Path to take to become a tissue engineer?

AuraObscura
Mon, 17 Jul 2017 04:36:23 +0000

It’s not like there’s no place for engineers in the field of tissue engineering–there are a number of individuals with backgrounds in mechanical engineering and chemical engineering, among others, doing work on tissues. However, most of the work seems to be done by biologists and biochemists. Your best bet for tissue engineering might be a major in molecular/cell biology, or biochemistry. However, it also wouldn’t be unusual to approach the field with an undergraduate degree in mechanical or chemical engineering.

Look around for faculty members at various schools doing the type of research you’re interested in, and look at their CVs to see the path they took to get there.

Note a few things about that last sentence, by the way:

1. “Tissue engineer” is not a thing. It’s not a job title. It doesn’t exist. Tissue engineering does, but the people who work on this type of stuff don’t go to school to become “tissue engineers.” Rather, they are individuals with PhDs whose research has focused on topics like or relevant to tissue engineering.

2. Tissue engineering has virtually zero presence in industry. For the time being, it is the domain of academia. You will almost certainly have to get a PhD and secure a job as a professor at a university to do any meaningful work in the field.