University: The University of Western Australia

Degree: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Biomedical Engineering

School Subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics Methods, Mathematics Specialist, Music, Literature

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Having always enjoyed maths and sciences, I gravitated towards STEM-heavy ATAR subjects. Despite this, I was (like many others) unsure of what I wanted to do at university. What helped guide me was asking teachers, many of whom said I would enjoy studying engineering. However, the next question that arose was which major of engineering to choose, as it is such a diverse field. I chose Biomedical Engineering as my physics teacher said medical physics would be good for the future (plus it also sounded interesting to study), so here we are. In this blog, I will outline my experiences with Biomedical Engineering so far.

Content

As with all engineering majors, the major-specific units don’t come around until the 2nd or 3rd year. The first two years are predominantly focused on learning basic physics, maths, and coding that the majority of engineers need to know. These physics and maths units are extensions of what you’ll learn from Specialist and Methods ATAR, as you’ll dive into new topics such as Multivariable Calculus – MATH1011. That being said, if you didn’t complete Specialist ATAR, don’t feel that you’re doomed for university-level maths. From talking with others, the bridging units cover the content well, so don’t feel that you are at a disadvantage. The coding in these earlier units isn’t as intense as in other majors, so if you don’t have a strong background in coding, I wouldn’t fret. There is a little chemistry involved, but it’s usually paired with physics.

As the name hints at, there are biology-related units within these first two years. My friends who did Human Biology ATAR said that these units were essentially an extension of Human Biology ATAR, so it would’ve helped a lot if I had done it in high school. Luckily, it is definitely not necessary; it just means the first few weeks are a bit rougher, as you’ll be exposed to new content and will have to try out new study techniques. Biology units lean more on memorisation over rote learning.

A common theme among UWA engineering majors is that sometimes the first two years of your degree can feel disjointed and aimless. However, once you push past these two years, you’ll begin to do your major-specific units, which means I’ll be studying units that will combine everything I’ve learnt into actual Biomedical Engineering applications, which sounds interesting.

Practical vs Theory

A dogma that you may hear in high school about engineering is that UWA engineering is more theory-heavy, whereas at Curtin, it is more practical. For Biomedical Engineering at UWA, I have found it to be very theory-based. I would estimate it to be 75% theory and 25% practical, with the practical components only coming in later years.

That said, UWA engineering definitely does have practical components. Every engineering major has to do a weeklong workshop every year. These are purely practical, but in truth, I found the 1st-year one not as engaging, as it was a repeat of what you do in one of your units. The 2nd-year workshop was much better and had more interactive moments.

Placement Hours/Advice for Students

The Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) degree is four years, comprising three years of learning and one year of further learning and research. An aspect of graduating from this degree is a required 300 work placement hours and 150 volunteer work hours. The hours are flexible; you can do 450 work placement hours and no volunteer work. However, 300 of these 450 hours must be engineering-related work hours.

Although students can feel stressed about finding work experience and internships to complete these required hours, I’d recommend trying not to worry about them until late second year or the beginning of third year. Engineering is a very competitive degree, so it’s very hard to get in early. In fact, I’d recommend crossing off some of those volunteer hours through university clubs.

Another tip I would have for prospective Biomedical Engineering students is to spend time finding your fellow classmates and building relationships with them. As the cohort is relatively small, the classes you’ll have in 3rd and 4th year will be smaller, so you will see familiar faces often. Having a healthy rapport with people going through similar things to you and working together with them will be a lifesaver in tough university moments and is a chance to build lifelong connections.