Vol. 4 No. 1 September 2005

The BioTECH Quarterly

Biological Engineering Major Welcomes Class of ’09

By Justin Lo '08, Secretary

    The Biological Engineering (BE) Division is launching a new BE SB degree in the 2005-2006 Academic Year, just in time to welcome the incoming class of 2009. The Dean of Engineering Dr. Thomas Magnanti has recently requested that MIT recognize BE with a course number (Course 20).

    The curriculum for the degree was developed by the BE Undergraduate Programs Committee and approved by a unanimous vote of the MIT faculty in February 2005 as the first new major course of study at MIT in nearly 30 years. The first class will graduate in 2008.

    The BE curriculum comprises nine brand new core subjects that define Biological Engineering as a discipline at the undergraduate level, as underlined in the talks given by Professor Douglas Lauffenburger, Director of BE Division: “Biological Engineering and the BE SB degree: Philosophy and Plans.”

    Highlights of the BE curriculum include two new lab courses that address fundamental biological engineering techniques and instrumentation (BE.109 and BE.309). In light of the lab capacity, enrollment in the BE SB degree is currently limited to 20 students per class for the classes of 2008 and 2009.

    Expansion of faculty and physical space are under way to accommodate more students in the future. Meanwhile, interested students are encouraged to contact the BE Academic Office to indicate their intent to apply to BE SB.

    Applications are accepted during the fall term of the students’ sophomore year, and admission is considered based on completion of core requirements. So far, approximately 40 Class of 2008 students have signed up to be placed on the candidate list, and approximately 100 students have preregistered for BE.110, Thermodynamics of Biomolecular Systems, one of the core requirements to complete for applying. Updates can be found at http://web.mit.edu/be/education/ugrad.htm.