Saturday, February 8, 2014

Biomedical Engineering Promo. #long #one

Hola! 
It really has been quite some time. 
Living my life, I must say 
but it should've not been an excuse though 
hurmm hurmm. 
Currently I am on duty as a volunteer 
at a well-known sports tournament. 
Might as well say I have the free time 
that I managed to go through a couple of videos 
and decided to write this post. 

Yeah, it's as written on the title. 
I want to write a little bit 
about the major I'm presently pursuing 
for my bachelor's degree. 
Biomedical engineering (BME)
or in my titled course name, 
RK85 Biomedical Electronic Engineering (BEE). 
What is the difference anyway? We'll come to that, I guess. 

So, in general..
let's begin with a personal touch. 
As a background check 
back in high school, 
as in literally, high school 
not the usual concept of United States high school or whatever it is
I come from a strong background 
of finance, economy, accountancy & mathematics. 
Not that very strong, yet it is significant 
My late old man's influence 
so much that I was totally into it 

As time passes 
Things happen as they are. 
To be short, I enrolled into a Science stream class 
and didn't manage to take Accountancy for my SPM exams. 
The only thing that stayed with me post-SPM is the interest for maths. 
That didn't get me anywhere for JPA overseas application, though.. 
They rejected me 
for my field of study is considered irrelevant 
with my class stream for SPM. 
If I'm not mistaken, I applied for economy courses 
since there was no maths, I can't find it in the list previously 
Budak sains mintak ekonomi, memanglah depa rejek troih. 
Then I had the chance to do Foundation of Science in UiTM. 
Despite meeting awesome friends there, 
another important thing is that 
I discovered my growing interest in physics and biology 
this one, special credits to Syida @ Syahidah Anuar 
Dia yang ajar biologi sampai jadi minat subjek tu. Jujur! 
Why the special credits? 
For I didn't favour biology back then! Zero likes. Hah! 
I thought there was too much to read, too much to cover up 
then she came and showed me an easier way, 
also much more of a practical. 
Hence I scored. Got them desired grades for both 
Praises to the Lord. 

After some time, foundation year passed by 
and we applied for degree. 
My head, that time 
realizing the distinction of both physics and biology 
still, I didn't want to lose any of them for degree studies. 
I did my own research as always.. 
and I found BME major. 
"A melting pot of biology & physics" 
This is my first thought back then upon the discovery 
and I thought, for the love of the Lord 
Finally, something that matches me! 
I applied, simply because of that argument. 
I applied UTM, UM, UniMAP since they're the only ones offering it 
UTHM does it too, but that time we're being scared off 
by its problem of MQA certification..so it's out of my list 
then I filled the other three or four vacant slots 
with medicine major, 
which I knew I would have tiny chances of nailing it. Pfft 

Then the UPU results were out, 
and I go to where I am now. UniMAP. Hah! 
To be honest, it was my least preferred choice 
for it's too far from my hometown. 
Who else can beat me in the longest trip back home? 
Half a day trip by bus! Phew~
I guess Johorean people does. 
They have to travel 14 hours from Perlis to Johor, 
if I'm not mistaken. Hah!
Still, I'm going for it 
because of the deep interest. 

I must say, up till now, it was worth it.  
Some things were hard. 
The environment. Cultural differences. 
System problems. Dad passed away.
I even struggled to get a decent pointer 
every now and then. 
Then again 
I managed to get a scholarship. 
I managed to go around places. 
I managed to do my own study better, if not the best. 
I managed to do my own laboratory, codes, 
assignments, circuitry, mini projects, presentations, research 
walaupun kadang-kadang menyalin, hehe 
tapi coding, mini project, presentation tak tiru orang okay!
I managed to do reflect upon myself and improve 
and I believe, I can't afford to have any more than this. 
Again, praises to the Lord. :')

Okay, enough with personals. 
So what I learnt throughout this course 
is that, we have to mechanize & quantitatively analyze 
everything biological, specifically human bodies 
in order to solve medical problems. 
We're using engineering principles to nail them down. 
From the fundamentals of precision, consistency, accuracy, control 
to the advancement of machines, programming, signal processing, 
even communication and systems design. 
Everything is considered. 

At a glance from the surface 
Any other engineering student, specifically electronics 
may find similarities with my course. 
"Then, what makes the difference?" 
In my opinion, it's the cross-overs! 
One may say that any pure medical doctors 
or intrinsic electronic engineers can do pretty much the same. 
But, I tell you, as you go deeper 
You shall find plenty of intersections within these fields 
that there IS a need for a hybrid course. 
Ever heard of biomaterials, biomechanics 
or even bioinstrumentation? Artificial organs, at least? 
That's where we REALLY jumped in. 
Plus, to be resource-wise 
why hire an electronic engineer and a medical doctor 
when you can hire a biomedical engineer that can do both jobs? 
Hewhewhew. 
Of course, these two professions may stay with their basic jobs. 
But for something that is much more specific and inter-connected, 
biomedical engineers would do better, IMO 
or probably biomedical electronic engineers.. 
since I'm studying BEE which is quite a specialization of BME.. 
I don't have a good picture of what BME is.. 
maybe it's just biomedical engineering w/o electronics? 
I wouldn't be 100% sure. 
One thing for sure, if BEE itself is quite broad 
then BME should, and would be even broader, the scope. 

Anyhow, in the context of job demands, it is undeniable 
that with currently only four local and one private higher institutions 
offering this course, the demand is still.. 
low, if not negligible. 
The job specification is more technician-like 
and pretty similar to an electronic engineer, 
for a degree graduate. 
Kalau beza pun mungkin sebab kerja hospital 
tapi boleh je kerja kilang kalau mau
However, another assurance here, that the field is growing. 
Why? 
Because of the research. 
Yeah, the stronghold of the field is in the research 
and credits to these researches and researchers, lol 
the growth is positively stable, if not directly proportional 
Even the degree graduates now can get a handsome paycheck 
after some experience, probably a year or two. 
It is considered a good progress 
for a field that has just established, though. 

So...what now? It's pretty easy. 
If you're a prospective degree student looking for fast money, 
you might want to go for another course at the moment. 
If you're a school student, take it easy & continue enjoying school life. 
The field may have been established, on par with other fields 
by the time you're looking for a major to take, years later. 
If you're pretty interested in research, this one's a cool stuff 
or maybe you're in a same boat as me? 
Feels too good to let go off physics and biology from pre-U studies? 
This course is also a good answer to that. 
I tried to keep this less technical, so no curriculum structure inserted 
unless by response, okay? 
I'll leave you guys with relevant videos. 
Whatever you're doing 
keep enjoying life 
and forget the Lord, not. ^_^ 
Till then, assalamualaikum! 

P/S: Currently postponing, posting my progress of le mission, 
since I decide to go for a more significant progress 
before posting new things. 
Pray for me!
   





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