What does a biomedical engineer do?
As a biomedical engineer, it's their main job responsibility to innovate advances that can improve human health care in all aspects. They analyze and create solutions to certain problems with biology and medicine to improve the effectiveness and quality of patient care. They also do complex tasks that include installing, repairing, maintaining, or providing technical support for biomedical equipment. Moreover, checking safety evaluation, efficiency, and effectiveness of biomedical equipment is also part of their job responsibilities.
Biomedical engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real biomedical engineer resumes:
- Lead writing of new grant submissions to agencies such as the NIH, NIA, and VA.
- Implement modifications to place equipment for 12-lead ECG investigation that lead to changes in accept monitoring standards.
- Manage routine small projects without assistance and support larger projects for improvements to the quality system as approved by management.
- Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
- Present test results of various medical instruments in hospital in team meetings using PowerPoint.
- Experience in OSHA, AAMI and HIPA standards.
- Perform repairs and routine maintenance as BMET.
- Configure and repair CO2 and YAG lasers.
- Power conversion of ultrasound systems dependent on country.
- Support various analog products from design through EOL.
- Provide telephone troubleshooting support for key OEM accounts.
- Assist with repairs: Philips EKG video cards recall/replacement.
- Generate and debug CNC programs using PC base applications.
- Support CAPA and maintenance activities for existing product lines.
- Establish lab test experiments to verify performance, using MATLAB.
Biomedical engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Biomedical Engineers are proficient in Patients, Medical Devices, and Biomedical Equipment. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Biomedical Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 11%
Led SAS clinical data programming activities involving fifteen clinical studies concerning patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder.
- Medical Devices, 8%
Inspected new medical devices before clinical usage for quality control and ensured proper documentation.
- Biomedical Equipment, 7%
Performed scheduled and unscheduled inspections, maintenance and electrical safety tests of biomedical equipment to maintain code compliance.
- Patient Care, 6%
Participated in hazard identification and medical device reporting procedures to help ensure that the patient care environment is safe.
- FDA, 6%
Developed all support, maintenance and engineering documentation, along with FDA validation protocol.
- Electrical Safety, 5%
Perform Electrical Safety Testing and Air Quality Testing; maintain all Documentations and Replacement parts Inventory Control.
Common skills that a biomedical engineer uses to do their job include "patients," "medical devices," and "biomedical equipment." You can find details on the most important biomedical engineer responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a biomedical engineer to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "bioengineers and biomedical engineers must assess the needs of patients and customers prior to designing products." Biomedical engineers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "instrument production and repair: point-of-care hplc hemoglobin a1c assays analyzer and autosampler - fda class ii and 510k medical device. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform biomedical engineer duties is communication skills. Biomedical engineers responsibilities require that "because bioengineers and biomedical engineers sometimes work with patients and customers and frequently work on teams, they must be able to express themselves clearly in discussions." Biomedical engineers also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "demonstrated strong communication and follow-up skills, keeping all parties informed on the status of medical equipment. "
Creativity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of biomedical engineers is creativity. This skill is critical to many everyday biomedical engineer duties, as "bioengineers and biomedical engineers must be creative to come up with innovations in healthcare equipment and devices." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "collaborated with team to deliver patient-specific products for medical devices and maintained accurate service spares inventory. "
Math skills. A big part of what biomedical engineers do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to biomedical engineer responsibilities because "bioengineers and biomedical engineers use calculus and other advanced math and statistics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical biomedical engineer tasks: "design new quantitative-eeg techniques to quantify clinical and research eeg data. "
Problem-solving skills. Another crucial skill for a biomedical engineer to carry out their responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." A big part of what biomedical engineers relies on this skill, since "bioengineers and biomedical engineers typically deal with intricate biological systems." How this skill relates to biomedical engineer duties can be seen in an example from a biomedical engineer resume snippet: "work with medical professionals: identify, research, and propose solutions that address gmc needs. "
The three companies that hire the most biomedical engineers are:
- Kaiser Permanente24 biomedical engineers jobs
- Medtronic5 biomedical engineers jobs
- AtriCure2 biomedical engineers jobs
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Compare different biomedical engineers
Biomedical engineer vs. Engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between biomedical engineers and engineer. For instance, biomedical engineer responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "medical devices," "biomedical equipment," and "patient care." Whereas a engineer is skilled in "python," "cloud," "c #," and "aws." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Engineers really shine in the automotive industry with an average salary of $97,672. Comparatively, biomedical engineers tend to make the most money in the technology industry with an average salary of $92,058.engineers tend to reach similar levels of education than biomedical engineers. In fact, engineers are 3.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Biomedical engineer vs. Senior biomedical technician
A Development Engineer is responsible for the development and validation of products, systems, and components. They are also responsible for quality control of work and continuous improvement of engineer activities.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real biomedical engineer resumes. While biomedical engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "patient care," "cycle management," and "solidworks," senior biomedical technicians use skills like "health system," "equipment operation," "vital signs," and "medical facility."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Senior biomedical technicians tend to reach lower levels of education than biomedical engineers. In fact, they're 12.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Biomedical engineer vs. Development engineer
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a biomedical engineer is likely to be skilled in "patients," "biomedical equipment," "patient care," and "electrical safety," while a typical development engineer is skilled in "java," "python," "c #," and "software development."
Development engineers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $105,648. On the other hand, biomedical engineers are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $92,058.When it comes to education, development engineers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to biomedical engineers. In fact, they're 0.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Biomedical engineer vs. Biomedical imaging center director
Types of biomedical engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
