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Undergraduate Fall 2015 Course Offerings

Class details are subject to change. Last updated 2/13/2015

Course Descriptions

Course descriptions are provided here for only those courses with a temporary course number such as BME 4985-XX. Undergraduate and Graduate course descriptions are provided at the BME website under either the BS Degree Program Description or the Graduate Program Handbook.

BME 4985-001 Special Topics in BME: Optical Microscopy and Bio-Imaging, 3 credits. The course presents the current state of the art of optical imaging techniques and their applications in biomedical research. The course materials cover both traditional microscopies (DIC, fluorescence etc.) that have been an integrated part of biologists’ tool-box, as well as more advance topics, such as single-molecule imaging and laser tweezers. Four lab sessions are incorporated in the classes to help students to gain some hand-on experiences. Strong emphasis will be given on current research and experimental design.  Also offered as MEDS 301.

BME 4985-002 Special Topics in BME: Sensory Neuroscience Lab, 3 credits This course is designed to instruct graduate and undergraduate students on state-of-the art models, applications and techniques in the field of sensory neuroscience.  It will cover multiple fields of science including: Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroscience, Developmental Biology, Physiology and Behavior and Biomedical Engineering. It will be distinct from a similarly titled course, Sensation and Perception in that it will: 1) focus on state-of-the art applications and theories and 2) be tailored to teach upper level undergraduates, honors and graduate level students.  It will be cross-listed for Psychology and Biomedical Engineering to attract students with cross-discipline interests.

BME 4985-003 Special Topics in BME: Introduction to Dynamical Modeling of Genetic and Biochemical Networks, 3 credits Recent advances in biological measurement technology have opened up a new era in quantitative biology. Part of this revolution is the new eld of systems biology, which consists of viewing processes in biological cells as a whole, rather than considering one gene or protein at a time. Systems biology relies heavily on  mathematical models of cellular processes, often derived from the microscopic laws of chemical and enzyme kinetics. In this course we will focus primarily on continuum (differential equation) models of cellular processes arising from these microscopic laws. Because most of these models wind up being nonlinear, we will spend a lot of time learning techniques to analyze systems of nonlinear ordinary dierential equations, and we will explore the fundamental dierences between linear and nonlinear systems. Biological applications will include modeling observed error rates in protein translation, using system nonlinearities to design biological toggle switches, and exploring biological motifs that lead to oscillations, switches, and other behaviors.

BME 4985-004 Special Topics in BME: Computational Foundations of Systems Biology, 3 credits The use of computers for computation and simulation has become important in many fields of science and engineering. In this course, students will be introduced to computational biology with an emphasis on systems biology. Computational biology is similar to other computation-oriented disciplines (e.g., computational physics, control engineering, etc.) in terms of computational methods. Therefore, students will learn methods developed in other fields of computational science and engineering and apply them to biology. Students will also learn basic skills in programming using MATLAB and LabVIEW in the context of modeling, analyzing, estimating, and controlling real biological systems. Through a variety of projects, students will obtain a deeper understanding of physical and engineering principles applied to biological systems. This project-oriented, active learning approach will allows students to work at their own pace, solving problems in exploratory mode to gain better biological insights, similar to what is done in the context of research.

BME 4985-006 Special Topics in BME: Junior Design, 3 credits Pre-Requisites: BME 2101; Co-requisites: BME 3500 and BME 3600W
Students will work through the open-ended, real-world, design process starting with the project definition, specification development, management, team interactions and communication, failure and safety criteria, progress reporting, marketing concepts, prototype development, documentation and technical presentation of the final project outcome. The course includes a significant writing component, will make use of computers, and hands-on design explorations.