03/30/2022
RE: Undergraduate Updates
Dear BME Undergraduates,
I hope everyone had a great spring break and is ready for the final semester stretch!
Below are important news items and reminders.
• Pre-Registration for the Fall 2023 semester begins on Monday, April 17th at 9:00 am!
• We are excited to welcome Dr. Kelly Kyker-Snowman to the department as an assistant teaching professor! You may recognize Dr. Kyker-Snowman as she is currently a post-doc in the department. In addition to her research, Dr. Kyker-Snowman has also participated in substantial pedagogical training in teaching and instruction through her participation in the INSPIRE post-doctoral training program and as an MCAT instructor. Dr. Kyker-Snowman
officially begins in July and will be leading instruction in 14:125:201 Introduction to Biomedical Engineering and
14:125:401 Senior Design in the Fall 2023 semester, though this may not yet be reflected on the schedule of classes.
• PLEASE NOTE: We still do not have an undergraduate administrator. Your patience has been really appreciated during this time, and I will continue to do my best with administrative requests. I will continue to issue SPNs however I have not received them yet so please do not send SPN requests at this time.
• A reminder to Rising Juniors (Sophomores): Please be mindful of your Junior-level requirements. Labs are only offered once a year (Devices/Systems lab and accompanying class in the fall, Measurements Lab in the spring). Lecture classes are paired so that you can take both during Junior year. For example, in the fall of 2023, Transport and Kinetics/Thermo are offered during the same time slot. So, if you register for Transport in the fall, you can take Kinetics/Thermo in the spring, as they will be paired the same way in spring 2024. Biomaterials and Biomechanics are also paired in the fall. Biomaterials and Numerical are also being offered this summer. A suggested schedule would be:
• While the MINIMUM requirement is to PASS 6/8 junior core (including the labs) to register for Senior Design, this was intended as a safety net to allow students who have to re-take a class or who completed a co-op to graduate. It is not recommended to save Junior core to Senior year, as we cannot guarantee those classes won’t overlap with Senior Design or department electives that you may be really interested in.
• Rising Seniors (Juniors): Several department electives (DEs) are being offered in the fall. While we do not have our spring 2024 lineup yet, we expect to offer Global Health, Intro to Prosthetics and Orthotics, and Topics in BME: Applications in Medical Devices.
• BME Graduate 3-credit courses can be taken for DEs PROVIDED you have a minimum GPA of 3.0 by the beginning of the fall semester and have secured permission from the instructor. Information on the available graduate courses can be found in the Graduate Handbook on the BME website. You must contact the graduate administrator, Ms. Carol Hartman, for the SPN. cch@soe.rutgers.edu Please forward her the email with permission from the instructor, and please be patient as you wait for a response. Several students request these courses, and all GPAs must be verified first.
• A reminder to ALL STUDENTS that summer internships, co-ops and research can count towards your technical elective credits! Please refer to the BME Handbook for guidelines. There is a form that must be filled out PRIOR to starting your job/research so the experience can be approved. Forms for research, internship and co-op credit can be found in the BME Handbook!
• If any of your technical electives are not reflected on Degree Navigator, please submit a DN Update form (found on the SoE website) or consult a SOE advisor. I cannot help with Degree Navigator!
• SUMMER CLASSES
o Intro to BME, Systems Physiology, Biomaterials, and Numerical Modeling are all
offered this summer, PROVIDED we meet the class minimums, otherwise they risk being
removed. If you need to take a class to catch up, or want to get ahead to free your
schedule for a co-op, study abroad, or other reasons, please consider taking a
summer course.
• ADVISING
o A reminder that ALL students have an assigned BME faculty advisor. It is strongly encouraged to meet with your advisors, especially at registration, to ensure you are on track. Advisors are also great as a first point of contact for any questions you may have. If advisors don’t have the answers, they will point you in the right direction. Advisors are assigned during sophomore year, and remain your advisor throughout your time in BME, so it’s a great opportunity to build a strong connection and have someone in the department who is familiar with your journey in BME.
