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Disclaimer—This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This paper is
based on publicly available information and may not provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used for
any purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students
at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at his or her own risk.
ENGINEERING AND ME: WHY I WANT TO BE A BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER
Arash Mahboobin ([email protected]) and Beth Bateman Newborg ([email protected])
INTRODUCTION: BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING IS THE FIELD FOR ME
The infamous question, “What do you want to be
when you grow up?” tends to be an intimidating
question for most people, but for me it always came
easily. From a young age, I had a desire to be in the
medical field and becoming a biomedical engineer
through the Swanson School of Engineering places me
one step closer towards achieving this goal. This
career utilizes the concepts of math, biology, and
physics to make a positive impact on people’s lives
every day. Engineers can take an idea from someone’s
imagination and transform it to become a reality.
Engineers have so many projects and options they can
explore because there is always a need for
improvement in the world. These are the reasons
which have reaffirmed my belief that becoming a
biomedical engineer is the right choice for me. I am
able to utilize my strengths and pursue my passions
while improving the lives of others.
WHO AM I
Growing up, the importance of service was stressed
constantly. It began as something I was forced to do, and
originally, I looked at my service as tedious and
unimportant work because I would never see the impact
of the time I invested. Although with time and maturity,
it became something that I was passionate about because
I realized the difference I could be making. The turning
point that remodeled by opinion of service occurred in
the spring of my freshman year when I volunteered to
help disabled youths play baseball. Almost every Sunday
afternoon at the community baseball park, my duty was
to guide young adolescents to the bases and aid them in
hitting the ball into the field. Being able to witness
disabled kids light up over achieving the simplest of
tasks was an experience that I will hold in my heart for
the rest of my life. I was constantly inspired by the strong
families with the strength to endure any hardships with
love and optimism. Every child’s smile or laugh was
contagious, and each interaction brought me an
unexplainable joy. Service gave me a sense of
appreciation for the people and materials I have available
to me and the cultivation that I was often sheltered from
in my daily life at a private school. Service is something
that is extremely important to me, so looking for a
meaningful career that provides my life with a sense of
purpose, that I often received while volunteering, is
crucial for me.
There are numerous careers of service that I could
have chosen from, but I needed a career that was
compatible with my interests and strengths. Math and
science have always been subjects that I have exceled in
since grade school. I have always found a specific
interest in anatomy, and I realized how passionate I was
about it when I got to dissect a cat in high school. Every
time I stepped into the lab, I was eager to learn more
about the anatomy of the cat and make a tangible
connection from the information I learned in my
textbook to a real life organism. There was new and
compelling knowledge that I could acquire every day
which kept me engaged in the class.
I enjoy the simplistic facts and solutions of math
and science. I despise problems where there are multiple
answers, and it is based on the interpretation of the
scenario. I vividly recall one English class in high school
where we spent forty-five minutes debating whether
Hamlet was insane or not. I remember being so frustrated
because a case could be made for both sides, and anyone
could be right as long as there were concrete examples
to prove their opinion. I find gray areas to be peevish
because I realized that it often turns into heated debates
where both sides of the argument can be seen as correct.
Math and science are different. You are simply right or
wrong and there is rarely room for debate. I would
categorize myself as a logical thinker, so solutions often
having an indisputable answer involving numbers or
coming to conclusions based on facts and data is the most
comprehensive reasoning for me.
Solving problems by trying new angles and
confronting the problem with a fresh and new
perspective has drawn me to the engineering field.
Curiosity of knowing how a machine works or how an
organ functions is what keeps me motivated to continue
my education at the Swanson School of Engineering.
When I set my mind to solving a problem, I am
determined to complete the task or at least obtain a
deeper understanding of the problem. With curiosity
University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering 1
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Reiley Cotter
comes determination. This quality is necessary to
achieve anything in life and I try to display this
characteristic in every aspect of my life, especially
educationally. Life has thrown so many obstacles in my
way, and from experience, I have realized that
determination is the only trait that will push through all
of the turmoil that lies ahead. One prominent memory
that I always reflect on is when I had internal bleeding in
my left eye from an accident that occurred in a soccer
game. I was bedridden for three weeks, and the doctors
told me that it was in my best interest to never play
soccer again due to the severity of the case. I
contemplated over the advice of the doctor for a while
and decided that this accident was not going to be the
reason why I should end my career as an athlete. When I
was finally cleared by the doctor three months later, I
stepped backed onto the field with the mentality of a
warrior and with no fear of failure or injury. My senior
year I finished soccer on my own terms to undertake new
opportunities that were presented to me. These
opportunities have given me a chance to grow and
become more well-rounded and highly adaptable.
Having options has always been beneficial for me
because it has kept me constantly interested in a new
challenge at hand.
engineering [3]. This variety of specialization accessible
to me allows me to be able to change courses
conveniently and focus on a new challenge while
remaining within the field of bioengineering. Through
transitioning to new projects, I will become more
knowledgeable and hopefully make a larger impact in the
medical field. A specific area of biomedical engineering,
that is currently calling my name, is tissue regeneration.
