Biomedical Engineering, M.A.Sc.

Requirements

A candidate is required to complete successfully at least three one-term courses, present a Biomedical Engineering departmental seminar, and present a thesis embodying an original contribution to biomedical engineering. The thesis must be defended in an oral examination.

Biomedical Engineering Symposium

The School of Biomedical Engineering holds an annual 3 day Biomedical Engineering Symposium. Attendance of all registered Masters and Ph.D. students in the Biomedical Engineering program is mandatory. Students are also required to present one Biomedical Engineering departmental seminar on the research they have carried out while enrolled in the program. Students can present their Biomedial Engineering seminar during one of the following events: 1)The BME symposium (Spring); 2) Summer Seminar Day or 3) an annual retreat (Fall).

Accelerated Option

An accelerated MASc option is available to students currently enrolled at McMaster University whereby the degree may be completed in 12 months of full-time study. Application for entry into the accelerated option occurs in the penultimate year of undergraduate studies.

• Applicants must have a sessional average of 9.0 at the time they are applying for the option.
• At the end of their 4th year, students will need to complete the first term of their research project with their proposed supervisor (i.e. during May through August), prior to completion of their undergraduate degree.
• The accelerated option requires students to complete one of either IBEHS-4FO4 (Biomedical Instrumentation and Measurement) or IBEHS-4QZ3 (Modelling of Biological Systems) with the additional 600 level evaluation components (i.e. either IBEHS-6QZ3 or IBEHS-6FO4) completed in their 5th and final year.
• Students will officially start their accelerated MASc in May (after completion of their 5th year, and once they have been cleared to graduate) and pursue research through the summer.
• Students would take either core course Biomed 701 (required by HESE students) in the Fall or Biomed 706 (required for Engineering students) in the Winter.
• They would be required to take a third course, at the 700 level, which would be decided upon between them and their supervisor.

Students must apply to Graduate Studies by the end of their final year of their undergraduate program and are expected to begin in May of the year they graduate. They will need to follow the normal application procedures of Graduate Studies and must meet the requirements of both the School of Biomedical Engineering and the School of Graduate Studies. Entry into the MASc program under the accelerated option must occur less than one year upon completing one’s undergraduate degree and must meet the same requirements for admissions as other candidates. Students considering continuing in a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, within the School of Biomedical Engineering, would need to complete 2 more courses in addition to the requirements of the Ph.D. program.

Students can also consider an accelerated “Direct to PhD” option. Applicants must have a sessional average of 11.0 at the time they are applying for this option. They would follow the same schedule as above. However, they would extend the degree by at least 2 extra years (for a total of 3 years, post-undergraduate studies). Such students would need an additional three 700 level courses beyond the one 600 level and one core course (total of 5 courses). This option would be available only McMaster undergraduate students. Other students already possessing an accelerated Master’s degree, or any other type of Master’s degree, would not be accepted into this program.