In her final blog post, recent ME graduate and MechSE communications writer Amanda Maher (BSME ’20) shares her experience taking ME 482 (Experimental Tissue Mechanics) last year.
Professor Amy Wagoner Johnson developed the course in 2007, and she said it has evolved a great deal since then. She initially wanted to create a course that exposed students to hands-on work that the MechSE curriculum did not focus on at the time. The format of the class in recent years has included lectures on the core content and, instead of traditional written exams, we had oral exams led by Professor Wagoner Johnson. We conducted a literature review focused on technical writing skills in which we each selected a disease that affects the mechanical properties of living tissue and prepared several technical reviews, and eventually, a final report and presentation. In addition, there were computation-based homework assignments to round out the course.
Some of the most compelling components of the class, in my opinion, were the labs. Two labs covered classic tissue mechanics material testing methods—unconfined compression of articular cartilage and three-point bending tests of wet and dry mouse tibia. Two other labs involved cutting-edge testing methods for tissue mechanics—second harmonic generation imaging of pig tendon, and nanoindentation of articular cartilage. I was amazed by the modifications that were made to traditional material testing methods and equipment that allowed for effective testing of tissue on such a small scale.
This course pushed me to grow in technical areas that I previously did not have great exposure to. Professor Wagoner Johnson gives oral exams, and they will probably be unlike any engineering exam you’ve experienced before. However, she was kind and supportive through the entire process, and it offered a unique opportunity to present my technical knowledge instead of writing or solving problems. In addition, the technical literature review challenged all of us to work on our technical writing skills. She gave us advice on how to effectively communicate dense technical information. She gave us pointers to sharpen our skills and honest feedback that ultimately allowed us to improve. My technical communication did improve as a result of the honest rigor of this project. As a result, I know quite a bit more about the mechanical properties of tendon and the promising future of physical therapy routines that can be developed for tendinopathy.
I continue to be fascinated by the study of biomechanics. One of the joys of studying mechanical engineering has been the chance to see the principles of mechanics everywhere in the world around us. The living tissues in our bodies are structured in ways that optimize their mechanical properties, and that’s incredible!
As a side note, I’d like to take a moment to recognize the incredible research Zach and Amir are working on. Zack’s graduate research is to examine the growth and differentiation of stem cells into bone cells and protein-covered micro islands to find the minimum size needed to form bone mineral. His work will guide the design of artificial bone replacements. Amir’s research uses correlations between nanoindentation, second harmonic generation images, and quantitative ultrasound measurements of cervical remodeling. The objective of his research is to better understand cervical mechanobiology with the intent of better understanding what causes preterm birth. Both projects are paving the way for greater understanding of the mechanical function of our bodies, and I am very excited to see what they will find.