Wow, how time has flown! Week one is already over and I could not be more excited for what the next 6 weeks have in store! We have been very busy and this first week has been filled with introductions — to fellow interns, to resources at the Polytechnic, to technologies, and to a new culture.
Meeting our fellow interns, Malawian students from the Polytechnic, was an experience I had been looking forward to for a while. We went around and did the standard “about me” introductions on the first day, but I have come to know so much more about each of my new colleagues (or friends, rather) just by spending our days together. We are a diverse group— some from Lilongwe, Blantyre, or New Jersey, some mechanical, electrical or biomedical engineers — but I can already tell we are going to be a tight knit group, and these diverse perspectives are only going to strengthen our design.
Along with getting to know students at the Polytechnic, we also got to know the resources available in the Polytechnic’s Design Studio. The equipment is actually not too dissimilar from Rice’s Design Kitchen — there is a laser cutter, 3D printers, a soldering station, and a plethora of tools. We were able to practice using all of these resources, as they might come in handy in our projects that we will be working on this summer. We also received introductions to arduinos, something that I have been only briefly exposed to in the past, so I was eager to learn everything I could. We first used the arduino to illuminate an LED, which served as a gentle introduction to programming it (using java or C++ syntax), and then moved on to using it to build different types of sensors, such as an air pressure sensor.
The introductions continued as we got the crash course on several devices we will be working with this summer — oxygen concentrators, infant radiant warmers, and Rice’s very own Pumani bCPAP. We were able to dissect and inspect each of these devices as we discussed each part and its functionality, along with common problems with the device and methods of troubleshooting. I especially enjoyed poking around the inside of the oxygen concentrator. It was neat to see a compressor, something I have worked with on a theoretical level for the past semester in my thermodynamics class, actually functioning in a device relevant to my interests.
Lastly, above all, this week has been an introduction and adjustment to, and appreciation for the Malawian culture. The people are beyond friendly (even to an obvious foreigner), the food is very tasty (and the portions are huge), and the music makes you want to stop whatever you’re doing and dance. In the coming weeks, I’ll be writing a few blog posts that focus more on my cultural experiences, along with more about what we are doing at the design studio. Next week we will be traveling to different hospitals around southern Malawi to get some feedback and search for opportunities for improvement. I can’t wait to see more of this beautiful country!
That’s all for now — more to come soon.
-S