Re: [DIYbio] Re: Biomedical Engineering or Computer Science Engineering

On Tue, May 23, 2017 at 2:37 PM, Ayush Mahajan <blue...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, I already know how to code, reverse engineer and rest of the stuff
> which a computer engineer can do, the thing is I want to take BioTechnology
> for my undergrad but I'm scared because I've never been good with the theory
> part.I'm interested in coding genome, hacking the wetware and everything
> Biohacker could do but every time I think about Biotech a voice whispers me
> in my head saying "Would you be able to do it ?"

Sounds like I had a similar experience with being good at coding when
I chose a school, but wanting more. The cooler stuff. I've not heard
of computer related protests as much as I have about biotech. Light a
candle and shed some light on the darkness.

Biotech /school/ is mostly just fancy cooking, and learning the theory
is too much to remember for the average student. The 'computer'
processes of life are lots controlled chemical reactions. You don't
need to be so smart as a chemistry major, or a chemical engineer...
biotech has less math requirements than they do. Biotech also has less
math requirements than Computer Science.

Humans engineered electronic computers taught in Computer Science. It
has been around (in text/print/books) for a long time.
Biotech is about reverse-engineering innumerable systems we didn't
engineer. It is like CS for the stuff we didn't engineer.

We are reverse engineering ourselves and all the other species. We are
reverse engineering chemistry, and thus physics.

I know a little about Indian school systems, and if that's where
you're heading towards, you won't have much room to explore
side-studies in your school. The academic programs are very structured
and have strict/tight timelines.

I'd recommend studying biotech, simply because the hands-on and theory
is a lot wider ranging in topic than CS will give you. Also, you can
learn CS at pretty much any hackerspace, free online courses, reading
self-teach books, etc... It is more like 'common knowledge' than
biotech and chemistry/physics. For CS you need electricity and some
relatively common and cheap electronics gizmos. Biotech/lab-science
involves a lot of heavy (mass-wise) stuff, has lots of steps that take
a long time and require a special cook and special kitchen. You can
compile code anywhere your laptop has charge... not as easy to say the
same about a really complex Biotech project.

You can do it. There were many underperforming Biotech students who
received better grades than I did. It's all in how you play the game.
You won't be an underperformer. I know because you're already
self-motivated enough to come post on this online forum. Most students
lack self-motivation. Keep your motivation. It is what keeps you going
in the face of being penniless and without a job. It is a strong
driver of innovation.


All the best,
-Nathan