About the Program
The world has tremendous need for solutions to problems related to the environment, energy, health, food, and sustainability. Biological systems are related to or at the heart of all of these issues. A biological engineer learns to design and analyze biological systems to develop innovative and practical solutions. Our B.S. graduates are well prepared for careers in the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, and bioprocessing as well as entrance into graduate or medical school. Students may select a major and plan of study within biological engineering that is tailored to their specific career goals. Students in this program earn a Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering, (BSBE). Some areas of focus include:
BioEnvironmental Engineering: Bioprocessing manufacturers, including food and pharmaceutical industries are looking for innovative environmental controls, waste processing, and water treatment to meet corporate sustainability goals and to comply with increasingly strict governmental regulations. The engineering rules-of-thumb and design heuristics based on past practices that have been the standard in municipal wastewater treatment design are less applicable to treating the highly variable waste stream characteristics of specialized industries. In addition, there exists a high potential for identifying value added products from these water streams.
Cellular and Biomolecular Engineering: This emerging field is expected to rapidly advance and open opportunities in biomanufacturing, drug design, human therapeutics, tissue and organ regeneration, bioenergy and biofuel production, bioremediation, and biodefense.
Food & Biological Process Engineering: This is an interdisciplinary field that applies the basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering to convert agricultural commodities into edible foods and biological materials through various processing steps. Advances in genetic engineering lead to new types of crops and new processing methods to create value added products.
Pharmaceutical Process Engineering: This program of study is targeted to provide graduates with unique skills and job opportunities to take on roles within all phases of the pharmaceutical industry including research, product and process development, processing engineering, manufacturing, and marketing.
Some of the factors that contribute to Agricultural & Biological Engineering at Purdue University being a top ranked program:
- Multiple opportunities for interaction with faculty in laboratories and in classes
- Student Competitions, Clubs, Global Experiences
- Personalized advising and assigned faculty mentors
- Great opportunities for internships and undergraduate research.
- Numerous departmental scholarships
- Excellent placement record and starting salaries
Watch a video and take a look at some senior projects. We hope to see you in ABE soon!
The Biological Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
Biological Engineering Major Change (CODO) Requirements
Critical Course
The ♦ course is considered critical.
In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major. Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful. These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program.”
Disclaimer
The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Consultation with an advisor may result in an altered plan customized for an individual student. The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.
Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
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