Undergraduate Program Handbook

What is Biomedical Engineering?

Biomedical engineering is an emerging multidisciplinary field that involves the application of state-of-the-art technology to the creation of methodologies and devices for human welfare and for a better understanding of human biological processes. It includes the study of medical instrumentation, bioinformatics, biomechanics, regenerative medicine and biotechnology, and it requires expertise in applied and basic sciences as well as engineering.

School of Biomedical Engineering (BME)

The BME-IU Department at International University (IU) of Vietnam National Universities in Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) was created in March 2009 by Professor Võ Văn Tới, Emeritus Professor at Tufts University, USA and a former Executive Director of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), USA. He had been Department Chair until November 2018 when he was promoted to the University Vice-Provost to be in charge of the development of the Life and Health Science, Engineering and Technology for the University. The current Chair is Dr. Nguyễn Thị Hiệp, graduated from SoonChunHyang University, Korea and the Vice-Chair is Dr. Ngô Thanh Hoàn, graduated from Duke University, USA. In 2019, the BME Department became the School of BME.

The vision of the BME School is to promote integrative research, education and entrepreneurship at the forefront of biomedical science and engineering.

The motto of our School is: high quality, sustainability and usefulness.

BME Programs

The School offers the following programs:

1. A 4 year Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree. The first cohort entered in 2010 and up to this point in time more than 150 students have graduated.
2. An undergraduate double degree.
3. A 1.5 year Master of Engineering (ME) degree. The first cohort entered 2013 and up to this point in time near 20 students have graduated.
4. A 3-4 year Ph.D. degree.
5. A combined 5 year BS-MS degree.

Program Educational Objectives

For the graduates of the Bachelor of Engineering in BME (BE-BME) program, the School aims towards three program educational objectives:

• Be successful in solving problems in a quantitative and systematic fashion, based on biomedical engineering knowledge and multidisciplinary perspectives;
• Continuously expand their knowledge, be creative and innovative in their contributions to the field of biomedical engineering;
• Perform in an ethical and professional manner; carry this out at the highest levels in public and private sectors.

Student Outcomes:

To realize the Program Educational Objectives, the School targets the following 11 outcomes for BME undergraduate students to achieve by their graduation.  The student outcomes of the program follow the guidance recommended by ABET Accreditation Organization for a BE-BME program and demands of BME in Vietnam:

1. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to solve biomedical engineering problems
2. An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret biomedical and health data
3. An ability to design a biomedical engineering system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability
4. An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
5. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve biomedical engineering problems
6. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility in the practice of biomedical engineering
7. An ability to have effective oral and written communication
8. The broad education necessary to understand the impact of biomedical engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context
9. A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
10. A knowledge of contemporary issues related to health and biomedical engineering
11. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for biomedical engineering practice.

AUN Assessment

In December 2015, the BE-BME program at IU was accredited by ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUN-QA). This is the first and the only BME program in Vietnam that was accredited by AUN. Further, this program obtained the highest score ever received by any programs in Vietnam that had been assessed by AUN and was placed second in AUN at that time.

AUN is a network of 30 top universities of 10 ASEAN countries. The AUN’s strategic focus built on those identified by ASEAN to facilitate regional cooperation.

ABET Accreditation

The BE-BME program has been accredited by ABET since October 2017, a recognized U.S.-based accreditor of college and university programs. ABET accreditation provides assurance that a college or university program meets the quality standards of the profession for which that program prepares graduates. To date, 4,005 programs at 793 colleges and universities in 32 countries have received ABET accreditation. Students graduated from a program accredited by ABET will be well received by other universities as well as industry not only in the US but also in the world.

Because the BE-BME program at IU obtained AUN-QA and ABET, BE-BME graduates have the privilege to be accepted to the BME Master’s degree program with favorite conditions.

