SBME Curriculum
2021W & After

Create your own path.

Biomedical Engineering is constantly evolving to stay at the forefront of innovation. Biomedical Engineering degrees at SBME are customizable to reflect the interdisciplinary and interconnected nature of engineering, medicine and healthcare. Beginning in third year, you can specialize your technical electives, giving you an excellent background for a career in the ever-changing areas of industry, healthcare or research.

KEY DETAILS

Your biomedical engineering degree is interdisciplinary, and your technical electives can reflect this based on what you choose. For example, you may want to take courses related to the five following areas:

  • Biomechanics
  • Cellular and Molecular Engineering
  • Biomedical Informatics
  • Biomaterials
  • Signals and Systems

At the end of your degree, whichever direction you choose to go, you’re a Biomedical Engineer. Specializations are not listed on your transcript, but they will help guide you as you move forward into your career.

The undergraduate program is fully accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers. As such, technical electives must meet the minimum Accreditation Units (AU) assigned to each course. To see all technical electives and their AU’s, review the “Technical Electives” section below.

CORE COURSES

YEAR 2

Code

Title

Credits

BMEG 201

Technical Communication for

Biomedical Engineers

3

BMEG 210

Thermodynamics in Biomedical Engineering

3

BMEG 220

Circuits and Electromagnetics with

Application to Biomedical Engineering

4

BMEG 230

Biomechanics I

4

BMEG 245

The Fundamental Units of Life:

From Cells to Systems

4

BMEG 250

Cellular Physiology and Biophysics

4

BMEG 257

Biomedical Engineering Design I

4

CPEN 221

OR

CPEN 223*

Principles of Software Construction

OR Software Design for Engineers

4

MATH 253

Multivariable Calculus

3

MATH 256

Differential equations

3

MATH 264**

Vector Calculus for Electrical Engineering

1

*CPEN 221 is recommended
for those interested in Bioinformatics
and/or Biomedical Systems & Signals.

**Delivered with BMEG 220

YEAR 3

Code

Title

Credits

BIOC 202

Introductory Medical Biochemistry

3

BMEG 310

Introduction to Bioinformatics

4

BMEG 321

Biomedical Instrumentation

3

BMEG 350

Human Structure/Function from Cells to Systems

4

BMEG 357

Biomedical Engineering Design II

3

BMEG 371

Transport Phenomena within Cells and Tissues

3

CHEM 233

Organic Chemistry for the Biological Sciences

3

CHEM 235

Organic Chemistry Laboratory

1

STAT 251

Elementary Statistics

3

Technical Electives

6

Complementary Studies Electives

3

YEAR 4

Code

Title

Credits

BMEG 401

Economics of Health Care Solutions

3

BMEG 455

Professionalism and Ethics in

Biomedical Engineering

3

BMEG 457

Biomedical Engineering Design Project

6

STAT 300

Intermediate Statistics for Applications

3

Technical Electives

15

Complementary Studies Electives

6

SELECTING YOUR ELECTIVES

The Biomedical Engineering program offered by the UBC SBME is accredited following guidelines from the Accreditation Board of Engineers Canada (ABEC).

According to these guidelines, our program must meet a minimum of Engineering Science and Engineering Design content, quantified for each course as a single number called the Accreditation Unit (AU).

For your Technical Electives, you must choose at least 21 credits from the course list below:

• Totaling no fewer than 180 AUs.

• A maximum of 7 credits of 100 or 200 level courses.

• A minimum of 9 credits of 400 level courses.

Important Notes:

• For students considering Graduate school, additional 400 level courses may be necessary.

• Not all courses will be available each year and the BMEG program cannot guarantee seats as many electives are non-BMEG courses.

• The AUs are designed to capture engineering content, which varies with the topic, and is not a representation of the relevance or usefulness of the course material to your education and career.

