IIT-Kharagpur announces new BTech programme in Biomedical Engineering

Kharagpur (WB), Feb 13: IIT-Kharagpur on Friday announced that it was starting a four-year BTech programme in Biomedical Engineering.

Admission to the course will be through JEE-Advanced, and the inaugural batch will comprise around 25 students, an IIT-Kharagpur spokesperson said.

The School of Medical Science and Technology (SMST), which will run the undergraduate programme, will also be developed into a full-fledged department, he said.

At present, the school conducts postgraduate courses in areas such as informatics.

Biomedical Engineering has evolved worldwide into a major driver of innovation, supporting advances ranging from imaging systems and surgical technologies to prosthetics, diagnostics and digital healthcare platforms, the spokesperson said.

Students will work closely with the BC Roy Institute of Medical Sciences, which is located on the campus, he said.

IIT-Kharagpur Director Suman Chakraborty told PTI the teaching model would function as a "living laboratory", allowing learners to engage simultaneously with academia, industry and hospital environments from an early stage.

He said the framework would generate real-world datasets for training and enable simulation-based learning, including modules such as surgical practice and disease modelling.

"Faculty from the medical sciences institute will handle the basics of clinical education, while the super-speciality hospital will provide continuous exposure," he said.

Chakraborty said many biomedical engineering programmes in the country remain largely classroom-driven, with limited integration of clinical realities.

The new initiative, he said, is intended to create a template for deeper collaboration between engineering and medicine, both in education and innovation.