Yanpu’s teaching philosophy: I approach teaching with a growth mindset – for both my students and myself. I’m always learning how to teach better, just as I hope my students embrace learning and growing in the classroom. I start with the fundamentals, mindful of diverse backgrounds, and avoid assuming prior knowledge so everyone can follow along and build confidence in an inclusive environment. I strive to make learning practical, hands-on, and fun, connecting concepts to real-world applications whenever possible.
Both courses I teach were designed by myself from the ground up, guided by this philosophy. I genuinely welcome constructive criticism from students and colleagues, as they help me continue improving the course content and my teaching style.
BMEG 210 – Thermodynamics in Biomedical Engineering (W1 Term)
A BioMed-flavored Thermodynamics: In this course, we’ll first dive into the fundamental laws and physical properties of thermodynamics, discover how chemical potential drives phase changes, reaction equilibria, and mixing, and see how these principles govern biomedical processes like protein folding, DNA hybridization, micelle formation, and hydrogel swelling. Along the way, you’ll also peek into statistical mechanics and kinetics, connecting the microscopic world of molecules to the macroscopic properties we observe and manipulate. Whether you’re curious about how living systems work or eager to design and produce therapeutics that transform healthcare, this course will give you a rigorous yet intuitive framework to think like a physicist in biomedical engineering.
BMEG 400M/591M – Protein Engineering (S2 Term)
Designing the Molecules of Life: In this course, we’ll start with the fundamentals of protein structure, folding, stability, and interactions, then provide a practical guide to the modern experimental and computational toolbox for engineering proteins with new capabilities. You’ll be introduced to experimental methods like directed evolution to “breed” proteins with desirable traits using yeast/phage display libraries, as well as machine learning approaches for de novo protein design in silico: for example, a backbone (cyan) generated to bind the COVID-19 spike protein (green). We’ll also provide hands-on wet lab sessions to mutate and purify a protein from E. coli, and discuss case studies that connect theory to real-world applications in biomanufacturing and therapeutics. Let’s hack the code of life, to craft molecules with functions that go beyond what nature provides!