Lacey Matthews
Biomedical Engineering Course Schedule
Engineering Computation I: An introduction to engineering problem solving using a modern computational environment. Basic procedural programming concepts include input/output, branching, looping, functions, file input/output, and data structures such as arrays and structures. An introduction to basic linear algebra concepts such as matrix operations and solving sets of equations. Introduction to numerical methods, for example least squares solutions and their use for curve fitting. Programming projects provided by all College of Engineering departments will reinforce these concepts and introduce engineering freshmen to the various disciplines.
Freshman Advising Seminar: This first-year experience course introduces students to Boston University, the College of Engineering, and the field of engineering. Students meet with faculty and student advisors and attend lectures to broaden their knowledge of the inner workings of the College and to gain a better understanding of engineering as a discipline and the ethical responsibilities of an engineer.
General Chemistry I: General Chemistry examines stoichiometry, gases, liquids, solids, solutions, equilibrium, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, atomic structure and bonding, kinetics, selected chemical systems, and qualitative analysis.
Calculus I: Calculus stresses limits, derivatives, differentiation of algebraic functions, applications to maxima, minima, and convexity of functions. Also examined are the definite integral, the fundamental theorem of integral calculus, and applications of integration.
Writing Seminar I: The first part of the University’s writing requirement stresses imaginative engagement of literature through reading and writing with a theme or topic in literature, thought, and society. The course places an emphasis on assimilation of challenging readings into essays that are clear, accurate, persuasive, and engaging. The course encourages classroom discussion of ideas and refinement of speaking skills with special attention to comparison and synthesis.
Calculus II: This second Calculus course plunges into logarithmic, exponential, and trigonometric functions. The course also looks at sequences and series, Taylor’s series with the remainder, and methods of integration. Calculus I and II together constitute an introduction to calculus of a function of a single real variable.
General Physics I: The General Physics courses (I and II) are designed for science concentrators and engineers, and teach basic principles of physics, emphasizing Newtonian mechanics, conservation laws, thermal physics, electricity and magnetism, and geometrical optics.
General Chemistry II: General Chemistry examines stoichiometry, gases, liquids, solids, solutions, equilibrium, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, atomic structure and bonding, kinetics, selected chemical systems, and qualitative analysis.
Introduction to Engineering: This course is an introduction to engineering analysis and design through a sequence of two modules, chosen from a selection offered by participating engineering faculty. Each module presents students with key concepts and techniques relevant to an applied area of engineering.
Hi-Low Combination Aerobics: One of the many 1-credit courses offered by the division of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, this challenging workout consists of a warm-up, intensive high- and low-impact aerobics, floor work, and stretching. Students with a normal course load (16 credits) may take up to two of these physical fitness courses at no additional tuition charge.
Organic Chemistry I: Both of the Introduction to Organic Chemistry classes (I and II) teach the fundamentals of organic chemistry, including electronic structure, stereochemistry, and reactions of important functional groups. Environmental problems, action of drugs, chemical warfare agents, insecticides, and chemical causes of disease. Laboratory includes extraction, distillation, and chromatography.
Differential Equations: Differential Equations examines both first-order linear and separable equations, as well as second-order equations and first-order systems, linear equations and linearization, numerical and qualitative analysis, and laplace transforms.
General Physics II: The General Physics courses (I and II) are designed for science concentrators and engineers, and teach basic principles of physics, emphasizing Newtonian mechanics, conservation laws, thermal physics, electricity and magnetism, and geometrical optics.
Engineering Mechanics I: Engineering Mechanics I, commonly referred to as “Statics” at Boston University, examines the fundamental statics of particles, rigid bodies, and trusses; dynamics of particles; Newton’s laws of motion; and energy and momentum methods. As an introduction to engineering design, this course includes a design project.
Writing Seminar II: This second part of the University’s writing program continues along the path of the first half, stressing critical reading and writing with a theme or topic in literature, thought, and society. This course places special emphasis on research techniques, including the location, evaluation, and synthesis of secondary sources, as well as the role of evidence in persuasive writing. Students are assigned, at a minimum, one oral presentation and two research papers.
Principles of Biology for Biomedical Engineers: Principles of Biology for Biomedical Engineers explores the principles of cell and molecular biology and biochemistry, emphasizing biomolecules, the flow of genetic information, cell structure and function, and cell regulation.
Organic Chemistry II: Both of the Introduction to Organic Chemistry classes (I and II) teach the fundamentals of organic chemistry, including electronic structure, stereochemistry, and reactions of important functional groups. Environmental problems, action of drugs, chemical warfare agents, insecticides, and chemical causes of disease. Laboratory includes extraction, distillation, and chromatography.
