Extending an alginate drug delivery experiment to teach computational modeling and engineering analysis to 1st year biomedical engineering students

Engaging biomedical engineering (BME) students in the first year has been an important part of The University of Texas at Austin’s strategy to improve student motivation, retention, and self-efficacy. First year engineering curricula across the country have increasingly included an introduction to engineering or design course in addition to core math and science courses. At UT Austin, a first-year design course and drug-delivery design class module has been previously described[1]. This course has since been expanded from 1 credit hour to 3 credit hours and the drug-delivery design module has been enhanced to include computational design and analysis using 2 different tools (Microsoft Excel and MATLAB). Previously, students analyzed their experimental data using simple curve fitting to determine the diffusivity constant. This paper describes the instruction of a Fick’s law-based computational simulation implemented in both Excel and MATLAB in order to match students’ experimental data. Students were able to use their simulation to solve for the diffusion coefficient and to estimate the amount of drug (a dye was used as a surrogate for a drug) lost in the drug delivery device loading process. In addition, students learned how to use both Excel and MATLAB for engineering analysis so that they will be prepared for future engineering courses. General Excel and MATLAB competencies were tested using low-stakes in-class quizzes and students’ attitudes were measured from end-of-semester course and instructor surveys. Students showed functional Excel and MATLAB knowledge and responded positively on course and instructor surveys.Cockrell School of Engineerin