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EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University's College of Engineering plans to add a new academic department next year as part of an effort to boost research related to health care.
The East Lansing school's Board of Trustees recently approved the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The department — the College of Engineering's first new academic department since 1969 — is to start Jan. 1 and its first courses will be offered in spring 2016.
Provost June Pierce Youatt said the department will be a focal point for innovations in health care technology.
"This department will be uniquely positioned to bring technological innovations to the vast statewide network of health care providers served by the university," she said in a statement.
Leo Kempel, dean of the College of Engineering, said a search for a chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering will start soon. He said the department will help connect research at the College of Engineering with the rest of campus and expand collaborations.
"It will take three to five years to get this rolling, but we anticipate hiring new faculty as early as fall 2015," he said.
The department will start with master's degree and doctoral students, Kempel said, and an undergraduate program could follow once the department is better established. The College of Engineering's last new department addition was Computer Science and Engineering.
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