Complete information of the BE-BME program is described in detail in the document “BME Academic Curriculum”, disseminated on the School website bme.hcmiu.edu.vn under the menu Education-Undergraduate. This present handout summarizes important information of the BE-BME curriculum to help academic advisors and students to plan and keep track of the student’s progress. It is also disseminated on the same website above. It is edited in a handy format and is very personal. Student must take it alongside at all time, especially when he/she meets and discusses with the academic advisor. This handout is divided into different sections:

1. BME Undergraduate Course List (page 6-8): To keep track of the breadth and depth of the program, the courses which have common goals are regrouped into clusters. Each course is listed with its code, the semester it is offered, the courses required before taking it (pre-requisite), its outcomes according to ABET, etc. By perusing this part, students will know of the courses they will take during their 4 years’ study and can plan ahead of time.  
2. Roadmap of BME Curriculum (page 10): This chart highlights a typical sequential path of the courses of the program semester per semester. This information allows students to picture the relationship among the courses in the timing order. Note that the curriculum is credit based, i.e., students can choose the courses to take for each semester; therefore they can build their own roadmap after consulting their academic advisors. The regular duration of the BE-BME program is 4 years. It is important to observe this duration. With special permission of IU administration, this time can be extent up to 6 years maximum.
3. Program Orientations (page 11): This part lists all orientations of the program and describes their goals, thus allowing students to determine the most interesting one for them.
4. Learning Schedules (page 12-16): This chart lists all courses a typical student will take based on the level of English determined at the Placement Test this student took when he/she was admitted to the University such as AE1, IE2 and IE1. This allows the students to plan specific courses they have to take semester by semester for the entire 4 years and adjust, if necessary.
5. BME Undergraduate Program’s Degree Checklist (page 17-18): This table lists all the courses a student has taken. This is a very important document. Students must keep it updated and show to the academic advisor before they register for courses of the following semester so that the advisor can help students to select appropriate courses according to their progress.  
6. Requirements for graduation and academic awards (page 19): This part helps students check their fulfilment to all requirements for graduation and conditions for awards.
7. Advisor’s Comments (page 20): This part records the advisor’s comments and recommendations to student’s performance for each semester.
8. Course Descriptions (page 21): This part lists all courses of the program in alphabetical order (based on their codes) and briefly describes their contents.

Note: Information in this handout can be changed. Therefore please check with the secretary of the School or your academic advisor for more updated information.

The BME program consists of 5 orientations:

1. Medical Instrumentation focusing on the telemedicine, and the design of homecare devices for outpatients and advanced medical equipment providing rapid, automated and reliable diagnostics for healthcare professionals to satisfy the great and urgent needs of the country, and to bring synergy between traditional engineering technologies, the life sciences and medicine.
2. Biomedical Signal and Image Processing focusing on the applications of medical devices and developments of new research methodologies and algorithms to investigate human biological processes and provide an early detection of diseases.
3. Pharmaceutical Engineering focusing on the investigations of the mechanism of drug delivery using nanotechnology to enhance the efficacy of the treatment of tumors and the imaging diagnostics as well as the development of new drug delivery devices.
4. Tissue Engineering and Regenerative in Medicine focusing on the development of new biological and bioinductive materials, and the use of stem cells to repair or replace damaged tissues and organs and to use in biological implants.
5. Entrepreneurship in Biomedical Engineering focusing on the developments of clinical engineering and practice of effective methods to bring into the market medical devices newly developed in academic laboratories, to build a medical device industry appropriate for Vietnam and developing countries, and to manage healthcare settings.

Notes:

1. During the first 2 years all students take the same courses; from the 3^rd year students choose their own orientations and take related courses.
2. For a students, to know which orientation is appropriate for you, discuss with your academic advisor, other faculty members and upper level students. Visit different Department labs on your own to see what people are doing in there.
3. In the BME curriculum, Project 1 and Project 2 courses are designed for students to explore the nature of those orientations. These courses are project-based and individual, and taught by instructors of different orientations. Therefore, after taking these courses a student may be able to identify the appropriate orientation and the instructor for the pre-thesis and thesis. These courses can be taken simultaneously in the same semester. However, the topic in each course must be different.
4. For each orientation, students can take up to 7 courses: 5 technical electives and 2 free elective courses (see BME Undergraduate Course List, page 6-11). These courses will prepare students to do the pre-thesis and thesis works in this orientation. Hence, it is advisable for a student to identify his/her thesis advisor at an early stage. This advisor will then help student identify appropriate courses to be taken.

*Note:

-(*): Physical Training subject: It has 6 credits but these credits are not included in the total accumulated credits of the undergraduate program.

-(**) Technical Electives courses show on the list below (Table 5.2), students take Technical Electives courses to depend on their major.

-(***) Free Electives can be any subjects taken by International University. It must have to code subjects “xxxxxIU”.

-(#) You must have to a minimum of 127 accumulated credits and must qualify English output certificate.

 The number of credits in math-basic science is 35, engineering is 90, other is 26 (as required by ABET, a minimum number of credits in math-basic science and engineering, respectively are 30 and 45).