• COMBINED DEGREE PROGRAM
o BME offers Rising Seniors (Juniors) the option to apply to the BME Combined Degree Program (BME-CDP). This program allows you to start taking graduate courses for the Master’s degree (Masters of Engineering-ME or Masters of Science-MS) while finishing your senior year. Information of the combined program can be found on page 37 of the undergraduate handbook:
https://bme.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/Handbook.pdf
o Information on how to apply to the CDP will be sent out by the graduate program sometime in April.
• SENIOR DESIGN
o Senior design is a final, year-long capstone project and lecture required to graduate with your BME B.S. degree. Independent projects are conducted in teams with faculty supervision. The department is currently collecting projects from faculty and collaborators to distribute to the class. The projects will cover all BME disciplines and will be advised through faculty research labs, industrial partners, and local clinical collaborators. Dr. Langrana and I will be coordinating the process. Please stay tuned for announcements in the Junior Core Classes. If you anticipate taking Senior Design next year and are not currently enrolled in the core classes, please reach out to Dr. Labazzo.
• UPCOMING EVENTS
o Looking for ways to get more involved with BME? Perhaps you want to meet new people, learn a skill, connect with a company, or just do something fun and memorable? Stay tuned & make sure to register for the events below!
o Toys 4 Kids: Children’s Hospitals Initiative (w/ RU Makers + Makerspace) (3/29)
RSVP: https://go.rutgers.edu/vivsps8e
o Financial Cents – A J&J + Rutgers Personal Finance Skills Workshop (4/5)
Financial Literacy Workshop
Networking Sessions
Senior Design Shark Tank Pitch Competition
Interactive Building Competition
** If your senior design group wants to participate in the Shark Tank Pitch Competition to obtain valuable feedback from industry experts, gain bragging rights, and a chance to win cool prizes, you can enter the competition via this link: https://go.rutgers.edu/8cdnn5kf.
o BME Habitat Expeditions (RSVPs will be released soon!)
Stryker Edition (On-site Immersion Day) (4/12)
J&J Edition (Facility Site Tour + Scavenger Hunt) (4/19)
o Snacks n’ Cats (& Puppies too!!) – EoS De-Stress Event (4/28)
RSVP: https://go.rutgers.edu/d6ioac9h
General Resource Link for sign-up’s, more info, etc.: https://go.rutgers.edu/at8ualx5
o BMES is hosting a BME Pre-Med Alumni Panel TOMORROW (3/30) at 7 pm on zoom! See invite below. We have 3 panelists lined up, all former Rutgers biomedical engineering undergraduates who are now in medical schools! We always get tons of questions about the pre-med track so this is the perfect time to get answers from professionals! Come learn why they chose the medical school that they did, what their plans are for after graduation, their path from undergraduate to graduate, and much more!
Time: Mar 30, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/96467601007?pwd=NUFNRDBBZUhQVHlxOW82R0tzaWp6QT09
Join by SIP
96467601007@zoomcrc.com
Meeting ID: 964 6760 1007 Password: bmes
o The Biomedical Engineering Society is hosting a date night for all of our fellow 21+ BME students on Thursday April 27th from 7:00-10:00 pm at Huey’s Knight Club. Tickets are $20 per person and drinks are discounted to $2 per drink. There is no limit to the amount of guests you may bring as long as everyone attending is 21+ and you are accompanied by a BME student. If you would like to attend please fill out this form and Venmo @ Pari-Jain by April 20th. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Hope to see everyone there! 🙂
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfFAnavTKygw0hL7ua9Hvdqe7LPstyMRbP9_5VQFzsa6GNcFg/viewform
• SAVE THE DATES!
o The SENIOR DESIGN CONFERENCE will be on Friday May 5th
o RUTGERS DAY is Saturday, April 29th
o SOE CONVOCATION will be Friday, May 12th
• MEET YOUR UNDERGRADUATE DIRECTOR:
Please stop by my open office hours every Thursday from 2-4 pm in BME-107. NOTE-there are NO office hours on Thursday April 6. Enjoy the rest of the semester and please do not hesitate to contact me with questions!
Regards,
Kristen Labazoo