Masters Program

David E. Swirnow Master of Science in Engineering in Bioengineering Innovation and Design

The David E. Swirnow MSE in Bioengineering Innovation & Design is an exciting and rigorous real-world medical innovation and biodesign degree program that immerses students in the clinical, technical, and business realities of practical health care innovation. This program will prepare you to be a leader in the creation and development of health care solutions that have the potential for high clinical impact and commercial success.

“The best way to identify important clinical needs is to immerse yourself in an environment where you can interact with doctors and patients everyday. CBID gave me the opportunity to do that.”
–CBID MSE student, class of 2010

Key Components of the Program

CLINICAL ROTATIONS

CBID MSE students begin the program in June with eight weeks of intensive clinical rotations designed to teach them to identify and validate clinical needs. These rotations are in 10 areas: Cardiology, Orthopaedic Surgery, General Surgery, Gastroenterology, OB/GYN, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Urology, and Interventional Radiology.

GLOBAL HEALTH MODULE

To be a leader in health care innovation, it’s not enough to know how to create winning products for advanced settings like the US. This module trains students to identify, invent, and implement unique health care solutions for resource-constrained environments worldwide. Special classroom training is combined with a two-week rotation, which last year took students to India, Nepal, and Tanzania. This CBID program works in partnership with Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate with decades of experience in global health.

“The key to CBID’s successful model is bringing together bright engineering students, innovative clinicians, experienced industry mentors, and deep technical experts to address significant clinical challenges.”
–CBID industry partner

DESIGN/PROTOTYPE

During the process of building multiple prototypes, students interact with clinicians, industry representatives, and faculty to validate the clinical and commercial impact of their inventions. At Johns Hopkins, a wealth of expertise is available to students, not only in Biomedical Engineering research labs but in other departments of the Whiting School and the School of Medicine. Among the wide range of research areas are imaging sciences, micron and nanoscale instrumentation, molecular engineering, cell physiology, computational biology, neuroengineering, bioinformatics, systems neuroscience, cell and tissue engineering, biomaterials, and advanced robotics including robotic surgery.

BUSINESS OF BIOENGINEERING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION

Students are trained in business concepts that are key to success in medtech, including intellectual property, medical device regulation, reimbursement, and business plan development. Students engage with experts in industry through a series of lectures and reviews that prepare them for translation of their innovations to the market.

The program benefits from close collaboration with regulatory and reimbursement professionals in government and industry who provide guidance to the MSE teams.

LEADERSHIP

CBID students develop the competence and confidence to be leaders in this field. Our students make a series of presentations to tough panels of advisors and mentors from inside and outside JHU, culminating in the annual Design Day presentations before an audience of peers and experienced professionals. CBID students have won several major business plan competitions with over $100,000 in student awards. Last year, these wins included first place at competitions at the University of California at San Francisco, University of Maryland, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.