The Department of Bioengineering in collaboration with industry offers an Industrial Internship Program designed to complement the department's academic curriculum with practical industry experience.

The program provides an opportunity for UCSD Bioengineering undergraduates, particularly juniors and seniors, to earn academic credit by spending ten weeks or more as interns in an industrial setting where the practical aspects of their Bioengineering training can be cultivated. The intern's activities will be under the direction of a mentor in the workplace. The intern may be involved in a range of appropriate activities including design, analysis, manufacturing, testing, regulatory affairs, etc. At the completion of the internship experience, students are required to submit a brief report to the mentor and faculty advisor describing their activities.

The coordination and initial operation of the Industrial Internship Program are funded by a grant from The Whitaker Foundation.

Bioengineering and Its Students

Bioengineering is an interdisciplinary major in which the principles and tools of traditional engineering fields, such as mechanical, electrical, materials and chemical engineering, are applied to characteristic biomedical problems.

Bioengineering industrial internships are available to undergraduate students who have completed all lower-division course requirements, including general science requirements (Math, Physics, Chemistry) and have some laboratory experience. Juniors in the UCSD Bioengineering program, enrolled in upper-division courses in engineering, mathematics, Bioengineering Design, Instrumentation, Physiology and Biomaterials, have sufficient background to work on many practical bioengineering projects. Senior Bioengineering students and graduate students are given more responsibility during an internship in line with their broader course experience.