Selecting Your Electives

Code

Course Name

Credits

Accreditation Units

APSC 278

Engineering Materials

3

36.6

APSC 279

Engineering Materials Laboratory

1

6.1

APSC 486

New Venture Design

6

72

BMEG 320

Bioengineering Feedback Systems and Control

3

42.7

BMEG 330

Biomechanics II

3

42.7

BMEG 372

Biomedical Materials and Drug Delivery

3

42.7

BMEG 373

Microfluids

3

36.6

BMEG 374

Cellular Bioengineering Lab

3

18.3

BMEG 421

Linear Optical Systems

3

36.6

BMEG 422

Modern Biomedical Optical Imaging

3

36.6

BMEG 423

Clinical Informatics

3

32.94

BMEG 424

Genome Informatics

3

32.94

BMEG 400F

Bioionics and Robotics

3

36.6

BMEG 400H

Synthetic Biology Bootcamp

3

40

BMEG 420

Medical Imaging

3

36.6

BMEG 470

Cellular Responses to Forces and Biomaterials

3

9.15

BMEG 474

Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

3

36.6

BMEG 490A

Introduction to Academic Research

3

39.9

CHBE 251

Transport Phenomena I

3

14.64

CHBE 481

Bioprocess Engineering II

3

32.025

CPEN 312

Digital Systems and Microcomputers

3

42.7

CPEN 321

Software Engineering

4

48.8

CPEN 421

Software Project Management

4

32.208

CPEN 441

Human Computer Interfaces in Engineering Design

4

48.8

CPSC 121

Models of Computation

4

36.6

CPSC 221

Basic Algorithms and Data Structures

4

36.6

CPSC 302

Numerical Computation for Algebraic Problems

3

18.3

CPSC 303

Numerical Approximation and Discretization

3

18.3

CPSC 304

Introduction to relational databases

3

42.7

CPSC 320

Intermediate Algorithm Design and Analysis

3

42.7

CPSC 322

Introduction to Artificial intelligence

3

27.45

CPSC 330

Applied Machine Learning

3

32.025

CPSC 340

Machine Learning and Data Mining

3

32.025

CPSC 344

Introduction to Human Computer Interaction Methods

3

48.8

CPSC 425

Computer Vision

3

27.45

CPSC 445

Algorithms in Bioinformatics

3

18.3

ELEC 221

Signals and Systems

4

48.8

ELEC 321

Stochastic Signals and Systems

4

19.52

ELEC 331

Computer Communications

4

48.8

ELEC 421

Digital Systems and Image Processing

3

27.45

ELEC 422

Biosignals and Systems

3

36.6

ELEC 442

Introduction to Robotics

3

36.6

ELEC 462

Sensors and Actuators in Microsystems

3

36.3

ELEC 463

Micro/Nanofabrication and Instrumentation Laboratory

3

42.7

ELEC 465

Microsystems Design

3

36.6

ELEC 473

Biological Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems

3

36.6

MECH 260

Introduction to Mechanics of Materials

3

42.7

MECH 360

Solid Mechanics

3

42.7

MECH 380

Fluid Dynamics

3

32.025

MECH 410D

Engineering Dynamics

3

27.45

MECH 433

Biofluids

3

42.7

MECH 436

Fundamentals of Injury Biomechanics

3

32.025

MECH 462

Finite Element Analysis

3

33.55

MECH 463

Mechanical Vibrations

4

48.8

MECH 464

Industrial Robotics

3

25.62

MECH 469

Dynamic Systems Models

3

36.6

MTRL 495

Biomaterials

3

26.352

BIOC 302

General Biochemistry

3

0

CAPS 421

Advanced Cellular & Molecular Physiology

3

0

CHEM 211

Introduction to Chemical Analysis

4

0

MATH 220

Mathematical Proof

3

0

MICB 202

Introductory Medical Microbiology and Immunology

3

0

MICB 212

Introductory Immunology and Virology

3

0

MICB 302

Immunology

3

0

MICB 306

Molcular Virology

3

0

STAT 406

Methods for Statistical Learning

3

0

EXAMPLE SPECIALIZATION GUIDES

Biomaterials

Code

Course Name

Credits

AU*

BMEG 372

Biomedical Materials and Drug Delivery

3

42.7

BMEG 373

Microfluids

3

36.6

BMEG 470

Cellular Responses to

Forces and Biomaterials

3

9.15

CHBE 251

Transport Phenomena I

3

14.64

MTRL 495

Biomaterials

3

26.352

APSC 278

Engineering Materials

3

36.3

ELEC 463

Micro/Nano-fabrication and Instrumentation Laboratory

3

42.7

Biomechanics

Code

Course Name

Credits

AU*

MECH 260

Introduction to Mechanics of Materials

3

42.7

MECH 360

Solid Mechanics

3

42.7

CHBE 251

Transport Phenomena I

3

14.64

MECH 410D

Engineering Dynamics

3

27.45

MECH 433

Biofluids

3

42.7

MECH 436

Fundamentals of Injury

Biomechanics

3

42.7

BMEG 330

Biomechanics II

3

42.7

Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering

Code

Course Name

Credits

AU*

BMEG 374

Cellular Bioengineering Lab

3

18.3

BMEG 400H

Synthetic Biology Bootcamp**

3

40

BMEG 470

Cellular Responses to Forces and Biomaterials

3

9.15

BMEG 474

Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

3

36.6

BMEG 490A

Introduction to Academic Research

3

39.9

CHBE 481

Bioprocess Engineering II

3

32.025

CHBE 381

Bioprocess Engineering I

3

29.89

Biomedical Informatics

Code

Course Name

Credits

AU*

CPSC 121

Models of Computation

4

36.6

CPSC 221

Basic Algorithms and Data Structures

4

36.6

CPSC 320

Intermediate Algorithm Design and Analysis

3

42.7

BMEG 400E

Genome Informatics

3

32.94

ELEC 422

Biosignals and Systems

3

36.6

CPSC 425

Computer Vision

3

27.45

CPSC 445

Algorithms in Bioinformatics

3

18.3

Signals and Systems

Code

Course Name

Credits

AU*

ELEC 221

Signals and Systems

4

48.8

ELEC 421 

Digital Systems and Image Processing

3

27.45

CPSC 330

Applied Machine Learning

3

32.025

BMEG 420

Medical Imaging

3

36.6

BMEG 400F

Bioionics and Robotics

3

36.6

ELEC 462

Sensors and Actuators in Microsystems

3

36.3

ELEC 463

Micro / Nano-fabrication and Instrumentation Laboratory

3

42.7