DEPARTMENT CHAIR SPOTLIGHT
Michael Matthews, Chemical Engineering

It’s the most rapidly growing program in the college, going from no students two years ago, to more than 90 students accepted into the program today. What is this dynamic new course of study? Biomedical engineering.

“In the past, students had to go out of state for a degree in biomedical engineering,” said Professor Michael Matthews, chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering one of the collaborating Departments in the biomedical engineering program. “Today they can get a biomedical engineering degree – bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral – right here at Carolina.”

The new program addresses an area of great importance, both medically and economically. “Patients, doctors, insurers – everyone has a strong interest in better healthcare solutions,” Matthews said. Americans are looking for better medical devices, lower healthcare costs, and improved quality of life.

Biomedical engineering is a broad umbrella term that encompasses several subspecialties. The program offered at Carolina, for example, offers specialized study and research in biomechanics, mechanobiology, biochemical phenomena, tissue engineering, bioinformatics and computational biology, medical devices, biomedical imaging, and biosystems analysis.

“Our program is more oriented toward engineering having to do with molecules, cells, and tissues,” Matthews said, “so mechanobiology, for example, takes classical engineering mechanics and physics and applies those principles down at the level of cells and tissues.”

The undergraduate program is going to be taught out of the College of Engineering and Computing, primarily in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Basic science courses – chemistry, biology and anatomy and physiology, for example – will be taught in other colleges and schools on campus.

“Our biomedical engineering degree programs represent Carolina’s commitment to a true synthesis of biology, medicine, and engineering,” said Professor Abdel Bayoumi, director of the Biomedical Engineering Degree Program. “Not only are we using the most advanced engineering technologies and concepts in our research, but we are moving the frontiers of engineering ahead by developing new technologies.”

Even though the program wasn’t approved until April 2006, the college had already enrolled 25 students by the fall semester that same year, with little time for getting the word out. In the current fall semester, the program continues to be popular.

Scholarship assistance for those students presents a challenge, however, making it more difficult to attract even more bright, qualified students. “It’s a brand-new program,” Matthews said, “so we have no alumni who might normally contribute to a scholarship fund.”

Alumni and friends of the College of Engineering and Computing who would like to support this important and exciting new program through a tax-deductible contribution can contact Deborah Wells, senior director of development, at 803.777.9017, or dawells2@engr.sc.edu.