3 answers
John
Student
Stanford, California
2
Questions
Updated
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In Biomedical engineering, how much time is spent in the lab?
I am studying biomedical engineering right now but am worried that I will be stuck in a lab for the rest of my life, is that a real worry?
Thanks! #college #engineering #science #research #biomedical-engineering
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3 answers
Christos Kampouridis
Systems Engineer at Stealth Biomedical Startup
19
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Christos’s Answer
Hi John,
That's a very reasonable concern! In my work I spend about 5-6 hours a week in the laboratory. Most of it tends to be fun for me; i'm setting up equipment to test devices, we use lasers, ovens, fridges, super-heated knives, automated machines with grabbers. I like touching things in general, not just looking at a computer all the time! Other biomedical engineers will have different experiences. It depends on the company, your specific job and responsibilities. I think, for any biomedical engineer you'll have to spend time in the lab understanding processes or devices. Not going in the lab for a biomedical engineer is the equivalent of asking an automotive engineer to never go to a car factory! The amount of time you'll spend in there and what you'll do in there will again depend on your job description and your company :)
Best,
Christos
That's a very reasonable concern! In my work I spend about 5-6 hours a week in the laboratory. Most of it tends to be fun for me; i'm setting up equipment to test devices, we use lasers, ovens, fridges, super-heated knives, automated machines with grabbers. I like touching things in general, not just looking at a computer all the time! Other biomedical engineers will have different experiences. It depends on the company, your specific job and responsibilities. I think, for any biomedical engineer you'll have to spend time in the lab understanding processes or devices. Not going in the lab for a biomedical engineer is the equivalent of asking an automotive engineer to never go to a car factory! The amount of time you'll spend in there and what you'll do in there will again depend on your job description and your company :)
Best,
Christos
Katherine Ward
R&D Engineering
6
Answers
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Updated
Katherine’s Answer
From a medicaldevice perspective, it will depend on which type of role you have. If you are working on device development, there is some opportunity to spend some time in the lab, however a bulk of the opportunities are outside of the lab as it is a teamwork based environment. Research and development of a device may involve concept development which will include customer interactions and concept discussions with a team and then testing your device requires a lot of development of representative anatomy/simulated models. All of this is teamwork. From a quality engineering side of things, most of the time you would be looking at risk analysis so you would see very little lab time there.
Zachary Huemann
R&D Engineer
1
Answer
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Updated
Zachary’s Answer
As other commenters have mentioned, it really depends on the job and the role. You can typically find a role that will put you in the lab as much or as little as you'd like. Some engineers end up focusing more time at a desk working on statistics and regulations than actual lab work. You may end up spending time helping sales and marketing teams with training materials. I do however feel that some lab time is important and I've always found being in the lab to be super informing for all of the other work that I do. In summary, the job of a biomedical engineer is really varied and you'll learn what aspects you like and don't like with time.