Biomaterials Certificate Program | School of Materials Science and Engineering

Multidisciplinary Biomaterials Certificate Program for Georgia Tech Undergraduate Students

An undergraduate Multidisciplinary Certificate in "Biomaterials" may be earned by completing the following requirements according to the student’s major. Requirements include:

There is no initial application to declare a certificate.
The semester that you graduate, fill out the Certificate Approval Form and turn it in to the MSE Academic Office (room 294 Love). Once your certificate is approved, your certificate will be mailed to you after graduation.
All courses counting toward the certificate must be taken on a letter grade basis and completed with an overall grade point average of at least 2.0.
Courses required by name and number in a student's major degree program may not be used to satisfy the certificate course requirements.
No more than 6 semester hours of Special Topics courses may be included in a certificate program. No more than a total of 4 semester hours of Special Problems or Undergraduate Research courses may be included in a certificate program.
Non-MSE undergraduate majors are encouraged to participate in this program provided they have the appropriate prerequisites and approval of their major program academic advisor.

MSE Majors

Please note that if an MSE major specifies any of the listed Directed Electives in the three MSE curriculum Concentrations as counting towards his/her 15/16 hour Concentration requirement, then they cannot count those same course hours towards fulfillment of a Certificate’s requirements. However, if a student applies an MSE course towards the five hours of Free Electives in the curriculum and not towards a Concentration, then they can also count those hours towards fulfillment of a certificate.

BME/MSE 4751: Introduction to Biomaterials (3-0-3)
BIOL 1510: Biological Principles (3-3-4) plus
six credit hours taken from the list of approved courses below (see Exceptions).

Exceptions: A student may not apply any course towards the certificate that is required for his/her major. For example, MSE majors cannot use MSE 2001 or MSE 4010. Also, Biology majors are required to take nine credits from the list of approved courses since BIOL 1510 is required for their major.

BME Majors

ME 3201: Mechanics of Materials (3-0-3) or MSE 3005: Mechanical Behavior of Materials(3-0-3)
MSE 4010: Environmental Degradation (3-0-3)
BME/MSE 4751: Introduction to Biomaterials (3-0-3)
MSE 4775: Polymer Science and Engineering I (3-0-3)

Other Majors

MSE 2001: Principles and Applications of Engineering Materials*
BME/MSE 4751: Introduction to Biomaterials (3-0-3)
MSE 4775: Polymer Science and Engineering I (3-0-3)
BIOL 1510: Biological Principles (3-3-4)*
Plus three (or six**) credit hours from the list of approved courses.

*If the student's major requires either MSE 2001 or BIOL 1510, then that requirement is satisfied.

**If the student's major requires both MSE 2001 and BIOL 1510, then (in addition to BME/MSE 4751) six credit hours must be taken from the list of approved courses.

Approved Courses

*Denotes courses that may be taken concurrently.

BMED 3160 Systems Physiology I Credits: 2-5-4 Prerequisites: BMED 2300 and BIOL 2234 and (CHEM 3511* or CHEM 4511*) A study of physiologic properties of human cells and tissues, with specific attention focused on organization, membrane level transport and kinetics, cell signaling, and energy requirements.
MSE 3005 Mechanical Behavior of Materials Credits 3-0-3 Prerequisites: MSE 2001 & COE 3001 The correlation of monotonic and time-dependent mechanical properties with fundamental concepts of atomic bonding, crystalline state, microstructure, and micromechanics of materials.
MSE 4010 Environmental Degradation (required of BME majors) Credits: 3-0-3 Prerequisite: MSE 2001 Theory of environmental degradation of metals, ceramics, biomaterials and polymers. Emphasis on the scientific principles of degradation.
MSE 4325 Thin Film Materials Science Credits: 3-0-3 Prerequisite: MSE 2001 Introduction to principal vapor deposition processes and vacuum technology. The fundamentals of the formation, characterization, and properties of a variety of thin films.
BME/MSE 4751 Introduction to Biomaterials (required) Credits: 3-0-3 Prerequisite: MSE 2001 The course will emphasize an understanding of the selection, properties and use of materials for medical implant applications.
MSE 4803 Special Topics in Materials* Credits: 3-0-3 Prerequisite: MATH 2403 or MATH 2413 or MATH 24X3 *For example, Soft Materials
MSE 6610 Advanced Biomaterials + MSE 8801 Biomaterials Case Studies Credits: 3-0-3 The course will emphasize the interaction between the human body environment and synthetic materials. Materials for both medical implants and dental restoration and appliances will be covered.
AE/BMED/CHE/ME 4757 Biofluid Mechanics Credits: 3-0-3 Prerequisite: AE 2020 or ME 3340 Introduction to the study of blood flow in the cardiovascular system. Emphasis on modeling and the potential of flow studies for clinical research application.
AE/BMED/CHE/ME 4758 Biosolid Mechanics Credits: 3-0-3 Prerequisite: ME 3201 (MSE students may substitute MSE 3005 for ME 3201) The mechanics of living tissue, e.g., arteries, skin, heart muscle, ligament, tendon, cartilage, and bone. Constitutive equations and some simple mechanical models. Mechanics of cells. Applications
BIOL 1510 Biological Principles (required of non-BME majors) Credits: 3-3-4 An introduction to the basic principles of modern biology, including biomacromolecules, bioenergetics, cell structure, genetics, homeostasis, evolution and ecological relationships.
BIOL/HPS 3751 Human Anatomy and Physiology Credits: 3-0-3 Study of human anatomy and fundamental physiological mechanisms. Topics include nervous, musculoskeletal, and cardiorespiratory systems. Free elective for biology majors.
CHEM 3511 Survey of Biochemistry Credits: 3-0-3 Prerequisite: CHEM 2312 Introductory course in biochemistry dealing with the chemistry and biochemistry of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and other biomolecules.
ME 3201 Mechanics of Materials Credits: 3-0-3 Prerequisites: ME 2016 and ME 2211 and (MATH 2403* or MATH 2413* or MATH 24X3) and MSE 2001*.