Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineering is the discipline that brings engineering thinking to bear on the problems of medicine and human biology, with the goal of improving human health through better technology. It draws on mechanical and electrical engineering, materials science, computer science, and the life sciences, and it produces the devices, instruments, and systems that clinicians rely on every day: from diagnostic scanners and ventilators to implantable devices, prosthetics, and the sensors used in wearable health monitoring.

At the University of Reading, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, creating a degree with an unusually rich practical and international dimension. The sandwich year places you in a professional environment for an extended period, giving you industry experience that is genuinely differentiating on your graduate record. The year abroad allows you to study or work in a different country, broadening your perspective on how biomedical engineering is practised internationally.

Throughout the degree you will develop skills across the engineering and biological sciences, including biomechanics, bioinstrumentation, physiology, materials, electronics, and systems modelling, alongside a growing understanding of the clinical and regulatory environments in which medical technologies are developed.

The degree develops your ability to integrate knowledge across disciplinary boundaries and to work within the constraints that medical device development imposes, including safety requirements, regulatory pathways, and the need to design for real clinical workflows and patient needs. Problem-solving, quantitative analysis, and the ability to communicate technical ideas to clinical colleagues are all skills you will build throughout the programme.

Graduates in biomedical engineering find roles in the medical devices industry, in NHS clinical engineering departments, in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and in research organisations working on the next generation of health technologies. Design engineering, regulatory affairs, clinical applications, and research and development are all accessible career paths. The combination of a placement year and a year abroad makes Reading graduates particularly well prepared for the competitive international job market in this sector.

Postgraduate study at masters or doctoral level is another route for those who want to pursue research or specialise further in a technical area.