Interdisciplinary(99) This project brings interdisciplinary study to mechanical engineering and biology students through a course entitled "Mechanical Properties of Biological Tissue". Emerging fields which include biology applications in engineering are important and involve contributions from a number of fields. The course enhances opportunities for students from engineering and science in the field of bioengineering. The project focuses on the need to increase collaboration between students and faculty from different disciplines to solve increasingly complex problems in technology. Through innovative modules of learning, biology and engineering students interact and share expertise from the perspectives of their disciplines. Students serve as peer mentors in a hands-on discovery-based laboratory setting to study issues involved in the engineering of connective tissues. The course produces students who have experienced the benefits of working at the interface of disciplines and working in tandem with peers from a different disciplinary background. This interaction contributes to the creation of a workforce prepared to address increasingly complex technological problems.
