In a little less than 6 hours, I begin registration for what is officially my last year of undergraduate courses.
Probables: Biochemistry 405 (Intro Biochem), Bioengineering 482 (Capstone), CSE 444 (Databases), and one more CSE class…
I kept hoping that Bioengineering would get better. It hasn’t.
If you are interested in doing bioengineering and you plan to attend the University of Washington, I suggest that you avoid the Bioengineering Department. Instead, pursue a real engineering degree* and then employ those skills towards a biological or medical project towards the end of your studies. This can be done by taking one of the many joint courses with Bioengineering, or by choosing a capstone project that lets you become involved in the field you are really interested in.
The problem with Bioengineering here is not that it is useless (It may be; I really don’t know). Rather, the problem is that it is not engineering. As an example, Bioengineering 481 is the class where soon-to-be-senior bioengineers are supposed to come up with their capstone projects. Almost every student in that class who already has a capstone project figured out (I am not one) basically reformulated a research project into a design project. The result isn’t really engineering. Its just trickily worded scientific research.
Now, I’m all for scientific research, but it is not engineering. The department’s new focus on “design” is due to the upcoming ABET accreditation. I can only imagine that unless the ABET representatives pull some serious wool over their eyes, they will see right through the many “design” projects that are really research in disguise and choose not to accredit the school.
Thank goodness for my second degree.
* real engineering degrees at the University of Washington:
– Computer Engineering
– Electrical Engineering
– Chemical Engineering
– Aeronautical Engineering
– Civil Engineering
So… it looks like it is 19 credits…
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 | |||||
| 9:00 | |||||
| 9:30 | BIOEN 357 A MEB 238 |
BIOEN 357 A MEB 238 |
BIOEN 357 A MEB 238 |
||
| 10:00 | |||||
| 10:30 | CSE 403 A EEB 045 |
CSE 471 A CSE 503 |
CSE 403 A EEB 045 |
CSE 471 A CSE 503 |
CSE 403 A EEB 045 |
| 11:00 | |||||
| 11:30 | |||||
| 12:00 | |||||
| 12:30 | BIOEN 492 A BNS 117 |
BIOEN 492 A BNS 117 |
|||
| 1:00 | |||||
| 1:30 | BIOEN 357 AA BIOE N127 |
CSE 403 A EEB 037 |
|||
| 2:00 | |||||
| 2:30 | CSE 471 A EEB 042 |
||||
| 3:00 | |||||
| 3:30 | BIOEN 481 A BNS 117 |
BIOEN 481 A BNS 117 |
|||
| 4:00 | |||||
| 4:30 | |||||
| 5:00 |
Officially: Best. Quarter. Ever. (Yet)
|
I meant to post this earlier… my official grade predictions for this quarter were as follows:
CSE 466 — 4.0
CSE 451 — 3.9
BioEn 303 — 3.8
BioEn 305 — 3.7
I just got my 451 grade in… 4.0 — woot. Lets see what else can be better.
I finished up my last two finals yesterday. The 305 final was hard and got moved at the last minute, but I think I did alright overall, especially considering that pretty much everyone found it hard. The 303 presentation went well, especially considering that the other group that did the same project as us made a huge mistake in their design. Props to Christine for figuring it out for us.
Now I am back to work (I took Friday and Monday off for final projects and tests). I’m looking forward to making a little money, hanging with the BioE’s at tonight’s party, and then later on, heading on over to Bobby’s for a somewhat more eclectic gathering. It should be fun.
So we all know that 461 is getting the Bioengineering shaft once again this quarter, and that my second plan of enrolling in 444 also fell through. Now things have gotten even crazier with a rescheduling of my current pick, 471, which I will no longer be able to take because of a conflict with Bioengineering. I’m hoping at this point that the advisers will feel enough sympathy for me that they have to let me into 444, but since its already more than full, I don’t know how well that will work out. I guess this is the stuff that keeps life exciting.