Rehabilitation Engineer

Rehabilitation engineering is a growing specialty within biomedical engineering. According to the Biomedical Engineering Society, rehabilitation engineers enhance the capabilities and improve the quality of life for individuals with physical and cognitive impairments. They work with those that are born with disabilities such as cerebral palsy as well as those who have suffered a debilitating injury such as a spinal cord injury or loss of a limb.

Engineers specializing in this area design, develop, adapt, test, evaluate, apply, and distribute technological solutions to problems confronted by individuals with disabilities to help them with specific problems such as mobility, communications, hearing, vision, and cognition. They help them perform activities that allow them to be employed, live independently, get an education, and become integrated into the community.

The projects rehabilitation engineers may be involved in include developing prosthetics; modifying home, workplace, and transportation environments; and designing assistive technology that enhance seating and positioning, mobility, and communication. They develop hardware and software computer adaptations as well as cognitive aids to assist people with cognitive difficulties. They help people with disabilities do things they were not previously able to do—and that can make a difference in their lives. Rehabilitation engineering is a specialty that puts the engineer in close contact with people, often working to develop custom applications for an individual. Rehabilitation engineers often cite this as one of the most rewarding aspects of their jobs.

Because of the proliferation of technologies and devices available today, rehabilitation engineers have become highly specialized. Among the specialties within rehabilitation engineering are:

• seating and mobility
• computer technology and the adaptation and accommodations for disabilities
• augmentative and alternative communications
• technology for sensory impairments — primarily devices for the blind or deaf

Rehabilitation engineers are employed by manufacturers, hospitals, government, universities, research departments of medical institutions, and as independent consultants. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were about 7,600 biomedical engineers employed in the United States in 2002. That number is expected to increase more quickly that the average for all occupations through 2012 —up 31.4 percent through 2010—due in part to the aging population and more emphasis on health issues and equal access.

The key for rehabilitation engineering is a solid foundation in engineering—typically electrical, mechanical, or biomedical engineering. Students may then add specific medical knowledge to their engineering base at the undergraduate or graduate level. According to a 2003 salary survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, bachelor’s degree candidates in biomedical engineering received starting offers averaging $39,126 a year, and master’s degree candidates, on average, were offered $61,000. Rehabilitation engineering is not only personally rewarding, it pays well, too!

The Biomedical Engineering Society has a great Web site with information on biomedical and the specialty of rehabilitation engineering as a career at www.bmes.org/careers.asp. The site also has some good information on the education needed to become a biomedical engineer and the field in general.

You will also find the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Web site of interest at www.resna.org. RESNA is dedicated solely to the advancement of assistive technology and rehab engineering.