EE: Electrical engineering => focuses on studying complex electrical systems (such as high power towers and electric machines and drives) especially on construction sites, electronics and electromagnetism.
CCE: Computer communication engineering => focuses on the study of computer networks and the communication processes between them (exchanging data via three types of networks: internet - intranet - extranet, studying various forms of networks such as LANs and WLANS, studying different media of communication such as coaxial cables, optical fibers and power lines, etc...)
BME: Biomedical engineering => details above
EE and CCE are majors on their own, so both the BS and Masters MS degree must be completed in either one of the fields. For a minor in BME, your major electives during your persuit of a BS degree would have to be related to BME such as bioinstrumentation and medical imaging. They are not as detailed as the courses taken with a BS major in BME, but they are enough if you wanted to start a career in BME (later on you would have to take extra courses to complement what you know).
Having a minor in BME is actually not a requirement on the level of BS to continue a Masters (MS) degree in BME. You can have a BS in pure EE or pure CCE (i.e. without minor in BME) and still continue your MS in BME. I did my BS in pure electrical engineering which provided an even stronger base for my persuit of an MS in BME. On the other hand, if you plan on continuing your Masters MS in EE or CCE, and you plan on working in the BME field, then it is
obligatory to complete you elective courses in BME. The minor in BME during the BS level introduces somewhat the same topic courses of a minor in BME during the MS level, but those in the MS would be much more elaborated and thorough than in the BS level.
As for the salaries, yes they dropped quite much this year after the depression in Wallstreet. The monthly salary range abroad for a senior engineer was between 4,000$ and 6,000$ (in addition to commissions, healthcare, transportation, and more perks). This range is expected to rise again over the next 3 years, and may even exceed last year's ranges.
If you plan on getting rich, then your ultimite choice would be having a software engineering degree (CCE as BS degree and software engineering as a focus in MS degree in CCE) and then working for companies that design software solutions for hospitals such as
Euclidea Medical (local company, find out more
here). You have a chance of raising your mothly salary up to 7,000$ or even 10,000$ (according to how skilled you are and of course which company you work for). If you plan on becoming a multi-millionare, then there is only one solution for you: open your own medical service company with as much focus on selling MRI and CT machines because these babies cost around 200,000$ to 3 million a scanner. Plus the hospitals have to pay overhead for maintenance contracts (they are mostly obligatory since the companies that produce the machines are meticulous about whose performing the maintenance => they certify only the engineers who work for the companies that affiliate with them and sell their equipment to the hospitals).
Your best plan is to start your BS in pure EE and then choose between computer engineering, biomedical and industrial engineering since Balamand university, which is as I can see the closest to your house, has also an MS program in CCE and general option (i.e. industrial engineering) for students who complete their BS in pure EE.
A recent request for employment at Euclidea medical went as follows:
Euclidia Medical is looking for IT engineers to work on Hospital Software development and installation. Applicants must be experienced in one of the following: server side backup and recovery for PACS systems or experienced in oracle-based software development. salary depends on experience. if you are interested, please send your resume-CV to
sales@beirutsoft.com or call us at 05-559710
This can also indictae that you can complete you degree in CS (Computer Science) and become an IT member. However, the salary would not exceed 1500$ per month.
