usually marks of developed nations, some areas of the world are prone to slower development in education, including in BME.

Licensure/certification

Engineering licensure in the US is largely optional, and rarely specified by branch/discipline. As with other learned professions, each state has certain (fairly similar) requirements for becoming licensed as a registered Professional Engineer (PE), but in practice such a license is not required to practice in the majority of situations (due to an exception known as the private industry exemption, which effectively applies to the vast majority of American engineers). This is notably not the case in many other countries, where a license is as legally necessary to practice engineering as it is for law or medicine.

Biomedical engineering is regulated in some countries, such as Australia, but registration is typically only recommended and not required.[22]

In the UK, mechanical engineers working in the areas of Medical Engineering, Bioengineering or Biomedical engineering can gain Chartered Engineer status through the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The Institution also runs the Engineering in Medicine and Health Division.[23]

The Fundamentals of Engineering exam - the first (and more general) of two licensure examinations for most U.S. jurisdictions—does now cover biology (although technically not BME). For the second exam, called the Principles and Practices, Part 2, or the Professional Engineering exam, candidates may select a particular engineering discipline's content to be tested on; there is currently not an option for BME with this, meaning that any biomedical engineers seeking a license must prepare to take this examination in another category (which does not affect the actual license, since most jurisdictions do not recognize discipline specialties anyway). However, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) is, as of 2009, exploring the possibility of seeking to implement a BME-specific version of this exam to facilitate biomedical engineers pursuing licensure.

Beyond governmental registration, certain private-sector professional/industrial organizations also offer certifications with varying degrees of prominence. One such example is the Certified Clinical Engineer (CCE) certification for Clinical engineers.

Founding figures

•Leslie Geddes (deceased)- Professor Emeritus at Purdue University, electrical engineer, inventor, and educator of

over 2000 biomedical engineers, received a National Medal of Technology in 2006 from President George Bush[24] for his more than 50 years of contributions that have spawned innovations ranging from burn treatments

to miniature defibrillators, ligament repair to tiny blood pressure monitors for premature infants, as well as a new method for performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

•Y. C. Fung - professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, considered by many to be the founder of modern Biomechanics[25]

•Robert Langer - Institute Professor at MIT, runs the largest BME laboratory in the world, pioneer in drug delivery and tissue engineering[26]

•Herbert Lissner (deceased) - Professor of Engineering Mechanics at Wayne State University. Initiated studies on blunt head trauma and injury thresholds beginning in 1939 in collaboration with Dr. E.S. Gurdjian, a neurosurgeon at Wayne State's School of Medicine. Individual for whom the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' top award in Biomedical Engineering, the Herbert R. Lissner Medal, is named.

•Nicholas A. Peppas - Chaired Professor in Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, pioneer in drug delivery, biomaterials, hydrogels and nanobiotechnology.

•Otto Schmitt (deceased) - biophysicist with significant contributions to BME, working with biomimetics

•Ascher Shapiro (deceased) - Institute Professor at MIT, contributed to the development of the BME field, medical devices (e.g. intra-aortic balloons)

•John G. Webster - Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a pioneer in the field of instrumentation amplifiers for the recording of electrophysiological signals

•Robert Plonsey - Professor Emeritus at Duke University, pioneer of electrophysiology[27]

•U. A. Whitaker (deceased) - provider of The Whitaker Foundation, which supported research and education in

BME by providing over $700 million to various universities, helping to create 30 BME programs and helping finance the construction of 13 buildings[28]

•Frederick Thurstone (deceased) - Professor Emeritus at Duke University, pioneer of diagnostic ultrasound[29]

•Kenneth R. Diller - Chaired and Endowed Professor in Engineering, University of Texas at Austin. Founded the BME department at UT Austin. Pioneer in bioheat transfer, mass transfer, and biotransport

•Alfred E. Mann - Physicist, entrepreneur and philanthropist. A pioneer in the field of Biomedical Engineering.[30]

•Forrest Bird - aviator and pioneer in the invention of mechanical ventilators

•Willem Johan Kolff (deceased) - pioneer of hemodialysis as well as in the field of artificial organs

•John James Rickard Macleod(deceased) - one of the co-discoverers of insulin at Case Western Reserve University.

References

[1]Biomedical engineer (http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/biomedical_engineer_job_description.jsp) prospects

[2]"Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity" (http://www.cbd.int/convention/convention.shtml). Cbd.int. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[3]"Jaw bone created from stem cells" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8290138.stm). BBC News. October 10, 2009. . Retrieved 11 October 2009.

