С. Reading, Writing and Discussion

VIII. Read the text carefully, without a dictionary. While reading, pay special attention to the words that you don’t know: look carefully at the context and see if you can get the idea of what they mean. After reading answer the questions: 1) What do biological engineers do? 2) Where will you get a Job with as a Biological Engineer? 3) What courses should you take to become a Biological Engineer?

Biological Engineers work in multidisciplinary teams to solve problems related to biological systems in applications such as:

· Food and beverage production;

· Chemical and pharmaceutical processes;

· Food safety and quality;

· Computer aided surgery software development;

· Medical implants, assistive devices and surgical tool design.

Ergonomic design Biological Engineers are employed by companies that need engineers with knowledge of biological processes. The following are the types of companies that hire Biological Engineers:

· Pharmaceutical Manufacturers;

· Food Processing Companies;

· Biotechnology Firms.

Students pursuing Biological Engineering should take courses that provide a solid engineering foundation, with applications to biological systems.

Specific Biological Engineering course topics include:

· environmental influences on biological systems;

· modeling of biological and physical systems;

· transport phenomena in biosystems;

· properties of biological materials;

· engineering elements of biochemistry and microbiology;

· food engineering;

· microbiological engineering;

· instrumentation and measurement;

· systems optimization.

A student pursuing Biological Engineering will take courses in the basic sciences, engineering sciences, communications, and liberal arts. Specific course topics include:

· calculus;

· physics;

· chemistry;

· biomolecular biology;

· organic chemistry;

· engineering mechanics: static forces, dynamic forces, strength of materials;

· fluid mechanics;

· thermodynamics;

· plant and animal biotechnology;

· statistics;

· economics;

· arts, humanities, and social sciences;

· speech communications;

· English;

· courses of the student’s choosing in engineering science and design, biological sciences, and other technical electives.

 

beverage — drink; calculus calculation

IX. Read and translate the text. Write a summary.

Biomedical engineering is a discipline concerned with the development and manufacture of prostheses, medical devices, diagnostic devices, drugs and other therapies. It is more concerned with biological, safety and regulatory issues than other forms of engineering. It may be defined as «the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field».

Most biomedical devices are either inherently safe, or have added devices and systems so that they can sense their failure and shut down into an unusable, thus very safe state. A typical, basic requirement is that no single failure should cause the therapy to become unsafe at any point during its life-cycle.

Many biomedical devices need to be sterilized. This creates a unique set of problems, since most sterilization techniques can cause damage to machinery and materials.

Most biomedical devices are completely tested. That is, every line of soft­ware is executed, or every possible setting is exercised and verified. Most de­vices are intentionally simplified in some way to make the testing process less expensive, yet accurate.

Regulatory issues are never far from the mind of a biomedical engineer. To satisfy regulatory issues, most biomedical systems must have documentation to show that they were managed, designed, built, tested, delivered and used using a planned, approved process. This is thought to increase the quality and safety of the therapy by reducing the likelihood that needed steps can be accidentally omitted.

Biological Engineers combine their knowledge of life sciences with engineering principles to design and control biological processes and systems with the aim of enhancing human, animal and plant life, focusing on fundamentals in biomaterials science, biosystems analysis, biomechanics, instrumentation and digital control.

The flexibility and breadth of the Biological Engineering curriculum allows students to explore the range of biological engineering applications, or to focus on an area of interest — Bioprocessing (e.g. bioreactor design, industrial microbiology, biopharmaceuticals), Food engineering (e.g. process design/ improvement/modification, automation, plant design, food safety and quality, food packaging), Biomedical applications (e.g. biological signal and image processing, clinical biomechanics, occupational biomechanics & ergonomics, human physiology), or technologies applicable to biomedical and bioprocess applicat ions such as microcomputer interfacing and digital control

 

X. Retell the following texts in English, mentioning points of difference between the specialities.

ИНЖЕНЕР-БИОТЕХНОЛОГ

Общая характеристика профессии. Занимается созданием сложных органических веществ синтетическими микробиологическими мето­дами. Эти вещества относятся как к кормовым добавкам, так и к другим компонентам продуктов питания. Разрабатывает и обеспечивает оп­тимальный технологический процесс (как при минимуме затрат полу­чить максимум продукции высокого качества). Сырье для микробио­логического производства стоит недорого, но процесс его переработки очень сложен и дорог. При этом используются сложные технические системы, контрольно-измерительные приборы и автоматы. Ключевой проблемой является безопасность технологии. Инженер-биотехнолог следит за качеством выполнения работы, анализирует полупродукт на каждой стадии и принимает необходимые меры. Он определяет конец процесса, выбирает методы выделения продукта из культурной среды и осуществляет их в производстве.

Профессионально важные качества: наблюдательность, внима­тельность, аккуратность, организаторские способности, техническое мышление.

Возможные места работы: в самых различных отраслях промыш­ленности и науки — пищевая промышленность, химико-фармацевтическая и химическая отрасли, предприятия бытовой химии; исследо­вательские институты разных профилей — органическая химия, фар­макология, микробиология.