Bioengineer

Description

Bioengineers combine state of the art findings in the field of biology with engineering logics in order to develop solutions aimed at improving the well-being of society. They can develop improvement systems for natural resource conservation, agriculture, food production, genetic modification, and economic use.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to bioengineer:

bioengineering expert
bio-engineer
bioengineering technology adviser
bioengineering consultant
biological engineer
bioengineering technology expert
bioengineering biotechnologist
bioengineering technology consultant
bioengineering adviser
bioengineering technology specialist
bioengineering specialist

Minimum qualifications

Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as bioengineer. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Bioengineer is a Skill level 4 occupation.

Bioengineer career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to bioengineer.

biochemical engineer
biomedical engineer
pharmaceutical engineer
nanoengineer
research engineer

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of bioengineer. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of bioengineer with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of bioengineer.

Biological chemistry: Biological chemistry is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.
Engineering principles: The engineering elements like functionality, replicability, and costs in relation to the design and how they are applied in the completion of engineering projects.
Genetics: The study of heredity, genes and variations in living organisms. Genetic science seeks to understand the process of trait inheritance from parents to offspring and the structure and behaviour of genes in living beings.
Engineering processes: The systematic approach to the development and maintenance of engineering systems.
Biology: Tissues, cells, and functions of plant and animal organisms and their interdependencies and interactions with each other and the environment.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of bioengineer.

