By Rishi Gupta
As a first-year student in the Fall of 1991, I glanced through the School of Engineering and Applied Science's catalog pondering my future major. I remember seeing listings for classes in the Bioengineering Department that really stood out and interested me. I was excited to learn more about the field and hopefully pursue some supervised research.
Now as a graduating senior in 1995, I am very disappointed in my selection of major. In retrospect, I have ascertained several problems with the bioengineering program. For the first three years, the schedule of classes for a bioengineer was identical to that of a chemical engineer. Although some of these classes were necessary, the majority of them were not. However, this situation did not discourage me from continuing with the major because I looked forward to taking technical electives within the department senior year. In my senior year I was dismayed to find that not a single class was being offered in the Bioengineering Department. At this point, I had taken only one class within the department: a course on Artificial Organs. I was very disappointed and a bit alarmed at the prospect of having only one bioengineering class on my transcript upon entering my last semester, but I assumed that the Bioengineering Department would offer some interesting classes in the Spring 1995 semester. When I received my schedule of Spring classes, however, I discovered to my chagrin that only one class was being offered by the Bioengineering Department.
At this point I became angry and upset. I felt cheated. To make matters worse, my advisor informed me that I needed to take Introductory Modern Physics in order to graduate. The engineering catalogue clearly states that two semesters of Barnard biology may be substituted for Introductory Modern Physics. My advisor, however, insisted that the catalogue was incorrect and that Introductory Modern Physics could not be replaced with Barnard biology. I had already taken two semesters of Barnard biology, and I could not understand why it was necessary to take physics. I visited Dean Erwin who confirmed that the catalogue was correct. My advisor, however, even with this knowledge continued to contend that I needed Introductory Modern Physics and would not sign my registration form without it.
I have concluded on the basis of my experiences that the Bioengineering Department is in utter disarray, and I suggest that engineering students considering this major should evaluate the requirements carefully. A bioengineering student should be able to take more than two bioengineering classes.