GRADUATION CHECK LIST

DEGREE AWARDS

At the graduation, it depends on the accumulated GPA, a student may receive the following awards:

1. Gold medal: Excellent grade. Note: Only one student/year obtains this award
2. Silver medal: Very Good grade. Note: Only one student/year obtains this award
3. Women Technical Award: for female students with GPA ³ 80. There is no limitation of the number of recipients.

Notes:

To earn the grade level “Excellent” or “Very Good”, a student must not only obtain the required GPA as indicated above but also must satisfy the following conditions; otherwise he/she will be downgraded to one level lower:

1. The total time until graduation is not higher than the regular requirement (4 years).
2. If a student re-took the same courses more than once, the total credits of these courses must not be higher than 5% (i.e., 7 credits) of the total of the regular requirements (i.e., 144 credits).
3. During the study time, the student must not receive an academic punition of Warning or higher from IU.

BM003IU - Pre-thesis. Credits 1(0,1): From previous experience and knowledge, under the potential thesis advisor supervision, the student will focus on a specific research topic to pave the way and establish a plan for the thesis.

 BM004IU - Thesis research. Credits 10(0,10): Student will carry on to the success of the works planed in the pre-thesis course. The final results will be presented in front of a formal examiner panel.

 BM005IU - Statistics for health sciences. Credits 3(2,1): This course focuses on intermediate statistical methods which are often used in bioengineering and biomedicine. The course emphasizes the appropriateness, practical application and interpretation of a variety of analytic methods. Working with SPSS (Statistical package for the social sciences) supports student to deal with practical problems in statistical analysis.

 BM007IU - Introdution to Biomedical Engineering. Credits 4(3,1): This course consists of three main parts: (1) fundamental engineering technologies and methodologies, (2) their clinical applications and (3) topics related to the department orientations. In the first part students learn different engineering techniques and methods including mathematical modeling and simulation of a dynamic system, design methodology, geometric optics, kinematics, and statistics.  In the second part students learn how these techniques or methods are applied in medical field.  Case studies focus on specific organs such as eye, ear, and lung. In each study three aspects are covered: physiological, clinical, and instrumentation aspects. These 2 parts emphasize on the activities of the Medical Instrumentation orientation. In the third part other activities of the Department will be briefly introduced including Signal and Image Processing, Pharmaceutical Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. Besides, a semester long project is assigned. The project requires students to conceive, design and build a working device related to Biomedical Engineering field. This course is accompanied by lab works which introduce students by hands-on ways to topics related to different research orientations of the Department.

BM008IU - Bioethics. Credits 3(3,0): Many difficult ethical questions have arisen from the explosive growth of biomedical research and the health-care industry since World War II. For example, when does life begin to matter morally? When and how should doctors be allowed to help patients end their lives? Should embryos be cloned for research and/or reproduction? What sorts of living things is appropriate to use as research subjects? How should we distribute scarce and expensive medical resources? This course will show students how problems in bioethics can be approached from a variety of perspectives, with the aim of understanding how we have got, where we are, and how we should decide where to go next.

 BM009IU - BME Capstone Design Course. Credits 4(3,1): The course has three components: class lectures, laboratories, and project. The lectures are built upon all previous BME coursework. They emphasize on the design principles of medical instrumentation and biomedical signal analysis. Topics include the origin of bioelectric potentials; the characteristics of various biological signals, transducers, instrumentation amplifiers, analogue and digital devices; and computer interfaces. Labs include the design, construction and testing of electrical circuits and computer interfaces to measure diverse biological signals. The semester long group project consists of designing an instrument requested from hospitals or the BME Department labs. Students work in a team of different orientations.

 BM010IU - Biosignal Processing. Credits 4(3,1): The course provides students fundamentals knowledge to process and analyze biosignals. The knowledge of Fourier transform, signal sampling, analog to digital conversion, stochastic signal processing are covered in the class. The course also provides insight to different characteristics of typical biological signals including Electrocardiogram (ECG), Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electromyogram (EMG).

 BM011IU - Engineering Challenges in Medicine I. Credits 3(3,0): Engineering Challenges in Medicine (ECM) exposes students to technical issues encountered by physicians in hospitals that prevent them to advance in medical diagnosis and treatment. In this course, physician instructors will demonstrate pathophysiology, advantages and disadvantages of current medical management of common diseases, and ask students to propose their own solutions to overcome these challenges. ECM I covers basic principles of diagnostic imaging, electrocardiography and common diseases of the musculoskeletal, neurological, and cardiovascular systems.