Introduction to Probability: Introduction to Probability, an introductory course designed for sophomore engineering students, introduces the fundamentals of probability and statistics without the use of transforms. Coverage includes multiple random variables, expectation, Markov chains, and statistical testing. Computer simulations of probabilistic systems are included, using examples taken from engineering systems.
Electric Circuit Theory: This course serves as an introduction to electric circuit analysis and design, examining voltage, current, and power, element I-V curves, circuit laws and theorems; energy storage; frequency domain, frequency response, transient response; sinusoidal steady state and transfer functions; operational amplifiers, and design.
World Literature I: This literature course, taken as a humanities elective, examines representative fiction, poetry, and drama by selected major figures in world literature.
Systems Physiology: This course is an introduction to physiological principles applied across all levels of organization (cell, tissue, organ system), intended to prepare students for more advanced courses in physiology. Topics include homeostasis and neural, muscle, cardiopulmonary, renal, endocrine, metabolic, and reproductive physiology.
Sociology of the American Family: Taken as a humanities elective, this sociology course examines the nature of the American family and its ethnic and class variants. Topics include social changes affecting courtship, mate selection, sexual behavior, reproduction, marital stability, and divorce through the life cycle, social policies affecting family life, and interrelations of family with economy, state, religion, and other institutions.
Signals and Systems in Biomedical Engineering: Signals and Systems emphasizes the engineering application of Laplace transforms, Fourier series, Fourier integrals, convolution and the response of linear systems, frequency response, and Bode diagrams. Topics also include communication systems, multiplexing, amplitude modulation, and sampling theorem.
Engineering Physiology I: Engineering Physiology is a laboratory course designed to develop students’ experimental and modeling skills. Students are exposed to simulations of physical and physiological systems, experimental determination of transfer functions, filtering properties of systems, transducer instrumentation, muscle dynamics, and spectral analysis, with an emphasis on comparison of experimental data with theoretical expectation.
Introduction to Electronics: This course explores principles of diode, BJT, and MOSFET circuits, as well as graphical and analytical means of analysis, piecewise linear modeling, amplifiers, digital inverters and logic gates. Topics also include Biasing and small-signal analysis, microelectronic design techniques, time-domain and frequency-domain analysis and design.
Sociology: Health and Illness: Introduces principles of sociology with emphasis on applications and examples that deal with health and medicine. Topics include relations among health professionals, social processes affecting life and death, ethics of treatment, hospital structures and functioning, physician training, and health insurance.
Control Systems in Biomedical Engineering: Control Systems stresses the mathematical analysis of dynamic and linear feedback control systems with an emphasis on their applications to physiological systems, physiological transport, pharmacokinetics, glucose/insulin control, and respiratory control. Also explored are performance criteria, root locus, Nyquist, and other stability criteria, state space analysis with state variable feedback control, design and compensation.
Introduction to Solid Biomechanics: This is an introductory course to mechanics of solid elastic continua, including the basics of vector and tensor algebra and calculus; kinematics of deformation, stress analysis, constitutive equations, finite elasticity; linear elasticity; virtual work; and the Ritz approximation. In addition to the classical Hookean elasticity, finite deformation theory is presented to describe mechanical behavior of biological soft tissues and cells. Design elements are included in problems and examples.
Engineering Physiology II: This second Engineering Physiology course is designed to further develop students’ experimental and modeling skills. Topics include simulation of physical and physiological systems, experimental determination of control systems behavior, transducer instrumentation, and fluid dynamics.
Thermodynamics and Statistical Methods: This course includes lessons on thermodynamic systems, heat, temperature, and pressure, state variables and equations of state, and the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Also included are entropy, thermodynamic potentials, kinetic theory, intermolecular forces and transport phenomena, statistical mechanics, ensembles and distribution functions.
Vascular Physiology: Vascular Physiology examines the molecular regulation of microvascular homeostasis, the cell biology of inflammation and angiogenesis, the consequences of microvascular barrier breakdown (as seen in AIDS), bloodclotting, atherosclerosis, tumor formation, and wound healing.
Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics: This introductory course emphasizes the application of the principles of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy to fluid systems.
Senior Project: This course, coinciding with the development of the Senior Design Project, encourages selection of a project supervisor and initial planning and work on the senior project.The course also includes proposal writing and oral presentation skills.
Molecular Engineering I: Molecular Engineering I is an engineering science-based introduction to the building blocks of living cells and materials for biotechnology. Throughout the course, detailed structural and energetic properties of molecules are emphasized. Topics include biological pathways for synthesis of DNA, RNA, and proteins; formal physical and mathematical treatment of transduction, transmission, storage, and retrieval of biological information by macromolecules; polymerase chain reaction, restriction enzymes, and DNA sequencing; energetics of protein folding and trafficking; and energetic mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis and receptor-ligand binding, among others.
Readings in American Literature: This course examines prose and poetry representative of the Colonial period to the present, looking at both prose and poetry.