BIOLOGY FOR FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERS, A NEW COURSE AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY

A new course "Biology for Engineers" was developed for first year engineering students at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). The course is part of the science sequence for all first-year engineering students at LMU. The fundamental concept of this course was to provide first-year engineering students with a basic background in focused areas of biology as it applies to engineering applications. The course was first taught in 2009 and again in 2010. It will again be taught in 2011. Topics for this course have included, cell biology, biochemistry and genetics as it applies to genetic engineering, studies of the nervous system and the brain as applied to bionic prosthetic devices that take advantage of the nervous system and parasitology as it applies to the worldwide need for clean drinking and irrigation water. These topics were linked, in some form, to the National Academy of Engineers "Grand Challenges for Engineering" for the 21st century. Course material was addressed in lecture and with a research assignment that asked the students to prepare a paper on a topic that linked biology and an engineering application. Although the course focused on the biology needed to understand the associated processes in the engineering applications, the course could easily be adapted to address a plethora of other areas that link science and engineering. The course content at this level served to broaden engineering students' understanding of the science of biology as it relates to engineering, stimulate interest in technical careers, address an ABET science requirement and to address at least one common engineering program outcome related to life-long learning. ABET related assessment was conducted with respect to the research assignment from the class.