Best Class Ever !!

20.109 is hands down the best class I have taken at MIT so far.  While in other classes we have learned very specific skills/subjects: thermodynamics, genetics, Matlab, I feel that 20.109 has instilled in me a broad set of skills that I will utilize throughout my academics and beyond.

20.109 does a great job of showcasing multiple aspects of biological engineering in a quick but thorough way. Mod 1 exhibited many wet lab techniques that I had not done before like SMM, DSF, and SDS-PAGE. We were also pushed to explore other possible assays during the data summary, which taught me how to research protocols and think critically about experiments. Overall, this Mod set a really solid ground work for the rest of 109.

Mod 2 was important to me for two reasons: R and the Research Article. This summer, I will be researching at the Weill Cornell neurosurgery dept to analyze life expectancy and outcomes of thrombectomy cases. I’ll be using a few giant databases to do that, which seems really overwhelming. However, I feel like Mod 2 really prepared me to tackle these databases. I already have a few ideas for how I will utilize R during my research, and this is all thanks to 109! Secondly, the Research Article was probably the most difficult assignment I have ever done, specifically because it was so detail oriented. Luckily we had been given a lot of useful tips about what data to use and how to best communicate that data. Noreen was extremely helpful in bridging the class lectures with labwork and set out very specific guidelines on what was expected. Thanks Noreen for answering so many of my questions during office hours! Participating in this Mod was a turning point in my science communication skills.

Lastly, Mod 3 was hands down my favorite section of the course! This is because 1) I felt I could bring together all of the skills I’d learned in the previous modules and 2) I got to take home my experiment!! Angela made every class so lively and really went out of her way to stimulate everyone’s interest. Her whole lab team was awesome, and I am so grateful for the hours and hours Jifa and them spent working on our batteries. Obviously we could not have done that experiment on our own or in the 109 lab. It meant a lot to be in the class where the professor brought us into her own lab to facilitate our learning. I’m showing the battery to my mom tomorrow and am so amped (haha) for her to see what a biological engineer can do. Often we talk about drugs and nanoparticles and pipetting and things that are super difficult to visualize, so it’s exciting to have some physical representation of our work.

A separate paragraph needs to be dedicated to the writing and presentation assignments we had this semester. Before 109, I would glaze over the methods in papers. Now, I immediately look to the methods for further explanation. Before 109, I had no idea how to structure a paper or abstract. Now, I practically picture the hour glass when I read abstracts and feel confident writing my own. The BE Comm resources were so helpful in detailing what is expected for each section of the paper. My lab partner and I met with the Comm Lab many times to go over our data summary and research proposal. It was helpful to get feedback from people who were specific to BE and had even TA’d the class!

Finally, thank you so much to the amazing teaching faculty!!! Noreen, Josephine, Leslie, Casper- thank you for answering so many questions each day, for reassuring us when our data was unexpected, and for facilitating such a supportive learning environment. All of your corrections on homeworks and quizzes were important building blocks to the major assignments. You have all created an amazing class that I know will be at the front of my mind when I look back on my time at MIT.

I know this isn’t a very meme-feeling write up, but it is the end of the semester, and I’m feeling reflective!