BE: Up close and personal!

As Bioengineering students in Penn Engineering, Chloe and Logan , were excited at the opportunity to take BE 400: Clinical Preceptorship in Bioengineering. The course is directed by Dr. David Eckmann, Horatio C. Wood Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and Professor of Bioengineering.  The course is three pronged, integrating a 10-week hands-on preceptorship, bioengineering seminars, and exposés on specific bioengineering fields. Students are matched with preceptors within their field of interest and complete a bioengineering project throughout the semester with their mentor. Here they discuss our ongoing preceptorship so you can get a glimpse of this unique opportunity!

Logan:

In my BE 400 preceptorship, I am shadowing Dr. Caroline Garzotto, surgeon in orthopedics and soft tissue, at the Ryan Veterinary Medical Center. During clinical hours, I accompany Dr. Garzotto to her consultations and rehabilitation therapies. Dr. Garzotto works with patients that exhibit Osteochondrosis (when cartilage turns to bone), broken limb bones, torn ALCs, and spinal disorders that cause permanent or semi-permanent paralysis. Many of the reparative surgery techniques are similar to those used in humans. I have had the opportunity to learn about different surgery procedures including tibial-plateau leveling osteotomy, tibial tuberosity advancement, and lateral sutures. During the semester, I will be working on constructing a support device for tetraplegic and tetrapharetic cats and dogs. The device will be able to support paralyzed animals while they complete rehabilitation exercises.

Chloe:

The preceptor I will be working with this semester is Dr. Samantha Pfeifer, who specializes in Infertility and Reproductive Endocrinology. For the first half of the semester, my partner and I will be shadowing Dr. Pfeifer in her surgical procedures in order to become familiar with the engineering technologies utilized in her field. While it has only been a week since we first met her, my partner and I have already observed a hysterectomy, both performed laparoscopically as well as via laparotomy, and a labiaplasty. It was most interesting to see the difference between the two hysterectomy surgeries in both the technique as well as the patient outcome. Whereas the laparotomy was more invasive and left a larger scar, the laparoscopic surgery was minimally invasive and used robotics and imaging software to remove the patient’s uterus. Personally, I enjoyed watching the laparotomy because I was able to see how the surgeons cut through the fat and muscle to reach the uterus and then manually remove the organ while being sure to not damage the ureters or any vessels that could result in significant bleeding. By sitting in on these surgeries, my partner and I have been able to see firsthand the impact of these engineering technologies on the advancement of surgical techniques in obstetrics and gynecology.  

            

In order to improve patient care and surgical efficiency, classes like BE 400 are crucial in educating students of the significance and power in fusing engineering principles with medicine. By simply observing surgeries, I have become inspired to utilize my engineering skills to develop innovative solutions to many of the problems that exist within the healthcare space. Not only will this course allow me to become aware of the unmet needs in medicine, but it will also provide me with the opportunity to collaborate with a physician in order to develop a new device or technology that will in some way made a difference in medicine.

Questions about BE? Contact Chloe and Logan at awe@seas.upenn.edu

The Guts and Glory of Senior Design

Senior Design, although different across departments, is a chance to take all of the knowledge you've amassed from three years in school and apply it to a year long project in basically anything you want. It's exciting in September imagining all the possibilities and down right daunting in February when you realize the task you've undertaken… 

My personal experience with senior design has been amazing so far. I am on a team with four other mechanical engineers and one electrical engineer. We are the third phase of an ongoing project to take an RC (Remote-Controlled) aircraft and make it autonomous, able to fly itself. We also want to make it be able to accurately deliver a payload when it has detected a radio signal. It has real world applications in disaster relief, delivering military supplies, and rescuing stranded hikers. 

