A week of learning! We first met our fellow interns that study here at the Polytechnic on Monday, this moment of introduction was exciting and came after a long time of anticipation. There were so many students and every single one is so fun to be around, from working together to just goofing off outside. The rest of the day was spent with icebreakers and presentations of our medical technologies and looking at the projects that they have been working on all year. Later that week we were assigned our projects for the remainder of the internship.
Some of the projects that were given to us were: Oxygen concentrator filter reinvention/optimization, sieve bed (for oxygen concentrator) renewal, suction machine monitor, a continuous temperature monitor for mothers undergoing labor. My team is made up by Alfred, Gloria, and I; the project we were assigned was the oxygen concentrator filter optimization. This project was given to the interns last year and we are continuing it as well as adding to the project. The filter that was worked on last year was only for the external filter but they did not have time to continue work another filter, the internal filter. So we will be spending our time optimizing and finalizing the external filter as well as creating a universally fitting internal filter. This project is important because most oxygen concentrators used in the hospitals are used around the clock almost never turned off until they break down, the reason most of these devices fail is due to the entry of dust through the filters. The filters used regularly poorly filter the dust from the outside air. So by fixing this problem then more oxygen concentrators can be used for longer periods of time. I’ve already got ideas churning in my mind for designs of this device, I hope I have a well-advanced project by the end of this summer!
After being assigned projects and meeting the interns we were given a brief and speedy introduction to microcontrollers. Microcontrollers is a fancy term for a small electronic chip that can be programmed to control things like lights and sensors as well as process and display data. A common microcontroller is the Arduino, an open source microcontroller board, the Bilispec is actually run on Arduino. We learned how to program in Arduino and how to read and process data on the Arduino! Another program we learned to used and practice is called Autodesk Inventor. We use this program to create 3D models that can be printed on 3D printers. This program is really helpful for creating prototypes four our medical devices. The majority of the week was all learning and I know it will be supremely useful for the duration of the internship!
Then this weekend to wind down from all the work as well as a welcoming to Kristoffer the last intern, we went on 3 different safaris at the Majete community campsite including elephants, impalas, a porcupine, some hippos, crocodiles, baboons and many bird species, it was a fun end to the week!
This week is our first week of official, getting down and dirty work, the anticipation has been building up. The work will be expectedly difficult but extremely worthwhile.