, manufacturing, environmental quality, culture, education, and policy. Students who major in BioE earn a fundamental engineering degree for which the raw materials, underlying basic sciences, essential toolkits, and future frontiers are all defined by the unique properties of living systems.
Students will complete engineering fundamentals courses, including an introduction to bioengineering and computer programming. A series of core BIOE classes beginning in the second year leads to a student-selected depth area and a senior capstone design project. The department also organizes a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. BIOE graduates are well-prepared to pursue careers and lead research, medicine, business, law, and policy projects.
For more information on program sheets, flowcharts and four year plans, please visit the SoE Undergrad Handbook.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
24 units minimum (Prerequisites: 10 units of AP or IB credit or MATH 19/20/21 series).
MATH 19/20/21 (or equivalent with placement via SU exam) are required and prerequisite to the CME 100/102 and MATH 50/53 series.
The CME series (100, 102) is strongly suggested rather than the MATH series (51, 53). If taking the MATH series, it is strongly recommended to take CME 192, to build skills with computational tools. Although not required, CME 104 is recommended for some BIOE courses. MATH 51 and 52 together cover the material in CME 100; MATH 53 and CME 102 cover similar material.
CME 106 utilizes & builds skills with computational tools and is the recommended statistics course (rather than STATS 110 or 141).
26 minimum units required.
Science must include both Chemistry (course Chemical Principles I and course Chemical Principles II; or course Chemical Principles: From Molecules to Solids) and calculus-based Physics (course Mechanics and course Electricity and Magnetism), with two quarters of coursework in each, in addition to two courses of BIO core. course Chemical Principles I and course Chemical Principles II are considered one course even though they are given over two quarters.
• CHEM 31A and B together fulfill the first part of the chemistry requirement. Alternately, CHEM 31M or E or X or AP/IB credit (with placement into CHEM 33 via the Chemistry Diagnostic) can also fulfill this part of the chemistry requirement.
• Fulfills BIOE-specific WIM
3 courses required. Minimum Combined GPA for all courses in Engineering Fundamentals and Depth is 2.0.
Only one CS class can count toward Fundamentals requirements.
A course may only be counted toward one requirement; it may not be double-counted. All courses taken for the major must be taken for a letter grade if the instructor offers that option. Minimum Combined GPA for all courses in Engineering Fundamentals and Depth is 2.0.
• BIOE 141A/B, Senior Capstone Design courses, also meet the Capstone Experience requirement.
• Students pursuing a premed program must take additional courses.
• Independent study or individual research or directed study courses cannot fullfill depth elective requirements.
• If a course is cross listed, you must enroll in the BioE course.
• Any petition requests are subject to review and approval by SoE and the BioE Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. Students may only request 1 petition for the depth elective requirement category. Additionally, please note that any petitioned Depth Elective must be taken for at least 3 units.
The School of Engineering offers a program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering with Honors (BIOE-BSH). This program provides the opportunity for qualified BioE majors to conduct independent research at an advanced level with a faculty research advisor and document it in an honors thesis. Accepted students spend their senior year exploring a research topic in-depth and writing an honors thesis.
To receive departmental honors, students admitted to the program must:
Declare the honors program in Axess (BIOE-BSH).
Maintain an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5, as calculated on the unofficial transcript.
Complete at least two quarters of research with a minimum of nine units of course Out-of-Department Advanced Research Laboratory in Bioengineering for a letter grade; up to three units may be used towards the bioengineering depth elective requirements. Research must be completed with the same advisor on the same project. Additionally, research units towards your honors requirements must be completed after your proposal has been approved by the undergraduate curriculum committee.
Submit an electronic pdf copy of their thesis, including the signature page signed by both readers, to Bioengineering student services. Students are emailed instructions on archiving a permanent electronic copy in Terman Engineering Library.
Present thesis synopsis at the Bioengineering Honors Poster Fair at the end of spring quarter.
See Bioengineering Honors Program for program deadlines, application instructions, and more information.
Complete at least two quarters of research with a minimum of nine units.