BEBiomedical Engineer
BE
Career

Biomedical Engineer

By the numbers
Typical pay
$109,370 / yr
Education to start
Bachelor's degree
Future demand
+5.2% by 2034
People in this job
23K
Figures shown for ·closest of 2 O*NET occupations
The work
A day, hour by hour
08:00
Lab prep & data review

Pull overnight test results on the prototype; flag anything that looks off.

08:45
Team standup

Sync with engineers and project lead. Blocked items surface fast.

09:10
Prototype testing

Run bench tests on the device; watch for failure modes under stress.

11:00
Failure analysis

One sample cracked — design flaw or bad batch? Dig into the data.

12:30
Clinical feedback session

Surgeons demo the device and flag what doesn't work in the OR.

14:00
Design iteration

Revise CAD model based on feedback; decide tweak versus full redesign.

15:30
Regulatory documentation

Draft risk assessment section for the FDA submission — every word counts.

17:00
Go/no-go call

Team decides: enough evidence to submit, or run one more validation round?

Things you do
  • Design medical devices like pacemakers or prosthetic limbs from scratch.
  • Build and test prototypes to see if a device actually works safely.
  • Run experiments on materials to check they won't harm the human body.
  • Write mountains of paperwork so the FDA approves your device for patients.
  • Sit in labs analyzing test data and figuring out why something failed.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Is this design safe enough to move forward, or do I need more testing?
  • Does this failure mean a flaw in my design, or just a one-off manufacturing issue?
  • Should I flag this safety concern now and delay the launch, or is the risk acceptable?
  • Is the clinical feedback telling me to redesign this, or just tweak it?
  • Do I have enough evidence to submit this to the FDA, or will they push it back?
Education Pathways · how you get there
99 in 100 went the college route · 1 in 100 found another way in None, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:
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