Adjust engineering designs: Adjust designs of products or parts of products so that they meet requirements.
Perform scientific research: Gain, correct or improve knowledge about phenomena by using scientific methods and techniques, based on empirical or measurable observations.
Approve engineering design: Give consent to the finished engineering design to go over to the actual manufacturing and assembly of the product.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of bioengineer. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Statistical process control: Method of quality control that uses statistics to monitor processes.
Good manufacturing practices: Regulatory requirements and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) applied in the relevant manufacturing sector.
Analytical chemistry: Instruments and methods used to separate, identify and quanitfy matter – the chemical components of natural and artificial materials and solutions.
Pharmaceutical drug development: Drug manufacturing phases: pre-clinical phase (research and tests on animals), clinical phase (clinical trials on humans) and the sub-phases required to obtain as an end product a pharmaceutical drug.
Food materials: Quality and range of raw materials, half finished products and end products of a specific food sector.
Mathematics: Mathematics is the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. It involves the identification of patterns and formulating new conjectures based on them. Mathematicians strive to prove the truth or falsity of these conjectures. There are many fields of mathematics, some of which are widely used for practical applications.
Design principles: The elements used in design such as unity, scale, proportion, balance, symmetry, space, form, texture, colour, light, shade and congruence and their application into practice.
Medical devices materials: The different materials used to create medical devices such as polymer materials, thermoplastic and thermosetting materials, metal alloys and leather. In the choice of materials, attention must be paid to medical regulations, cost, and biocompatibility.
General medicine: General medicine is a medical specialty mentioned in the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.
High-performance liquid chromatography: Analytic chemistry technique used to identify and quantify the components of a mixture.
Biotechnology: The technology that uses, modifies or harnesses biological systems, organisms and cellular components to develop new technologies and products for specific uses.
Gas chromatography: The principles of gas chromatography used to analyse and separate specific compounds which go to vaporisation without decomposition.
Evolutionary biology: The study of evolutionary processes from which the diversity of Earth’s life forms originated. Evolutionary biology is a subdiscipline of biology and studies Earth’s life forms from the origin of life to the dawn of new species.
Food science: The study of the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food and the scientific concepts underlying food processing and nutrition.
Fermentation processes of food: Conversion of carbohydrates into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This process happens using bacteria or yeasts, or a combination of the two under anaerobic conditions. Food fermentation is also involved in the process of leavening bread and the process of producing lactic acid in foods such as dry sausages, sauerkraut, yogurt, pickles, and kimchi.
Laboratory techniques: Techniques applied in the different fields of natural science in order to obtain experimental data such as gravimetric analysis, gas chromatography, electronic or thermic methods.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing quality systems: The quality systems model that apply in pharmaceutical manufacturies. The most common system ensures quality in facilities and equipment system, laboratory controls system, materials system, production system and packaging and labelling system.
Pharmaceutical industry: The main stakeholders, companies and procedures in the pharmaceutical industry and the laws and regulations that govern the patenting, testing, safety and marketing of drugs.
Pharmaceutical chemistry: The chemical aspects of identification and synthetic alteration of chemical entities as they relate to therapeutic use. The way various chemicals affect biological systems and how they can be integrated in drug development.
Food storage: The proper conditions and methods to store food to keep it from spoiling, taking into account humidity, light, temperature and other environmental factors.
Toxicology: The negative effects of chemicals on living organisms, their dose and exposure.
Packaging engineering: The processes of packaging or protecting products for distribution, storage and sale.
Test procedures: The methods for producing results in science or engineering, such as physical tests, chemical tests, or statistical tests.
Biomedical engineering: The biomedical engineering processes used to create medical devices, prostheses and in treatments.
Product data management: The use of software to track all information concerning a product such as technical specifications, drawings, design specifications, and production costs.
Gel permeation chromatography: Polymer analysis technique which separates the analytes on the basis of their weight.
Scientific research methodology: The theoretical methodology used in scientific research involving doing background research, constructing an hypothesis, testing it, analysing data and concluding the results.
Industrial design: The practice of designing products to be manufactured through techniques of mass production.
Processes of foods and beverages manufacturing: Raw materials and production processes for getting finished food products. Importance of quality control and other techniques for the food and beverage industry.
Packaging processes: Packaging design and development. Decorating and printing processes executed in packaging. Packaging machinery and line operations.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of bioengineer. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Perform toxicological studies: Perform tests to detect poisons or drug misuse and help to monitor therapy by using chemical reagents, enzymes, radioisotopes and antibodies to detect abnormal chemical concentrations in the body.
Ensure compliance with environmental legislation: Monitor activities and perform tasks ensuring compliance with standards involving environmental protection and sustainability, and amend activities in the case of changes in environmental legislation. Ensure that the processes are compliant with environment regulations and best practices.
Perform laboratory tests: Carry out tests in a laboratory to produce reliable and precise data to support scientific research and product testing.
Use chromatography software: Use the chromatography data system software which collects and analyses the chromatography detectors results.
Design pharmaceutical manufacturing systems: Design production control systems which involve all processes from pharmaceutical production process to pharmaceutical stocks with the purpose of providing the correct input for the development of pharmaceutica manufacturing plant software packages.
Assess the feasibility of implementing developments: Study developments and innovation proposals in order to determine their applicability in the business and their feasibility of implementation from various fronts such as economic impact, business image, and consumer response.
Ensure compliance with safety legislation: Implement safety programmes to comply with national laws and legislation. Ensure that equipment and processes are compliant with safety regulations.
Assist in clinical trials: Work with fellow scientists on clinical trials in order to improve medical methods for preventing, detecting, diagnosing, or treating diseases.
Execute analytical mathematical calculations: Apply mathematical methods and make use of calculation technologies in order to perform analyses and devise solutions to specific problems.
Apply statistical analysis techniques: Use models (descriptive or inferential statistics) and techniques (data mining or machine learning) for statistical analysis and ICT tools to analyse data, uncover correlations and forecast trends.
Develop biochemical manufacturing training materials: Develop, in collaboration with the relevant persons, training materials in the field of biochemical manufacturing.
Use technical drawing software: Create technical designs and technical drawings using specialised software.
Advise on manufacturing problems: Advise the visited industrial plants on how to better oversee production to ensure that the manufacturing problems are correctly diagnosed and solved.
Run laboratory simulations: Run simulations on prototypes, systems or newly developed chemical products using laboratory equipment.
Document analysis results: Document on paper or on electronic devices the process and the results of the samples analysis performed.
Develop food production processes: Develop processes and techniques for food production or food preservation. Engage in the design, development, construction and operation of industrial processes and techniques for food manufacturing.
Apply scientific methods: Apply scientific methods and techniques to investigate phenomena, by acquiring new knowledge or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.
Test samples for pollutants: Measure concentrations of pollutants within samples. Calculate air pollution or gas flow in industrial processes. Identify potential safety or health risks such as radiation.
Gather experimental data: Collect data resulting from the application of scientific methods such as test methods, experimental design or measurements.
Examine engineering principles: Analyse the principles that need to be considered for engineering designs and projects such as functionality, replicability, costs and other principles.
Draft design specifications: List the design specifications such as materials and parts to be used and a cost estimate.
Interpret 3d plans: Interpret and understand plans and drawings in manufacturing processes which include representations in three dimensions.
Manage chemical testing procedures: Manage the procedures to be used in chemical testing by designing them and conducting tests accordingly.
Evaluate pharmaceutical manufacturing process: Evaluate the ongoing pharmaceutical production process against the latest developments on the market regarding the mixing, compounding and packaging, ensuring the necessary updates are implemented.
Apply liquid chromatography: Apply the knowledge of polymer characterization and liquid chromatography in the development of new products.
Design prototypes: Design prototypes of products or components of products by applying design and engineering principles.
Develop pharmaceutical drugs: Develop new therapeutic products according to the potential formulas, studies and indications recorded during the research process which involved also collaboration with physicians, biochemists and pharmacologists.
Interpret 2d plans: Interpret and understand plans and drawings in manufacturing processes which include representations in two dimensions.
Advise on nitrate pollution: Nitrous oxide emission contributes to depletion of the ozone layer, which protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation. It is also the mineral fertiliser most applied to agricultural lands. Fertilisation has introduced high amounts of nitrogen into the viticultural ecosystem.
Collect biological data: Collect biological specimens, record and summarise biological data for use in technical studies, developing environmental management plans and biological products.
Develop test procedures: Develop testing protocols to enable a variety of analyses of products, systems, and components.
Design scientific equipment: Design new equipment or adapt existing equipment to aid scientists in gathering and analysing data and samples.
Develop biocatalytic processes: Develop fuels or fine chemicals from biomass by using microorganisms such as enzymes or yeast.
Develop product design: Convert market requirements into product design and development.

ISCO group and title

2149 – Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified

 

 


 

 

References
  1. Bioengineer – ESCO
Last updated on August 8, 2022