 BM012IU - Engineering Challenges in Medicine II. Credits 3(3,0): Engineering Challenges in Medicine (ECM) exposes students to technical issues encountered by physicians in hospitals that prevent them to advance in medical diagnosis and treatment. In this course, physician instructors will demonstrate pathophysiology, advantages and disadvantages of current medical management of common diseases, and ask students to propose their own solutions to overcome these challenges. ECM II covers the value of a diagnostic test, interpretation of basic laboratory tests and common diseases of the respiratory, renal, digestive, endocrinal systems, and cancers.

 BM013IU - Entrepreneurship in Biomedical Engineering. Credits 3(3,0): This course introduces various stages of the entrepreneurial process and provides knowledge of start-up development.  Students will expose to this process by working on some key steps in establishing a start-up for a biomedical product or service.  The main goal of the course is to prepare students with an entrepreneurial mindset so that they realize the importance of developing a biomedical product or service that meets the customer demand and can be commercialized.

 BM017IU - Design 2B - Medical Instrumentation Design. Credits 1(0,1): Students will explore important software used by engineers to build, analyze, and test the engineering design of a medical instrument. In the first half of the course, student will learn LABVIEW together with medical sensors supported by National Instruments (NI) to develop a prototype of medical devices.  In the second half of the course, students will learn SOLIDWORK as a computer-aided design (CAD) tool to help engineers construct a 3-D model of medical devices.

 BM020IU - Internship. Credits 3(0,3): Students will work in either companies, hospitals or research institutions in the country or abroad to accquire practical experiences in real world.

 BM030IU - Machine Design. Credits 3(3,0): Introduction to the principles of design and analysis of machines and machine components. Design for functionality, motion, force, strength and reliability. The laboratory experience provides open-ended projects to reinforce the design process.

BM033IU,BM070IU - Information Technology in the Health Care System & Laboratory. Credits 4(3,1): This course will teach students how to analyze and apply various management programs and technology systems currently available to health care professionals. Lectures and tutorials will offer experiential learning opportunities. The tutorials will introduce the knowledge and software toolsets that will be used by the students to design an original health care delivery system application. Knowledge will include those used by professionals to design information healthcare system, automated decision support system and healthcare standards.

 BM050IU - Lab 1A - Biomedical Instrumentation. Credits 1(0,1): This is the course of general knowledge in medicine and medical instrumentation. Students will learn how to take vital signs, do CPR and some common first aids as well as explore some common medical devices in our department’s labs such as ECG, Ultrasound, X ray machine… They learn how to use mechanical tools to open these medical devices, disassemble and reassemble them, explore their working principles and block diagrams. As one of the first courses for BME students, it also covers the soft skills required for presentation, literature searching and report writing.

BM052IU - Design 2A - Electronic Design. Credits 1(0,1): Students will study essential skills for medical device design. In the first half of semester, students will study how to design an electrical schematic and PCB using Orcad. They also have chance to make their own PCB using tools in our department’s labs. Upon finishing the third semester, students can design electrical part of a medical device.

 BM058IU - Biomedical Image Processing. Credits 4(3,1): The goal of this course is to introduce techniques to enhance biomedical images to help physicians in diagnosis and treatment. This subject also introduces the principle of tomography techniques such as X-ray, CT, MRI and PET/CT. Moreover, it provides students essential knowledge of digital image processing including image acquisition, image formation, linear system, low-level image processing, image enhancement in frequency domain, pattern recognition, etc. A series of exercises and labs also provide students practical experience in working with biomedical image data.

 BM060IU,BM061IU - Digital Systems, Digital Systems Lab. Credits 4(3,1): This course provides the student to understand about digital system in order to design digital circuits or systems. This course represents the following parts: Binary arithmetic, Boolean algebra, K-maps, Combinational Logic Circuit, Flip-Flops, Digital Arithmetic, Counters and Registers, Memory Devices, AD-DA Conversions and PLD.

BM062IU - Micro-electronic Devices. Credits 3(3,0): The course is an introduction to microcontrollers including basic architecture, programming and applications of MCS-51 family and other MCS platforms.

 BM063IU - Micro-electronic Devices Laboratory. Credits 1(0,1): The course the lab session to apply the knowledge learnt in the in the Micro-electronic Devices class with the focus on basic architecture, programming and applications of MCS-51 family and other MCS platforms.

