Interdepartmental Program in Engineering Science

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The engineering curriculum draws inspiration from areas that align with Brandeis' existing strengths, including bioengineering and materials science, while enhancing our existing undergraduate and graduate programs.

Together, we will explore new approaches to issues of ethics, design, equity, sustainability, and entrepreneurship through collaborations, capstone projects, and team-taught courses with faculty from across the university.

In the liberal arts tradition, our graduates will be outstanding communicators, writers, and stewards of social justice, poised for impactful careers as engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and more.

Engineering courses are open to all students, regardless of major.

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ENGR 11a Introduction to Design Methodology

An introduction to the engineering design process, with a focus on human-centered design. Students work in teams to solve authentic design problems under the theme of “Design to repair the world.” Students are guided through a highly scaffolded process in which they form an idea, sketch it, and develop it through multiple iterations leveraging quick feedback loops and the Design Thinking methodology.

There will be two parts to the semester:

An individual project to build an upper limb prosthesis from a publicly available open source design, in which students will learn the prosthesis platform, learn to navigate open source designs and documentation, learn to operate the necessary digital fabrication workflows (CAM for 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC) to manufacturer it, perform failure based testing, and develop material literacy; and
Ateam project to create an open-source assistive device for an actual client to accomplish specific tasks. This second component will include modifying available open source designs for fittage (unique physiology) and function (specific tasks), as well as adding design elements to achieve an occupational therapy goal. The emphasis will be on quick-minimum viable feedback loop testing, ideation for augmenting the client, design (CAD), project management, consuming and producing documentation, communication, teamwork, and human-centered design in a global context.

ENGR 11a cross-listing:

Biology: General science elective
HSSP: Additional general science elective
Neuroscience: Science elective & 4-credit lab
Physics BA: Additional elective
Physics BS: Additional upper-level science elective or lab course
Business: Business & society elective

ENGR 12b Engineering Instrumentation & Experimentation

The engineering design and analysis process relies on measurements and data collected from the physical world. In this hands-on, project-based course, students will be introduced to concepts, mathematics, hardware, software, methods, and mindsets for making measurements, collecting and interpreting data, and conducting engineering experiments using the scientific method, with a focus on biomedical engineering applications.

Following an orientation to the tradeoffs among precision, accuracy, reliability, error, cost, and accessibility in measurement, students will explore topics including electronic circuits and sensors, computer-based data acquisition, data visualization and representation, and experimental design.

In the first half of the semester, students will conduct scaffolded projects applying concepts learned in class to measuring properties of the human body such as temperature, force, electrical activity, and walking gait. Students will then collaborate on a team project to design and build more elaborate biomedical instrumentation to collect and analyze data such as pulse, blood oxygen levels, blood pressure, or pulmonary function.

Throughout, we will engage with the ethics of measurement and experimentation, explore ideas of frugal engineering; and be introduced to social science research methods relevant to engineering design and analysis such as surveys and interviews.

ENGR 12b cross-listing:

Biology: Biology elective
HSSP: Elective for Focal Area A (Biological Dimensions to Health and Illness)
Neuroscience: 4-credit lab course or science requirement

ENGR 13a Modeling and Simulation

Building models of complex physical systems is a critical aspect of problem-solving in science and engineering. While the models themselves are expressed through the languages of math and physics, developing an effective and efficient approach to modeling requires drawing on one's experiences and mental pictures of the systems at hand.

Towards providing students with this experience, this course will build connections between the theoretical, the experimental, and the designed. Students will be guided through a structured series of labs exploring modeling and simulation in a variety of system classes, with an emphasis on environmental and engineering applications.

In this course, students will learn to construct models from scratch and use pre-built modules for analyzing data, numerically solving dynamical models, fitting models to data, and visualizing results. Practical coding skills, such as debugging, documenting code, and learning to leverage open-source software, will be taught in a lab environment where students and the instructor can readily collaborate and solve challenges.

In addition to computational modeling and analysis, some labs will involve the use of digital fabrication (3D printing or laser cutting) to build and test physical versions of the models. This course is intended as a first exposure to modeling. Prior experience in programming is not required.

ENGR 13a cross-listing:

Biology: General science elective
Neuroscience: 4-credit general science elective or 2-credit lab
Environmental studies: Natural science elective
Physics: Lab requirement (by petition only)

ENGR 22b Engineering a Circular Economy

The way we produce, use, and dispose of materials and products today is unsustainable. Resource extraction destroys ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide; manufacturing is responsible for an enormous fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions; and waste plastics are now found in every corner of the Earth, including our bodies, with as-yet unknown consequences to human and ecological health. The circular economy is a model of production and consumption that offers a potential solution to these problems — where all materials and products are designed to be used, reused, and recycled again and again, minimizing environmental impact from resource extraction, manufacturing, use, and final disposal.

In this class, students will learn what is required to realize this vision of a circular economy from an engineering and design perspective. Based on a methodological foundation from industrial ecology, students will use life-cycle assessment and material flow analysis to characterize the profound issues with contemporary manufacturing and waste systems and justify the principles of materials and product stewardship that underpin the circular economy model. Students will also learn to critique materials management and circular economy proposals at various scales, including materials and product design; so-called “circular business models;” and municipal, national, and global materials systems. Finally, students will use what they have learned to propose new engineering design solutions to real-world challenges.

ENGR 22b cross-listing:

Biology: General science elective
Business: Business & society elective
Economics: Lower-level elective
Environmental studies: Natural science elective
Neuroscience: General science elective