Lately, I’ve been up to my knees in the Hadleigh Health Technologies website (I think the saying may actually be “up to my eyeballs,” but it’s not quite that dramatic). I’ve been creating pages for both the Pumani bCPAP and for the DoseRight syringe clips. It’s been a good chance for me to learn more about the products, and it’s also been a good exercise in organizing my thoughts. I’m normally the kind of person who likes to immediately jump into a task, but it’s been important in this project to pause at the beginning and think about what I’m trying to convey and the best way to lay it out to get the point across. I’ve decided to sketch out a general layout of each page before I begin to make it. This way, I don’t get too caught up in the details as I work, and I can fix the little things later.

I’ve for the most part finished with the product pages for the website. That is, I’ve written and posted pictures about the Pumani and the DoseRight clips. Now I’m beginning to write about the work that the company does in a more abstract sense—the why and the how. Sometimes I forget that not everyone is a global health minor. I forget that not everyone is regularly thinking about the improvement of healthcare in low-resource settings (crazy, right?). That’s why these other parts of the website are so important. We must convey to others why the work we do matters and the needs we are trying to fill. Inherently, I understand why the work matters, but much of that is because I’ve taken classes and had many conversations about it. So now I’m trying to figure out how to best convey that to others through the website. I’ve also been working on the how—the approach that Hadleigh Health (and Rice, for that matter) takes to come up with the products. This has taken a bit more research, and I’m doing my best to read up on design thinking. So far, I’m finding that one of the most important aspects of design work is iteration. You find a problem, you come up with a solution, and then you must make that solution better. I’ve seen that in all the design I’ve experienced thus far, both at school and at 3^rd Stone. The Pumani is still going through iterations and undergoing improvements.

Since the HHT website has been such a big assignment lately, I’ve been working a lot more independently. Of course, both Robert and Jocelyn have been helping me a lot with the site, but I get to decide what I must accomplish each day or arrange meetings for reviews and critique. I really appreciate the independence Robert has given me on this project, and I really enjoy the project itself—though it is far from what I thought I would be doing this summer. The website has involved a lot of research and writing, and while I don’t mind either of those tasks, they are incredibly different than the problem sets I’m used to in school. I’m finding that there is so much more to engineering and design companies than I thought, and the work really involves everything from art to marketing to research and beyond. I like the breadth.

Not all of my work has been on the computer. I’ve been painting and recently helped at a photoshoot for PlanetBox. I really love hands-on work, and I hope to someday have a job that allows me to work on such an array of things beyond the computer. These are the things that make me so thankful for this position.

Also, good news! For all of you who have been waiting on pins and needles to see the website I created for the DoseRight syringe clips, the time is finally here! If you’d like to see the updated site, visit doseright.com.

I’ve stumbled upon several things that I forgot I was good at in this past week, including microscopes, painting, and puns.

Mid-week, 3^rd Stone got a brand new microscope. We were working on assembling it, and it was very easy for me to hear a direction and know exactly which part of the microscope it was referring to. In general, assembling and using the microscope was quite intuitive. The reason it was all so easy for me is that I’ve actually written a manual for microscope use in one of the clubs I’m in at Rice. The club, Rice MedicOwls, focuses on writing manuals to accompany medical devices that are sent to developing countries. You could even say it involves a lot of manual labor. The manuals have to be very simple and applicable to a large range of devices, so the manual I was writing was very general. Many light microscopes are similar, so it was quite easy for me to understand the microscope in 3^rd Stone. I also recently had a lab in which we frequently used microscopes to view cells. My coworkers were impressed. As a bioengineer, the curriculum that I study is very broad, and sometimes I feel less experienced than other engineering students, who have a deep, narrow focus. However, I have discovered that my education has prepared me for a range of subjects, and I feel equipped to take on a range of challenges. Though I may have to learn more while doing, I am familiar with a variety of subjects—from electrical engineering to biology to mechanics—and this familiarity makes the learning much easier.  Being so familiar with the microscope was a reminder that I’m learning translatable skills that will help me in my future career.

I also remembered this week that I have a knack for painting. Jackie and I have continued our work on laser cutting computer stands for the office, and we decided to paint MDF to build the stands. My mom is an interior designer, and I’ve helper her paint about half of our house, so I’m very comfortable with a paint roller. The MDF was painted in no time. Though I never much liked painting, I’m realizing now that it’s a very useful skill to have, and I’m thankful that my mom took the time to teach me. Equally important is the ability to navigate a Home Depot, which I have also learned from my parents.

