Connecting the Dots with CDIO: A Multidisciplinary Introduction to Biomedical Design Engineering

This paper presents a new integrated approach to teaching biomedical design engineering introduced at McGill University, Canada in 2004. While this course was designed with no prior knowledge of the CDIO initiative, it shares many of its same standards and practices.

CDIO standards lend themselves well to the teaching of multidisciplinary curricula such as biomedical engineering, for its emphasis on integrated learning, life-cycle design, systems engineering, communications and teamwork. This new holistic approach to teaching engineering as enshrined in CDIO could also serve as a framework for other emerging engineering disciplines.