Selected Resources for Graduate Students in Biological Systems Engineering : Patents, Standards, Technical Reports

Standards are established norms or requirements, usually described in a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes, and practices. Searching standards during design can help you to:

• Identify design constraints from best practices established by experts in the industry
• Comply with laws that specify design and testing criteria
• Reduce your product liability risk by not complying with best practices and/or laws
• Budget for certification testing that may be required or can improve your market position.

UW Libraries owns or subscribes to standards from many standards-producing organizations.

Refer to our Standards research guide to learn more about our standards holdings. 

Need a specific standard that we don't own? Request that we purchase it on your behalf. 

Patents are an important part of the business and legal landscape surrounding science and engineering research and an invaluable information resource in the design process. UW-Madison Libraries' Patent & Trademark Resource Center can assist with general questions on the patent process and can provide an introduction to patent searching. 

• Read about our patent and trademark services. 
• Discover patent databases and entrepreneurial resources through our Patents and Trademarks research guide. 
• Learn more about intellectual property and patents with our Introduction to Intellectual Property and Introduction to Patents library micro-courses.