Engineering

Building the world's most durable hydrogen fuel cell

Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a new hydrogen fuel cell which is not only the world's most durable to date, but is also more cost-effective, paving way for a wider ...

Computer Sciences

Algorithms inspired by nature sustain wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks have many applications in environmental monitoring, safety and control monitoring of industrial processes, in healthcare, and in disaster management. To be effective the devices, the sensors, must ...

Engineering

Marangoni surfer robots look and move like water bugs

From birds in the sky to fish in the sea, nature's creatures possess characteristics naturally perfected over millennia. Studying them leads engineers to create new technologies that are essential to our way of life today. ...

Robotics

Tuning collagen threads for biohybrid robots

The idea of incorporating actual muscles or neurons into a robotic system might sound like science fiction, but researchers in Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Mechanical Engineering are taking steps to make it ...

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Biological Engineering

Biological Engineering or bioengineering (including biological systems engineering) is the application of engineering principles to address challenges in the fields of biology and medicine. Biological engineering applies principles to the full spectrum of living systems, including molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, protein chemistry, cytology, immunology, neurobiology and neuroscience. As a study, it encompasses biomedical engineering and it is related to biotechnology. It deals with disciplines of product design, sustainability and analysis to improve and focus utilization of biological systems.

The word bioengineering was coined by British scientist and broadcaster Heinz Wolff in 1954. The term bioengineering is also used to describe the use of vegetation in civil engineering construction. The term bioengineering may also be applied to environmental modifications such as surface soil protection, slope stabilisation, watercourse and shoreline protection, windbreaks, vegetation barriers including noise barriers and visual screens, and the ecological enhancement of an area.

Biological Engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number of pure and applied sciences, such as mass and heat transfer, kinetics, biocatalysts, biomechanics, bioinformatics, separation and purification processes, bioreactor design, surface science, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and polymer science. It is used in the design of medical devices, diagnostic equipment, biocompatible materials, and other important medical needs that improve the living standards of societies.

Biological Engineers or bioengineers are engineers who use the principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible products. In general, biological engineers attempt to either mimic biological systems in order to create products or modify and control biological systems so that they can replace, augment, or sustain chemical and mechanical processes. Bioengineers can apply their expertise to other applications of engineering and biotechnology, including genetic modification of plants and microorganisms, bioprocess engineering, and biocatalysis.

Because other engineering disciplines also address living organisms (e.g., prosthetics in mechanical engineering), the term biological engineering can be applied more broadly to include agricultural engineering and biotechnology. In fact, many old agricultural engineering departments in universities over the world has rebranded themselves as agricultural and biological engineering or agricultural and biosystems engineering. Biological engineering is also called bioengineering by some colleges and Biomedical engineering is called Bioengineering by others, and is a rapidly developing field with fluid categorization. The Main Fields of Bioengineering may be categorised as:

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