Biomedical engineering is a discipline that advances knowledge in engineering, biology and medicine, and improves human health through cross-disciplinary activities that integrate the engineering sciences with the biomedical sciences and clinical practice. It includes:

1. The acquisition of new knowledge and understanding of living systems through the innovative and substantive application of experimental and analytical techniques based on the engineering sciences.

2. The development of new devices, algorithms, processes and systems that advance biology and medicine and improve medical practice and health care delivery. The term "biomedical engineering research" is thus defined in a broad sense: It includes not only the relevant applications of engineering to medicine but also to the basic life sciences.

1. Background to the Programme

The rapid growth of healthcare systems and the indispensible increasing role of technology in diagnostic, therapeutic, and associated research activities have culminated into increasing demand for skilled biomedical engineers both in Uganda and globally.

The proposed Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering (BSc. BE) programme is aimed at advancing the technology needed to enhance healthcare. The Programme combines traditional engineering expertise with an understanding of biological processes.

The Biomedical Engineers so trained are expected to work with physicians, therapists, and other technicians in the design, construction, implementation, and maintenance of sophisticated healthcare equipment and lifesaving devices. The Biomedical Engineering Programme shall equip scholars to use cutting-edge engineering principles to analyze and facilitate the biological and medical technology innovations needed to solve healthcare problems and ultimately, improve the healthcare system.

The proposed BSc. BE curriculum emphasizes education in the fundamentals of engineering sciences that form the common basis of all engineering subspecialties. Education with this emphasis is intended to provide students with a solid engineering foundation for a career in which engineering practice may change rapidly. In addition, elements of bioengineering design are incorporated at every level in the curriculum. This is accomplished by integration of laboratory experimentation, computer applications, and exposure to real bioengineering problems throughout the program. The curriculum also provides for students to work as teams in senior design project courses to solve multidisciplinary problems suggested by industrial and clinical experience
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2. Justification for the Programme

Uganda as a nation is increasingly importing complex pieces of equipment to support health and health related research. Most of these pieces of equipment arrive without the accompanying care, maintenance and support. In some cases, the equipment specifications are not suited to the local environment, which affects durability and use of this equipment. The graduates of this program will use their knowledge to reduce the costs of maintenance, wastage, loss of work hours from equipment downtime and other resources due to the current lack of this cadre of trainees on the market. In addition, these graduates will be in position to advice on sourcing, procurement and preventive maintenance correctly specified for our environment thus making further savings to the country. 

The graduates of this program will have an in depth understanding of the subject thus create an easy to train group of resource persons. This trainability makes the biomedical engineers an easy group to retool especially with the purchase of new pieces of equipment. This is important given the rapid changes seen in the field of biomedical engineering and the need to keep up with global technology trends.

The graduates of this program will benefit from the short stint training support given with most new pieces of equipment. Later they can use the new knowledge they have acquired to develop more in depth training for other less qualified support staffs. 
Given the uniqueness of the environment and people in Africa, there is a need to design biomedical equipment that is suited to both. The graduates of this program will participate in research, innovation and design of new devices suited to and in response for the local need of healthcare in low resource settings. The curriculum has different tracks for specialization to enable the graduates to focus on key domains in the biomedical engineering discipline at an early stage. These and other innovations in the program will help grow the discipline and the institutional regional capacity to do basic science research.

3. Objectives and Educational Outcomes

The programme objective is to prepare students for careers in the biomedical industry or for further education in graduate school. The students may go on to design devices to diagnose and treat disease, engineer tissues to repair wounds, develop cutting-edge genetic treatments, or create computer programs to understand how the human body works. The BSc. BE is so designed to produce entrepreneurship-oriented graduates who are capable of propping up new companies, out of the prototypes that they will have developed at the undergraduate level.

Educational Objectives

The educational objectives of this programme are to:

1. Produce graduates who are able to practice biomedical engineering to serve Uganda and the regional industries, government agencies, or national and international industries.
2. Produce graduates with the necessary background and technical skills to work professionally in one or more of the following areas: medical imaging, health informatics, biomechanics, biomaterial/tissue engineering and medical instrumentation.
3. Prepare graduates for personal and professional success with awareness and commitment to their ethical and social responsibilities, both as individuals and in team environments.
4. Prepare graduates who are capable of entering and succeeding in an advanced degree program in a field such as engineering, science, or business.

Program Outcomes

Knowledge

The graduates should be able to apply fundamental knowledge of engineering and biomedical sciences in daily practice.
The graduates will possess a broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal/cultural context.

Skills

1.The graduates will show proficiency in the design and conduct biomedical experiments quantitatively analyze, interpret data to solve problems associated with interaction between living and non-living materials and systems.
2. The graduates will show expertise in designing systems, components, or processes to tackle biomedical engineering problems within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health, safety, regulation, manufacturability and sustainability.
3. The graduates will apply the phases of design (need identification, problem definition, synthesis analysis, optimization, evaluation, and presentation) in order to propose a feasible solution to a variety of biomedical problems.
4. The graduates will apply information and communication technologies (ICT) for the advancement of biomedical engineering
5. The graduates will be skilled in the recognition of the need for, and have the ability to engage in continuous professional development on contemporary issues related to biomedical engineering.
6. The graduates will be competent in leadership, management, Entrepreneurship, and ethical practice skills to work under minimal supervision

Attitudes
On completion of the program the graduates will,

1. Be able to function in multi-disciplinary teams.
2. Have an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility required of all engineering, and the unique ethical responsibilities of engineers working in health-related fields.
3. Communicate effectively/scientifically both orally and in writing on technical issues related to biomedical engineering
4. Demonstrate the ability to use and adapt to local settings the knowledge generated by biomedical science research

Source * http://mbl.mak.ac.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28&Itemid=113