Background information on BSBE
IITK planned to establish the first department of 'Biological Sciences and Bioengineering' in the country (amongst the IITs) in the year 2000. The new department was conceived with the objective of not only offering independent degrees in the domain of biology/bioengineering but also to interface with existing engineering departments and catapult their research and teaching.
BSBE's interdisciplinary nature
The current faculty at BSBE department come from a range of science (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology) and engineering disciplines (Chemical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering) and work in challenging problems that transcend the boundaries of science, engineering and medicine.
Rationale for 'Engineering in Medicine'
While the department has made good progress in the past 18 years of its existence, the BSBE department now plans to make a greater impact both nationally and internationally. Centre for 'engineering in medicine' would act as a catalyst for engineers and biomedical scientists to work together on challenging medical problems.
Impact of Center and its Main Focus
Centre for 'engineering in medicine' will leverage the existing engineering strength of IITK and the biomedical research emphasis of BSBE faculty to enable a fast growth in the initial phase of the new "Centre for Engineering in Medicine". Setting up of such a centre will allow the department to focus on 'engineering solutions to medical problems' while allowing it to grow in terms of personnel(faculty, post-doctoral fellows, students and project employees); academic programs (integrated Ph.D., MS by research and more minors for UG students) and infrastructure (new building). Also, since the centre would focus on applying engineering principles for developing novel solution in medicine, it would naturally allow for the participation by faculty from other departments at IITK including other science and engineering departments. The centre will initially focus on three main areas: Regenerative Medicine, Molecular Medicine and Engineering, Digital Medicine