However, for every task that I’m familiar with, there are at least three other new things that I’m learning. Last week I mentioned that I was starting work on some new tasks. My major task for these last several weeks is to create a website for Hadleigh Health Technologies—a subsidiary of 3^rd Stone Design. The website will contain information about DoseRight and Pumani, as well as other health technologies that 3^rd Stone works on. Robert has been helping me navigate the process, and I’m learning a lot about project management. Thus far, I’ve created a list of specs for the website, which includes what audience the site is for, what they should take away from the site, and what the website will include. I’ve also created a schedule for what I need to do and by when. The schedule, which I organized as a Gantt Chart (shout-out to my engineering classes), has been very useful to keep me on track and not overwhelmed by all that must be done. Thus far, I’ve done background research on other health technologies websites and brainstormed what features, content, and layout our website will contain. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I’m really excited for the final product.

This past weekend, one of our coworkers, Linda, invited us to her house so that we would have a kitchen to cook in. It was so nice to have a house even for an evening, and we feasted on pasta, guacamole, and dumplings. It was fun and a special treat. We made a lot of extra, so that’s about all we’ve been eating for the pasta few days, too (I told you I had quite the range of talents). I’m still so thankful for how welcoming everyone is here, and I can’t believe how fast the time is going!

 

I’ve just passed the halfway point in my internship, and it’s quite bittersweet. I feel like I’ve learned so much and I’m really enjoying my time at 3SD, but the time is passing almost too quickly. This week is something of a turning point for me, as some projects are ending, but I’m beginning several new projects, as well.

 

We have been working more and more on testing the new Pumani devices. This week, we rented an oxygen concentrator to accomplish some of the testing. In the clinics, oxygen concentrators are often coupled with the CPAPs for effective therapy. We have also begun lifetime testing, which is basically running the Pumani continuously until it fails. The point of this testing is to replicate the failures that the units experience in the field in a controlled manner and to see if there is a way we can prevent them. We currently have a CPAP running in the lab day and night. It’s constant hum has made me realize what a normally quiet atmosphere I work in, which I’m sure is entirely different than the atmosphere in Malawi.

 

To complete the testing, I’ve had to write and follow fairly in-depth protocols. These ensure that the tests I’m conducting can be repeated. They are especially important, given that I’ll be leaving in about a month, and the testing will continue well beyond my departure. I’m learning that documentation, in general, is very important to ensure clear communication within an organization and between organizations. Documentation can include anything from invoices to CAD drawings to meeting minutes to manuals.

 

I’ve talked previously about learning the difference between engineering education and professional engineering. I’ve talked with several different people about this topic even more recently. It seems that the two forms of engineering focus on different aspects—out of necessity. At Rice, I’m exposed to need-finding, problem definitions, brainstorming, and prototyping. At 3^rd Stone, I’ve been more focused on product definitions, manufacturing, regulatory approvals, scale-up, and testing. Both aspects are vital to the eventual implementation of a device, and I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to be exposed to both sides. I am looking forward to utilizing the knowledge I’m gaining about the design process on my senior design next year. I think it will be very useful to know about the full process that a device must navigate, even beyond prototype development.

 

Yesterday, I got to tinker with the Global Focus Microscope, which was originally developed by a BTB student for diagnosis of tuberculosis.¹ It is a simple, low-cost microscope that has an attachment that allows you to view the samples and take pictures with your phone. There is one in the 3^rd Stone office, and though I couldn’t quite get it to work for what I needed it for (the sample was too thick), I did get it to work! I was pretty excited, as I’d never used it before and we couldn’t find the manual, so I just had to wing it. However, it’s a very intuitive, easy-to-use device (as all global health devices should be), and I had it working pretty fast. I was impressed by the pictures it put out, and it was neat to see the real device.

 

I hope that everyone had an excellent 4^th of July this past weekend! I was lucky enough to spend it with some nearby family. Sidenote—the public transport in the Bay Area is actually really great, if you were wondering!

 

Relevant links:

1. http://www.3rdstonedesign.com/project/global-focus-microscope/