42-101 Intro to BME - SPRING 2005

GENERAL INFORMATION

Rapid Navigation Aids:

People/Places/Times/Texts

 

Objectives

 

Organization

 

Problem Sets

 

Exams

 

Grade Appeals

 

Attendance

 

Grading

 

Academic Integrity

 

Suggested Strategy

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PEOPLE/PLACES/TIMES/TEXTS

Instructor:

Todd M. Przybycien, DH 2100, x8-3857, todd@andrew.cmu.edu

 

Office Hours: M 3:30-5 and W 4:30-5:30   + Open Door Policy

N.B.: Office hours may change from time to time; notification of changes will be sent by email.

 

Open Door Policy: If my office door is open, and I'm not meeting with someone or on the phone, then I'm available for a quick question or two.  If my door is closed or only ajar, then I'm either in some terribly important meeting or frantically trying to meet some sort of deadline and would not like to be disturbed. Please try to make preferential use of my office hours or those of the TAs if possible.

TAs:

N.B.: Please try to make use of TA's scheduled office hours whenever possible; at non-office hour times, please don't expect TA's to drop everything to work with you if they're busy doing something else.  Also, office hours may change from time to time; notification of changes will be sent by email.

 

Justin Newberg, x8-xxxx, jnewberg

Office hours: T 11-12 and Th 6-7, held in Hammerschlag Hall C-Level, Room C119-122 (Center for Bioimage Informatics)

 

Gowri Srinivasa, x8-xxxx, gowris

Office hours: TTh 12-1, held in Hammerschlag Hall C-Level, Room C119-122 (Center for Bioimage Informatics)

 

Sanna Gaspard, x8-xxxx, sgaspard

Office hours: TTh 1-2, held in BME Conference Room (Doherty Hall 2100)

Class Hours:

MF 2:30 - 3:20 pm in Doherty Hall 2315

W 2:30 - 4:20 pm in Doherty Hall 2315

 

Exams:

Midterm #1: Wed, 16 Feb, 2:30-4:30, DH 2315
Midterm #2: Wed, 23 Mar, 2:30-4:30, DH 2315
Midterm #3: Wed, 13 Apr, 2:30-4:30, DH 2315

Final Exam: TBA

Course
Text:

 Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, Michael Domach, New York: Prentice Hall, 2004

Carnegie Mellon’s own Prof. Michael Domach produced this ground-breaking text; we’ll use this text as our guide throughout the semester.  Note that this text has a companion web site that contains additional information.

Reference Text:

The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, 2nd Edition (Joseph D. Bronzino, Ed) Volumes I and II
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press and IEEE Press, 1999

The Biomedical Engineering Handbook is written at a high level, is voluminous and expensive.  Therefore, we will use the Handbook as a reference tool.  BME has purchased eight copies of the Handbook volumes I and II and these copies have been placed on reserve in the Engineering and Science Library in Wean Hall.  These books may be checked out overnight for your use.  See instructor if you’re interested in purchasing a copy of this reference book.

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OBJECTIVES

Engineers think about and view the world a bit differently than most other people. We aim to expose you to and help you to develop your own basic engineering and, in particular, biomedical engineering thought processes.  We will also use a problem-based learning format:  a significant problem will be posed and we will subsequently explore the background information we need to address the problem.  Engineering and biological concepts will be developed as they naturally arise in the solution of the problem.

By the end of the course you should be able to:

1. understand what biomedical engineers do, and how biomedical engineering is related to other fields of engineering and science,

2. express and analyze data and equations with due regard to dimensions, precision, significance and graphical representation,

3. perform basic statistical analyses including estimating standard deviations, confidence limits, propagation of error, identification of outliers and comparisons of means,

4. understand basic aspects of lipid, carbohydrate, protein, enzyme and nucleic acid structure and function,

5. develop stoichiometric and basic mathematical descriptions of cell growth, substrate use and production formation,

6. set up and solve steady-state (and set up unsteady-state) mass balances for open and closed biological systems that include recycle, bypass, purge and reaction,

7. understand basic aspects of cellular system behavior including enzymatic catalysis, energy coupling, feedback control and metabolic pathways

8. set up and solve steady-state (and set up unsteady-state) energy balances for open and closed biological systems,

9. understand basic aspects of cellular growth and energy transduction,

10. perform calculations involving ligand/substrate binding,

11. understand basis physiologic aspects of major organ systems,

12. understand basic engineering elements of biomechanics, biofluid mechanics, biomaterials and bioimaging

13. use a symbolic mathematics program (such as MathCAD) and a spreadsheet program (such as Excel) for basic calculations and numerical analysis, and

14. work successfully in a team environment, both as a team member and team leader.

 

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ORGANIZATION

Each week will consist of four 50 minute lectures (MF 2:30-3:20 and W 2:30-4:20).  During the lectures, I will ask questions of the class and encourage questions and discussion as learning is more effective when it is both active and interactive.  I will also provide opportunities for group problem solving activities.

 

PROBLEM SETS

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There will be roughly eight problem sets which you will complete in self-selected groups of three or four. Each problem set will consist of several graded problems. The assignments are available for viewing and printing at the Problem Sets site and will be due in class as listed on the Syllabus. Each group will turn in one copy of their completed problem set; I suggest that each student in each group keep a copy of each completed problem set for their own records as well. Solutions will be posted on the class Web site (see Solutions and Grading site). Problem sets must be turned in by the due date and time. Late problem sets will be corrected, but will receive a grade of zero. More information on the structure of the group work activities is given in the Teamwork Guidelines section.