 BM064IU - Applied Informatics. Credits 4(3,1): This course focuses on how to apply programming languages to solve engineering problems targeting towards biomedical fields. C-programming language provides students basic programming skills to develop and implement medical devices. MATLAB-programming language supports effective tools for mathematic calculations and graphical visualization of dataset.

 BM067IU - Lab 1B - Invitro Studies. Credits 1(0,1): Students will study existing medical devices such as CT scanner, NIRS, Alice 5, Field Analyser, BIOPAC and others at BME LABs. They learn all blocks of a device and their operation. At the end of the semester, they will represent a poster and give an oral presentation on one of these medical devices.

BM068IU - Project 1. Credits 1(0,1): Students will explore a specific topic in the medical fields.  Students will learn how to do a research through various skills of doing experiments, searching and identifying scientific journals as references related to the experiments from e-library, analyzing data, weekly report meeting with advisor, writing scientific report, and etc. At the end of the course, student will submit a final report.

 BM069IU - Project 2. Credits 1(0,1): Students will do biomedical engineering project. They will have chance to apply what they have learned in previous semesters in designing, performing experiment, collecting and analyzing experimental data. In addition, student will improve their presenting, writing skills in scientific manner.

 BM071IU - Computer Aided Diagnosis. Credits 4(3,1): This course is an introduction to diagnostic imaging and an overview of how computerized analysis of medical images has been employed to assist physicians in detecting or classifying lesions and screening for differential diagnosis. Topics include typical pathological abnormal patterns of various diagnostic imaging modalities with an emphasis on ECG, Ultrasound, and CT scan. Lab activities focus on interpreting ECG, CT scan and performing an Ultrasound exam.

 BM072IU - Computational Model in Medicine. Credits 4(3,1): The computer modeling and simulation of the heart and the circulation, gas exchange in the lungs, control of cell volume, the renal counter-current multiplier mechanism, and muscle mechanics, mechanisms of neural control, genetics, epidemics and dispersal.

 BM073IU - Medical Imaging. Credits 4(3,1): Physical and computational principles of different medical imaging modalities (including computed tomography, nuclear, magnetic resonance, ultrasound, and optical imaging) are discussed with the focus on image formulation and reconstruction. Hardware designs and clinical applications are also mentioned.

 BM074IU - Brain - Computer Interface. Credits 4(3,1): In this course, students will learn about the basic function and structure of brain, the function of each part of the brain. In addition, students will be practiced on devices to learn how to interface between Brain-Computer. Collecting signals and analyzing them are also mentioned.

 BM075IU, BM076IU - Biomedical Photonics & Biomedical Photonics Laboratory. Credits 4(3,1): This course introduces some of the basic concepts of applying light in biomedical applications. This course is especially tailored for engineers who have no prior knowledge in biomedical sciences. The course first introduces some basic concepts in biomedical sciences so that students can be familiar with the techniques and the terminologies used in the field. Subsequently, the course would consider biological tissues as an optical material with some unique properties different from other conventional material, such as semiconductors, when light interacts with it. Several important research topics including microscopy, optical detection techniques, and optical disease detection techniques will be discussed. Engineering students who take this course would allow them to quickly get into the field of biomedical engineering that highly interdisciplinary knowledge and skills are required.

 BM077IU - Pharmaceutical Engineering 1. Credits 4(3,1): This course emphasizes the primary engineering aspects of the pharmaceutical processes through methodologies, both applied and fundamental of  dosage form design, to analyze and scale up manufacturing pharmaceutical processes involving liquid and dispersed-phase systems including solution, suspensions, transdermal systems, etc.

 BM078IU - Pharmaceutical Engineering 2. Credits 4(3,1): This course emphasizes the primary engineering aspects of the pharmaceutical processes through methodologies, both applied and fundamental of  dosage form design, to analyze and scale up manufacturing pharmaceutical processes involving solids processing, such as solids characterization, blending, milling, granulation, tableting, coating, and others.

 BM079IU - Principle of Pharmacokinetics. Credits 4(3,1): The course is intended to provide the students with basic principles of pharmacokinetics including drug transport, various routes of drug administration, and drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. Mathematical pharmacokinetic models are also presented.

 BM080IU - Nanotechnology for Drug Delivery Systems. Credits 4(3,1): Since nanoparticulate drug delivery systems present very small size, they are promising in targeted therapy of diseased tissue, organ and hence, leading to the increased drug concentration at those places through biological barriers to increase the effectiveness of the treatment. The course depicts nanoparticles and technologies applied to targeted drug delivery to diseased cells.

