Hi everyone,

Today was the biggest day that i had being looking  forward to met,its was so happy to have a final presentation with at most all the constraints and objectives that we had set in our team being met at last.I had a great feel when presenting into audience of several peoples with inclusions of high peoples(education & social status).It helped me much to build my confidence and skills in the area of presentation in all different type of people.What is left now is to do nice documentation on all things that as a team have gone thru in all time when we started  working on this device up to the end.Its a sad feelings to leave behind all my new friends that i have made during this summer period especially my team mates,But I have believes and hopes that someday we may met again.

I would like to thanks everyone that in one way or the other have made the SEED program possible since the the day it was first started  with at most appreciations going to the SEED program donators and staffs .It was a good experience to learn new skills  technically on solving different challenges that we may have in our society,I hope this feels continue also to other international students that are there in the world especially in the developing countries (Africa).

Lastly, I would like to invite all to come visit Tanzania to see several life adventures that are found there like the fourth greatest mountain in the world “KILIMANJARO” ,living culture of different 120 tribes that we have in the nation and inclusion of large number of wild animal that are in several numbers of “Natural National Parks”.I will be more like happier to get in touch with you if anyone ever comes,just write an email on ”novathcharles96@gmail.com” and i will gladly meet with you and show you around during you time there .

After saying all this I will  like to leave you with some quotes that we have in Tanzania which  are “There is No begin that have no end” , “no heights without ends” ”Floor races end up on the Edge” so with from quotes i will like to acknowledge and appreciate that my beautiful summer period has ended this week .With addition of one more quote “Mountains don’t meet but human beings do” so until we ever meet again  then i would like to wish you all  a health and success life.

“KWA HERINI,NAWAPENDA WOTE” -SWAHILI.                                                                                                                                                                             ” MUNGU AWABARIKI”  – SWAHILI

”GOODBYE,I LOVE YOU ALL”.         – ENGLISH                                                                                                                                                                               ”GOD BLESS YOU ALL”   – ENGLISH

Every journey has a beginning and an ending, what matters the most is what one has been able to accomplish when the journey has come to an end. All sorts of emotions are present at the end of a journey, some joyful ones others sad ones. My personal journey has been one that has a joyful ending, I didn’t want it to end but at the same time I cant help the to quench the feeling of hope that have for my country. I would like to believe that my coming here was not a coincidence, neither is it something that’s supposed to be beneficial only to me. I believe my coming here is for the benefit of millions. I have had fun, I have enjoyed my stay, and mostly grateful for the knowledge and skill imparted to me for the past 7 weeks. I appreciate the friendship and networks that have spark up from this place, from my fellow Africans from Tanzania to everyone we met in the United States. I would like to believe, for most of them this marks the beginning of friendship that will transform the world.

I write my blog with ease knowing that 99% of all that was required from my team has been delivered; we have been able to build a device that applies negative pressure on a wound helping it to heal faster. The device required that we should be able to apply negative pressure between negative 70 mmHg – 150 mmHg and we have been able to do that. It was also required of us that the device should cost less than $200 and we have built it for around $150. It is lightweight, weighs less than 10 pounds and it has a battery life that lasts more than 12 hours before it gets recharged. In addition, our device has an alternative power outlet which you can use to charge the battery or just to power the device. It also has three Light Emitting Diodes “LED” to convey different messages, The Blue LED blinks when the pressure being applied is lower than the required 70mmHg, the Yellow LED blinks when the reservoir is full, and this runs concurrently with the buzzer which makes noise once the float switch closes. There is also a Red LED which blinks whenever the device is operating on battery and the battery is low.

All in all, I can say that I am proud of the work that we have been able to do; we just did not do much pressure testing as we wanted but we did carry out some. Moving forward, I intend to make a replica of the device in Malawi, and hopefully implement it in our hospitals upon consultation with the required authorities

SEED is a great a platform for us engineers to develop our skills and become more relevant in society. I appreciate all the partners and sponsors for making this platform available, their impact is felt greatly. I have learnt so much from our professors Dr Hunter and Dr Wettergreen, their humility and ability to communicate knowledge is top class. During our daily morning meetings I always looked forward to how they would ask questions. they asked the same thing I wanted to ask but more intelligently. I have learnt that skill.

