2 STUDENT REGISTER

2.1 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN DEGREE PROGRAMME

Between 1978 and the spring of 1997, a total of 272 students had included the subject of Biomedical Engineering in their M.Sc. degree, of which 234 were male (86%) and 38 female (14%). Of these, 70% (190, 166 males and 24 females) had studied Biomedical Engineering as a long professional subject and 30% (82, 68 males and 14 females) had studied it as a short professional subject. The popularity of Biomedical Engineering has varied considerably over the years, but since the beginning of the 1990’s, a distinct increase can be detected in the number of students who have included Biomedical Engineering studies in their degree programme (Figure 1). By 1990, 105 persons (39%) had included Biomedical Engineering studies in their Master’s degree, whereas the corresponding figure for the persons who had graduated in the 1990’s was 167 (61%).

Figure 1. Volumes of students who have included Biomedical Engineering in their M.Sc.(Eng.) degree by graduation year (n = 272).

Of the Masters of Science in Engineering who had included Biomedical Engineering in their degree programme, 137 persons (120 males and 17 females) had written their Master’s thesis at Ragnar Granit Institute (Figure 2). In addition to these, three Master’s theses had been completed whose authors’ graduation was not recorded in the University’s student register or archives. Of the Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering, four had graduated from the International Graduate School of Ragnar Granit Institute. Of the total number of Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering, 51% (70 persons) had graduated prior to the year 1990, and the corresponding figure for those graduated in the 1990’s was 49% (67 persons).

Postgraduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering had been completed by 19 students (18 males and 1 female). Of the persons who had completed a postgraduate degree, three persons’ first degree was other than Master of Science in Engineering. A total of 18 persons had taken their Licentiate in Technology degree in Biomedical Engineering, whereas the figure for Doctorates was 7 (one had completed the Doctorate directly without first taking the Licentiate degree). Of the Licentiates, one had graduated from the International Graduate School. A list of the Master’s, Licentiate and Doctoral theses written at Ragnar Granit Institute by June 1997 can be found in Appendix 7. The number of students who had taken their degree in a professional subject other than Biomedical Engineering but who had included Biomedical Engineering in their postgraduate degree was 13 (11 males and 2 females). Of these, 11 had taken their Licentiate degree and four had completed their Doctoral thesis (two directly). Moreover, several Master’s, Licentiate and Doctoral theses related to Biomedical Engineering have been written at other Departments of TUT over the years.

Figure 2. Volumes of Masters of Science in Engineering who have written their Master’s thesis on Biomedical Engineering by graduation year (n = 137).

Based on Figures 1 and 2, it can be noted that as recently as at the end of the 1980’s, three quarters of the students who had included Biomedical Engineering studies in their degree programme had completed Biomedical Engineering as a long professional subject and written their Master’s thesis on Biomedical Engineering. In the 1990’s, the student volumes have clearly increased, and Biomedical Engineering has gained in significance as a professional subject supporting students’ major professional subject. By the spring of 1997, more than two thirds of the Masters who had graduated in the 1990’s had included Biomedical Engineering as a professional subject supplementing their major.