Engineering education and research: TQM and R&D in bioengineering

The authors, who are in Bioengineering at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, are embarking on an exciting experiment in Engineering Education. The Whitaker Foundation has provided funds through its Special Opportunity Awards Program to involve M.S. and Ph.D. students in a structured Total Quality Management (TQM) approach to research and development in their thesis and dissertation work. This is a "value-added" program because the students can work on the same micro problems as in traditional graduate research; however, they are required to apply the tools of TQM in a team effort to the issue of customer satisfaction. This prepares the students to fit directly into the new culture that is now evolving in industry, therefore, enhancing employment opportunities. An educational track consists of specially designed courses to develop a knowledge base across the disciplines. The overlap between bioprocess and biomedical engineering is focused on cellular and molecular biology, stressing recombinant DNA technology. Basic bioscience, medical, law, and business students participate in solving the global problems associated with the production of biologicals. In the authors' research effort, the Protein C deficient patient is the target customer. Many interacting problems in basic science, upstream and downstream processing, drug administration and pharmocokinetics are available for interested engineering students. The legal, social, clinical, and business issues are considered as an integral component of bioproduct production and utilization.