Bioengineering activities at Penn State are administered by the College of Engineering's  Department of Bioengineering and encompass undergraduate studies at the University Park campus, and multidisciplinary graduate studies at University Park and within the College of Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. At the graduate level, an Intercollege Graduate Degree Granting Program is funded by both the College of Engineering and Graduate School to maximize the interactions among faculty at both campuses. Within the College of Medicine, graduate studies in bioengineering are coordinated through the newly formed Institute for Biomedical Engineering at the Hershey Medical Center. The central mission of the Department of Bioengineering is to serve as the focal point of engineering activities in the life sciences for the Penn State University system.

In 1971, Dr. David B. Geselowitz, a biomedical engineer with an interest in electrocardiology was recruited to institute a bioengineering program. By 1976, the development of a pneumatic left ventricular assist device had progressed to permit the first world-wide successful use in a human patient. Since that time, this device and its subsequent refinements have been used in over 60 patients at Penn State and over 250 patients world-wide, with the primary goal of providing circulatory assist as a bridge to transplant until acceptable human hearts were obtained.

In recognition of this outstanding contribution to saving numerous lives and pioneering contributions in the development of circulatory assist devices, the Penn State heart assist device was designated in 1991 as an International Mechanical Engineering Historic Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Parallel development of an implantable total artificial heart was also marked by outstanding achievements. The Penn State pneumatic heart is currently the only artificial heart approved by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical application. A collateral effort in artificial lung development led by Dr. Michael Snider, is currently the only NIH sponsored program of its kind.

With the artificial heart program serving as a nucleus for development of the Bioengineering Program, continued expansion and growth has resulted in the establishment of research laboratories in a broad spectrum of biomedical engineering activities such as: ultrasound diagnostic imaging, neuro-electrophysiology, electrocardiology, microvascular blood flow, cellular biomechanics, physiological transport, biofluid mechanics and the development of an artificial lung. Continued growth of the program is clearly reflected by a steady rise in the number of full time graduate students studying for M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Bioengineering over the last 17 years.

During that period, annual enrollments have risen 3-fold to a current enrollment of approximately 40 graduate students. The growth of Bioengineering at Penn State reflects the philosophy that bioengineering is a research driven academic program and hence its growth has paralleled that of extramural sponsored research funding. Current funding amounts to research expenditures of over $2M per year which is administered directly through the Program. Graduate students participate in research projects that are administered through other academic units as well.

The initial design of the undergraduate program focused on the establishment of a core curriculum with specialization in one of four areas of concentration: chemical, mechanical and electrical engineering, and materials science. With these fundamental skills, it was expected that one-third of our BS alumni would go on to graduate school, one-third to medical school and one-third to industry. To support the premed interests of students, the chemical engineering option was designed to serve as the premed track since it contained a greater selection of chemistry courses. Subsequently , all options were modified to accommodate premed students.

With a solid program of engineering sciences in the core and options, particular attention was paid to providing a thread of life science coursework throughout the curriculum. All students take a sophomore biology course on physiology, and its associated laboratory course, both offered by the department of biology. With a solid grounding in physiological systems at the organ level, students were then exposed to the world of cell and molecular biology through a course on biomolecular engineering given by bioengineering faculty. This course takes a more quantitative approach than traditional cell and molecular biology courses. These courses are followed up in the junior year with a core course on physiological systems analysis and its associated computer laboratory. This sequence introduces the subject of linear systems analysis and its application to specific physiological systems through the application of modeling exercises taught in a hands-on approach using Matlab and similar programs. In the second semester of the junior year a focuses effort was made to integrate engineering and life science courses with a course on introduction to bioengineering design and applications with a parallel course on medical instrumentation and a hands-on laboratory to teach fundamentals of electronic circuits and explore specific applications. During the senior year, students are introduced to clinical applications of biomedical engineering through a sequence of lectures by physicians who provide an overview of various pathological conditions, and introduction to clinical practice and specific applications of medical devices to treat the disease process. This course sets the stage for a senior design course that in which a major industry-, foundation- or research-sponsored project consisting of of design, analysis, prototyping and testing is completed.

With this curriculum, undergraduates are well trained in the engineering sciences and have a solid foundation in the life sciences. Within this framework it is anticipated that both undergraduate and graduate students will experience a strong life-science oriented approach to teaching bioengineering while honing their engineering skills. It is anticipated that the breadth of the undergraduate curriculum will permit it to be viewed as a true liberal arts program in engineering that prepares students to pursue future studies in either the life sciences or engineering.