As a senior in high school, Melanie McWade knew she wanted to apply engineering science to medicine, repairing the body’s worn parts and coming up with new medical devices and drugs.
“Brains controlling prosthetic limbs? As an 18-year-old, I wanted to be part of that,” she says.
So she completed an accelerated bachelor’s/master’s program in biomedical engineering in four years at Vanderbilt University, followed by a fellowship at the Bionics Institute in Melbourne, Australia. There, she worked on retinal implants that restore vision to people with macular degeneration and on cochlear implant stimulation strategies for hearing loss. She then entered Vanderbilt’s doctoral program.
[See the top-ranked schools for biomedical engineering and bioengineering.]
Hoping to get even closer to translating science into results at the bedside, McWade, 26, sought out a fellowship last summer at Allied Minds, a Boston venture capital firm that looks to commercialize promising research. She worked alongside the investment team, scouting for possibilities and gaining experience with investment analysis.
After finishing her degree this spring, she’ll take a position as vice president of emerging therapies at Rosellini Scientific, bringing biomedical technology to market by directing studies and helping to gain funding and Food and Drug Administration approval.
“I get to be on the cusp of research and also turn the research into a real commercial product,” she says.
The field is young: Of the country’s 90-plus accredited programs at all degree levels, 68 have earned that status just since 2000.
“There was a concern at one time that industry didn’t know what biomedical engineering brought to the table,” notes Rich Hart, chair of Ohio State University‘s department and president of the Biomedical Engineering Society. Today, the future is bright; government projections put job growth at 23 percent — more than three times the average for all jobs — during the decade ending in 2024.
[Consider earning an online master’s degree in biomedical engineering.]
Graduates follow a number of different paths, says Hart. They work in hospitals, at medical device-makers, pharmaceutical and other life sciences companies, and at government agencies from the FDA to NASA, as well as pursue research and teaching positions in academia. In 2014, the median salary for biomedical engineers was $87,000.
Prospective engineering students can consider other well-paid roles as well.
— Environmental engineer: Using soil science, biology and chemistry, these pros develop solutions to environmental problems. Work ranges from preparing investigation reports to designing water reclamation and air pollution control systems to advising corporations on contaminated site cleanup. Job growth through 2024 will likely run 12 percent. The median salary for environmental engineers is now about $83,000, but pay can exceed $125,000.
— Petroleum engineer: Despite the recent drop in oil prices and a growing push for clean energy, the job outlook for petroleum engineers appears strong for the foreseeable future. Oil prices will be a factor, however: It will take higher prices to prompt companies to drill in deeper waters and less hospitable places and to try new extraction methods. Also, many petroleum engineers are expected to retire over the next decade. Median salary was approximately $130,000 in 2014.
[Learn more about careers in petroleum engineering.]
— Civil engineer: These experts are needed to deal with the country’s aging infrastructure — the bridge rebuilds, road repairs, levee and dam upgrades, and the execution of new projects such as water systems and waste treatment plants. Civil engineers also will facilitate the economy’s move toward alternative energy and already play a big role in the rebuilding after natural disasters. Median pay in 2014 was about $82,000.
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News “Best Graduate Schools 2017” guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
More from U.S. News
Graduate Certificate Programs Offer Quick Path to Career Upgrade
Fellowships Offer a Path to Graduate Programs, Study Abroad
5 Ways Undergrads Can Set Themselves Up to Pay for Grad School
Explore Biomedical Engineering, Other Hot Jobs for Future Engineers originally appeared on usnews.com