Now that my SEED has germinated, there is no telling how far I can go. I mean who knows, I could be coming back to America SOON. Until next time

Hi everyone,

Today was the biggest day that i had being looking  forward to met,its was so happy to have a final presentation with at most all the constraints and objectives that we had set in our team being met at last.I had a great feel when presenting into audience of several peoples with inclusions of high peoples(education & social status).It helped me much to build my confidence and skills in the area of presentation in all different type of people.What is left now is to do nice documentation on all things that as a team have gone thru in all time when we started  working on this device up to the end.Its a sad feelings to leave behind all my new friends that i have made during this summer period especially my team mates,But I have believes and hopes that someday we may met again.

I would like to thanks everyone that in one way or the other have made the SEED program possible since the the day it was first started  with at most appreciations going to the SEED program donators and staffs .It was a good experience to learn new skills  technically on solving different challenges that we may have in our society,I hope this feels continue also to other international students that are there in the world especially in the developing countries (Africa).

Lastly, I would like to invite all to come visit Tanzania to see several life adventures that are found there like the fourth greatest mountain in the world “KILIMANJARO” ,living culture of different 120 tribes that we have in the nation and inclusion of large number of wild animal that are in several numbers of “Natural National Parks”.I will be more like happier to get in touch with you if anyone ever comes,just write an email on ”novathcharles96@gmail.com” and i will gladly meet with you and show you around during you time there .

After saying all this I will  like to leave you with some quotes that we have in Tanzania which  are “There is No begin that have no end” , “no heights without ends” ”Floor races end up on the Edge” so with from quotes i will like to acknowledge and appreciate that my beautiful summer period has ended this week .With addition of one more quote “Mountains don’t meet but human beings do” so until we ever meet again  then i would like to wish you all  a health and success life.

“KWA HERINI,NAWAPENDA WOTE” -SWAHILI.                                                                                                                                                                             ” MUNGU AWABARIKI”  – SWAHILI

”GOODBYE,I LOVE YOU ALL”.         – ENGLISH                                                                                                                                                                               ”GOD BLESS YOU ALL”   – ENGLISH

Hello Everyone,

This is the last week of SEED and i will miss this place and experience. This has been the most exciting seven weeks. The exciting moments were not only in the OEDK but my whole experience in USA.

Team Zipline 4 All

Finishing Testing

Since this is the last week of SEED, most of our time was spent testing the device and making changes according to the feedback. No major changes were made on the device as the feedback we got mostly required small changes. We found a way to adjust the shoulder straps easier and faster which made the device easy to set up.  We did tests on range of motion, safety, durability and ease of set up. For the durability test we set up the device at Martel College gym on Friday last week and left it to hang for 24 hours with 300 pounds weight.

The Set Up at Martel College gym

The test itself was not successful as there were signs of tearing on one of the D rings attachments which was because the sewing was done by us not professionally. The canvas itself still hold the weight which was a good sign.

The other tests were user defined and we conducted them on our collegues at the OEDK and some kids that some parents brought by the OEDK.

Esther testing the range of motion on the device

This a preview of our final solution.

Documentation

During the week we have also been able to start documenting the specific details of the design that can be sent to a seamstress and hence replicated for Camp for all.

We also had to make a presentation that we presented today. it was a faster process than last time because this time we actually knew what we were supposed to do. The practice run was done yesterday and Andrew and Aubrey did a wonderful job. After the test run we had to make changes according to the feedback from our TAs. We also brought the device setup to the classroom where we were to do the presentations to try it out for the demo. We did not want last minute surprises.

Presentations

It was a great moment to see what we had done and achieved. Such a joyous moment made me so proud. It was also the time one of clients from camp for all got to try our device. They loved it and it was great.

At the end of the presentations, we were awarded certificates for the completion of SEED.

