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The backbone of my teaching philosophy is the understanding of fundamental concepts and the development of student capacity to apply fundamentals to specific and complex problems. These principles are also the core in developing a strong, active research program. I have found that to achieve this environment for students, an instructor/mentor must first organize and explain fundamental material in ways that are appropriate to students’ abilities. This requires the instructor to have a thorough understanding of the material and the capacity to gauge student backgrounds and present topics with appropriate complexity, methods, and expectations. Second, create an environment for learning. An environment that encourages learning is a must. To do so it is essential to have a strong rapport with students as well as foster student collaboration and active learning from each other-achieved by group learning exercises, thoughtful feedback on assignments, and class discussions. Third, help students to become self-motivated learners. Present material in a way that students can develop their own connections to the subject matter. Relate teaching material to appropriate contemporary and historical context.  Lastly an instructor must constantly reflect and evaluate. Establish and maintain a level of constructive interaction with other faculty, students, and support staff. The following are pedagogical modifications and incorporations of research themes that I have used in my MTU courses:

  1. Link material to broader community: Active lectures supplemented by current research events either through print media examples or assigned primary literature.
  2. Develop technical writing skill: One-page critique of primary literature and student posed discussion questions.
  3. Engagement and team building: Direct engagement of students with questions regarding current material-incorporate discussion material into course evaluation.
  4. Accountability and redefining expectations: Incorporate self-evaluation into course grade. Each student grades their own work and must compare their evaluation with mine as part of course exit interview.


Classes Taught:

Cardiovascular Engineering (BE4510): This course has been developed as an advanced course pulling together elements of fluid mechanics, biomaterials, and cell-molecular biology to present students with primary literature focusing on cardiovascular advancements in bioengineering.  

Biomedical Materials (BE3500): This course reinforces student understanding of core materials principles and their application toward developing targeted biomaterials- surface, bulk, and degradation behavior. It is also a first course in teaching students the basic mechanisms of the host response.

Human Biomechanics (BE3750): This course was developed while the department was still teaching biomechanics twice a year. The curriculum has been changed and it is offered only one semester each year. The text used was based on a previously established course in the department           

Industrial and Clinical Considerations (BE4930): This course covers many of the practical issues that are of concern to biomedical engineers both in academia and industry. We build a foundation in ethics and then attempt to apply these concepts to understand the history and future of biomedical






Contact Us: Rupak Rajachar, PhD |  rupakr@mtu.edu  |  906-487-1129  |   330 M&M Building  |