Biomedical Engineering with Foundation Year - BEng (Hons)
Currently viewing course to start in 2022/23 Entry. Switch to 2023/24 Entry
Are you interested in engineering that interacts with the human body? Our practice-led Biomedical Engineering degree explores mathematics, anatomy, physiology and computing to meet the rapid advancement in technology which is becoming a vital part of healthcare. Throughout this course, you will have the option to carry out exciting work placements in the UK and abroad....
- Level Foundation
- Study mode Full Time
- Location City Centre / City South
- Award BEng (Hons)
- Start date September 2022
- Fees View course fees
- School School of Health Sciences
- Faculty Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences
Overview
Course is Full for 2022/23 Entry
This course is now full for 2022/23. You can apply for 2023/24 via UCAS from September 2022.
If you'd still like to apply for September 2022, take a look at some of our other available courses.
Are you interested in engineering that interacts with the human body? Our practice-led Biomedical Engineering degree explores mathematics, anatomy, physiology and computing to meet the rapid advancement in technology which is becoming a vital part of healthcare. Throughout this course, you will have the option to carry out exciting work placements in the UK and abroad. If this sounds like the degree for you then find out more about our university entry requirements.
What's covered in this course?
Our unique Biomedical Engineering degree course will provide you with the skills and expertise needed to work in specialist areas such as assistive technology, rehabilitation, medical imaging and robotics, physiology monitoring, cardiopulmonary engineering, m-health and e-health, orthopaedic implants and regenerative medicine/ tissue engineering.
Biomedical Engineering (also known as bioengineering) is a discipline of engineering that interacts with the human body. You will be developing and applying innovative skills in the design, manufacturing and maintenance of medical equipment and devices covering all spectrums from the new born to assistive living for the elderly. Industrial-led practical workshops and labs will help enhance your technical skills. This will enable you to relate ‘real-life’ commercial innovations to the underpinning academic theory learnt in the lectures.
Our state-of-the-art facilities will allow you to explore a variety of biomedical applications including: sensing and measuring on micro and nano scales, personal health tracking, remote diagnosis and monitoring, biomaterials to name a few. The knowledge acquired will then enable you to engage in exciting projects such as designing prostheses or devising new medical technology for physicians and medical professionals to be used in the prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of patients.
Along with these technical skills, as an engineer you will also gain a diverse range of transferrable skills, including effective communication, leadership, the ability to critically assess gaps in target healthcare markets, and the tools required to provide solutions to bridge those gaps.
The course is currently in progression of accreditation by the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).
Why choose a foundation year course?
By studying a foundation year in Health and Life Sciences, your first year will be spent learning a wide range of broad subject areas which then open up opportunities for you to specialise further in your next year – which would be the first year of a full degree programme.
You will study very broad subjects in your foundation year, which is designed to prepare you for a range of courses and not just one particular BSc degree.
So, although you are studying a BSc in a specific course – BSc Biomedical Sciences – the foundation year sets you up for a number of other possible degrees starting the following year. It may be that you don’t end up doing a degree in precisely the same subject as your foundation year.
This flexibility is one of the great things about the foundation year category - Health Sciences, allowing you to find out more about your interests and talents before focusing on a three year degree. The foundation year also helps us at BCU to make sure we help to match you to the degree that fits you best.
Where will I study?
You will learn within our recently extended £71 million City South Campus, located in Edgbaston just five minutes from Birmingham City Centre. Our campus has been recently re-developed and provides access to cutting-edge facilities that will enhance and support your learning during your time here.
Why Choose Us?
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Explore the multi-disciplinary of a career in Biomedical Engineering - you will have access to the excellent facilities on both our health and engineering campuses. Giving you the benefits of both disciplines in regards to resources and technical know-how
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Study at our £41 million City South Campus - including specialist labs and over £250,000 worth of new equipment as a part of our £41 million investment into our City South Campus in Edgbaston, where you will be predominantly based
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Small tutorial classes to allow for in depth opportunities to develop your skills and receive constructive feedback
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Personal tutors to support you in achieving your learning goals
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Carry out work placements in the UK or abroad - this course will provide you with opportunities to carry out exciting work placements in the UK and abroad
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Strong partnerships and links with medical institutions and healthcare providers, including the NHS and private sector, providing you opportunities for collaboration
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Learn from experienced tutors who are experts in their field
- Access to our cutting-edge virtual technologies and one of the UK's largest specialist health education libraries
Similar Courses
Studying with us during the Covid-19 pandemic
The University has put in place measures in response to Covid-19 to allow us to safely deliver our courses. Should the impact of the pandemic continue in future years, any additional or alternative arrangements put in place by the University will be in accordance with the latest government public health advice, health and safety legislation, and the terms and conditions of the student contract.
