Professor
Daniel Kamei
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - BE100 is a rite of passage for bioengineering majors at this school, and that makes sense. The first 2? weeks of this class is like a mildly uncomfortable trainride. "Hmm, this is very bumpy, I'm a little nauseous." Problem set 1 is a fat amalgam of trivia. Can't remember much about pset 2. If I recall, problem set 3 is when all hell breaks loose. The class is like a carcrash from there. Lots of blurry vision and text. So much text. Kamei covers a lot of stuff in lecture. Don't be like me and take notes on the printed slides on a blank piece of paper. That's dumb. Print the slides out, and then fill in the blank spots with Prof. Kamei's examples. (Or better yet, if you have the money, buy a tablet, edit the slide pdf's on there..) Don't do the problem sets the night before. If I could tell my naive, dumb*ss sophomore self something, it would be "READ AND THINK ABOUT THE PROBLEM SETS WHEN THEY ARE RELEASED" That isn't necessarily doing them, but get your subconscious pondering the problems before you dig into them. Start writing your solutions to these psets 3 days before they're due (or even earlier). The problem sets are the best way to learn, so don't just go through the master folder and copy down the solutions. Think about the insight of the problem, what it means in the context of the class and lectures, and wtf the answer means. Do every single problem. Attempt them all. Best of luck. I remember, after midterm 1, a mysterious amount of people had disappeared from lecture and I found out they became CS majors.
Fall 2019 - BE100 is a rite of passage for bioengineering majors at this school, and that makes sense. The first 2? weeks of this class is like a mildly uncomfortable trainride. "Hmm, this is very bumpy, I'm a little nauseous." Problem set 1 is a fat amalgam of trivia. Can't remember much about pset 2. If I recall, problem set 3 is when all hell breaks loose. The class is like a carcrash from there. Lots of blurry vision and text. So much text. Kamei covers a lot of stuff in lecture. Don't be like me and take notes on the printed slides on a blank piece of paper. That's dumb. Print the slides out, and then fill in the blank spots with Prof. Kamei's examples. (Or better yet, if you have the money, buy a tablet, edit the slide pdf's on there..) Don't do the problem sets the night before. If I could tell my naive, dumb*ss sophomore self something, it would be "READ AND THINK ABOUT THE PROBLEM SETS WHEN THEY ARE RELEASED" That isn't necessarily doing them, but get your subconscious pondering the problems before you dig into them. Start writing your solutions to these psets 3 days before they're due (or even earlier). The problem sets are the best way to learn, so don't just go through the master folder and copy down the solutions. Think about the insight of the problem, what it means in the context of the class and lectures, and wtf the answer means. Do every single problem. Attempt them all. Best of luck. I remember, after midterm 1, a mysterious amount of people had disappeared from lecture and I found out they became CS majors.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - I took this class for the Engineering Science tech breadth having only satisfied the minimum prerequisites: Math 33B and Physics 1B, as a sophomore. Despite my minimal background in Bioengineering, I found the class to be very manageable and highly interesting, and I ended up getting an A. This class was easier and less time-consuming than many lower divs (but definitely not easy). If you’re a ChemE, think of it as a Ch Engr 101A/109 Combo course with some electrochemistry on the side. Dr. Kamei has a distinguished teaching award, and it shows; he's a phenomenal lecturer. He definitely cares about whether his students learn, and he explains very well. He teaches math better than most math professors do :) About the logistics about the class: You must show up to lecture, and you must print out the slides or bring a tablet. You should also read the lecture slides beforehand, to not be lost during class. The slides are NOT a way to skip lecture. Dr. Kamei talks about stuff that are not on the slides, and he sets up the vast majority of his proofs by writing on the whiteboard. Besides missing out on critical information and examples, Kamei's lecturing skills would be wasted if you don't go to lecture. So go to lecture. Next, as a heads-up, this is a math-heavy class, which can be split into three parts. The first part is electrostatic modeling of nanoparticles. The second part is numerical methods of solving differential equations, and the third part is fluid dynamics. While the class (and the syllabus) can seem intimidating at first, don't be scared. It's a ton of math, but Kamei is very good at teaching, and both him and the TAs are very helpful during office hours. You will be fine if you don't have a background in Bioengineering. Besides the prerequisites, all you really need are basic coding skills and a basic knowledge of biology. The exams were definitely difficult; you need to be able to do homework-level questions quickly alongside knowing concepts. That said, the homework was definitely on the level of the exams, and you get a plethora of old exam questions to practice with. Even better, the homework only took a few hours per week. There was also a numerical methods project in the middle of the quarter which was decently time-consuming, but definitely a grade booster provided you followed the directions. Again, Kamei is willing to help out in case of difficulties in terms of the projects. Tl;dr: Don't be scared to take this class if you hear about Kamei's reputation as a hard professor and/or if you lack a background in Bioengineering. Also, even though this class appears to be offered only once every few years, it's worth taking. He's that good at teaching.
