History & Mission

A Legacy of Innovation

Michigan BME provides leadership in education, training, and innovative research by translating science and engineering to solve important challenges in medicine and life sciences for the benefit of humanity.


Ours is one of the oldest programs in the country, with a history that includes early work with lifesaving clinical devices like the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) heart-lung bypass machine and implantable electrodes that stimulate or stabilize brain function.
The department has expanded its breadth and depth- from designing devices to engineering at fundamental biological levels, including tissue engineering, changing genes, and engineering artificial organs.

Department Mission

BME provides leadership in education, training, and innovative research by translating science and engineering to solve important challenges in medicine and life sciences for the benefit of humanity.

BME Timeline

  • 1962: Biomedical Engineering Graduate program established
  • 1996: Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department Founded
  • 1997: Combined B.S.E./M.S.E. program established
  • 2000: Undergraduate program established
  • 2003: Carl A. Gerstacker Building opens
  • 2005: Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Translational Research Partnership
  • 2006: ABET accreditation
  • 2006: Lurie Biomedical Engineering Building opens
  • 2012: BME becomes a joint department in the College of Engineering and the Medical School
  • 2021: LBME 1st floor renovated adding BME commons, ideation, hands-on lab, and fabrication spaces
  • 2022: Inaugural Glenn V. Edmonson lecture and BME Symposium established