Open Days
Join us for an on-campus Open Day where you'll be able to explore our campus and facilities in person. You'll be able to hear more about your chosen subject area in our course talks.
Next Open Days: Autumn 2022
Entry Requirements
We accept a range of qualifications, the most popular of which are detailed below.
Essential Requirements
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88 UCAS tariff points from A/AS Level |
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| UK Qualification | Requirements | |
| GCSE |
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| City and Guilds Level 2 Certificates in Adult Numeracy/ Adult Literacy |
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| Functional Skills/ Essential Skills level 2 |
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| Key Skills level 2 |
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| Irish Leaving Certificate (Ordinary Level) |
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| Scottish Intermediate 2 |
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| Scottish Credit Standard Grade |
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| Scottish National 5 |
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| IELTS |
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| Plus one of the following Level 3 (and above) Qualifications | ||
| UK Qualification | Requirements | |
| A level and Advanced VCE |
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| Access to HE Diploma |
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International Baccalaureate Diploma |
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Irish Leaving Certificate (Highers) |
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OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma |
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Open University courses |
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Scottish Advanced Higher |
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T-Levels |
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Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma – Core (awarded until 2016) ESW/KS Combined component |
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| Other qualifications | ||
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If you have a qualification that is not listed in the table please refer to our full entry requirements on UCAS. Recent relevant study to GCE A-level standard or above must have been completed within five years of the course intake date the applicant is applying for. Further guidance on tariff points can be found on the UCAS website. |
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Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: BEng (Hons)
Starting: Sep 2022
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year foundation followed by 3 year degree
- £9,250 in 2022/23
- Applications Closed
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: BEng (Hons)
Starting: Sep 2022
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year foundation followed by 3 year degree
- £13,500 in 2022/23
- Applications Closed
If you're unable to use the online form for any reason, you can complete our PDF application form and equal opportunities PDF form instead.
Please note, we operate a gathered field for applications to this course, which means that candidates who apply before 26 January will receive a decision on their application by the end of April 2022.
This course is now full for 2022/23. You can apply for 2023/24 via UCAS from September 2022.
If you'd still like to apply for September 2021, take a look at some of our other available courses.
Course in Depth
Foundation Year
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits):
Mathematics plays a key role in establishing and grounding the professional skills of an engineer. Communicating the ideas of engineering is made both easier and harder by the use of mathematical language.
This module aims to help you become proficient at further developing engineering models and arguments, and following them through to their logical conclusions, since application of these arguments has to include their interpretation both to and from the mathematical language.
This module aims to provide you with the practical and professional skills to enable you to progress to the next module in the practical theme, Practical Skills II, and then on to the first year of an engineering degree.
This module aims to provide the practical and professional skills to enable you to progress to the first year of an engineering degree. As the theoretical aspects of physical science and maths are delivered in another theme of the foundation year, the Practical Skills modules concentrate on the practical aspects.
The module aims to provide you with the knowledge and problem-solving skills in physical science to enable you to progress to the next module in the science theme, Engineering Science 2, and then on to the first year of an engineering degree.
The module aims to provide you with the knowledge and problem-solving skills in physical science to enable you to progress to the next module in the science theme, Engineering Science 2, and then on to the first year of an engineering degree
Year One
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits):
The module aims to provide the underpinning knowledge and problem solving skills in engineering science to enable you to progress to the next module in the theme, Engineering Principles II, and then on to the second year of a range of engineering degrees.
Mathematics plays a key role in establishing and grounding the skills of an engineer, and the ability to communicate the ideas of engineering that are expected of an engineering graduates.