The best part of senior design is the freedom you have and the chance to work so closely with a faculty member, at least in the case of MEAM. Our experience with our faculty advisor, Dr. Bruce Kothmann, has been amazing. We obviously can't fly model airplanes in an urban environment like Penn's campus, so once every few weeks Bruce picks us up in his mini-van early on a weekday or even on weekends, and takes us out to Fairmount Park to test whatever we've accomplished in the past two weeks. He has just as much, if not more, fun as we do flying the planes and he's an endless source of great advice which can take the form of encouragement or pointing out how flawed our plan was :) 

We've had to use a lot of mechanical design, aerodynamics, control system design, programming, electrical engineering, and even more project management skills, but it's been a blast because we are all excited about the project, and let's face it, getting up early once every few weeks to fly model airplanes is hardly something to complain about. It's a really great experience to be involved in such a large scale project while in school and it truly is OUR project. It's our job to update the professors with reports and presentations, our job to order our parts and track money, our job to budget our time, and never mind the kind of important task of, um, actually making this plane fly. We've worked through team issues, hardware issues, supplier issues, and whether or not this plane gets off the ground at the end of April, we will have learned more than any lecture class could have ever taught us. But…let's still hope we get to watch it fly in April!

Questions about senior design?  Contact Sarah at awe@seas.upenn.edu

Student Group Profile: SEAS Green

In the spring of 2011, a new student group was born: SEAS Green. The beauty of college is how you can take things that you are really passionate about and join up with others who are also excited about the same things, and then bam--you have a new group of dedicated students willing to collaborate on a common interest.

SEAS Green's goals are to use their engineering prowess to help address and promote sustainable initiatives in the engineering school. There has been an overwhelming demand for energy courses at Penn (there is now a engineering minor in energy and sustainability), so it was only due time that the engineering school would also see a greater demand and an increase in extracurricular opportunities to compliment those courses. In addition to spear heading projects like investigating the opportunities to install hand dryers in bathrooms and cut back computer energy usage when computer aren't in use, SEAS Green also strives to connect students with opportunities in sustainable fields after graduation.

We have had lunches with professors who are working on research in energy fields, and we have hosted mini-lectures on special topics like the energy market for our members. We also had a lecture from the head of Penn's Green Campus Partnership, which is the Facilities and Real Estate Services group dedicated to bringing sustainable efforts to Penn. In two weeks, we will be sponsoring a trip to the All-Ivy Colombia University Environmental Career Fair where there will dozens of employers from energy industries in attendance. We are excited to take students of all years, freshmen through seniors to open them up to the opportunities available after graduation. The field of environmental and sustainable opportunities is quickly growing and we are thrilled to be a part of it!

Have questions about SEAS Green?  Contact Megan at awe@seas.upenn.edu

Finding your "Aha" moment

When I first started programming, I was enthralled by that oh so satisfying “aha!” moment that came with solving a complicated bit of programming. Early on I discovered that programming pairs problem solving and creativity, both of which appealed to me. A few years down the road and a few higher level Computer Science classes later, I discovered that Computer Science is so much more than just an interest or hobby. Computer Science comprises the most imaginative ideas from the heart of mathematics, and uses such as a foundation to build systems that surely were not the intentions of mathematicians.

Whether you are coming to Penn and joining our Computer Science family, or any of the other great majors we have to offer, it is important to find your own "aha" moment. I know when I was a senior in high school deciding both which college to attend, and what to major in once I got there, I couldn't have felt more lost. But fear not my friends, sometimes you just have to trust that things happen for a reason. A considerable fraction of both the Engineering school and the rest of Penn is Undecided majors. It doesn't mean there's something wrong with you, or that you're not interested in anything. It just means you haven't stumbled upon your passion yet. Penn is the place to find it- you will get inspired by your peers, your professors, and sometimes even the dining hall ladies ;)

But in all seriousness, I was once that high schooler who freaked out over decisions, and wanted to tackle a problem right when I got it. Sooner or later, you'll discover that life is full of outside forces that you can't control, so all anyone can ever ask of you is to do your best. Best of luck on your college careers, and we hope to see you here at Penn Engineering!

Written by Sandy, junior in Computer Science.  Questions for Sandy? e-mail us at awe@seas.upenn.edu

Finals Advice - From students who have been there!

-Starting studying early - not 1 or 2 days before like in high school.

-Go to all review sessions and office hours during the last week of school and reading days.

-Make a schedule of when you're studying for which finals, and deadlines for what you need to go over for each final.  You don't have to stick to your schedule perfectly, but you want to ensure you have enough time to study what you need to.

-Focus on practice exams: Make sure you have all the practice tests you'll need at least a couple days before your final.  You don't want to realize you don't have any practice tests the night before a final, so you're scrambling to email friends.

