Dr. Surya Adhikari
Member, Board of Directors
College of Biomedical Engineering & Applied Sciences (CBEAS)
What is the current situation and scope of Biomedical Engineering in Nepal?
Currently there are approximately five hundred biomedical engineers working in Nepal and over 90% of them are graduates of our college. We feel proud to say that there are no unemployed biomedical engineers in Nepal. They are working at hospitals and research centers, medical supplier firms, and some have set up their own businesses and some are engaged in teaching profession, too. Since the importance of biomedical engineering is increasing significantly, more and more hospitals are hiring biomedical engineers these days. People’s living standards are improving, so are the healthcare requirements. As more and more hospitals, health care institutions and support systems are emerging every day, the scope of biomedical engineering is also expanding rapidly.
Besides these significant reasons, biomedical research is ever expanding worldwide. Such biomedical engineers can find opportunities in higher studies and research in developed countries. Therefore, undoubtedly, there are a wide range of opportunities for biomedical engineers in Nepal.
Could you tell us about the distinct features of College of Biomedical Engineering & Applied Sciences?
We are currently running one stream of engineering. This is because we want to focus on only biomedical engineering. We don’t want to overproduce graduates, because it will have negative effects on employment and quality of biomedical engineers.
Regarding our academic activities, we assign different project work to our students in their final year. The students are compelled to use their learnt knowledge and skills in the project, so, these projects allow students to build confidence in the work they carry out in the future.
We have established Biomedical Research Division in our college, whose major objective is to focus on research activities and to publish research work of our students as well as faculties in different scientific journals. We are devoting lot of time and money to research. Actually this is one of the greatest strengths of our college. Our students have presented their research work at international conferences here and abroad and got awards, too. Some of their work has been published and is going to be published in reputed international journals, too.
What remarkable achievements has your college made so far?
College of Biomedical Engineering and Applied Sciences (CBEAS) is unique not only because of its standalone identity in this field but also because of its uniqueness in terms of its students’ performance.
We are the only college in Nepal to get an affiliation from Purbanchal University as an engineering college beyond the Kathmandu valley which has received Institutional Accreditation Certificate by the University Grants Commission. Also, we also acquired a certificate of Best Managed Private College in Nepal by the Ministry of Education in the year 2073.
We have already hosted two international conferences and seminars in which world’s renowned professors, scientists, doctors and engineers participated and presented their scientific papers.
We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ghent University, Belgium. Likewise, we have an MOU with National Kidney Center, Nepal Orthopedic Hospital, Annapurna Neurological Institute and Allied Sciences in Nepal and Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), India. Also, we are also working scrupulously with IIT Delhi, IIT Chennai, Society for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (STERMI) and Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs India (SABIO) for the enhancement of quality education. Recently, we have signed an agreement of cooperation with the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), USA.
We have been providing internship to foreign students and some of our students are also going to foreign countries for internships. We have already established partnership with International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IASTE) for this purpose.
Since its inception (2062 BS), so far we have produced 10 batches of as many as 450 graduates and to the best of our knowledge, no graduates are unemployed.
What message would you like to convey to ten-plus-two graduates?
Ten-plus-two graduates are now preparing for admission in bachelor level. I would like to give some suggestions to them which are as follows:
- Select the right faculty and subject you are interested in and be realistic. Your parents have to spend huge amount of their hard-earned wealth on your studies. Be honest and sincere to them.
- Put your best efforts in the subject of study you choose. Note that this is a competitive world; just passinga course may not be adequate for an appealing future. Try to excel in your potentiality.
- Don’t be a bookworm. Learning is not always complete with books alone. Try to reason, and solve problems.
- For an undergraduate course, don’t go abroad. There are excellent colleges in Nepal too. You may have to pursue post graduate studies abroad.
