Open house
Instead of a regular BESS meeting last week we had some members of the Tuskegee Airmen come and talk to us. One of them is an NU engineering alum, and actually was a student of one of the current Deans of Engineering. They talked with us for a bit, showed a video and then we had a question and answer period.
They told us about what motivated them to be pilots in the war, even when the country they were fighting for didn't treat them fairly here. They also talked of the shock of leaving the military, when it was desegregated but Jim Crow laws still ruled the rest of the country at home. The last few things they said was the same things our grandparents always tell us. They told us that we could do whatever we wanted, and emphasized not letting the fact that there are so few of us in Engineering hold us back.
This weekend was open houses for early action students. Each college had its own assigned day, and COE was on Sunday. I was at the table for BESS from 10-12:30 in the Lobby of Snell Engineering during the activities fair that COE hosts at all open houses following the department presentations.
After that I went to the reception for minorities and women in engineering. I got a lot of questions about my minor, even from the students instead of just the normal questions about logistics and stuff from parents, so I've decided to share a little bit of what they asked.
So my minor is in Biomedical Engineering, which is offered by the Electrical and COmptuer Engineering Department. The College of Engineering also offers a Biochemical Engineering Minor in the Chemical Engineering Department and a Biomechanical Engineering Minor in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Each of these minors includes classes that are technical electives within the respective departments in addition to traditional science courses. For example I need to take at least either Biomedical Electronics or Biomedical Signal Processing towards my minor. Each minor also requires a course or two in the Biology Department, Biomedical only requires anatomy & physiology, the others both require general Biology as well as Anatomy and Physiology for Biomechanics, and Genetics & Molecular Biology and Biochemistry for Biochemical.
As far as additional courses, the biomedical is the most broad. We are required to take 2 electives off of a list that includes classes from Biology, Physics, Speech Language Pathology, Psychology, Cardiopulmonary Sciences and Physical Therapy. This allows us to focus on different areas within Biomedical Engineering by selecting the classes we are individually most interested in.
Finally all three minors require that the capstone design project has a biomedical/biomechanical/biochemcial focus.
If you came this weekend leave a comment and let me know what you thought, or if you have any other questions, feel free to ask as always!
Also if you come to an open house later in the Spring, look for me. I'll most likely be around during the COE activities fair or the ECE dept. meeting.