Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: BIOENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS

Department: Bioengineering

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): BIOE 252 AND MATH 212 or permission of instructor

Description: This course will be a mathematically rigorous and quantitative coverage of the fundamentals of thermodynamics with applications drawn from contemporary bioengineering problems. Fundamental topics will include the First and Second Law, Entropy Inequality, Biggs and Helmholtz Free Energy, Maxwell Relations, Chemical Potential, Equilibrium, Phase Transitions, Solution Thermodynamics, Electrochemistry and Statistical Mechanics. Advanced topics will include self-assembly, the hydrophobic effect, interfacial phenomena, polymer and membrane phase transitions, membrane transport, electromechanically coupling and on-equilibrium thermodynamics. The course will cover the role that thermodynamics plays in molecular engineering and the design of biologically-inspired materials.