Week 3 Academic Recap
This week we began ENGI 200. On our first day of class we were pitched 4 different projects, and we were matched to a project based on a project-matching form. I was assigned to a project that involved designing a a cheap and non-invasive way to prevent book theft in the Nexus space in the Ion building. Professor Bisesti is planning to bring anywhere from 200-500 of her own books to decorate the space, and she wanted a way to ensure that her books would be protected from theft. The rest of the first week was spent defining a problem statement, conducting a client interview, creating a design context review, screening, and scoring. My group’s scored solution involved the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags on the books that would trigger an LED light and send an email to Professor Bisesti with the RFID Unique Identifier (UID) and book title when a tagged book comes near the RFID sensor.
In addition to working through the Engineering Design Process, we also had a fun group activity on the morning of the second day of class: all of us (including Professor Bisesti), met up in a local park to play a game of Pictionary. We did this activity in order to practice communication through drawing before we began brainstorming and sketching our designs. This activity also emphasized the importance of being clear with our drawings in order for others to understand our designs.
Pictionary in the park!
Week 3 Social Recap
On Wednesday before class, we went to Hacienda La Chimba and walked the Mantra Trail, while is a 4.5 kilometer-long hike to see “La Mano del Mantra”, a giant wooden hand. This was the hardest hike I’ve ever been on, as it was almost entirely uphill and it was 80 degrees and humid during the course of the hike. It was completely worth it because the hand was amazing to see in person.
Madi and I at La Mano del Mantra!
Professor Bisesti gave us a 4-day weekend so we could travel and explore. All of us went to Manuel Antonio for the weekend, and I had the best time! We got a giant Airbnb that had enough beds for all of us, and we spent the weekend seeing the Manuel Antonio National Park, going to the beach, cooking lots of pancakes, swimming in the Airbnb’s pool, and trying new restaurants. I was able to get some much-needed relaxation, and I was more than content to be able to sit by the pool and read.
Views from the Airbnb.
Beach at Manuel Antonio.
Izzie and I made delicious banana pancakes 🙂