Our History
A surge of interest in interdisciplinary research in the area of human health inspired several universities to establish undergraduate degree programs in biomedical engineering during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Kwan Rim played a key role in establishing the biomedical engineering program at the University of Iowa. The program would become a vehicle for attracting high-caliber students to the study of engineering, with a particular focus on female students. The program would also leverage the unique advantage of the University of Iowa College of Medicine, which has a significant research emphasis, and one of the largest, most respected teaching hospitals in the country.
In 1974, under the umbrella of the general engineering program, several University of Iowa faculty members from mechanical and electrical engineering programs offered specialized courses in biomedical engineering in addition to the traditional engineering courses in these disciplines.
Read more: BME turns 50: Celebrating the past, trailblazing the future
BME Timeline
- 1974
Biomedical engineering appears in the University of lowa Catalog and Bachelor of Science offered.
1978Faculty members K.B. Chandran, Y. King Liu, Ken Krieger, and Roderick Lakes work to develop the undergraduate BME program.
1984The Department of Biomedical Engineering is formed with Kwan Rim as founding chair.
- 1986
The University of Iowa becomes the second public university in the country with an accredited biomedical engineering program.
1994The Iowa Board of Regents approves the lowa Spine Research Center involving the Colleges of Engineering and Medicine and external, non-federal support.
- 2001
Iowa BME establishes the first BS/MS program in the College of Engineering.
2001Joseph Reinhardt receives an NSF Career Award for pulmonary imaging research.
2007James Ankrum is named the University of Iowa's first Churchill Scholar.
2015Edward Sander receives an NSF CAREER Award to study how physical forces influence the formation and remodeling of tissues.
2018Following a $12 million grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, the department is renamed the Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering.
2018Michael Schnieders receives an NSF CAREER Award to develop theoretical approaches to predict crystal structures.
2020BME undergraduate Marissa Mueller becomes the University of Iowa's second female student to be named a Rhodes Scholar.
2021Guowei Qi, a student in Michael Schnieders' research group, is named the University of Iowa's fifth Churchill Scholar.
2022James Ankrum receives a Fulbright Award to study regenerative medicine in Ireland.
2022Kristan Worthington receives an NSF CAREER Award to study light-based 3D printing.
2022Nicole Grosland is named an ELATES fellow in the National Leadership Program.
2024Undergraduate students invent a novel prosthetic device, seek a provisional patent, and launch a company.