[4]"Doctors grow organs from patients' own cells" (http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/04/03/engineered.organs/index. html). CNN. April 3, 2006. .

[5]Trial begins for first artificial liver device using human cells (http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/1999/19990225-elad.html), University of Chicago, February 25, 1999

[6]http://www.cancerjournal.net/article.asp?issn=0973-1482;year=2006;volume=2;issue=4;spage=186;epage=195;aulast=Hede

[7]http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/pham/2006/00000023/00000007/00010284;jsessionid=8tqn6da8a03l0.alice

[8]http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2006/emerging_trends.htm

[9]http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/abs/10.2217/17435889.1.1.67

[10]SGS, SafeGuardS Bulletin, Retrieved 08/20/2012 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/

sgs-safeguards-02412-exemptions-from-rohs-ii-directive-a4-en-12.pdf)

[11] SGS, Risk Analysis Evaluation, Retrieved 08/22/2012 (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/ Medical-Devices-Classified-as-Consumer-Products/Electrical-and-Electronics-Services/Risk-Analysis-Evaluation.aspx)

[12]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm) - Profile for Engineers

[13]"Accredited Biomedical Engineering Programs" (http://www.bmes.org/accreditation/accredited_eng_pgms.asp). Bmes.org. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[14]ABET List of Accredited Engineering Programs (http://www.abet.org/schoolalleac.asp)

[15]"McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering" (http://msbe.mcmaster.ca/). Msbe.mcmaster.ca. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[16]"Biomedical Engineering - Electrical and Computer Eng. Ryerson" (http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/undergraduate/current/bme.html). Ee.ryerson.ca. 2011-08-04. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[17]"Ryerson Biomedical Engineering Students Invent Brain-Controlled Prosthetic Arm" (http://studymagazine.com/2011/04/01/

ryerson-biomedical-engineering-students-invent-braincontrolled-prosthetic-arm/). STUDY Magazine. 2011-04-01. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[18]"Biomedical Engineering" (http://www.flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/csem/disciplines/bme/). . Retrieved 8 December 2011.

[19]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#outlook) - Job Outlook for Engineers

[20]BIOMEDEA (http://www.bmt.uni-stuttgart.de/biomedea/biomedea.htm)

[21]Biomedical Engineering Curriculum: (http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA410442) A Comparison Between the USA, Europe and Australia

[22]National Engineering Registration Board - Areas Of Practice - NPER Areas (http://www.nerb.org.au/aop/nper_areas_biomedical.cfm)

[23](http://www.imeche.org/industries/medical/)

[24]"Leslie Geddes - 2006 National Medal of Technology" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pZJVE51Vao). YouTube. 2007-07-31. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[25]YC “Bert” Fung: The Father of Modern Biomechanics (pdf) (http://www.techscience.com/mcb_pdf/v1n1/pdf/184288277842.pdf)

[26]Colleagues honor Langer for 30 years of innovation (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/langer.html), MIT News Office

[27]"Faculty - Duke BME" (http://fds.duke.edu/db/pratt/BME/faculty/robert.plonsey). Fds.duke.edu. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[28]"The Whitaker Foundation" (http://www.whitaker.org/). Whitaker.org. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[29]"Biomedical Engineering Professor Emeritus Fredrick L. Thurstone Dies" (http://www.pratt.duke.edu/news/?id=71). Pratt.duke.edu. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

[30]Gallegos, Emma (2010-10-25). "Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research (AMF)" (http://www.aemf.org/The). Aemf.org. . Retrieved 2011-09-24.

Further reading

•Bronzino, Joseph D. (April 2006). The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, Third Edition (http://crcpress.com/ product/isbn/9780849321245). [CRC Press]. ISBN 978-0-8493-2124-5.

•Villafane, Carlos, CBET. (June 2009). Biomed: From the Student's Perspective, First Edition (http://www. biomedtechnicians.com). [Techniciansfriend.com]. ISBN 978-1-61539-663-4.

•Information related to biomedical engineering (http://abiomedicalengineer.com).

•Medical engineering stories in the news (http://www.sems.qmul.ac.uk/ugadmissions/programmes/news. php?medicalengineering)

External links

•Biomedical Engineering (http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Technology/Biomedical_Engineering/) at the Open Directory Project