I would say, the biggest thing in this blog about biomedical engineering as opposed to any engineering is that with biomedical not only do you have the math and physics but you also have the science end of it so you have chemistry, biology, so if you like the idea of applying the math, physics, chemistry and biology to the human body - muscles, joints, cells if that sounds interesting to you I would definitely consider Biomedical Engineering. I think biomedical engineering is great because it teaches the fundamentals of many different types of sciences instead of becoming extremely specific in a certain aspect of something you become very knowledgeable on a lot of different topics and that can allow you to be a great asset in multidisciplinary teams and it can allow you to understand and have an understanding of the world in many different aspects.What we really do is we solve very very complex problems that require a lot of assumptions and we have to feel comfortable with them and we break them down to the simplest forms and we solve them. So the biggest issue that I've seen through the BME department or when people come in here at first is that they just think biomedical engineering it sounds cool but they don't really analyze the two biggest aspects that you're looking at, which are the medical problems with the body and engineering and physics within it as well. Like taking not only the muscles of the arm, but learning what those muscles are and then the physics behind them as well.I picked biomedical engineering because you get to solve problems that directly effect people.Like someone that doesn't have an arm and wants a prosthetic arm, or someone that can't have a specific surgery because we don't have the technology for it, it personally effects your life rather than just, "Oh here's a new phone" or "here's something to make your life a little bit easier". Based on some of my co-op experiences, it can be anywhere from designing prototypes in CAD to running laboratory experiments, to the pharmaceutical industry, to tissue development to even more of the mechanical side. I really think biomedical engineers are really broad in the fact that they can go out and solve problems in all of the different medical areas. I think the best way to go about solving problems is to think about how you would want it to look in the future, so anytime you evaluate something think about it from a futuristic perspective and say what is the best way that this could look at the end and if you can visualize that you can work toward that. First you have to understand how the body works because in my opinion it's usually the starting point and the ending point, and then your job is to fill in inbetween. Well, initially I was torn between mechanical with a biomedical engineering option and biomedical engineering, and I decided on biomedical engineering because I figured I'd rather learn how the body works so if I were to make something for the human body I'd rather be more knowledgeable about the environment it's going into or interacting with which is the human body. They solve problems, they start at the beginning and they see, this is what we want to do this is what we want to change this is the problem we want to solve.Figuring out different ways to access the component of the pancreas that's the problem..
RIT incorporates a great blend of co-ops, laboratory experience as well as
classroom experience and that gives you a hands-on experience working with concepts that you first learn in the classroom and then can apply to the laboratory and practice and gain a skill set that is useful on co-op and useful out in the real world and industry.Between classroom and lab - typically my classes go along with the lab so whatever we learned in class that week or the week prior was applied in laboratory and that was valuable because you get some hands-on experience and you can kind of instead of working with just the equations on a piece of paper you can go in and see the actual devices and tools used and get an idea why you learned all those equations. Nate is gonna go ahead and look over to 3.2, and the program will measure the voltage change. then he'll look back and we'll see what happens. possibly it could be used to diagnose different types of seizures, whether they're physiological or induced. You could also use it to measure your reaction time to something, so if someones having difficulty picking up a light turning color, possibly concussion testing or something like that. Well it's when you take a theory and apply it, so it's more than just taking it from the textbook from the teachers mouth, from the powerpoint, or your notes in the classroom it's really putting it in your own hands and seeing for yourself, and seeing it qualitatively and quantitatively through analysis and whatnot. Seeing what worked, what didn't and why and then seeing how theory and practice are different, because as you do labwork and research you'll realize that there are discrepancies between theory and what actually happens. We're doing a diffusion experiment, so this is a dialysis membrane so it's modeling like a cell membrane and it has pores in it. So we're gonna use this as our cellular fluid and then we're going to be putting it in this iodine solution as our extracellular fluid and we're going to be seeing what diffuses across the membrane and then there's a reaction that will occur and it will change color. We're basically working on an experiment to show different kinds of diffusion So basically we're gonna have two different setups and compare and contrast the diffusion styles.First of all, I had never seen the dialysis membrane before, and that's what is used to purify blood and I like this because we're learning about diffusion through the cell, using a product that is out there that is used as a medical device. labs taught me, what is an official, industry standard way to make a report for something like submitting to the FDA or some other regulatory agency. I used a lot of the things I learned in my cell and molecular bio lab while on co-op like aseptic technique, and cell culture. So having those skills already was definitely an asset to starting on the right foot for co-op. So I actually think some of the laboratory settings was how I got one of my co-ops. For Johnson & Johnson, I talked to them about all my cell culture experience and because of that I really think that's how I got placed on the product development side. Co-op was a graduation requirement, so I knew I was going to be co-oping before I graduated.If you go anywhere else that doesn't have that co-op experience, you're just doing the same thing except you have all these added loans on too. A lot of different companies ask for that professional experience right away before a starting position so just having that on your belt already just helps out astronomically. One of the things I was working on in co-op was figuring out what kind of excipients go in a drug product to make the proteins stable for manufacturing and for shipment and for storage and then eventually when they enter the body and so I got a lot of experience with proteins and the different ways they fold so one of the things we're doing for senior design project is building a protein spectrometer that measures protein folding and is small enough and robust enough to fit within inside of a cube set which is a miniaturized satellite so we can study protein in low Earth orbit under the effects of microgravity. I've been doing research with the building next door, I was essentially the electrical engineer in designing circuitry and breadboard design. What I liked about it was I got a chance to be a different type of engineer but also at the same time I understand what's going on and I am also a part of the analysis and discussion portion. I mean there is cell culture that goes on in that lab which we've learned but my primary role is more for the statistical analysis and decision of where our research will go. In my last co-op I was really exposed to the whole concept to launch a product process which has really helped me with Senior design, knowing that when you go from the concept development to the product development stage and then from there, the steps you take to do testing and mitigate risks to then go to launching your product has been really replicable in Senior design now. This program especially is small enough that you have the resources, the teachers are there,professors are there to talk to you, really get to know everybody. One thing I would do is check your email.There's a lot of biomedical engineering, there's a society, resume review, things like that I checked my email I got something about research, emailed the professor, met up and ended up doing research all summer right after my first year, so that was really great but really just take advantage of all the opportunities that there are and see where it takes you. I guess, keep your inspiration. Or just keep an interest, whether it's YouTube videos, TED talks, or like, I follow research groups just because I like what they do, and it's a variety of things that they do so, to see the application of what I'm learning, what I've learned and what I will learn and how all those are needed to achieve the goals that they are completing It's just nice to see that once you do make those connections, that you realize that there's almost like a higher purpose, per say. So in my case, I've had two co-ops in the pharmaceutical industry and I've been able to see the real world impact that my education can have and having a great education allows you to add value into industry and adding value into industry especially something like a pharmaceutical company can have a direct impact on patients and improve their lives. It's kind of the future. It's evolving. There's always a job for a biomedical engineer there's always some really cool new way to optimize a procedure or a device and I mean overall the class work is tough there's no question about it but it's really interesting stuff. You actually want to study it.There is a fundamental good in making things better and I always think about biomedical engineering like the Olympic motto, which is faster stronger higher and I think that everyone should have the ability to run, play, swim, jump, and really get to enjoy the things that a normal human being should enjoy so that's why I chose biomedical engineering. BME is the best major ever. Well that's what the acronym stands for.thanks
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