 BM081IU - Drug Delivery Systems. Credits 4(3,1): In this class, the students will be introduced the concept of drug delivery systems providing pharmaceutical agents at target site, technology, regulartory considerations and applications of each system. The course is also intended to provide the students about design of controlled release drug delivery systems.

 BM082IU - Biomaterials. Credits 4(3,1): An engineer of tissue engineering major should understand biomaterials, and its surface modification for specific applications. Also, an engineer must understand how to choose materials and how to design a scaffold for specific implantation zone.

 BM083IU - Applications of Biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine. Credits 4(3,1): This course is the basis for the student in biomedical engineering. It equips students with the basic knowledge about the types of tissues in the human body. This course will introduce some kind of tissue in the human body, including: heart, liver, lungs, stomach, eyes, bones, blood vessels, etc.

 BM084IU - Biocompatibility and Biodegradation of Biomaterials. Credits 4(3,1): Students will learn and understand the biocompatible and biodegradable measure of biomaterials. Students will learn and practice in the laboratory about interaction of cells and biomaterials (using MTT, SEM, confocal, etc.) and interaction of implanted biomaterials in animal (using H&E, MT staining).

 BM085IU - Characterization and Properties of Biomaterials. Credits 4(3,1): This is a course for students majoring in biological materials. It equips students with the knowledge of how to determine the required properties and characteristics of biomaterials. Case studies and specific applications will be investigated. According to the specific damages to be repaired, the biomaterials must be fabricated to match the required properties and characteristics.

 BM086IU - Methods and Process in Fabrication of Scaffold. Credits 4(3,1): This course will introduce students to some common methods to fabricate the biomaterials that are used worldwide. During the course, students will create their own new materials according to their purposes.

 BM089IU - Electronic Devices for Biomedical Design. Credits 4(3,1): Fundamentals of semiconductor devices and microelectronic circuits, characteristics of p-n, Zener diodes, and analog diode circuits. Principles of MOSFET and BJT operation, biasing, transistor analysis at midband frequencies.

 BM090IU - Biology for BME. Credits 4(3,1): This course covers basic concepts and universal principles of biological molecules, cells, genetics, and biotechnology. The laboratory activities are designed to further investigate and illuminate each topic area in BME research settings.

BM091IU - Human Anatomy and Physiology. Credits 3(3,0): This subject explains the physical and chemical factors that are responsible for the origin, development, and progression of life. This subject explains the specific characteristics and mechanisms of the human body that make it a living being. This subject explains the functions of tissues, organs and systems with the regulation and control mechanisms of body.

 BM092IU - Cell/Tissue – Biomaterial interaction. Credits 4(3,1): A crucial concept to understand about the tissue-biomaterial interface is that a lot of things happen there. The environment inside the body is chemically, electrically, and mechanically active, and the interface between an implanted biomaterial and the body is the location of a variety of dynamic biochemical processes and reactions. This course will introduce students to the molecular level events that happen at the tissue-implant interface, explore selected biological and physiological consequences of these events, methods to characterize interaction between cell/tissue and materials and specifically, design novel biomaterial that truly integrate with the body’s natural tissues.

 BM093IU - Tissue engineering I. Credits 4(3,1): Tissue engineering encompasses several disciplinary fields of knowledge to enable the regeneration of malfunctioning tissues or even whole organs. There are three main components in tissue engineering: scaffolds, cells, and signal. This course is the first part of the 2-semester course on Tissue engineering which introduces students to the basic knowledge of those three main components of tissue engineering. The following course (Tissue engineering II) will focus on the clinical applications.

 BM094IU - Principle of clinical tests and instrumentation. Credits 4(3,1): The laboratory plays a crucial role in healthcare because it provides physicians and other health professionals with information to: (1) detect disease or predisposition to disease; (2) confirm or reject a diagnosis; (3) establish prognosis; (4) guide patient management; and (5) monitor efficacy of therapy. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of the principles of laboratory tests and instrumentation used in clinical laboratories is essential. This course will provide students an overview of medical laboratory, principle of a wide range of analytical tests and instrumentations ranging from haematology to molecular pathology.

