Biological and Biologically Inspired Materials
Rob Clark, PhD, Director
The Certificate in Biological and Biologically Inspired Materials (BBIM) is the cornerstone of the Center's multidisciplinary graduate training. It is an admitting certificate program, but the BBIM course of study can be pursued by any interested engineering or science student. Completion of the certificate program is requirement of the CBIMMS IGERT training grant.
CBIMMS faculty designed the BBIM curriculum to serve as a hands-on introduction to the concepts of Biological and Biologically Inspired Materials. The "soft/wet" materials of the biological world-as distinct from the "hard" materials of traditional engineering-require a thorough multidisciplinary approach for any sort of useful understanding. The BBIM curriculum, with its required courses and many electives, serves as a gateway to the conversation across disciplines. Students from departments as diverse as Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Cell Biology, develop a common vocabulary-and a common set of tools-to solve biomaterials problems.
Anchored by David Needham's Introduction to Biologically Inspired Materials course, which introduces the basic concepts of biological inspiration, the curriculum includes a class introducing advanced instrumentation, the BioE Seminar Series, and a number of elective courses in a broad range of disciplines.
The Certificate in Biological and Biologically Inspired Materials is open to any engineer or science PhD student who wishes to pursue the course of study.
