Courses Programs - Thayer School of Engineering - Dartmouth ...

graduate courses
ENGG 163 Protein Engineering
Offered: 11W, 12W: 10
During the previous two decades, breakthroughs in molecular biology and biotechnology
have opened the door to an entirely new discipline focused on nanoscale
engineering of highly functional biomolecules. Only in the last 15 years have technically
advanced approaches to protein engineering been developed and leveraged
in solving practical, real-world problems. Looking to the near future, our ability to
create new biomolecular structures with enhanced functional properties will be a
powerful means of addressing key technical challenges relating to a diversity of
contemporary issues including environmentally friendly and cost efficient production
of consumer goods and fuels, waste remediation, and development of therapies for
debilitating human diseases. A brief review of key biochemical principles will touch
on concepts such as the central dogma of biology, atomic scale forces at work in
protein structures, and the relationship between protein structure and function.
Strategies for protein structure modification will then be surveyed, with a particular
emphasis on genetic approaches. These discussions will culminate with a detailed
examination of evolutionary engineering algorithms that represent state of the art
technologies for protein design. The development of proteins with practical utility
will be highlighted throughout the term using examples and case studies taken from
the current literature.
Prerequisties: One from ENGS 35 or 160 AND one from CHEM 5 or 10 (Note: one from
CHEM 51 or 57 is preferred). Alternatively, students may have one from CHEM 41 or
BIOC 101. Equivalent courses accepted with instructor’s permission.
Instructor: Griswold
ENGS 164 Cellular and Molecular Biomechanics
Offered alternate years: 12W: 2A
A graduate section of ENGS 64 involving a project and additional class meetings.
Not open to students who have taken ENGS 64.
Prerequisites: ENGS 30 or equivalent, ENGS 33 or 34 or equivalent
Instructor: Staff
ENGS 165 Biomaterials
Offered alternate years (not offered 2011–2012): 13S: arrange
Consideration of material problems is perhaps one of the most important aspects
of prosthetic implant design. The effects of the implant material on the biological
system as well as the effect of the biological environment on the implant must be
considered. In this regard, biomaterial problems and the bioelectrical control systems
regulating tissue responses to cardiovascular and orthopedic implants will be discussed.
Examples of prosthetic devices currently being used and new developments
of materials appropriate for future use in implantation will be taken from the literature.
Prerequisite: ENGS 24 or equivalent
Instructor: Staff
ENGG 166 Physiology for Bioengineers
(Can be used by undergraduates for A.B. course count only)
Offered: 11W, 12W: 10A
This course is an introduction to physiological principles and concepts necessary
for understanding basic regulatory phenomena and the pathophysiology of disease
in living organisms. An analytical approach will be emphasized and terminology
essential for understanding and describing these processes will be developed. The
course will include some aspects of cellular biology, excitable tissue phenomena,
cardiopulmonary and renal physiology, and neuroendocrine regulation of some of
these processes.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
Instructor: Diamond
101