 CH011IU - Chemistry for Engineers. Credits 3(3,0): This one-semester course is designed for engineering students those who are pursuing a non-chemistry engineering degree such as information technology, bio-technology, civil, biomedical, electronic and telecommunication engineering. The course will introduce the basic principles of chemistry and connect those principles to issues in engineering professions.

 CH012IU - Chemistry Laboratory. Credits 1(0,1): Chemistry Laboratory is an accompanied part for the Chemistry for Engineers, which is designed for engineering students those who are pursuing a non- chemistry engineering degree such as information technology, bio-technology, civil, biomedical, electronic and telecommunication engineering.

 CH014IU - Chemistry for BME. Credits 3(3,0): This course is designed for non-chemistry majors, as it is intended for students pursuing a degree in biomedical engineering. The course covers The basic principles of analytical chemistry, introduces modern analytical chemistry and instrumental techniques with emphasis on techniques relevant to analysis in biomedical engineering. Applications of each technique will be discussed.

EE051IU, EE052IU - Principles of EE I, Principles of EE I Laboratory. Credits 4(3,1): In the lectures students study common circuit elements such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and operational amplifiers, and different circuit analysis methods in DC and AC steady state. In the labs, students practice with Bread-board, Power supply, Signal generator, Multi-meter, Oscilloscope, Multi-sim and Electrical elements.

 EN007IU - Writing AE1. Credits 2(2,0): This course provides students with comprehensive instructions and practice in essay writing, including transforming ideas into different functions of writing such as process description, cause-effect, comparison-contrast, argumentative, and paraphrase-summary essays. Throughout the whole course, students are required to read university-level texts to develop the ability to read critically and to respond accurately, coherently and academically in writing. Through providing them with crucial writing skills such as brainstorming, proofreading, documentation and editing, this course prepares the students for research paper writing in the next level of AE2 writing.

 EN008IU - Listening AE1. Credits 2(2,0): The course is designed to prepare students for effective listening and note-taking skills, so that they can pursue the courses in their majors without considerable difficulty. The course is therefore lecture-based in that the teaching and learning procedure is built up on lectures on a variety of topics such as business, science, and humanities.

 EN011IU - Writing AE2. Credits 2(2,0): This course introduces basic concepts in research paper writing, especially the role of generalizations, definitions, classifications, and the structure of a research paper to students who attend English- medium college or university. It also provides them with methods of developing and presenting an argument, a comparison or a contrast. Students are required to work on the tasks selected to maximize their exposure to written communication and are expected to become competent writers in the particular genre: the research paper. As writing is part of an integrated skill of reading and writing where reading serves as input to trigger writing, this course is designed to familiarize non-native students with academic literature in their major study by having them read and critically respond to texts of a variety of topics ranging from natural sciences such as biology to social sciences and humanities like education, linguistics and psychology.

 EN012IU - Speaking AE2. Credits 2(2,0): Giving presentations today becomes a vital skill for students to succeed not only in university but also at work in the future. However, this may be seen as a nerve-racking task, especially when presented in a foreign language. Speaking AE2 provides the students with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver effective presentations. To do this, the course covers many aspects of giving presentation: preparing and planning, using the appropriate language, applying effective visual aids, building up confidence, performing body language, dealing with questions and responding, etc.

MA001IU - Calculus 1. Credits 4(4,0): Functions; Limits; Continuity; Derivatives, Differentiation, Derivatives of Basic Elementary Functions, Differentiation Rules; Applications of Differentiation: l’Hôpital’s Rule, Optimization, Newton’s Method; Anti-derivatives; Indefinite Integrals, Definite Integrals, Fundamental Theorem of Calculus; Techniques of Integration; Improper Integrals; Applications of Integration.

 MA003IU - Calculus 2. Credits 4(4,0): Sequence and Series; Convergence Tests; Power Series; Taylor and Maclaurin Series; Cartesian Coordinates; Lines, Planes and Surfaces; Derivatives and Integrals of Vector Functions, Arc Length and Curvature, Parametric Surfaces; Functions of Several Variables; Limits, Continuity, Partial Derivatives, Tangent Planes; Gradient Vectors; Extreme; Lagrange Multipliers; Multiple Integrals: Double Integrals, Triple Integrals, Techniques of Integration; Vector Fields, Line Integrals, Surface Integrals.

 MA023IU - Calculus 3. Credits 4(4,0): Complex numbers, complex series,   complex functions,  complex derivatives; Laplace transform, z-transform, Fourier series, Fourier transform,  the inverse transform, transforms of derivatives and integrals,  first-order differential equations, second-order differential equations, difference equations, applications to electrical circuits and signal processing.

