Becker Ardahji

Exploration Activity #3 | Purdue Student Interview

1. Tell us about your interviewee. Include ALL of the following information:

 Full name (no nicknames, please)
Brian Peterson
 Phone number and Purdue email address
574-361-5108, petersonb134@purdue.edu
 Name of college and major
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
 Date the interview took place
11/29/18
 Their expected date of graduation
2021
2. Why did you choose this major? Describe the process by which you decided on it.

a. He chose Biomedical Engineering because all his life he wanted to help people

and his family had a great influence on him pursuing something in the medical

field with his own little twist on it. His mom is a nurse and his dad is a general

surgeon. He loved math and science like I do and wanted to apply it to something

he was passionate about and so he took that eventually ended up majoring in

Biomedical Engineering.

3. What are typical major classes like in terms of content, format, and instructor’s style of

teaching? For example: emphasis on labs/lecture/discussion, small vs. large class sizes,

etc.

a. In the beginning, everyone must take the general education engineering classes

like Physics, Chemistry, Calculus, and First Year Engineering. These classes are
 intended to be difficult classes because most majors want someone who is

passionate enough to go through such a brutal weed out process. After you do get

into the major you want, then it quickly becomes much more specialized with

fewer people and BME is no exception. The lab sizes in BME are drastically

smaller than what I’d be used to in the classes I’m taking like physics and

apparently, they are much more hands on which is exactly what I am looking for.

They complete circuit labs to simulate human processes using computer

simulation and a lot experimental design. The lectures aren’t too big either

because the program of BME only let’s in about 100 people every year which is

one of the smallest groups of all the engineering majors.

4. What has been your favorite class? What did you learn, and why was it your favorite?

a. His favorite class has been BME29000, Frontiers of Biomedical Engineering. It

basically is a 1-credit class revolving around all of the possibilities that

Biomedical Engineers can have in the future. It also prepares them to be effective

in the job world someday. At one point they just worked on their resumes and his

is completely different now after taking that class, they also worked on their

ability to give presentations effectively. There were a lot of research opportunities

that they could also pursue in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering

which I thought sounded really interesting.

5. Which classes have been the toughest? What made them tough?

a. Thermodynamics is one of the core engineering courses and he had the absolute

worst time taking it. He barely passed because he failed several tests in the

beginning of the semester which put him in a really deep hole. He had to study his
 butt off to pass with a C, but he highly recommended staying on top of

assignments and actually doing them instead of looking up the answers online

because that is the only practice you have for the exams and if you don’t

understand what’s going on then you won’t have a good time either.

6. What skills and abilities do students need in order to be successful in this major?

a. He believes that anyone who wants to be successful in Biomedical Engineering

should be really driven and have amazing time-management skills. The work load

isn’t normally that bad even though you have to take virtually 17-18 credits a

semester in order to graduate in 4 years, but if you have a bad time management

skills then it could easily become this overwhelming mess of due dates and not

properly finishing assignments to the point where it’s not even worth doing them

if you only spend half an hour on them. I would tend to agree with what he said

because even in my classes right now I can easily see something like Physics

being overwhelming if I waited until the last possible moment to do them.

7. What are you planning to do after graduation? Do students in this major typically need or

want to go to graduate school? What types of careers do students with this major

typically go into?

a. He is really interested in the orthopedic aspect of biomedical engineering, where

they manufacture prosthetic limbs, joints, and bones for people who have suffered

a traumatic injury and need artificial support. He mentioned that you can

essentially major in anything to get into medical school depending on your

MCAT which I also already knew because my mom wanted to get into medical

school and majored in Biology which eventually ended up being a horrible

 decision because you can’t do much with that degree unless you get a teaching

license. I’m not sure what aspect of BME I would like to pursue yet, but

regardless I want to be on the forefront of new revolutionary technologies that

would completely change the way and quality of life for everyone.

8. What extra-curricular opportunities related to the major have you experienced, or can you

recommend? (Examples could include campus activities and organizations, internships,

research, or study abroad opportunities.)

a. He is currently involved in a Purdue-affiliated organization called Purdue MIND,

which stands for Purdue Medical Innovation, Networking, and Design. They are

basically a club that splits up into teams and each has to tackle a real-world

problem and develop the best solutions for that problem. Last year they made

something called the Exo Mind Glove, which is a device that stimulates “smart

strokes to help provoke rehabilitation and is now a proven form of therapy for

some degenerative diseases. He hasn’t gone on any internships, but he highly

recommended I look into them because some of the best biomedical facilities are

overseas.

9. Ask one additional thoughtful question of your own. Write the question here; then answer

it!

a. “Where do you see the most potential in the rapidly growing field of Biomedical

Engineering?”

i. He is really interested in where the future of alternative medicine will head

because there the possible ramifications of them would be phenomenal

and change the landscape of the health industry forever. He also was
 fascinated by stem cells when he studied them in one of his classes and the

potential they have to regenerate significantly large amounts of lost tissue.

He is excited for the future and all its uncertainties, which makes it all the

more beautiful.

10. After the interview, reflect on this: Are you still considering this major now that you have

learned more? Why or why not?

a. Yes, in fact I believe that I am even more interested in pursuing this major

because after he talked about the future of alternative medicine and biomedical

engineering, it reinspired my passion for science and, in a way, appealed to my

Futuristic strength. Biomedical Engineering is such a growing industry with a lot

of possibilities for innovation which is exactly what I am looking for in a career.

The future is now.