Thats me with Dr Wettergreen and Dr Hunter.

Am so glad different people managed to come to see what we had done. My special thanks to the Huffs, Rice 360, Malawians in Houston community, Our faculty mentor Dr Ghosn, Our SEED Directors Dr Hunter and Dr Wettergreen, Our TAs ,Aldufo and Grant, OEDK staff and Colleagues, Parents that brought their kids for testing for making our project a success by the support rendered and time sacrificed to be there for us.

For the great experience and lessons learnt, I would like to say THANK YOU SEED AND RICE 360

This was a great opportunity and honor.

Chiso…………..

 

DONE AND DUSTED!!!!

Can’t believe it has been seven weeks already,feels like a day and a half.I’ll most definitely miss this place.

Anyway,i and my fellow teammates began this week with making the back and front plates of our device.The device was designed to be made of two wooden plates with some pieces of acrylic fitted into the face plate and hence we moved forward to laser cutting wood and acrylic. We were instructed to make six devices as five of them are being taken to africa by Dr. Wettergreen and so we cut material for six devices. After cutting we went into sandblasting so as to make sure the lights shine brighter. Just before lunch, dylan and i conducted an aesthetic appeal test where we interviewed over twenty people about their views regarding the device we had made.

After sandblasting,i dived into writing up our final document, while dylan wrote the assembly instructions,audrey cleaned up the code and clement was working on perf boards.We couldn’t assemble our device as we had just ordered standoffs that were to be used to hang the leds over and that is how the first day of the week came to a close.

On Tuesday, i jumped straight into the final documentation before i went to conduct a visibility test.I basically set people up into different positions in the OEDK and asked if they could see the device when it flashed lights and all of them said YES and hence we passed the test.Meanwhile,Audrey was working on getting the LED’s to shine more brighter, Dylan started preparing the presentation and Clement was finishing up on the perf boards.

Later in the afternoon, the standoffs we had ordered the previous day came through and we started mass production right after.We managed to assemble just one device because the standoffs came a bit late in the afternoon and we ended Tuesday on that note.

Wednesday morning was pretty much spent on finalizing on the presentation and that was done by the three of us while Clement finished up on assembling the remaining devices.We were the very first group to present the following day and so we were posed to go first during the rehearsals scheduled just after lunch and so we had to get the presentation done before then. At 1:30,Audrey and I practiced with the help of Adulfo and Grant who gave us pointers on what to improve and we definitely did. The rest of the day was pretty much spent finishing up on the presentation while clement assembled three of five devices.

The day we had been waiting for arrived and the entire team was smartly dressed, ready for what may come.We had final rehearsals as a team just before we went into the presentation and that helped us a lot as the presentation went about smoothly.After the presentations we were awarded certificates,had lunch with the clients,some nice sandwiches and soda,and then we had a group photo just before i started up on my final blog.

Its nice to finish a project you have worked so hard on,its a confidence booster.

Till next time!!!!!

Hello everyone,

It’s the sixth week of SEED and things have been intense so far as we are trying to come up with the final designs of our projects and perform different tests to assess the intended functions of these projects.

Last week Friday, we finished two prototypes. One had a slightly wider seat compared to the back support. We made the back support smaller because we noticed in the previous designs, there was extra fabric just hanging at the back even after tighten the straps. We identified this as a weakness because harness devices are supposed to have a tight fit, such that only two fingers should fit between the device and the skin.

Audrey testing the prototype with the smaller back support

This prototype worked better with smaller bodies but could not fit bigger bodies. We noticed this after Andrew, my teammate, sat in the device. His back was barely supported. We also tried to have adulfo, our TA, sit in it but it tore off.

During the weekend, the office of international students bought tickets for us to visit the NASA space center which was very interesting.

Monday, July 15

In the morning, we reflected on the observations we made on Friday and decided to increase the width of the back support to the original size. We also used a double layer of muslin and canvas to make the seat support.Another change was the use of strap in the sides of the back support instead of the wooden rods. This is the prototype that proved to be the most successful in terms of the amount of weight supported. It managed to hold a adulfo while carrying a 50 lbs weight on his lap without tearing. This was a huge step forward for the team. Although this prototype was a success, it had its weaknesses. Some of the weaknesses were it was small so users could not sit comfortably, legs were being squeezed together and the straps needed improvements.

