An introductory course to biomedical microsystems for undergraduates

Abstract

At the University of Cincinnati the state-of-the-art BioMEMS and Biomedical Microsystems research was successfully integrated within the undergraduate electrical engineering curricula through the development of a course Introduction to Biomedical Microsystems. In the first three course offerings, enrollment has spread beyond the initial target audience of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and now includes students from mechanical engineering, environmental engineering, computer engineering, and biomedical engineering. The use of research articles to supplement lecture materials worked effectively, providing undergraduate students with a real world perspective. Reading assignments, discussions of research papers, and short quizzes at the beginning of lectures were used to test understanding of concepts. This was also done to ensure that students were not overwhelmed by the multidisciplinary material or the pace of the course. This paper provides an overview of the course, summarizes results of student assessment, and discusses future improvements.