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.

man writes his own positive reviews. just notice how all the dates are close together in march at times. he's been caught trying to bolster his own image. he even sends his own lab minions to defend him in public settings. it's wild. he can't handle any criticism. if this review gets downvoted, you know exactly the reason why now.
you gotta take him to survive in BE at UCLA. My advice to you is: prepare yourself mentally for the assf*cking of your life. but be tough, and don't let him be the reason you leave BE. take as few classes simultaneously as possible to get through 100 and 110, spend several hours a week on the problem sets (but not too many as to hurt your sanity), survive both classes, and then say goodbye to him forever. you'll get through this. i'm not gonna lie: it will suck. but you will get through this. the other upperdivs in BE can be very fun and engaging and incredible. it's just a shame he's gotta be the gatekeeper.

Dr. Kamei is a great professor and a friendly guy, but this class is HARD. The exams and weekly problem sets are very challenging, so fall behind at your own risk. Exams shouldn't have anything surprising: all the main concepts are drilled in on the problem sets. Midterm averages were in the 60% range if I recall correctly.

Taken online during covid. This class is basically just doing the problem sets over and over and using the solutions as a guide in order to teach yourself will be on the exams (also do the extra practice problems before each exam they help). The problem sets take a very long time, do not wait until the night before to do them it will not be fun. His lectures were long and somewhat helpful, but they are a lot of information so it is hard to find the examples and equations you need. He's a nice guy, and definitely very knowledgeable, and his office hours are pretty helpful as well as discussions.

I imagine this is what doing an MD PhD is like. At least I feel like my brain has expanded, but at what price? All-nighters were pulled every Tuesday (problem sets were due on Wednesday) and tears were shed. I attended lecture, then went over the lecture again, still did not completely understand it, and gave up and started the homework. Basically, everything you have heard is true. But at least he curves.

He is by far one of the best teachers I've ever had. He manages to make the 2 hour class bearable and keep you engaged in the lectures. Even though he posts powerpoint slides online, you have to go to lectures! He does extra work on the board and describes the slides in more detail. The material for the class is definitely challenging, make sure you go to office hours (they're like another discussion)! Even though the class is tough he curves generously (to a B+ my year). It's definitely a good introduction to bioengineering upper-divs!

such a cool professor, cares so much about student learning and wants the best for UCLA's BE program. i respect him so much. beware though, his tests are challenging, and bioengineers here are the cream of the crop, so curves aren't the most ideal. although the grade does work in your favor, as he curves to a B/B+ average, be prepared to put in a lot of effort. a LOT.

in terms of success, MAKE SURE YOU ONLY TAKE 3 CLASSES when you are signing up for this class, as it demands time like none other. review lecture notes the day of lecture itself, keep up with the material, GO TO OFFICE HOURS- almost like an extra discussion, do ALL the problems he assigns, discussion, office hours AND problem sets, ask questions, and you'll be fine.

his tests will have short answer questions that are just factual recall questions to reward people that work hard, you should put conceptual explanations down on your cheat sheet that you can use, these are easy pts so nail them. there will be a couple medium frq questions- make sure you REVIEW lecture notes and his EXAMPLE PROBLEMS because these help with such questions. and there will be one impossibly hard wtf question that no one knows how to do. dont panic, just write down whatever you know. as long as you nail all the other questions you WILL be above the curve.

most importantly, enjoy the material. thermodynamics, the core of this class, can be challenging and dense, but kamei makes it bearable

He is very knowledgeable and passionate about the material that he teaches. However, office hours are kind of mandatory to get a good grade in this class and going to office hours can take up a significant number of time.

Don't take 4 classes if you are taking a class with Kamei. Curves aren't the best because Bioengineering has a very smart group of people, around 60% and keep in mind that his tests have a mix of easy, medium, and impossible hard questions.

If you're a bioengineer, this will be your first upper-division course. Kamei's a great guy. He's very interactive and really wants his students to learn the material. If you've been around and about as a 1st year bioengineer (i.e. BMES and etc.) you will have seen this guy around. Pretty chill.

Regarding the class, your first homework assignment and your first two lectures will seem like cake. The second problem set is more difficult but is mostly the same sort of probability stuff. Then Problem Set #3 (yes you see I even capitalized the first letters) hits, and all hell breaks loose. Even with what he does in the lectures, you will be completely clueless as to what to do. At that time I thought that was the hardest homework assignment I've ever gotten.

After your 1st midterm, which is pretty fair, you get a break and learn some easy stuff. Then he launches into the biggest part of the class: chemical potentials. This is essentially where the core of the class lies. The problem sets aren't as gigantic as PS#3 but are difficult in their own ways. Midterm #2 hits, which is about the same difficulty as #1, and then you learn about a few more things and finish off the class. The final has one more problem than a midterm. For our final, I finished #2 to #5 in an hour and spent the rest of the time on #1. It's not uncommon for Kameizing to put a WTF curveball question on his exams.

So how do you do well? Go to every single office hours session because he does extra problems that really help drive home the material. Discussions are a must too. Kamei posts everything on CourseWeb. You may not be used to going to OH for other classes, but for BE100 it will seem like just another lecture session, except you get to ask questions and see example problems done. Problems are generally derivation-based with no numbers; you will most likely have the entire lower-case Greek alphabet memorized by the end of the course. The exams WILL take up the whole time for most people as well.

And near the end Kamei advertises positions in his lab. Beware though, he requires a lot of work from his researchers. So have fun with the class, it'll be a blast.

Dr. Kamei is definitely one of the hardest, if not THE hardest professor I've ever taken. Yet despite this, I would still take his class again. Why? Because if anyone else was teaching it, you'd be screwed. The material is very challenging. However, Dr. Kamei is one of the few professors who loves teaching and really cares about his student's learning and understanding.

To suceed in this class, office hours are a must. The extra problems he goes over helps a lot, and he answers homework questions and any other questions you might have about the material.

The class is very organized and structured. TA discussions and office hours are uniform as Dr. Kamei has material(more problems) prepared for each and detailed notes about what the TA's should discuss. His lecture notes are very clear and rarely are ambiguous. Everything you need to know is covered in his lecture notes, so buying a book is unnecessary, which saves you some money.

He makes the class hard to make you think and develop analytical skills for your future job as an engineer. The homework is very challenging, but they prepare you for the exams as the homework is composed of old exam problems. Don't regurgitate how to do a certain problem or you'll be screwed for the exams. Try to see the message behind the problem. Why is he giving this to you? The exams are pretty long, so don't get caught up on a question and waste time on it.

Overall, Dr. Kamei has a great personality and tries to make a difficult class into an enjoyable one. He's definitely more personable than other professors, as you can have a conversation with him about the most random things. Take his class if you want a great professor, but you better be ready to work.