Ignore this, just for rememberance.

Hi there,

I hope that my reply isn't too late, that you still have the time to decide. I am a NTU Bioengineering graduate. I am blessed that I had chances to work in Bioengineering labs in Singapore and overseas (France, Australia, etc) so I have some idea of the working world of Bioengineering. =)

Bioengineering is meant to be a bridge betweeen medicine and engineering. A lot of medical problems require engineering solutions. In the past, doctors have the problems, but they don't know engineering to solve the problems. Engineering who design ECG, X-ray machine, etc, do not have medical backgrounds so they don't know what is required for those medical equipment. So there we train Bioengineers, who understand both Biology and Engineering, to bridge the gap between the two.

Hence, the workload is rather heavy. Bioengineering is one of the heaviest course in NTU, as we have to know everything, from electrical engineering, mechanical, biochemistry, molecular biology, etc. And since time is limited, courses tend to jump to advanced materials while skipping the introductory part, so in a lot of courses you have to spend a lot of time catching up the basics yourself.

The downside is, since we learn everything, we only know a little bit of everything as have no solid knowledge of any branch of engineering. So is it good? It depends... If you want to study something else after bioengineering, then BioEngineering is a good choice. For example, if you do PhD in a specialized area after graduation, Bioengineering gives you the big picture of the research. I myself am doing Medicine now; Bioengineering gives me the engineering side of Medicine, hence helpful for me being a more well-rounded doctor. If you intend to work immediately after obtaining a B.Eng in Bioengineering, it's not a good choice. Bioengineering companies would rather hire electrical engineers or mechanical engineers with solid knowledge in mechanics or electronics then teach them biology, than hiring Bioengineers who have little knowledge of everything. Furthermore, working in Bioengineering research requires profound knowledge in the area, requiring at least post-docs or PhDs, so yes, fresh undergrads are usually only doing low-level work as assistants in local labs. In other words, if you take Bioengineering major, you have to study till at least post-doctoral level to continue in Bioengineering research area. This applies not only to Singapore, but also overseas companies.

Another hard fact is that Bioengineering industry hasn't matured in Singapore. We still import a lot of foreign talents to Bioengineering companies here. Based on seniors' experience, the majority of class of 2007-09 graduants go to other fields: bank, insurance, teaching, etc. The rest do PhDs or be research assistants.

I am not discouraging you from taking Bioengineering. I myself enjoyed it very much, and it's a good complement to the Medical degree I am studying now. In short, if Bioengineering is your end means, it's not recommended. If you intend to study PhD or something else after Bioengineering, it's a good complement, worth taking it.

All the best, and best wishes in your decission making! =)

Regards,

Chang