Biological systems engineering

Biological Systems Engineering (BSE) is a broad-based engineering discipline with particular emphasis on biology and chemistry. It can be thought of as a subset of the broader notion of Biological Engineering. It is not to be confused with Biomedical Engineering as it tends to focus less on medical applications than on agriculture, ecosystems, and food science. It is not necessarily genetic engineering, although that can be a major aspect (particularly for its agricultural applications). The discipline focuses on environmentally sound and sustainable engineering solutions to meet societies’ ecologically related needs. Biological systems engineering is a broad and growing engineering field that integrates the expertise of fundamental engineering fields with expertise from non-engineering disciplines.

Academic and Professional Issues

Many college and university biological engineering departments have a history of being grounded in agricultural engineering and have only in the last decade or so changed their names to reflect the movement towards more diverse biological based engineering programs. This major is sometimes called Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Biological and Environmental Engineering, etc., in different universities.

Since biological engineering covers a wide spectrum, many departments now offer specialization options. Depending on the department and the specialization options offered within each program, curricula may overlap with other related fields. There are a number of different titles for BSE-related departments at various universities. The professional societies commonly associated with many Biological Engineering programs include the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and the Institute of Biological Engineering (IBE), which generally encompasses BSE.

A biological systems engineer has a background in what both environmental engineers and biologists do, thus bridging the gap between engineering and the (non-medical) biological sciences.^{[citation needed]} For this reason, biological systems engineers are becoming integral parts of many environmental engineering firms, federal agencies, and biotechnology industries.

Specializations

• Land and water resources engineering
• Food and bioprocess engineering
• Machinery systems engineering
• Natural resources and environmental engineering

See also

Related engineering fields Agricultural Engineering Aquaculture Engineering Biological Engineering Civil Engineering Chemical Engineering Ecological Engineering Environmental Engineering Food Engineering Mechanical Engineering Systems engineering

Closely related sciences Biology, biochemistry, microbiology Chemistry Ecology Hydrology Physics Soil Science

External links

• UC San Diego, Department of Bioengineering, UCSD BE part of University of California, San Diego

Further reading

• 2003, Dennis R. Heldman (ed), Encyclopedia of agricultural, food, and biological engineering.
• 2002, Teruyuki Nagamune, Tai Hyun Park & Mark R. Marten (ed), Biological Systems Engineering, Washington, D.C. : American Chemical Society, 320 pages.