The module aims to provide the underpinning knowledge and problem solving skills in engineering science to enable you to progress to the second year of a wide range of engineering degrees. As the practical aspects of engineering science are delivered in another theme of the common first year, the Engineering Principles modules concentrate on the theoretical aspects. The subject material will be delivered in two coherent streams one of which contains predominantly mechanical science and the other contains predominantly electrical science.
The module aims to provide the practical and professional skills to enable you to progress to the next module in the practical theme, Practical Skills 2, and then on to the second year of an engineering degree. As the theoretical aspects of physical science and maths are delivered in other themes of the first year, the Practical Skills modules concentrate on the practical aspects.
This module will focus on introducing and building on well-established techniques for mathematically modelling dynamic systems (systems of interest for engineering) for contextualised engineering applications. The module will include an introduction to sophisticated signal analysis technique, Fourier series, which is used to transform time-domain signals into their frequency spectra.
This module is designed to give you a sound understanding of essential human anatomy and physiology, providing a solid foundation for biomedical engineering applications. It is intended that by studying this module you will develop your knowledge and understanding of functions and mechanisms of cells, tissues, organs and organ systems, and appreciate how they interact and communicate to make the human body function optimally in an ever changing environment. It will focus on areas of pathology that provide opportunities and challenges to biomedical engineers to intervene and correct with the latest technology where biology alone is insufficient.
Year Two
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 120 credits):
Information is the basic thread of life and signals are the medium by which information is passed. This module will focus on classifying and mathematical modelling of signals and systems in the context of Electrical and Biomedical engineering.
During the module analytical techniques will be introduced used to transform signals from one domain to another and vice versa. While mathematical techniques will be used and contextualised for actual system hardware.
Information is the basic thread of life and signals are the medium by which information is passed. This module will focus on classifying and mathematical modelling of signals and systems in the context of Electrical and Biomedical engineering.
This module introduces you to the fundamentals of analogue and digital electronics using a circuit approach. It has been designed to give you a usable level of electronics theory to demonstrate key concepts.
If conducted in the right way biomedical engineering research and design of medical devices will contribute to improved healthcare and quality of life, but too much time and resources are wasted on badly designed and conducted research. This module is designed to give you the necessary skills and knowledge required to design, execute and disseminate a research project in biomedical engineering.
This module will enable you to build upon the knowledge and skills that you have developed earlier as part of this programme. It is intended that by engaging in this module, you will be able to develop a sound understanding of application of physics in medicine and thereby its application in the field of medical imaging.
This module will build upon the foundation knowledge and skills that you have developed earlier as part of this programme. It is intended that by engaging in this module, you will be able to apply various principles underpinning; science, biology and medicine alongside mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering in acquiring measurements from various physiological systems.
Year Three
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete at least 120 credits from the following list of CORE modules.
It is intended that by engaging in this module, you will be able to demonstrate creativity in your approach to integrate engineering principles, skills and knowledge to plan, design, execute and communicate a sustained piece of independent work, critically addressing a specific question by bridging the gap identified in the literature of Biomedical Engineering.
This module will build upon the common engineering science / skills that you have developed earlier as part of this programme. It is intended that by engaging in this module, you will be able to develop a sound understanding of the physical principles and concepts underpinning the mechanics of living system and human body, which is the basis of movement science.
This module will build upon the common engineering science / skills that you have developed earlier as part of this programme. It is intended that by engaging in this module, you will be able to develop a sound understanding of; the material science and apply the concepts underpinning the interaction of substances, engineered for medical applications, with biological system.
This module will build upon the knowledge and skills that you have developed earlier as part of this programme. It is intended that by engaging in this module, you will be able to develop a sound understanding of; the working principle, operation and troubleshooting procedures of various lower order and higher order medical devices used for medical applications within a health care setting.
This module will enable you to build upon the knowledge and skills that you have developed earlier as part of this programme. It is intended that by engaging in this module, you will be able to develop a sound understanding of; digital image processing, medical image analysis and application within medical image processing.
Download course specification
Download nowCourse structure
This biomedical engineering course is delivered by a team of experienced scientists, and biomedical and clinical engineers. You'll be exposed to a number of different teaching and learning styles, as well as a range of assessment types.
