Sadly, this is my last week in Costa Rica. 🙁
This week mirrored the previous week somewhat. After a wonderful rainforest adventure over the weekend, the week started early with an included Selina breakfast around 8am and then starting class (ENGI 200 most mornings) around 9am at ULACIT. We always started with a standup session where each group chose one representative to share what the team had worked on the previous day and what were the next steps for that day. The other two teams gave verbal feedback in addition to writing down curiosities and suggestions on note cards. My favorite feedback was a note card that solely had “good job” written in blue marker.
This week was heavily electronics focused for my team for ENGI 200. I tried my best to assist James however I could, whether that be soldering, desoldering, code writing, testing, box sizing, downsizing, or anything else that pushed us towards a more complete prototype by Friday. I enjoyed desoldering with Douglas which ended with him using the dremel to cut off the part of the TENS board we didn’t need. I also focused on downsizing the 3D printed box for the electronics that would go in the sole of the shoe, and printed multiple iterations in sync with how we updated our assumptions for the amount of space needed for the electronics. In addition I worked on cutting open the shoe so we more accurately fit the box in the sole of the shoe and making a pathway for wires to connect to where they would meet the conductive fabric sock so that a complete electric circuit would be created when the user would wear the socks and shoes together. Lastly I helped Summer and Carly with creating testing plans, feedback surveys, and a C++ code for making a time limit for use of the TENS device while it’s in the shoe.
We also did a bit of ENGI 350 over the course of the week as well. Dr. Wettergreen’s lecture about moving from prototyping to manufacturing was pretty interesting. I really liked the fact that a project from the OEDK could possibly end up being a real world product that is manufactured and sold. I started working on my final draft for my needs statement. Following Wettergreen’s comments, I chose to focus on the need for an accessible and easy to use stress reliever device for patients during CT scans. I also started working on my testing plan for an existing OEDK project.
One of my favorite meals of the trip was on Tuesday: we made hamburgers. I thought the best part of the meal was actually the pan-fried, thinly cut-up potatoes that Brendan and I worked tirelessly on (we had three pans going at the same time). After we had finished cooking the top of the stove looked like a graveyard. Lost potatoes pieces were everywhere, some of them scorched and burned by the stove flames. This was mostly due to my and Brendan’s attempt to use the pan to flip the potatoes, similar to how Douglas does it. Douglas is indeed a lot better at it than we were.
Other dinners I had this week was homemade pasta, Selina’s crispy chicken strips and ice cream sundae, and some instant ramen I bought at the grocery store.
Friday was a very packed day. We started with a trip to the Butterfly sanctuary to make some observations and enjoy the beautiful morning. For the first half I sat by myself in the butterfly enclosure, observing all that was around me. I made a friend in one of the butterflies. I followed it around as it fluttered around the enclosure and it eventually ended up landing on the laminated card I had in my hand for just under a minute. Unfortunately it didn’t land on the picture of its species. I then joined Sarah and Leticia in exploring the trails behind the butterfly enclosure. The paths were very steep and slippery. Good thing there was a rope to grab onto. I may have slipped a few times even with the rope being there. Oh well, mud aint gonna do me in. At the bottom of the trial was a nice fast flowing river that was both beautiful and disappointing at the same time. There was a lot of trash across the shores on the both sides of the river, but the river itself was really fun to watch. It gave off a feeling of washing away worries.
We then went back to ULACIT for our ENGI 200 prototype presentations. My group’s prototype was significantly better than it was last Friday and I was very happy with what I had accomplished before I had to leave.
Friday afternoon we went out with some ULACIT students for dinner and a fun night partying at some local college hangout spots. It was really nice meeting and interacting with the ULACIT students, most of whom were the same age as all of the iSEED students. Surprisingly, I was the oldest one out of all 15 people in the group of students even though multiple people were studying in the grade above me. Overall the night was a lot of fun, though I was very tired after a long day. Luckily, our bus to Jaco and Playa Hermosa left at 9am on Saturday.
The final weekend of my time in Costa Rica was everything I could ask for and even more. There were a lot of highs and a few funny lows. It was very relaxing and enjoyable and I was very happy to spend time with all of my new friends. The weekend started with a mixup where we bought tickets for Jaco to San Jose and not San Jose to Jaco. So, we ended up standing in the bust for 2.5 hours. We went shopping for some snack foods and then headed to the hostel in Playa Hermosa. We had a nice lunch of fish tacos and calimari at the restaurant next door. We then went out to the beach. The weather was a lot more cloudy than the last time we were at the beach two weeks ago.
Adios. Jake Out.