 MA024IU - Differential Equations. Credits 3(3,0): First-order differential equations, second-order linear differential equations, undetermined coefficients, variation of parameters, applications, higher-order linear differential equations, systems of first-order linear equations, elementary  partial differential equations and the method of separation of variables.

 PE008IU - Critical Thinking. Credits 3(3,0): Critical Thinking studies a process which is indispensable to all educated persons-the process by which we develop and support our beliefs and evaluate the strength of arguments made by others in real-life situations. It includes practice in inductive and deductive reasoning, presentation of arguments in oral and written form, and analysis of the use of language to influence thought. The course also applies the reasoning process to other fields such as business, science, law, social science, ethics, and the arts.

 PE011IU - Principles of Marxism. Credits 5(5,0): Ngoài 1 chương mở đầu nhằm giới thiệu khái lược về chủ nghĩa Mác-Lênin và một số vấn đề chung của môn học. Căn cứ vào mục tiêu môn học, nội dung chương trình môn học được cấu trúc thành 3 phần, 9 chương: Phần thứ nhất có 3 chương bao quát những nội dung cơ bản về thế giới quan và phương pháp luận của chủ nghĩa Mác-Lênin; phần thứ hai có 3 chương trình bày ba nội dung trọng tâm thuộc học thuyết kinh tế của chủ nghĩa Mác-Lênin về phương thức sản xuất tư bản chủ nghĩa; phần thứ ba có 3 chương, trong đó có 2 chương khái quát những nội dung cơ bản thuộc lý luận của chủ nghĩa Mác-Lênin về chủ nghĩa xã hội và 1 chương khái quát chủ nghĩa xã hội hiện thực và triển vọng.

 PE012IU - Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts. Credits 2(2,0): Ngoài chương mở đầu, nội dung môn học gồm 7 chương: chương 1, trình bày về cơ sở, quá trình hình thành và phát triển tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh; từ chương 2 đến chương 7 trình bày những nội dung cơ bản của Tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh theo mục tiêu môn học.

 PE013IU - Revolutionary Lines of Vietnamese Communist Party. Credits 3(3,0): Ngoài chương mở đầu, nội dung môn học gồm 8 chương: Chương I: Sự ra đời của Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam  và Cương lĩnh chính trị đầu tiên của Đảng; chương II: Đường lối đấu tranh giành chính quyền (1930-1945); chương III: Đường lối kháng chiến chống thực dân Pháp và đế quốc Mỹ xâm lược (1945-1975); chương IV: Đường lối công nghiệp hoá; chương V: Đường lối xây dựng nền kinh tế thị trường định hướng xã hội chủ nghĩa; chương VI: Đường lối xây dựng hệ thống chính trị; chương VII: Đường lối xây dựng văn hoá và giải quyết các vấn đề xã hội; chương VIII: Đường lối đối ngoại. Nội dung chủ yếu của môn học là cung cấp cho sinh viên những hiểu biết cơ bản có hệ thống về đường lối của Đảng, đặc biệt là đường lối trong thời kỳ đổi mới.

PE014IU - Environmental Science. Credits 3(3,0): This course provides the basic knowledge of environmental science that includes general issues, ecology, and the impact of human activities to natural resources and environment and sustainable development. The course topics will include all general issues; ecology: the basics of environmental science; population growth and utilization of natural resources and the environment; natural resources and current exploitation; pollution and its impacts, environmental economic and sustainable development. It also aims at increasing general awareness of the students about possible impacts of human activities on the environment and natural resources in order to justify relevant economic practices.

 PH012IU - Physics 4. Credits 2(2,0): This course provides students with basic knowledge of Quantum and Optics.

 PH013IU - Physics 1. Credits 2(2,0): An introduction to mechanics including: planar forces, free body diagrams, planar equilibrium of rigid bodies, friction, distributed forces, internal forces, shear force and bending moment diagrams, simple stress and strain and associated material properties, kinematics and kinetic of particles, work and energy, motion of rigid bodies in a plane.

 PH014IU - Physics 2. Credits 2(2,0): This course provides students with basic knowledge of fluid mechanics; macroscopic description of gases; heat and the first law of thermodynamics; heat engines and the second law of thermodynamics; microscopic description of gases and the kinetic theory of gases.

 PT001IU - Physical Training 1. Credits 0(0,0)

PT002IU - Physical Training 2. Credits 0(0,0)

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