This week, we were thrilled to welcome the first class of B.S. in Biocomputational Engineering (BCE) students to campus! The inaugural class had the opportunity to explore the halls of the cutting-edge Biomedical Sciences and Engineering facility (BSE) during the first few days of the fall semester.
The facility is a six-level, 220,000 square-foot building and one of the most sustainably-sourced laboratory buildings in the region, earning a LEED Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. It was completed at the Universities of Shady Grove (USG) in 2019.
BCE students enjoyed USG Welcome Week events including a scavenger hunt, Info Fair and Ice Cream, BSE Fall Open House, Coffee Mix and Mingle, and Leaders Wanted info session. They got to work too - in BCE Assistant Director and Faculty Instructor Lan Ma's Applied Linear Systems and Differential Equations (ENBC 331) class, students learned how to find the determinant of a matrix.
Students will take 60 credits of coursework at the 300- and 400-level to complete the B.S. degree in Biocomputational Engineering. They will begin with fundamental courses including Mathematics and Statistics for Engineers, Molecular Biology,
Computational Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology, Fluid Dynamics, and Mass Transfer.
BCE faculty were eager to get started too. "I am excited that this marks one of the first programs of its kind," explains BCE Faculty Instructor Bardia Yousefi. "Our graduates are going to be well prepared for the current and future demands of industry and academia. From the very beginning, I had no doubt that this is a brilliant program that will benefit our community and help shape the future of the health and AI fields."
Looking to learn more about day-to-day happenings in the new B.S. in Biocomputational Engineering program? Meet our faculty and staff, and view our transfer guide.
