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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume VIII, Number 2 |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume VIII, Number 2 |
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A Course in Integrated Bioengineering Design
The University can, and should, take the lead in training the next generation
of bioengineering innovators,” argues James F. Antaki, engineering.
Although Pitt’s bioengineering program is already renowned, Antaki believes
the University’s prominence can be expanded—especially in the area of
design. His proposal, A Course in Integrated Bioengineering Design,
is intended to revise and enhance the department’s current capstone
The present version of the two-semester course separates lectures and practical experience. During the first semester, students build a foundation of problem-solving skills in the field of bioengineering design. Antaki says, “The first semester of the course is primarily didactic: comprised of lectures and associated assignments that are generally useful to the practice of design. The prime objective is for the students to formulate a bio-engineering design problem.” In the second semester, students from design teams (called “e-Teams”) implement the projects they proposed during the previous term. “This semester also entails bi-weekly presentations by the e-Teams of progress reports to the class, interspersed with additional lectures and guest presentations on topics related to fund-raising, patenting, quality control, and general ‘wisdom’ gained by practicing engineers, such as the art of ‘estimation,’” Antaki points out. Made possible with an ACIE grant, the new BIOE1160 will merge didactic
exercises, practical experience, and student interactions with instructors
and engineers. Antaki asserts that “three exciting features” will be
added to the class. First, a Product Dissection Laboratory will be introduced.
Antaki maintains that “taking things apart is a valuable learning tool
for engineers.” He intends to add a series of laboratory classes that
will allow students to disassemble, examine, and reassemble electro-mechanical
medical products. Second, Antaki plans to help students build working
models of their projects by providing them with lab space, a small budget,
components, and tools. Third, he plans to foster an Engineering Mentor
Program. Retired and semi-retired engineers, or “engineering grandparents”
as Antaki describes them, will be enlisted to serve as mentors to the
students. “This proposition is particularly exciting because it permits
firsthand transfer of the tricks of the trade before they become relegated
to the ‘lost art’ of engineering,” says Antaki.
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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Center for Instructional
Development & Distance Education |
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course, Bioengineering Senior Design (BIOE1160). With a particular emphasis
on mentor-student interaction, the new course will “nurture the development
of practical competence of graduates entering the field of bioengineering
by rigorously exercising their skills in design.”