This is one of the qualitative course which i took in this semester. I would like to evaluate myself From being a naive to Industrial exposure to basic knowledge holder after learning from this course. The main thing i like about this course is it start from the scratch, no prerequisites.Secondly, the well arranged structure of the course was more impressive. The final project work will definitely help all of us to enhance the experience of real industrial world.

Dr. Simon,

As some others have said, when I first enrolled in the course, I thought I was going to learn about the theory of developing medical devices and the technological knowledge that is required to do that. However, I was pleasantly surprised when it was more about the implementation of medical devices and the business side of things. I personally liked to learn about that because a lot of what was taught can be applied to fields outside of medical device companies. Through this course, I was able to learn some basics about how a company operates and the intricate paths one has to navigate in order to put out a working product into the market. To me, this felt more like a business class than a BME class, which I think is great because I have no industry experience. In terms of improvements, perhaps giving students an option between forum posts and online assessments (short quizzes) may help some to internalize the week's lectures. For me personally, I felt like I learned and understood the week's materials when I finished the lectures and forum posts, however I realized I had to refer back to the slides afterwards because I had forgotten some information. Perhaps short quizzes would be a way to help students retain the information better.

- Saad Ali

Maybe "Medical Device Production" or something along those lines, perhaps to make it clearer this is more about the business aspect of putting a medical device on the market versus the actual engineering of the device?

- Saad Ali

I believe the medical device development course was a great way to give exposure to the industry side of things. I think classes similar to this give the best real life experience in the work field because they are actually applicable. You are definitely more prepared for the real world after taking this course. Also, as someone who is currently working in the industry I can see many parallels in what was taught throughout the class, and I can draw things from experience. Conversely, I was able to learn more in fields such as regulator or manufacturing that I did not know before, because I was strictly in the R&D silo. As another student had mentioned, it would be interesting to see the other projects that were discussed within the class, when handing in the final project of all the documents in the DHF.

As several people have mentioned I also was expecting the course to be more about specific medical devices rather than the whole industry process. However, I still really enjoyed this class and think it will be greatly beneficial for me going forward. As I am an undergraduate student, this is the first class I have taken that has stressed not only real world applications but explained the possible career paths which is essential for any student. This has helped me establish all of the possibilities when I graduate and helped eliminate some jobs I can't see myself pursuing. Although online classes are sometimes more convenient, I believe they sometimes make it harder to get the most out of the class. I enjoyed the freedom and the collaboration of the discussions but I believe including short quizzes or assignments as well would help to better retain all the information this course has to offer.

Dr Simon,

At the beginning of the semester, I was not sure if I was going to stay in the class due to having so many courses this semester. But as the lectures started, I understood that this course is not a typical one. I never knew how the Industry works because I am still an undergraduate student. However, whenever I go to job interviews in the future, I will be able to talk freely with the interviewers about most of the matters that arise in the market. Thank you for creating this course, believe me that I have learned way more in this class than any other. Now I know what part of the Industry I want to pursue when I'm done with school.

Sincerely,
Roberto Pineda.

Hello Dr. Simon,

I really enjoyed this course. In fact, it was probably the most useful course I have taken at NJIT, only because it is the only course explaining what the different career options are for BME students and helps them explore those options to get a feel of what they like and don't like. Because of this course, I now have a better idea of what career path I want to take after I graduate and what certifications I need to reach that career path. I only wish that professors explained what industry is like and incorporate that to the courses they teach. I feel that it is very important and we do not stress it enough unfortunately, neither for undergrads or grad students. If given the chance to come back to NJIT (after graduating with my Bachelor's in December), I would love to take your other courses! Thank you so much, I definitely learned a lot from you and it was a pleasure taking your course.

