The Biological Engineering Program offers graduate study opportunities with specialization in engineering for biological process control, system designs for biotechnology, nanotechnology for biological surface modifications, food engineering, aquacultural engineering, and systems engineering of industrial production systems.

The faculty in Biological Engineering has several joint research projects with other faculty in the College of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, including the School of Marine Sciences, which involve the application of engineering principles to biological systems. Current research involves food quality and safety, statistical process control and analysis, biological sensor systems, biological nanotechnology, genomics and proteomics, environmental monitoring systems, recirculating aquaculture systems, risk assessment analysis, as well as several other study areas. Research carried on as the basis for the thesis may be selected from current department research projects.

Students selecting Biological Engineering as a graduate major must have completed the equivalent of a recognized accredited undergraduate engineering curriculum with a high scholastic record. Several graduate assistantships are available each year. Incumbents devote half-time to work on approved research projects, which may be the basis for the student’s thesis.

The degree of Master of Engineering (Biological Engineering), a 30 credit non-thesis major, is also available.

Graduate Faculty

Thomas Christensen, M.S., P. E., (Maine, 1973), Associate Professor. Fluid power systems, industrial control systems, machine systems design.

Darrell Donahue, Ph.D. (North Carolina State Univ., 1992), Associate Professor and undergraduate program coordinator. Food engineering, process engineering, biosensors for liquid food systems, statistical process control, industrial simulation and control, risk assessment modeling.

Paul J. Millard, Ph.D., (University of Maryland, 1984),Assistant Professor. Microbial biosensors, physiological genomics systems, fluorescence technology.

David J. Neivandt, Ph.D., (University of Melbourne, 1999), Assistant Professor. Interfacial conformations of biological and non-biological polymers and surfactants, membrane structures and perturbations, funtional surface modification, high energy laser spectroscopy.

John Riley, Ph.D., (Cornell, 1969), Professor and Graduate Coordinator. Aquacultural engineering, machine design.