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Bioengineering Undergraduate Courses
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Engineering Biomolecules and Medical Devices |
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Bioengineering at Penn State began with the establishment of an interdisciplinary graduate program in 1974 as the first of the University’s Intercollege Graduate Degree Granting Programs. Over the subsequent 25 years, the program grew to six full time faculty and an associated faculty of about 30 members with primary appointments in the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, Science and Health and Human Development. With the impetus gained from financial support of the Whitaker Foundation, an undergraduate program was established in 2000. This web portal aims to describe the design and evolution of this program since its inception, and the unique features that contribute to its strength and vitality. The initial design of the undergraduate program was driven by the academic interests of its graduate faculty that resulted in establishment of a core curriculum with specialization in one of four areas of concentration: chemical, mechanical and electrical engineering, and materials science. With the focus of faculty research split evenly between molecular/cellular bioengineering and medical devices, the curriculum content of the core and option areas was motivated by the skills desired of applicants to the graduate program. It was also expected that one-third of our BS alumni would go on to graduate school, one-third to medical school and one-third to industry. To support the premed interests of students, the chemical engineering option was designed to serve as the premed track since it contained a greater selection of chemistry courses. As a result, students with concentration in the chemical engineering track would only have to take one additional biology course to fulfill our College of Science’s premed requirements. With a solid program of engineering sciences in the core and options, particular attention was paid to providing a thread of life science coursework throughout the curriculum. Since admission to the program did not require any prior exposure to biology, it was assumed that the most efficient way to teach biology was to employ a reductionist approach. All students were directed to take first a sophomore biology course on physiology, and its associated laboratory course, both offered by the department of biology. These courses, by design, were intended for allied healthcare professionals and fulfilled our philosophy that students should be familiarized with the methods of teaching and learning in the life sciences that are distinct from the quantitative approach utilized in their engineering courses. With a solid grounding in physiological systems at the organ level, students were then exposed to the world of cell and molecular biology through a course on biomolecular engineering given by bioengineering faculty. This course is similar a sophomore course given to biology students, with the addition of a more quantitative approach to establish the foundations. These courses were followed up in the junior year with a core course on physiological systems analysis and its associated computer laboratory. This sequence introduced the subject of linear systems analysis and its application to specific physiological systems through the application of modeling exercises taught in a hands-on approach using MatLab and similar programs. In the second semester of the junior year a focused effort was made to integrate engineering and life science courses with a course on introduction to bioengineering design and applications. This was paralleled by a course on medical instrumentation and a hands-on laboratory to teach fundamentals of electronic circuits and explore specific applications. During the senior year, students are introduced to clinical applications of biomedical engineering in a one credit course. This course consists of a sequence of lectures by physicians who provide an overview of various pathological conditions, and introduction to clinical practice and specific applications of medical devices to treat the disease process. This course is followed in the next semester by a senior design course that revolves around the execution of a design project that draws upon the student’s prior academic experiences. With this curriculum, undergraduates are well trained in the
engineering sciences and have a solid foundation in the life sciences.
One of the by-products of this approach has been to necessitate
a change in the graduate curriculum. It was found that our undergraduates
were better trained in the biomedical sciences than many of the
applicants to our graduate program who do not come from an undergraduate
program in biomedical/bio engineering. Hence, to expand the life
science base of our graduate students a new
laboratory course in
biomedical sciences was instituted and a new graduate level version
of biomolecular engineering was developed. |
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