Biomolecular Engineers apply engineering principles to analyze, utilize, and/or design biological molecules and systems.
“Modern biomolecular engineering is very much at the intersection of chemical engineering and molecular biology, biochemistry, materials science, and medicine. The role of chemical engineers in addressing problems in health and medicine continues to lie in process and scale-up, as well as in discovery and development of molecules and materials with pharmaceutical and medical applications.” — National Academies report, “New directions for chemical engineering 2022”
Biomolecular Engineering Applications
Biomolecular engineers use computational and experimental approaches for a broad range of applications. Many applications pertain to health and medicine including:
Personalized medicine
Small-molecule manufacturing
Cell-based therapies
Vaccines
Modeling and Understanding the human microbiome
Design of materials, devices, and delivery mechanisms
Engineering solutions for accessibility and equity in health care
The tools of biomolecular engineers span many industries and can also be applied in the fields of:
Agriculture
Bioremediation
Biosensors
Biofuels
Biomaterials
I did two projects focused on stimuli-responsive materials for medical applications—one project with electrospinning nanofibers for tissue engineering scaffolds and another synthesizing hydrogels for drug delivery…Professor Anderson helped me find my love of research and supported me throughout my grad school and NSF fellowship applications.