This Master's degree in Bioscience Engineering: Human Health Engineering applies the unique combination of human physiology and engineering in a broad range of areas for healthy humans: quality of life, sports and active life, nutrition, intelligent environments and preventive health monitoring.

What is the programme all about? 

HHE offers a unique programme and educational vision focusing on technology for healthy humans. While many programmes in biomedical technology are offered in Belgium and abroad, HHE is the first and only programme offered in English that applies the unique combination of human physiology and engineering in a broad range of areas for healthy humans.

Structure:

The HHE curriculum is comprised of 120 ECTS (four semesters). The programme is organised into a two-module major, a minor, a master’s thesis and elective courses.

• The first module (16 ECTS) contains four courses that will allow you to gain insight in the working of the different physiological systems of the human body as well as in the psychology of the healthy human.
• The second module (41 ECTS) consists of eight engineering courses. In this module, you are challenged to gain insight in technology and apply your technological knowledge to solve real-life problems in a creative way via practical exercises and project work.
• The major also includes a broadening course on religion and society (3 ECTS).
• The 20 ECTS minor is comprised of courses chosen to either strengthen your major or to broaden your expertise in another domain.
• In the master’s thesis (30 ECTS), you will further develop your ‘hands-on’ experience and learn to solve problems using the acquired skills.
• The curriculum is rounded off with 10 ECTS of elective courses aimed at broadening your academic education. These credits may also be used to take strengthening elective courses to fill any gaps in educational background.

This programme structure allows for a high degree of personalisation, which, in turn, ensures the best possible match for your interests or future career ambitions.

Strengths:

The education programme is unique in Flanders and Europe with its focus on the application of process and system thinking as transferable skills for applications in human health engineering. 

The programme follows a system oriented, quantitative approach to measure, model and control biosystems aimed at the development of technology for human health from a biological knowledge perspective. It focuses on the integration of knowledge in biology and engineering and for real-life applications. Students learn to cope with the complexity inherent to biological systems from a conceptual, scientific point of view. 

The programme does not only focus on theoretical courses, but also on ‘learning by doing’. In the project work Biosystems Engineering, for example, a company setting is simulated where the students collaborate as a team to develop a technological product. In this way, they not only obtain technical competences, but also professional skills like project management, business communication and the elaboration of a business plan. 

Furthermore, students get in contact with the industry through seminars, company visits, internships and master theses in collaboration with companies. The wide national and international network of the teaching staff and their extensive collaboration with industry are an important asset for this.

Career opportunities:

As a HHE graduate, your polyvalent skill set will make you widely employable in the labour market, both within your own specialisation and in other sectors.

You will be equipped to take on scientific, technical, organisational and commercial-technical roles in many sectors where human health, comfort and well-being play a key role: pharmaceutical industry, clothing and fashion industry, sports technology companies, medical companies, companies active in sleep comfort, helmet producers, producers of furniture, transport industry (such as cars, buses, trains, and airplanes), producers of wearable technology, producers of assistive robotics, companies active in artificial intelligence applications for health monitoring, etc.

In addition, as a bio-engineer, you will rapidly evolve from supporting positions to management positions and this in different activities (research, production and service, marketing, etc.), according to your interests and goals.