This week we finally got our projects and we finally got to meet the Malawian interns that we will be working with for the rest of our time here.
Day 12
Monday June 18, 2018
First impressions
Goals Accomplished
- Meet new interns
- Introduce projects
- Share hospital observations
- Review the engineering design process
Today was super exciting because we got to the poly and met all eight of the Malawian students! Their names are Gloria, Alfred, Taonga, Isaac, Matthew, Demobrey, Nafe, and Timothy. We introduced ourselves, introduced our projects, and got a rundown of the engineering design process. We also had some fun activities like the airplane challenge, a scavenger hunt and lunch together at SPAR. I actually forgot how to make an airplane, but it eventually came back to me. It was a decent flight! Finally, we shared our observations from the hospital visits with the Malawian interns since they were finishing up their exams while we were visiting hospitals.
Day 13
Tuesday June 19, 2018
Teams!
Goals Accomplished
- Learned about oxygen concentrators and suction pumps
- Assigned projects
- Assigned teams
We were split into four teams each with one Rice intern and two Poly interns. There are four projects that we will be working on including:
- A continuous temperature monitor for mothers in labor
- A device to turn off suction machines
- A filter for oxygen concentrators
- A procedure to reuse the chemicals inside of an oxygen concentrator
I will be working to create a device that turns off a suction machine (used to remove mucous/blood from patients). Often times the machine breaks when the secretion container overflows. The goal is to create a device that automatically shuts off when the container is full to prevent the machines from breaking. My team consists of myself, Taonga Tembo, and Demobrey Namaliya.
Day 14
Wednesday June 20, 2018
Arduino challenge
Goals Accomplished
- Learned about microcontrollers
Today was really fun because we were all introduced to microcontrollers by Francis (design studio manager). We had many different tasks to complete using the Arduino Uno. The tasks included things like creating a thermometer using Arduino code and a thermistor circuit. We were all really proud of ourselves when we finished all of the tasks!
Days 15-16
Thursday-Friday June 21-22, 2018
Independent work
Goals Accomplished
- Learned to use the CAD program at the Poly
- Learned to use the 3D printers
- Research about the projects we are working on
Thursday and Friday we had to create our own schedule since Francis and all of the Poly interns were very busy with their end of the semester projects. The design studio was busy with teams scrambling to finish their projects before final presentations on Saturday. We taught ourselves how to use the CAD program on the Poly’s computers, we did some 3D printing, and finally we were able to begin doing research on our assigned projects.
Day 17-18
Saturday-Sunday June 23-24, 2018
Into the wild
Saturday and Sunday we took a trip to the Majete game reserve. We saw some really cool animals including elephants, hippos, crocodiles and impalas!