Tuesday, July 16

After the morning meeting, we decided to make one more medium fidelity prototype. We made the final presentation of our sewing patterns and dimensions. We increased the lengths of both the back and seat, making each 22 inches from 18 inches. We also decided to use Canvas to make this prototype. This type of canvas is water resistant and has a UV resistance of up to 500 hours. We used the previous teams belts to strap the user into the device. After completing this prototype, we were confident to go forward and start working on the high fidelity prototype since we had all the details and dimensions mapped out. Later in the day, we started working on our testing plans for the device.

The final medium prototype on display

 

Wednesday, July 17

In the morning meeting, we got a lot of feedback on how we can improve our testing plans and make them more detailed. Right after the morning meeting we worked on that. We had Grant and Adulfo help us through the whole process. In the afternoon, we tested the medium fidelity prototype for comfort and support and range of motion. We also sent emails to different summer camps taking place at rice to bring kids to the oedk so that they can try out our device. This because our device is designed for kids so its on right we have kids test it out.

Thursday, July 18

We decided to make the high fidelity prototype. It was pretty similar to the final medium prototype. It is made if canvas. A double layer of canvas is added on the seat for more support. It has two shoulder straps that resemble that of a back pack  and another strap that comes up on the upper abdomen.

We had chance of testing it two kids and we plan to do more testing tomorrow. Majority of the kids will come to the oedk tomorrow.

Dr hunter testing out the high fidelity prototype

Hello Everyone,

Can’t believe it is already the sixth week of SEED time is flying by so fast. Next week is the last and am going to miss the OEDK, the staff, the workmates and the Huffs.

The Weekend

I had a great weekend going to NASA space center. It was the most exciting trip i have ever had in my life. It was an educative trip to learn about space. Before this weekend i thought Apollo was the first manned mission but America had other trials before that to survey space. It had so many interesting places to see and gave a really amazing feeling of what life is like for astronauts. I got to touch a moon rock, speak to a real astronaut, see and enter into a spaceship and do so many cool  things.

Monday, 15th July

As a group, we started the week on a great note. We continued on a prototype we had started making the past week. We made changes according to the feedback we had gotten from our collegues and supervisors. We made the seat longer and wider, found a way to attach the leg separation and connect the straps. We also decided to use a double layer on the seat for more support. Another change was that on the back of the seat we removed rods and instead a strap ran through. These changes were made to make the device more conforming to different heights and weights.

We made a very good prototype from fabric and a seat reinforcement of canvas (Waterproof). We also treated the wood to be waterproof.

This prototype was the first to hold more than 200 pounds without breaking and that was a very huge step for us.

Tuesday, 16th July

We spent most of the day planning ahead. This meant coming up with drawings of the harness device indicating dimensions, sewing patterns and sew ins. We had a challenge incorporating the sewing patterns into our drawings as there is no specific standard on how they make sewing patterns.

We also spent most of our time creating testing plans for the device that we are going to make and lastly we started planning on making of the high fidelity prototype.

Wednesday, 17th July

we started making our high fidelity prototype. By now our sewing has improved so much the work was so neat. We made it of canvas throughout, it is so strong and it was exciting making it.

Our greatest challenge was making sensible testing plans that are laid out step by step. This was so because we have to consider the users who are mostly disabled children and the people we had been testing on were our fellow collegues. We had help from our supervisors, teaching assistants but we kept changing things as some of the tests were not feasible.

we reached out to some parents that work on Rice campus to help us by bringing their kids to test our device.

Thursday, 18th July

Finished the high fidelity prototype and made iterations to make it as comfortable as it could be.

We were priviledged to get some parents that reached out and brought their kids and we started the tests today. It has been so helpful as it has made us see problems that we could have overlooked.

