This week has been a great start to the internship!
I was a little nervous at first, unsure how this previously very in-person interaction internship was going to be online, but the Internship directors have done a great job. The week started off with the assignment of our teams and descriptions of the prototypes we would be evaluating for the next two weeks. I was very excited to get assigned to the infection prevention team, with the prototypes of a Walk-Through Decontamination Unit and a Handwashing Station as I have had some previous experience in working on infection prevention devices through my Rice coursework. With device assigned and thoughts underway about the prototyping direction, we were released to our team’s breakout rooms. Once there, our TA led us through a variety of getting to know you activities that touched on not only us as a person but our communication and teamwork preferences as well. I felt like this was a great exercise, as it helped to figure out some of the group dynamics and introduced us pretty well to each other, despite not getting to meet in person. By the end of this meeting, everyone was very much anticipating the technology presentation the following day that would explain the specifics of what we are to look for in the prototypes.
As the daily meeting went on, our understanding of the prototypes we were evaluating expanded drastically. The projects we had been pondering about the night before sprung into life, and we began our research to get a better understanding of the context and potential areas for improvement. The area of most interest to me for the Decontamination Unit was the selection of which chemical compound to be sprayed. I found myself embedded in looking up previously used chemicals for similar circumstances and the relative toxicities and hazards of them. The key question being what chemical would be safe for human contact while also having a high enough concentration to kill the virus. My favorite prototype though would have to be the Hand Washing Station. I had worked on a similar project this past semester in a design class and it was quite interesting to see how another group had responded to a similar issue with a different implementation area in mind. I really look forward to extending my overall knowledge of infection prevention over the course of this internship.
The workshop on Thursday touched on an area of design that I had never really previously been aware of: human-centered design. In previous design projects, the experience of users had been considered, but never in the frame of mind of human-centered design. Human-centered design is a problem-solving approach that makes sure to involve the human perspective in all parts of the design process. I feel like this strategy will be of great help moving forwards, both in this internship and in future design projects.
Thursday after class, my design group had a Zoom call to discuss the upcoming presentation on Friday. While the main focus of the call was on the presentation, it also gave us the opportunity to get to know each other in a less structured setting. We shared aspects of our own lives and cultures and just overall got a better sense of group members as a person, not just a name.
Friday. The day of much anticipation. I had volunteered to be the person in my group to present the Walk-Through Disinfection Unit and was kind of nervous because I’m not a huge fan of public speaking. While I knew it would be stressful, I also knew it would be a great learning opportunity for the many future engineering design and prototype presentations that are sure to come up over the course of my undergraduate and further education. When it was time to present, I was nervous but I surprisingly found myself quite excited for the opportunity to speak about something that I was passionate about. Signing off now, with another presentation on the horizon, I really enjoyed the first week, and can’t wait to see what the rest of the internship will hold.