Undergraduate Minor

bme minor

The Undergraduate Minor Program in Biomedical Engineering allows undergraduate engineering students to study basic life sciences and and interdisciplinary tools used in biomedicine.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering does not offer a full undergraduate program, but the Minor Program helps prepare students to study Biomedical Engineering at the graduate level

Note: the Minor Program is managed by undergraduate program advisers and not by the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Students considering this Minor should contact the Minor Advisers in the Minor Program Overview section below.


Minor Program Overview

Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) - Minor Biomedical Engineering(21 Credits)

    Offered by:Biomedical Engineering
    Degree:Bachelor of Engineering

Program Requirement:

Biomedical engineering can be defined as the application of engineering principles to medicine and the life sciences. Students in the Biomedical Engineering Minor take courses in life sciences (anatomy, biology, chemistry, and physiology) and choose courses form area(s) within the field of biomedicine (artificial cells and organs; bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics; biomaterials, biosensors, and nanotechnology; biomechanics and prosthetics; medical physics and imagine; neural systems and biosignal processesing).

Note: Open to students in the Faculty of Engineering and the Department of Bioresource Engineering.

The Biomedical Engineering Minor allows access to courses in basic life sciences and it intended to expose students to the interdisciplinary tools used in biomedicine.

To complete this Minor, students must obtain a grade of C or better in all approved courses and satisfy the requirements of both the major program and the Minor. By careful selection of courses, the Minor can be satisfied with 9 additional credits in the student's major program or a maximum of 12 credits overlap with the major program.

Students considering this Minor should contact the Minor Advisers listed above.

Minor Advisers: Prof. R. Leask (Wong Building, Room 4120), Prof. R. Mongrain (Macdonald Engineering Building, Room 369) or Prof. G. Mitsis (McConnell Engineering Building, Room 361).

Complementary Courses

(21-25 credits)



    Introductory Life Sciences

    Minimum of 3 credits from the courses below:


    • ANAT 212 Molec Mechanisms of Cell Funct 3 Credits*
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    • BIEN 219 Intro to Phys Mol & Cell Biol 4 Credits**
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    • BIOC 212 Molec Mechanisms of Cell Funct 3 Credits*
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    • BIOL 200 Molecular Biology 3 Credits
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    • BIOL 201 Cell Biology & Metabolism 3 Credits*
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    • BIOL 219 Intro to Phys Mol & Cell Biol 4 Credits**
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    • CHEM 212 Intro Organic Chemistry 1 4 Credits***
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    • PHGY 209 Mammalian Physiology 1 3 Credits
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    • PHGY 210 Mammalian Physiology 2 3 Credits
        Offered in the:
      • Fall
      • Winter
      • Summer

    * Students can choose one of ANAT 212, BIOC 212 or BIOL 201.
    ** Students can choose one of ANAT 212, BIEN 219, BIOC 212, BIOL 200, BIOL 201 or BIOL 219.
    *** Cannot be taken by Chemical Engineering students.


    Specialization Courses

    Minimum of 12 credits from courses below:

    Students must select 6 credits from courses outside their department and at least one BMDE course. BMDE courses are best taken near the end of the program, when prerequisites are satisfied.



      Physiological Systems, Artificial Cells and Organs


      • BIEN 340 Transp. Phenom. in Biol. Sys 2 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 360 Physical Chemistry in Bioengin 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 462 Eng Principles in Physiol Sys 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 540 Info Storage&Proc in Biol Sys 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 505 Cell and Tissue Engineering 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • PHGY 311 Channels, Synapses & Hormones 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • PHGY 312 Resp.,Renal,&Cardio Physiology 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • PHGY 313 Blood,GI,Imm.Syst.Physiol 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • PHGY 518 Artificial Cells 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer


      Bioinformatics, Genomics and Proteomics


      • ANAT 365 Cellular Trafficking 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • ANAT 458 Membranes & Cellular Signaling 3 Credits*
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 310 Intro to Biomolecular Eng 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 410 Comput Methods in Biomol Eng 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 420 Biodevs Des for Diag&Screening 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 540 Info Storage&Proc in Biol Sys 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 590 Cell Culture Engineering 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIOC 311 Metabolic Biochemistry 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIOC 312 Biochemistry of Macromolecules 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIOC 458 Membranes & Cellular Signaling 3 Credits*
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 508 Intro. to Micro & Nano-Bioeng 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • COMP 424 Artificial Intelligence 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • COMP 462 Computational Biology Methods 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      * Students select either ANAT 458 or BIOC 458.


      Biomaterials, Biosensors and Nanotechnology


      • BIEN 330 Tissue Eng & Regenerative Med 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 510 Eng'd Nanomtls for Biomed Appl 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 550 Biomolecular Devices 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 560 Design of Biosensors 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 504 Biomaterials & Bioperformance 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 505 Cell and Tissue Engineering 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 508 Intro. to Micro & Nano-Bioeng 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • CHEE 380 Materials Science 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • ECSE 424 Human-Computer Interaction 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MECH 553 Design & Manuf of Microdevices 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MIME 360 Phase Transformations:Solids 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MIME 362 Mechanical Properties 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MIME 470 Engineering Biomaterials 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • PHYS 534 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer


      Biomechanics and Prosthetics


      • BIEN 320 Mol, Cell & Tissue Biomech 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 570 Active Mechanics in Biology 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 512 Finite-Element Modelling:BME 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • CHEE 563 Biofluids&Cardiovascular Mech. 3 Credits*
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MECH 315 Mechanics 3 4 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MECH 321 Mechanics of Deformable Solids 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MECH 530 Mech of Composite Materials 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MECH 561 Biomech of Musculoskeletal Sys 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MECH 563 Biofluids&Cardiovascular Mech 3 Credits*
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MIME 360 Phase Transformations:Solids 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • MIME 362 Mechanical Properties 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      * Students choose either CHEE 563 or MECH 563.


      Medical Physics and Imaging


      • BIEN 350 Biosignals, Systems & Control 4 Credits*
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 530 Imaging & Bio Instrumentation 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 512 Finite-Element Modelling:BME 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 519 Biomedical Signals & Systems 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • COMP 424 Artificial Intelligence 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • COMP 558 Fund. of Computer Vision 4 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • ECSE 206 Intro to Signals and Systems 3 Credits*
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • ECSE 412 Discrete TimeSignal Processing 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • PHYS 557 Nuclear Physics 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      * Students choose either BIEN 350 or ECSE 206.


      Neural Systems and Biosignal Processing


      • BIEN 350 Biosignals, Systems & Control 4 Credits*
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BIEN 462 Eng Principles in Physiol Sys 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 501 Selected Topics:Biomedical Eng 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 502 BME Modelling & Identification 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 503 Biomedical Instrumentation 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • BMDE 519 Biomedical Signals & Systems 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • ECSE 206 Intro to Signals and Systems 3 Credits*
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • ECSE 517 Neural Prosthetic Systems 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • ECSE 526 Artificial Intelligence 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      • PHYS 413 Physical Basis of Physiology 3 Credits
          Offered in the:
        • Fall
        • Winter
        • Summer

      * Students choose either BIEN 350 or ECSE 206.

      0-6 credits can be taken by permission of the Departmental Adviser and approval of the Minor Adviser.


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