Biomedical engineering design education

Summary form only given. University of Wisconsin biomedical engineering majors take design courses starting the first semester of the sophomore year and continuing every semester throughout the curriculum (6 semesters). All the design projects are client-based, real-world design problems, solicited primarily from the medical and life sciences faculty around the university, as well as from biomedical engineering companies, and occasionally from individuals with specific needs. Each team of students then interacts with their client and advisor to define the specifications for their project. Each client maintains a dialog with the design team throughout the course, providing meaningful feedback as the design progresses, and access to the appropriate clinical or research setting. The faculty is fully responsible for all aspects of the design courses. Each faculty member has a weekly two-hour meeting in a computer lab with his/her teams. Each student keeps an engineering notebook. Each team submits a weekly progress report to their advisor and client by email. Each team does a mid-semester PowerPoint presentation and written report. Each team produces an end-of-semester poster presentation, final report and physical prototype. Each team maintains a web site. Each student does a self and peer performance evaluation.