-Zohour Hassan

Dr. Simon,
As most have mentioned above, what is really great about these courses is how it provides a glimpse of student with no work experience with a preview of what are some of the engineering aspects to expect in the industry. And even though I have taken the previous online courses like Orthopedic Medical Devices and the project management course, my favorite part of this course it turning the entire group of students into one massive matrix organization which mimics the structure of large pharma companies. In addition, also exposing the students to the various documentation that are constantly used in the industry to get a medical device into the market.

Dr. Simon,
There are two things that I really liked about this course. One is that it gives a good understanding of each department in medical device industries. So, this way student taking this course can decide which department is more suitable for them. I personally would not enjoy working as QA or clinical. Secondly, I like the idea of how the final project is constructed. You are forced think of the class as a company working on different projects and students are the employees. This way people with no experience can get an idea of how it is like to work in real world medical device industry.

I learned a lot about the medical device industry in this class. At the beginning I was a little scared because I finished my B.S in Chemical Engineering and currently I am working on my M.S in Mechanical Engineering. So, this class was also a little experimental. I wanted to see what’s happening in the Bio-medical industry. Actually, I am happy that people from other majors were not disadvantage in this course. I like the idea of the project and that you pointed out that we have to stick with the departments. Overall, I believe that it’s very interesting class and no big changes are required.

Thanks

When I sign for this class I wasn’t sure what was about, but I am happy I took it because it allows me to learn different type of work you can do in the medical device industry. With the knowledge I have gather from this whole semester I am more clear to which position are available in the medical device industry. I have enjoyed so much the lecture allows me to learn and able to hopefully apply what I have learn when I get into the position I enjoy the most. This class wasn’t just memorizing something and take a test, it allows me to understand and see what I like and what I don’t like and a lot of classes they don’t teach you this. A lot of my confusion have been clear and now I know what I need to look and what I like doing.

I was definitely opened up to what the medical device industry is like. I don't regret taking this course as one of my electives for mechanical engineering. Although there were points that were hard to relate, I was able to grasp many concepts that I can relate to my industry. The only thing that I can point out that I didn't like as much was having most of the semester being theory and a small part of it being the project. I can't really suggest any other way of doing it, but personally, I prefer doing more hands on assignments instead of a lot of reading/listening.

This course provides valuable insight to what is expected in the medical device industry. As someone who has taken all of Dr. Simons courses I can honestly say these courses prepares you for almost every little situation, no matter department or positon. The group studies, although made up, embody real stations that arise and allow you to work with a team to troubleshoot and solve. This course specifically is a great foundation. It teaches you all the basics without being overly hands on. The material is comprehensive and an easy listen. I also always enjoyed the interactions between the diverse class of students, it’s always good to look at something from another’s perspective. All in all I truly learned a lot about what I think I want to do and the medical device industry.

Dr. Simon,

This course has been one of the most informative that I've taken. It truly shows you different job roles that a Biomedical Engineer can occupy in industry. When I pictured what a Biomedical Engineer did at work, I never thought of a lot of these jobs. It was extremely insightful to learn about them. Information wise, I believe this course tells you everything you need to know. Interacting with my classmates and sharing our opinions about certain topics was extremely enjoyable. One potential improvement I would suggest is assigning the group project at an earlier date. However, given the nature of the course and how many different roles we needed to learn about, I understand why it was assigned near the end of the semester. One cannot pick a role for himself or herself without knowing what the job entails.

Best,
Murad Elias

I really enjoyed this course. As a student of BME, I find classes in this field do not translate itself to industry all that well. Classes seem more geared toward the functionality of medical devices. Yes, this is certainly important, but definitely not enough since most students move into industry after graduation rather than academia. As an aside, isn't it kind of interesting that we are all familiar with lab reports but not Validation/Verification protocols?
In this class, we have seen various documents and templates that are used in many departments within industry. I know this personally helped to learn more about departments I haven't had the chance of working for. After this class, I feel more zeroed in on departments within industry that I would like to pursue in the future.
My only gripe is that the project was not assigned much earlier. I believe working on the project throughout the semester would have reinforced topics a bit more especially when it correlates with the department of emphasis for the week.