Applied Biomedical Sciences and Engineering

Phase 1 — Building knowledge and practical skills

In the first half of the minor, you build a solid foundation across the core disciplines of biomedical engineering. Topics include:

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Cell and Molecular Biology
• Immunology
• Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
• Biosensors and Organs-on-a-Chip
• Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Computational Methods in Healthcare
• Design, Product and Process Engineering in Healthcare and Biotechnology
• Biomedical and Healthcare Entrepreneurship and Innovation

You gain this knowledge through lectures, practical lab sessions, workshops, and Challenge Based Learning activities. Designed to help you apply what you learn directly to real healthcare problems.

Phase 2 — Real-life challenge

In the second phase, your team goes all in on the challenge. You design, prototype, test, and evaluate a solution for your stakeholder. The two phases are not strictly separated. The challenge runs throughout the minor, with increasing intensity towards the end.

You work in a multidisciplinary team of 4 to 6 students, coached by lecturers from across Fontys's programmes. You also have regular individual coaching sessions focused on your professional and personal development.

During the minor, you choose a track that fits your background and interests:

AI and Engineering in Health

You use artificial intelligence, data science, and computational methods to improve patient outcomes. Applications include predictive diagnostics using machine learning on medical imaging and gait data, AI-driven systems that support post-operative recovery monitoring, and computational models that simulate mechanical stress on joints to inform the design of patient-specific implants.

BioFabrication Technologies

You work at the intersection of biomaterial engineering and additive manufacturing. This includes bioprinting tissues that mimic cartilage and tendons, developing patient-specific 3D-printed implants and surgical guides, and researching hydrogels and adhesives that improve how synthetic implants integrate with natural tissue and bone.

Product and Process Management in Biotech and Healthcare

You manage the lifecycle of medical innovations from lab to clinic. This includes navigating regulatory pathways such as MDR for medical devices, coordinating between clinicians, engineers, and patients to ensure products meet real-world needs, and overseeing scalable manufacturing processes for biotech products such as bio-scaffolds used in tissue repair.

Biosensors and Organs-on-a-Chip

You develop miniaturised devices that monitor biological processes or simulate human organ functions. Applications include wearable or implantable sensors that detect inflammation or mechanical load in real time, joint-on-a-chip models that replicate the joint environment to test regenerative medicines without early-stage animal testing, and embedded sensing that captures how bioprinted tissue responds to mechanical stress.

After this minor, you will be able to:

• Characterise current innovations in biomedical science and engineering
• Recognise the perspectives of different stakeholders in the biomedical domain
• Explain and model a successful innovation in biomedical engineering
• Collaborate in an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral team on a real healthcare challenge
• Reflect on and articulate your professional role in healthcare innovation
• Design a prototype for a client with a measurable impact on the patient

Assessment is portfolio-based. You collect evidence of your learning throughout the minor and demonstrate progress against six learning outcomes at two moments:

• Mid-term portfolio assessment (week 9/10) — learning outcomes 1 to 3
• Final portfolio assessment and Criterion Based Interview (week 19/20) — learning outcomes 4 to 6

A traffic light system helps you track your readiness for the final interview. Compensation between learning outcomes is not possible. Each must be sufficiently demonstrated to pass.

• 3 to 4 contact days per week on campus at the Nexus building, Eindhoven
• Access to engineering, chemistry, and biology labs, as well as prototyping and 3D printing facilities. All within the Nexus building
• Use of imaging and biomechanics laboratories at Rachelsmolen, available to students via ongoing research collaborations
• Remaining days for individual and group work
• Occasional excursion or expert session days
• Total: 30 ECTS — 840 study hours across the semester

The ABSE minor is directly connected to the lectorate Molecular Technologies for One Health at Fontys. This research group develops innovative molecular technologies that contribute to health in humans, animals, and the environment, based on the One Health principle that human, animal, and environmental health are fundamentally interconnected.

Running projects include smart sensors for continuous bioreactor monitoring (in collaboration with TU/e and Helia Biomonitoring), glow-in-the-dark molecular diagnostics, and point-of-care detection of infectious diseases. Through your challenge work and lab activities, you contribute to this applied research.

Students also benefit from the minor's connections to the Helmond Biomaterials Hub (HBH), a regional centre for biomaterials innovation. Through collaborations with researchers such as Prof. Patricia Dankers (TU/e) and Frank van der Zanden (Sure Laboratories), students can engage with current biomaterials research and participate in events such as the Biomaterials Hackathon. These connections reflect the minor's integration within the broader Brainport biomedical ecosystem.

This network keeps the minor current and relevant to the field, and creates clear pathways to internships, graduation projects, and further involvement in biomedical research and industry.

Students regularly participate in events such as the International Biomaterials Hackathon, where interdisciplinary teams develop prototypes for real clinical challenges. It is exactly the kind of experience the minor prepares you for

Healthcare is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. Ageing populations, rising chronic disease, antimicrobial resistance, and the need for faster and more accessible diagnostics. These require professionals who can bridge biology, engineering, and patient care.

By completing this minor, you contribute to:

• Better diagnostics and treatment tools for patients
• Innovation in sustainable healthcare and biotech
• Cross-sectoral collaboration between healthcare, engineering, and science
• The Netherlands' role in biomedical innovation and the European health tech sector

You work on the technology that will shape healthcare. Starting now.