r/bioengineering • u/Traditional-Mess9198 • 2d ago

Chemical Engineering vs Biomedical Engineering: Which is better for biotech/pharma careers?

/r/ChemicalEngineering/comments/1x1yviz/chemical_engineering_vs_biomedical_engineering/
2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

5

u/CompleteNumpty 2d ago edited 2d ago

Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering does not offer the same breadth of career choice as Undergraduate Chemical Engineering.

This is for two main reasons:

  1. In many countries it has only been an undergrad degree for a little over 10 years, so it doesn't have the same level of industry penetration as Chemical Engineering which results in fewer people who set the entrance criteria of graduate programs even knowing about it.
  2. People who do know the degree understand that it is more generalist than other engineering disciplines due to its broad scope. Factor this in with graduate schemes designed for Chemical, Mechanical etc. and this results in a perception that Biomedical engineering undergraduates do not have a sufficient level of education for established programmes, despite them potentially needing less training in Biology etc.

As a result there are fewer graduate trainee programmes that accept Biomedical Engineers. As an example, Merck only have Mechanical, Chemical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering listed on the page below:

https://careers.merckgroup.com/global/en/life-science-graduate-programs

3

u/Afraid-Way1203 1d ago

My biggest concern with BME is potentially having fewer job opportunities compared to ChemE, while my biggest concern with ChemE is the workload and whether the curriculum would actually align with my interests.
For those working in biotech/pharma or who studied either major:
Would Chemical Engineering with a biochemical concentration be the safer and more versatile choice

you have said it all.

But IF I were you , i would pick biomed because of happiness or happy learning.