Bioengineering & Biophysics

It is inherently difficult to rigorously define the scope of an interdisciplinary area and biophysics and bioengineering are no exception to this generalisation. One approach is to regard biophysics and bioengineering as the interface between the physical sciences and engineering on the one hand, and the biological sciences on the other, where particular emphasis is laid on the analytical and experimental approaches of physics, physical chemistry, engineering and mathematical analysis.

The biological sciences have entered a phase in which the application of experimental and analytical methodologies and concepts derived from the physical sciences and mathematics is becoming very common. Bioengineering has matured to the point where it has impacted significantly on the human condition, with the development of bionic devices such as pacemakers and bionic hearing, as well as a host of new biotechnology systems. Developments in bioengineering and biophysics over the last two decades have changed the face of biology and medicine, particularly in our understanding of processes at the molecular and cellular levels and in the development of new analytical/diagnostic instrumentation for research and medical practice.

The training of biologists, physical scientists and engineers is becoming inadequate and incomplete without a substantial inclusion of bioengineering and biophysics. The feedback cycle between biology and science/engineering, which has led to new insights into biology via new technologies and analytical methods (eg electron microscope, AFM, NMR, neutron and X-ray diffraction), is now set to advance in the reverse direction, with biologically inspired devices and processes that will spawn the next generation of engineering devices and nanotechnologies

There are good career opportunities for engineering graduates with a solid understanding of the physical basis of the life processes and of the physics and engineering underpinning the new generation of biomedical instrumentation and the rapidly advancing field of implantable prostheses and bionic devices.