Winter 2020 - I took this class for the Engineering Science tech breadth having only satisfied the minimum prerequisites: Math 33B and Physics 1B, as a sophomore. Despite my minimal background in Bioengineering, I found the class to be very manageable and highly interesting, and I ended up getting an A. This class was easier and less time-consuming than many lower divs (but definitely not easy). If you’re a ChemE, think of it as a Ch Engr 101A/109 Combo course with some electrochemistry on the side. Dr. Kamei has a distinguished teaching award, and it shows; he's a phenomenal lecturer. He definitely cares about whether his students learn, and he explains very well. He teaches math better than most math professors do :) About the logistics about the class: You must show up to lecture, and you must print out the slides or bring a tablet. You should also read the lecture slides beforehand, to not be lost during class. The slides are NOT a way to skip lecture. Dr. Kamei talks about stuff that are not on the slides, and he sets up the vast majority of his proofs by writing on the whiteboard. Besides missing out on critical information and examples, Kamei's lecturing skills would be wasted if you don't go to lecture. So go to lecture. Next, as a heads-up, this is a math-heavy class, which can be split into three parts. The first part is electrostatic modeling of nanoparticles. The second part is numerical methods of solving differential equations, and the third part is fluid dynamics. While the class (and the syllabus) can seem intimidating at first, don't be scared. It's a ton of math, but Kamei is very good at teaching, and both him and the TAs are very helpful during office hours. You will be fine if you don't have a background in Bioengineering. Besides the prerequisites, all you really need are basic coding skills and a basic knowledge of biology. The exams were definitely difficult; you need to be able to do homework-level questions quickly alongside knowing concepts. That said, the homework was definitely on the level of the exams, and you get a plethora of old exam questions to practice with. Even better, the homework only took a few hours per week. There was also a numerical methods project in the middle of the quarter which was decently time-consuming, but definitely a grade booster provided you followed the directions. Again, Kamei is willing to help out in case of difficulties in terms of the projects. Tl;dr: Don't be scared to take this class if you hear about Kamei's reputation as a hard professor and/or if you lack a background in Bioengineering. Also, even though this class appears to be offered only once every few years, it's worth taking. He's that good at teaching.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Dr. Kamei is my favorite professor in the BE department. He always makes himself available to help students. Yes, this class is hard. However, I felt that it was much less theoretical when compared to 100. Do all of the practice problems in every PSet. Do all of the extra problems that he gives you. Put in the time and effort (If you are able to do so) and you will do well in the class. Dr. Kamei truly cares about making the degree we get a worthwhile one. I will always trust him to write a fair test and act in the best interest of the BE department. In terms of the shift to online learning, I felt that Dr. Kamei handled it fairly well. Lectures are mandatory, PSets were still due regularly, and both midterms and the final were still held. In response to the protests occurring during finals week, Dr. Kamei did agree to make the final "no harm" after being asked to do so by students. Dr. Kamei is receptive to students and overall a pretty genuine dude.
Spring 2020 - Dr. Kamei is my favorite professor in the BE department. He always makes himself available to help students. Yes, this class is hard. However, I felt that it was much less theoretical when compared to 100. Do all of the practice problems in every PSet. Do all of the extra problems that he gives you. Put in the time and effort (If you are able to do so) and you will do well in the class. Dr. Kamei truly cares about making the degree we get a worthwhile one. I will always trust him to write a fair test and act in the best interest of the BE department. In terms of the shift to online learning, I felt that Dr. Kamei handled it fairly well. Lectures are mandatory, PSets were still due regularly, and both midterms and the final were still held. In response to the protests occurring during finals week, Dr. Kamei did agree to make the final "no harm" after being asked to do so by students. Dr. Kamei is receptive to students and overall a pretty genuine dude.
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