-Don't forget that even though class is over, your Professors and/or TAs will most likely be willing to meet with you (outside of or after group review sessions) if you're struggling with any exam material.

-Download SelfControl to your computer to block your most distracting websites. You can set however long you want to block them for (from 15 minutes to as long as 24 hours). Its a miracle worker.

-If you don't understand things, study with people who are smarter than you, and don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask them questions. People like to help other people because it makes them feel good about themselves and also helps them study by teaching you. Everyone wins.

-Study in Houston Hall. During finals, its open 24/7, and from 9pm-7am, they have free coffee right outside the crepe place. Also, every night they walk around and give out little goodie bags of snacks and highlighters. They also have free food all night, like veggie platters, rice crispy treats, Einstein's bagels and shmear, and so much more!

-Even if your class doesn't allow you to make a cheat sheet - make a cheat sheet anyway to study off of! The simple act of thinking about what is important enough to write and understanding it enough to write something down that makes sense to you is very helpful.

-TAKE BREAKS! Don't try to study for 7 hours straight because you might get burned out and not be productive for your later finals. A good rule of thumb is to take a 10-minute breather every hour (walk around the hall, get a drink...) then take a longer break after several hours. If you find you are getting distracted sooner than 50 min, take two 5 min breaks every hour.

-There is such a thing as overstudying. If you feel like you're set for studying for a particular class, then you probably are. Use the time to either study for other exams or rest.

-Sleep the night before the exam, especially for exams like physics or math. Staying up all night and cramming, and not being able to think during the exam is more detrimental than maybe not being as prepared as you would like.

-Lastly, school might seem like everything when you're in the moment, but remember at the end of the day, life goes on, and after it’s all over YOU GET ALMOST THREE WHOLE WEEKS OFF!

Engineering Dual Degree

Hi! I'm Melissa, a junior majoring in Chemical Biomolecular Engineering in SEAS and Economics in the College. Engineering has some of the most intense curriculums at Penn. Most of my friends take at least five if not six or more classes every semester. With all of this work, a lot of people find the idea of a Dual Degree, or even the newly formed Dual Major option, to be a bit daunting.

My freshmen year, I took one Economics class each semester, just because I thought Economics was a subject worth getting my feet wet in. I enjoyed the classes and took more the next fall with the idea that I would get a minor in the subject, but the more classes I took, the more I became interested. Economics for me, I like to tell people, is like psychology with math -  you use models and equations to try and predict or reason out why people make the decisions they do.

When I first decided to pursue a degree in Economics, the Dual Major option was not yet available, so I began taking other Humanities and Social Science classes to fulfill the general education requirements in the College. As a result, I have taken quite a few classes that I otherwise would not have bothered to try and fit into my schedule, and I have enjoyed most of them a lot. But I know that learning about long readings and writing papers are some engineers worst nightmare, so if that's you, the Dual Major option would be the way to go.

With the new Dual Major option, there is a lot more possibility to just take classes in a major without the general requirements. There are a lot of students in Engineering who try to enroll in a dual degree in with Wharton, but quite a few of my friends and classmates are pursuing degrees with the College. I really enjoy my CBE classes, but my Economics and College classes are a nice break from the computational thinking we're required to do all the time in SEAS.

There are some amazing classes and professors outside of Engineering, so if you like a subject in Humanities or Social Science, I'd definitely suggest taking a few classes to see if you enjoy it enough to want to pursue a major.



Have questions about Dual Degree or Dual Major?  Contact awe@seas.upenn.edu

Sleeping Bag Weekend

Sunday, November 6^th, was Sleeping Bag Weekend. AWE hosted around 30 visiting students to teach them what being an engineer is all about. The girls were juniors in high school and stayed overnight on Penn’s campus with Penn student hosts. After being given tours of engineering, the girls spent quality time with their hosts. During this time, hosts gave tours of the campus and showed them landmarks such as the Quad, Van Pelt, and Houston Hall. A highlight of the evening was when the visiting students got to ask questions about the different engineering majors at a panel while enjoying delicious ice cream. The visiting students also got to see a “day in the life of an engineer” by attending classes with their hosts and study sessions. By the end of the weekend, the girls had a better understanding of what it is like to be an engineer as well as the different career options open to them.