An interdisciplinary approach will introduce you to a range of modules that will focus on human physiology, engineering design principles, digital signal processing, biomechanics and biomaterials. Additional modules in laboratory skills and research methods will prepare you for your research topic in the final year.
A key feature of your first year is a shared core module which will allow you to learn alongside students on other health, life sciences and engineering courses in the School of Health Sciences, the School of Computing and Engineering, and the School of Digital Media and Technology.
Employability
Enhancing your employability skills
We'll develop you into a work-ready graduate. By undertaking suitable elective/optional placement opportunities, you'll gain a greater understanding of the causes and mechanisms underlying health, ageing and disease. This will allow you to collaboratively support the design and delivery of healthcare technology and or medical devices within a clinical or industrial setting.
You may also have invaluable opportunities to test and demonstrate new electro-mechanical models and tools for health and care delivery.
Placements
You may have the chance to undertake valuable work placements, either in the UK or internationally. This could be done in a local hospital, a manufacturing company or in another relevant sector.
OpportUNIty
OpportUNIty: Student Jobs on Campus ensures that our students are given a first opportunity to fill many part-time temporary positions within the University. This allows you to work while you study with us, fitting the job around your course commitments. By taking part in the scheme, you will gain valuable experiences and employability skills, enhancing your prospects in the job market.
It will also allow you to become more involved in University life by delivering, leading and supporting many aspects of the learning experience, from administration to research and mentoring roles.
International
Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Explore some of the good reasons why you should study here.
- Find out how to improve your language skills before starting your studies.
- Find all the information relevant to applicants from your country.
- Learn where to find financial support for your studies.
Facilities & Staff
In addition to the engineering facilities at our City Centre Campus, we also have state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. These help you explore and understand the scientific principles underpinning many of our courses.
The Physiology Laboratory is equipped to help you learn about the way the human body works by performing investigative experiments.
The Biomedical Science Laboratory will allow you to learn about anatomy, cellular processes, immunology and enzymology in a hands-on way that links directly to day-to-day healthcare.
We also have a Human Physiology and Performance Lab fully equipped with Lode cycle ergometers, Monark cycle ergometers, Woodway treadmills, Bioelectrical impedance analysers for body composition analysis and an Altitude Chamber.
Our Biomechanics Lab is fitted with Qualisys motion capture and Kistler force plates and Isokinetic dynamometer.
Simulation Mannequins
We have several Simulation men (SIM men) and Simulation babies (SIM babies) which are leading edge, anatomically correct mannequins used for teaching specific techniques such as advanced adult and paediatric life support skills, acute and high dependency clinical skills, first aid and communication skills.
S.P.A.C.E.
SPACE is an innovative practice area all students can access to use equipment and resources to practise a wide range of skills in a safe, welcoming and supportive environment. It provides students with a creative learning environment to get the best educational experience before becoming a health care professional.
Learning Facilities
We offer up-to-date, innovative facilities that simulate the real situations that medical staff may come across. These resources are essential in offering students a hands-on introduction to health and social care practice.
Virtual Tour
Explore our facilities in 360 panoramas, including welcome videos from key members of staff and Health and Wellbeing student profiles.
Doug Ellis Sports Centre
Our £8.5 million Doug Ellis Sports Centre boasts an 80-station fitness suite, an eight-court sports hall, and workout and spinning studios. The centre offers state-of-the-art fitness training equipment and plenty of room for team sports including five-a-side football and cricket. An all-weather pitch adds the finishing touches to the centre.
Visitors to the gym can choose a personalised fitness programme, instructed by qualified fitness trainers, and take advantage of a selection of classes, such as yoga, salsa or body combat.
Our staff
Dr Vivek Indramohan
Associate Professor and Course Lead - Biomedical Engineering
With an overseas research student award (ORSAS) and University of Strathclyde scholarship, Vivek completed his Ph.D. (in Bioengineering) in 2009. Following the completion of his research degree, he commenced his work as a Research Assistant at University College of London (UCL) for 6 months, during which he was successful in obtaining a...
More about Vivek