Blah2009 requested response

College Search & Selection
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<p>hello Blah - I am posting this because your PM board apparently is full up...after reading a posting response from you, we decided it was worth while to enlist you - please provide insight:</p>

<p>Our son has to choose between 3 opportunities for biomedical engineering</p>

<p>He has been involved in FIRST Robotics, tests well (32 ACT) and has yet to find a math course that provides a challenge (including the Math 151 - Calculus at community college during his SR year) - he would respond well to hands on as well as research projects. involvement is his thing really - so... </p>

<p>1) Cal Poly SLO - this BME is yet to be ABET certified but they are in the process...</p>

<p>2) University of Utah - attached to two hospitals (The U and Children's) offers research benefits for his BME and has been accepted into their Honors College (Living Learning Community) so he would have a lot of easy access to mentorship and academic advisory support</p>

<p>3) UC Santa Cruz - mellow/easy vibe and a potent research school make for an interesting qualities. The BME can be enhanced with their recent Robotics offerings</p>

<p>His passion is to end up in Neuro-Prosthetics - these sensory based artificial limbs have been on his brain since 7th grade without any wondering off this focus. He intends to get post-graduate degrees - perhaps Med school - but his current focus is currently on the research/design</p>

<p>in your opinion, which of these choices provides the best springboard for his goals?</p>

<p>side note: he will be a first generation 4 yr college student this fall and the family finances are meager (since the mortgage meltdown)</p>

<p>budget is similar for these 3 choices after financial aid awards, with Utah coming in more than a smidge lower, but there is a 4th choice. An LAC (Evergreen State College an hour and a half from our Seattle area home) that is offering virtually a full ride - a seemingly worthy opportunity, but they only offer non-goal specific majors as far as his intended future.</p>

<p>please take a moment to contribute from your POV. we value your from your background's perspective - feel free to ask for more details to base your opinion on if need be...thanks, Matt (oodadoo)</p>

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<p>You’re in luck as I’m overseas for work in England, and it’s morning here.</p>

<p>So it sounds like your son is interested in biomaterials and bio-devices related to neurology. I think he has decent choices amongst the three schools. I’d caution him to have an open mind as his interests may evolve as he is exposed to more material in college. He might change his concentration or even major. It’s therefore important to choose a school that’s reputed for breadth excellence in engineering. But based upon his current interests, I’d far and away recommend UCSC. Cal Poly will get ABET accreditation soon, but this means their BME department is new and not established (yet). it may well be more reputed than the other schools in time, but not in 4 years when your son hits the job or graduate school market.</p>

<p>From examination of the Cal Poly faculty webpage, there really only appears to be two faculty members performing research potentially related to his areas of interest: </p>

<p>[Lanny</a> Griffin - Cal Poly](<a href=“http://bmegene.calpoly.edu/faculty/lgriffin/]Lanny”>http://bmegene.calpoly.edu/faculty/lgriffin/)
[Lily</a> Laiho - Cal Poly](<a href=“http://bmegene.calpoly.edu/faculty/lily-laiho/]Lily”>http://bmegene.calpoly.edu/faculty/lily-laiho/)</p>

<p>I’d recommend having your son reach out to these professors and ask them more details on their research. Have him read a paper or two from them before broaching either professor. They will likely be receptive of his initiative and curiosity. This is usually how research opportunities are had.</p>

<p>From examination of UCSC’s bioengineering website, they clearly emphasize undergraduate research. Students are encouraged to hold a position in a funded research project under a professor. Students are also encouraged to partake in a research thesis project their senior year. The most telling selling point however is UCSC’s promotion of the UC Leads program for its students ([UC</a> LEADS](<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/ucleads/]UC”>http://www.ucop.edu/ucleads/)). This is a 2 year program in which your son would get paired with a faculty mentor to perform research to gain skills specifically suited for graduate school preparation (and to impressive admissions representatives). More importantly, he would get the chance to perform research at another UC - say UCSD, the preeminent UC school for bioengineering. Should he do well in the program, he will be fairly marketable.</p>

<p>Faculty that perform research at UCSC related to his interests include the following:</p>

<p>[Zuo</a> Lab Home](<a href=“http://research.pbsci.ucsc.edu/mcdb/zuolab/index.html]Zuo”>http://research.pbsci.ucsc.edu/mcdb/zuolab/index.html)</p>

<p>[Michael</a> Isaacson - Jack Baskin School of Engineering - UC Santa Cruz](<a href=“People – Baskin School of Engineering”>People – Baskin School of Engineering)</p>

<p>[David</a> Feldheim](<a href=“http://mcd.ucsc.edu/faculty/feldheim.html]David”>David Feldheim)</p>

<p>[Alexander</a> “Sasha” Sher - UCSC Biomedical Research](<a href=“http://biomedical.ucsc.edu/Sher.html]Alexander”>http://biomedical.ucsc.edu/Sher.html)</p>

<p>I haven’t heard or looked too much into Utah’s program to comment, but I’m sure the honors program would afford him great opportunities as well. I’d advise him to look into the course offerings of Utah to see if they related to his interests. Again, he can contact professors. From a cursory examination, I see some promising courses that would expose him to the industry and different areas of academic research. But I still believe better opportunities are to be had at UCSC.</p>

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<p>Thank you Blah…
a little bit for you on Utah - their BioMedical Engineering is rated pretty high (well above his two california based options) - labs required each semester, similar professor mentorship to UCSC, mechanical heart and kidneys recently developed within the departments and there is a strong ‘entrepreneurial attitude’ within their program.</p>

<p>his intention re: Neuro-Prosthetics came about on a tri to UW here in Seattle in 7th grade. He had just made a fully articulating hand sculpture (gauntlet glove) out of card-board. after seeing the neuro-robotic finger that Yoky Matsuoko ([Neurobotics</a> Laboratory :: Current Members](<a href=“http://neurobotics.cs.washington.edu/members.html]Neurobotics”>Neurobotics Laboratory :: Current Members)) was working on and the mechanical exo-legs (supporting a para’s disability) that another engineering group was working on when he made the connection to combine the two projects and has had a passion for the neuro-prosthetics since.</p>

<p>that said, we discovered the UW’s role in neuro-robotics has been worked on at several other universities (Utah among them)…</p>

<p>His concern is a social one since we are not LDS members and the Utah Salt Lake City campus is 70% ‘commuter’ and only 30% campus residents…that would seemingly assure less going on as far as the all important unwinding portion of college life.</p>

<p>we have not learned either direction except have not researched UCSC as heavily and it seems like a third choice for our son at this moment…</p>

<p>we truly appreciate your ‘insider’ opinion…once again, thank you :)</p>

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<p>Blah - you might also find this interesting…a very short video and story linking the UW and UU projects</p>