What is Neuroengineering?

Neuroengineering is a highly interdisciplinary endeavor aimed at understanding computations within the brain and the processes controlled by these computations, and then leveraging this understanding for a multitude of industrial and medical applications. Neuroengineering draws on expertise from many disciplines including neuroscience, mathematics, physics, biomedical engineering and computer sciences.

Drexel Neuroengineering is a cross-campus effort, spearheaded by the Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems and College of Medicine , to educate the next generation of interdisciplinary brain scientists and bioengineers, by creating teams of students with a shared common language and similar quantitative bases and frameworks, even though each one originates from different original disciplines of expertise.




Is Neuroengineering for you? Neuroengineering is an effective launching pad for many careers such as an academic career in a wide variety of disciplines; and careers in industry such as robotics, prosthetics, brain-machine interfaces and machine learning. Neuroengineering is for anyone who is interested in understanding how brains work and the multi-faceted applications this understanding brings.

How to prepare for a graduate education in Neuroengineering? The ideal candidate will have:
1) strong quantitative training through coursework in mathematics and computer sciences,
2) some exposure to engineering, and
3) some exposure to neuroscience.

However, since Neuroengineering is highly interdisciplinary, a grounding in many different STEM disciplines is a good starting point for Neuroengineering.

Plans of Study

In keeping with this understanding of Neuroengineering breadth and needs there are currently two routes into Neuroengineering concentrations across the campus:

  1. Through the Biomedical Engineering PhD Program

  2. Through the Neuroscience PhD Program