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Bioengineering Research

Student calibrating a scientific tool

BENEFITING HUMANITY

Bioengineering and biomedical engineering research leverages engineering approaches to solve complex biological problems that often require a multi-disciplinary framework. With a broad scope ranging from genetic editing to the synthesis of functionalized bacteria to engineered tissues or therapeutic exoskeletons, bioengineering has quickly evolved to be one of the key areas where society reaps enormous benefits, from medicine to quality of life.

IMPROVING LIVES

Cooper Union’s bioengineering research builds on faculty expertise in computing, control, design, fluids, materials, and mechanics to address critical research problems in bio-imaging and modeling, bio-inspired design of robots, biomaterials, tissue engineering, biomechanics,  bio-instrumentation, and genome editing. Active project areas include airflow study, children with obstructive sleep apnea, technology for use in kidney research, CRISPR-Cas9 approaches to gene editing, drug delivery by controlled release, and magnetic chemotherapy technologies. 

BUILDING A BETTER WORLD

Bioengineering is one of Cooper’s most active areas of research, supported by grants from the NIH and NSF and multi-faceted collaborations with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai hospitals, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center that include research and educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Cooper Union faculty and students publish in leading journals and participate in a variety of international conferences. Bioengineering at The Cooper Union continues to grow as new projects address key areas and new faculty expand the scope of Cooper’s impact. Locally, faculty and student research is supported by the Maurice Kanbar Center for Biomedical Engineering, the Forrest  Wade Rapid Prototyping Center, the Materials Engineering Lab, and the Complex Fluids Lab, each providing resources for work in biofluids, biomechanics, tissue engineering, and genetic research.

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OUR FACULTY AFFILIATED WITH BIOENGINEERING 

Professor F. L. Fontaine, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology 

Professor E. Lima, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University

Professor O. Medvedik, Ph.D. Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Harvard Medical School

Professor R. Savizky, Ph.D. Biophysical Chemistry, Yale University 

Professor N. Shlayan, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 

Professor J. Weiser, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University; Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biomedical Engineering Yale University

Professor D. Wootton, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech; Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University 

Professor P. Yecko, Ph.D. Astronomy, Columbia University; Postdoctoral Fellowship in Multi-phase Flow Modeling Sorbonne, Paris 

 

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.