It focuses directly with the anatomy of the human body
including their tissue and organs, which is the subject
that has always stimulated my curiosity. As described by
Developmental Biology Interactive, the goal of tissue
regeneration is to restore and improve damaged tissues
and organs by using cells in a laboratory with the overall
goal to provide cures rather than treatments to diseases,
genetic mutations, and injuries [4]. The National
Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
explains that this is done by harvesting cells from the
patient or developing stem cells and introducing them to
a scaffold, which is an artificial structure on which the
cells can grow [5]. This field of engineering is just
beginning to flourish and the potential of what this
technology can do is limitless. The possibility of being
able to create a heart or lung from a tissue sample of a
patient to save their life rather than having to wait on the
donor list would be an astonishing achievement to attain.
Observing the impact your making in other
people’s lives and knowing that a difference is being
made is one of the main reasons why the biomedical
engineering field is the right choice for me. A big motto
that I received from S. Lee Carson at the Career
Conference was to evaluate your life to get an
understanding of who you truly are and then take the
qualities that you can contribute to the world to do
something that you love [6]. Ben Ewing, who was the
bioengineering guest speaker, was describing
bioengineering as a major that assists people on a daily
basis in the medical field where there is a lot of
opportunity to grow and thrive [7]. These messages
reaffirmed my belief that biomedical engineering is the
career choice for me. Being able to say that a person is
alive because of what I do is all the motivation I need to
get me through each day and stay devoted to my work.
Biomedical engineering and I are complimentary
because it provides me with the necessary things I find
important in a career, while I provide the field with my
strengths and determination to make a difference.
WHAT REALLY GOES ON IN
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING: HOW IS
WHAT REALLY GOES ON IN
BIOOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
RELEVANT TO ME?
The University of Auckland defines the general
career of a biomedical engineer as taking engineering
skills and apply it to biological and medical problems of
our world. They integrate the concepts of anatomy to
construct innovative technology to improve the health
and well-being of others [1]. As listed in the
Occupational Outlook Handbook, important qualities
needed to be a biomedical engineer are analytical skills,
math skills, creativity, and problem-solving skills, which
are all skills that I can consider my strengths [2]. A career
that highlights your best qualities is extremely important
when deciding what major to pursue. Biomedical
engineering is a newly developing field which means
being able to delve into the unknown to cultivate cuttingedge technology. This appeals to my interest because I
am able to utilize my creativity and problem-solving
skills to think outside the box and find new, possible
advancements.
The options that are available within the field of
biomedical engineering are endless. As stated within the
Catholic University of America website, there is
bioinstrumentation, biomechanics, biomaterials, systems
physiology, clinical engineering, and rehabilitation
CONCLUSION: YES, I AM WHERE I
SHOULD BE
This research has reaffirmed my hypothesis that
becoming a biomedical engineer is the right career
choice for me. It provides me with the potential I need to
fulfill my goal to make a noticeable impact in the lives
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Reiley Cotter
of others by utilizing my talents of problem-solving,
creativity, and determination. The bioengineering field
opens the doors to numerous opportunities that can be
explored. Through this field, I am able to work closely
with the concepts of anatomy, specifically used in the
area of tissue regeneration. Within the next ten years I
hope to be graduated from the University of Pittsburgh
Swanson School of Engineering and working in a
research lab to develop a functional heart for a patient in
need or striving to graduate from a prestigious medical
school.
you for assisting me when I was in need of help and
criticizing my paper when it needed to be revised.
SOURCES
[1] “Why study Biomedical Engineering?” The
University of Auckland Engineering. 2016. Accessed
10.2.2016
http://www.des.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/futureundergraduates/fu-study-options/why-studybiomedical-engineering.html
[2] “How to Become a Biomedical Engineer.”
Occupational Outlook Handbook. 12.17.2015. Accessed
10.2.2016
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-andengineering/biomedical-engineers.htm#tab-4
[3] “What are the Specialization Areas?” The Catholic
University of America. 7.8.2011. Accessed 10.2.2016
http://biomedical.cua.edu/overview/specialty.cfm
[4] “Tissue Regeneration in Humans.” Developmental
Biology Interactive. 2013. Accessed 10.2.2016.
http://www.devbio.biology.gatech.edu/?page_id=3177
[5] “Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.”
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering
https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/sciencetopics/tissue-engineering-and-regenerative-medicine
[6] S. Carson. Keynote Talk. University of Pittsburgh
Swanson School of Engineering First-Year Career
Conference. 9.24.2016
[7] B. Ewing. Bioengineering Talk. University of
Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering First-Year
Career Conference. 9.24.2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express a special thank you to my
parents, Michael and Andrea Cotter, who encouraged me
to aim for the stars. With your constant support, I have
no fear in working to achieve my goals because I will
always have the both of you to fall back on when I am in
need of a push. Thank you for forcing me to do my best
so one day I can possibly reach my full potential.
A special thank you to my roommate Lyndsay Cox
for keeping me focused while writing this paper. Thank
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