As we are expecting more kids to test on, am really glad of the progress we have made and by next week we hope to produce a working solution for camp for all.

Till next week

Chiso

Hi everyone,

This week was mostly prototyping day for us(Team iWound) ,Our most  effort was concentrated  for creating our final device, so we were actually able to make our first Printed Circuit Board(PCB) that help us make our electronic circuit in more professional way,Also worked on the universal cap design with tube locking part on it and worked on some of the testing criteria of our prototype.

We also had a meeting on Tuesday with our Faculty mentor Dr. Abidi and  showed her our progress on our our final design prototype  and received some suggestions/comments from her,so bad she wont be there on our final summer presentation next week because of  other factors.

On testing some criteria on our device  we tested Cost,Noise and Alarm system of our device on this week.We did cost testing on Tuesday and today,on Thursday we did the  Noise and Alarm system .It was kind of interesting when we were testing the alarm system because we had a sample size of 35 people that we selected randomly then showed them our device operation,after that we had two questions on them on how noticeable and ho much clear the alarm system conveyed the message  to the user and actually get response from them with the scale of 1-5 that we created and had additional comments/suggestions regarding the alarm system of the device from them.

Picture TAken by one of our prototyping attendant: Raji Mamnkad😊

Hi everyone,

This week was mostly prototyping day for us(Team iWound) ,Our most  effort was concentrated  for creating our final device, so we were actually able to make our first Printed Circuit Board(PCB) that help us make our electronic circuit in more professional way,Also worked on the universal cap design with tube locking part on it and worked on some of the testing criteria of our prototype.

We also had a meeting on Tuesday with our Faculty mentor Dr. Abidi and  showed her our progress on our our final design prototype  and received some suggestions/comments from her,so bad she wont be there on our final summer presentation next week because of  other factors.

On testing some criteria on our device  we tested Cost,Noise and Alarm system of our device on this week.We did cost testing on Tuesday and today,on Thursday we did the  Noise and Alarm system .It was kind of interesting when we were testing the alarm system because we had a sample size of 35 people that we selected randomly then showed them our device operation,after that we had two questions on them on how noticeable and ho much clear the alarm system conveyed the message  to the user and actually get response from them with the scale of 1-5 that we created and had additional comments/suggestions regarding the alarm system of the device from them.

Picture TAken by one of our prototyping attendant: Raji Mamnkad😊

I normally start my blogs by writing the title first but this one is different I am going to write first and give the title later. Its been a wonderful week of getting more deeper into coming up with our high fidelity prototype.   All the key materials that we ordered are in except for the pressure sensor. So far we have a device that can apply the negative pressure and  be able to suck out the fluids. The cap design is great after several iterations and that is good progress. The Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is done. Due to lack of the actual pressure sensor that we need for our device, we are improvising with another pressure-sense-aaah!!! 

I hope it gets here on time since we only have a few days left before our final presentations. Actually its a week from now but since most of the project is done I can keep my cool for NOW. Today I diverted my attention to testing most part of the day. We worked on testing how quite our device is when it operates and it seems we are okay as far as the WHO standards are concerned. We have also performed tests o how the alert system we have put in use is concerned as far as users are concerned. That went on pretty well as well. We managed to talk to most of the people in the OEDK as well as those on the outside.

One of my strengths is talking with people and I really enjoyed calling in people I do not know or have never spoken with to come and do alert tests on our device. I have a learnt a lot today about that soft skill. I have also learnt more on how to deal or work with people especially when we have different opinions on a particular area. Its all been a learning process.

Technically I must say the headlines for me this week is how to work on Printed Circuit Boards which goes hand in hand with soldering. I surely will implement when  get back home.

I also loved having the Huffs come around to check on our project. It was like my parents have come to check out on how I am doing. I enjoyed the moment and it really motivated me. My energy levels went high when they left.

Let me just say I love the progress I have made this week, both technically and psychologically. Its just one thing that is not turning me on, THERE IS NO PRESSURE SENSE-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait  a minute, dis I also say that I went to NASA this week???