Mechanical engineering or engineering science and mechanics

[aeroeng212]

Hi!

I am an undergraduate student going to Virginia Tech at the moment and have run into a bit of a problem.
I've had to take some time off of school for the last year to deal with some medical problems- but I hope to be back in the fall! Before I left to deal with medical issues I was studying Aerospace Engineering- but after an internship at an aerospace company and lots of medical treatment over the past year, I've become fascinated with medical technologies! I've always had a great interest in fluid mechanics and biomechanics and would love to find a way to apply them to problems in medicine!
Which brings me to my current dilemma- I'm not quite sure which department within the college of engineering at Virginia Tech to transfer into. I've narrowed it down to either Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Science and Mechanics.
I'm quite interested in the 'fundamentals first' philosophy of the Engineering Science and Mechanics dept. but am quite concerned that a bachelor's degree in this will not be respected quite as much as one in mechanical engineering... (any thoughts?)
I am also wondering if mechanical engineering would provide a good base for biomechanics and applied fluid mechanics work?

I've been following all of you on this forum for several years and you've given me some fantastic guidance in the past- I really appreciate any help or thoughts on this!

Thanks very much!

 

[spinnaz]

Mechanical Engineering would provide an excellent background to the study of biomechanics and prosthetics. MEs deal with thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mechanics of materials, and mechatronics; all extremely applicable to your area of interest. In fact, at my old school, most biomechanics and prosthetics research was carried out in the ME department. They shared research jointly with the bioengineering dept.

In short, you'll find no department that concentrates more on fluid mechanics than the ME department. One might make the argument for aerospace, but they focus more on gas dynamics. You'll also receive a heavy dose of thermodynamics and heat transfer; two subjects critical to the analysis of energy within cells and the body.