Bioengineering research at Caltech focuses on the application of engineering principles to the design, analysis, construction, and manipulation of biological systems, and on the discovery and application of new engineering principles inspired by the properties of biological systems. Areas of research emphasis include: biodevices, bioimaging, bioinspired design, biomechanics, biomedical engineering, cell and tissue engineering, molecular programming, synthetic biology, and systems biology. The goal of the doctoral program is to prepare students to become leading scientists and engineers in academia and industry. The graduate program aims to educate students to be highly competent in their chosen area of research, but also provide them with a broad knowledge foundation in bioengineering. By graduation, students are expected to have a working knowledge of bioengineering in general and an in-depth knowledge of their chosen area, have independently planned and conducted research experiments in their chosen area, and successfully defended their thesis work in an open forum.