Michael Miller, BME Gilman Scholar and Herschel and Ruth Seder Professor and director of the Center for Imaging Science, has been teaching the Signal, Systems and Control course at Johns Hopkins since its inception. For the past several years he and assistant professor Sri Sarma partner in teaching the class as part of the biomedical engineering department’s core curriculum, required for undergraduate students in their sophomore year.
Now a tradition, the class gathers in the spring on the steps of Shriver Hall after their first biomedical controls systems exam for a class photo. Enjoyable spring weather and sunshine draws out the smiles as the students and their professors take a welcome and fun breather from the rigors of the demanding “Signals” class curriculum. This year the students could not resist taking the “selfie” photo with Drs. Miller and Sarma — adding this impromptu shot to a more traditional version of the class photo.
The Biomedical Engineering sophomore Signals, Systems and Control course introduces the study of information and its underlying properties (signals) and the processes that influence these signals (systems). The focus on the abstract common features of the signal concept allows for a layer of abstraction that leads to a consistent approach for application development — notably in the fields of cellular physiology, neuroscience, medical imaging and prosthesis design.