 

EXAMS

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Mid-term exams will be given during the semester in accord with the schedule listed on the Syllabus. All exams will be open notes and open homework. Exam problems will synthesize and extend ideas presented in the lectures and problem sets. Exam solutions and grade distributions will be posted on the Solutions and Grading site. For anyone excused from one of the mid-semester exams for a valid reason, see the Attendance section below, a single make-up exam will be given on 27 April 2005. This make-up exam will be comprehensive, as it must include material from all regular mid-term exams.

There will be a final, three-hour exam that all students will take. The final exam will be open notes and open homework.  Our final exam will be held during the final exam period.  Make no travel plans until your complete final exam schedule has been established. There will be neither make-up final exam given nor will there be alternate exam times given due to conflicts with travel plans.

 

GRADE APPEALS

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All problem set and exam grade appeals should be made by the next lecture following the return of the graded problem sets or exams. Problem set grade appeals should be made in person to one of the TAs. Exam grade appeals should be made to the instructor by writing a brief statement listing the specific problems involved and the associated specific concern(s) on either the front cover or back page of the exam papers and returning the exam to the instructor; concerns expressed as "regrade" with no specific comments will not be considered.

 

ATTENDANCE

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Attendance at lectures is strongly encouraged, although it is the prerogative of the student. Each student is responsible for all materials presented and all announcements made in class regardless of attendance.  Poor attendance will not positively influence borderline grade decisions.

Attendance at exams is mandatory. There are two acceptable exceptions: 1) a documented medical excuse from the Infirmary, or 2) an appropriate statement from the Dean of Students presented in advance of the given exam. Students excused from one of the mid-term exams in this manner will take the end-of-semester make-up exam. Failure to take an exam due to over-sleep, under-sleep, scheduling confusion, inability to find exam room etc. will result in failure of the exam. If you are unsure about the schedule or location of an exam, please ask the instructor or one of the TAs in advance of the exam!

 

GRADING

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A final numerical average will be computed for each student using the weighting criteria presented below:

category

weighting

Group Work

 

problem sets (~10 @ 3%)

30%

cover memos, team organization, interim & final evaluations

5%

Individual Work

 

mid-term exams (3 @ 15%)

45%

final exam

20%

 

Final grades will be based on your numerical average:

overall numerical average

final letter grade

³ 90%

A

³ 80%

B

³ 70%

C

³ 60%

D

<60%

R

 

This is an absolute rather than a relative scale. It is theoretically possible for everyone in the class to receive an "A" grade; this would be wonderful. You are not competing with each other for grades. You are expanding the limits of your own knowledge and abilities. An excellent way to aid your own virtual expansion process is to help someone else push his or her limits back! You may come to the instructor for an informal assessment of your current average at any time. Should an individual exam or assignment prove unexpectedly challenging, I may rescale everyone's grades on that exam or assignment to bring it in line with expected performance levels; note however, that I will never rescale scores downwards from their original values.  Borderline individual averages, those within 2.0 points of the cutoffs above, will be examined to determine if some unusual score, i.e. one bad exam day, is greatly affecting the overall course grade or if there is a trend of consistent improvement. These situations will positively influence borderline grade decisions. Poor records of attendance, completed assignments or group performance will not positively influence borderline grade decisions. Note that there is no "extra credit" or "makeup" work available to improve your numerical average.

 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

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The university policies regarding academic integrity are listed on the CMU Website at http://www.cmu.edu/policies/StudentPolicy.html and in the CMU Student Handbook. These policies address in detail the expectations of student-instructor and student-student interactions. Some major points pertaining to our class specifically:

1. Problem sets. Each group member is expected to contribute their fair share to the groups' efforts. This means neither racing far ahead of the rest of the group so as not to give others an opportunity to contribute, nor coasting so that you contribute little or nothing to the group's progress. The covering memo for each problem set and the interim and final team member evaluations for each block of problem sets are expected to be consistent: if you can't tell someone to their face during the completion of assignments that their performance is not meeting expectations, you have no right to hide behind the anonymity of an evaluation form to give them a poor rating. This of course is difficult, but it is a means of looking out for your own best interests; if you don't look out for your own interests, don't expect anyone else to. Each group is expected to turn in its own work for grading; you may discuss approaches to problems with other groups.

2. Exams. Exams must reflect individual efforts exclusively. Permitted resources for the exams will be announced in class and will be explicitly stated on each exam.

If you are unsure about how to apply these guidelines, ask the instructor for clarification. Noncompliance with these guidelines will be addressed promptly via the mechanisms outlined by the university policies.

 

SUGGESTED STRATEGY

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This is the first engineering course that most of you will take and the subject matter can at times be very abstract: this course may require you to take a different approach to learning than you have used before. The course cannot be completed successfully by cramming. Nor can the course be completed successfully without giving honest, detailed attention to the problem sets. There are literally infinite types of problems. Engineering = problem solving; we will solve plenty of problems together in class and you will solve plenty more problems on the problem sets. This practice working problems will help you to recognize patterns in problems and to develop problem-solving strategies.

I hear and I forget.  I see and I remember.  I do and I understand.  - Confucius

Recipe for success:

1. Read the reference text and check out the reading links. Try to read the assigned material before the corresponding lecture(s).

2. Go to class. The instructor will explain concepts in several different ways to help you "see" through problems and will also work problems to help you develop your problem solving skills.

3. Contribute to your homework groups. Try to outline the solution to each problem on an assignment on your own, before meeting as a group. Use the group as a way to discuss alternative approaches, to correct errors in logic or concepts, and to divide up the final number-crunching. For additional preparation for exams, allot a fixed amount of time, say 15 min per problem, to develop an outline for problem solutions and then move on to the next problem. After you have visited each problem, then go back and flesh out the details.

4. Ask questions in class, in problem sessions, and at office hours. Talk with the instructor. Talk with the TAs. Take an active role in your education.

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Last updated 1/17/05 by TMP