• nature and range of the work of biomedical engineers

• current projects and innovations

• health and safety matters

Biomedical engineers are responsible for the development of body parts, so health and safety are their prime concern. Biomedical engineers may conduct some of their work in laboratory conditions and therefore are unlikely to be exposed to the industrial conditions experienced by engineers in other fields. However, there may be risks to the biomedical engineer that involve infection by disease, and great care must be taken when working with diseased tissue. Some of their design work may be done in consultation with surgeons away from laboratories. The health and safety of the recipient or user of the engineered item is also important. The biomedical engineer must ensure that all safety checks are done to ensure that any engineered item is without defects and problems; if an artificial heart fails away from a hospital due to flaws in design or construction, the recipient is exposed to extreme risk.

• training for the profession

Biomedical engineers are trained at some universities. They must have high-level qualifications. They must also be competent in their understanding of appropriate materials technology, due to the high-risk to recipients of biomedical engineered products. The University of New South Wales has a biomechanical engineering course on offer, which is a masters extension of another engineering degree; for example, mechanical or chemical engineering. Biomedical engineers do not need to do a medical degree; their courses are extensions on more traditional engineering areas.

• career prospects

Although greatly important, the field of biomedical engineering does not offer the same volume of jobs that the fields of civil, mechanical or electrical engineering offer. That said, Australia has a good record in the area of biomedical engineering, so job prospects do exist; this is a growing area, as more technologies are developed and the field continues to expand. With such expansion job prospects are likely to improve.

• technologies unique to the profession

Unlike materials engineers whose development of new materials technology is utilised by many other engineering fields, many of the technologies developed by biomedical engineers are exclusive. Most of the technologies are adapted or modified from existing developments. The latest versions of artificial hearts use a centrifugal pump and a diaphragm to pump blood, and a lithium battery to run the pump. These are technologies from the mechanical and electrical engineering fields, that have been turned into a new and exclusive biomedical engineering technology. Many artificial hips use metals which are chemically resistant, fatigue resistant and durable, such as stainless steel and titanium, together with polymer and ceramic technology. The technology of the bionic ear uses electrical sensors and electronics modified for use in the biomedical engineering field.

• ethics and engineering

"Ethics" means the morality or the treatment of moral questions, or honourable actions, in any issue. Ethics is very important to the engineer as most decisions the engineer makes will impact on people and society. The engineer must be able to determine whether a decision is ethically sound. A good example is the development of the steam engine. This had an immense impact on society and the environment, but was it ethically sound to develop such a device? The answer is not simply yes or no, the engine provided an important power source, but the loss of non-renewable resources (timber) and environmental pollution was immense. Many a debate will centre on whether it was ethically sound or not.

Ethics is an area that some people do not consider in relation to engineering. However engineers must be aware of the ethical ramifications of their decisions and developments. In biomedical engineering, ethics plays an important role particularly when it comes to the testing of new developments. An artificial heart can be developed to the point where it is functional and reliable when connected to machines that simulate the circulatory system, but a point must be reached where tests must be carried out on humans. At this point serious ethical considerations must be dealt with. Should "brain dead" people or volunteers be used? What are the implications if a volunteer dies within days of receiving a test heart?

The American company, Abiomed, implanted their totally artificial heart into a terminal patient. Abiomed had convened a team of ethical advisers to choose the initial recipient. Some people may argue that this is not ethical however tests must eventually be performed. In the mid 1980's the Jarvik-7 artificial heart (covered in Historical and Societal Influences) was placed into a patient who lived for 112 days; this was followed by the famous Jarvik-7 recipient William Schroeder, who lived for an amazing 620 days. Boston University bioethicist George Annas claimed it was a fate worse than death due to the complications he endured. By the 21* day the Jarvik-7 had infected his blood, he suffered fever for 420 days, was fed through a tube for 366 days, and he suffered four strokes due to clots forming in the Jarvik-7 and travelling to the brain. Clearly, there are questions about the ethics of placing such an untested device into a living person who was fully aware of his plight.

• engineers as managers

Engineers may be managers in two senses of the word. First they may be the managers of the design process, overseeing the development of a project. An engineer in such a position will have other engineers working on the project, co-ordinating the teams and overseeing all development. Secondly some companies believe that experienced engineers should be in company management. This is often the next step on their career path. Many engineers find this is a way to improved income and greater autonomy.