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Professor YUNG Pun To Douglas |
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Interdisciplinary Engineering Education Exemplified in an Introductory Biomedical Engineering Course |
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Biomedical engineering is a multidisciplinary field applying engineering tools to solve problems in the biological and medical realms. It encompasses the integration between engineering, biochemistry, physiology, neuroscience and many others. A grand challenge in teaching and learning rests on its interdisciplinary nature amidst a global wave of increase in specialization in medical education. This talk exemplifies new pedagogies to strike a balance between depth and breadth as practiced in an introductory course in biomedical engineering offered in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This freshman course targets to develop conditionalized knowledge to align and organize students’ understanding on essential concepts. Laboratory activities are designed to accompany lecture materials on the application of electrical, chemical, optical, mechanical, and other engineering principles to understand, measure, interrogate, model and control biological systems. Students learn by stimulating their creativity and problem-solving skills through experimentation, to ask “what if” questions, and to act on their own to make discoveries at the interface of engineering and biology.
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Prof. Douglas YUNG has long been intrigued by the interfacing of microbes with engineering tools on a micro- and nano-scale. He is unraveling methods to rapidly assess the viability of superbugs and harness energy from extremophiles using a combination of electrochemical, optical techniques and MEMS devices. He is an advocate of a hybrid teaching and learning environment replete with project-based hands-on work, experiential activities and peer collaboration, a style departing from traditional top-down expository pedagogies. Douglas has received the Dean’s Exemplary Teaching Award in the Faculty of Engineering from 2010-12.