Hello! Muli Bwanji!

As I reflect over this past week, I realize just how quickly the internship has been flying by. I have been learning SO much about my team, our devices and the context of our problem space, and the design process through the ongoing workshops, team meetings, and research. Of course, all of this has been made possible through the support of my teammates, the wonderful TA’s and mentors, and the entire Rice 360 team.

On Monday, we had a visit from Dr. Wettergreen, where we presented our devices and project status and received very insightful feedback. Dr. Wettergreen also gave us a few toolkits to strengthen our design and feedback process. Something I found very valuable was the idea of “Focus on Function First”. To expand on this further, the goal of our device is not to solve the problem, but to gain momentum to continue working on the prototype using readily available material. Framing our design process in this way made it seem so much more digestible and conducive to the iterative process given the somewhat limited scope that we have. We also did an exercise called “I like”/ “I wish”, where we were divided into breakout rooms and provided constructive feedback by highlighting both the positive aspects of the device, as well as aspects of the device that can be further worked on. I really enjoyed how we were able to interact with people from other teams and work on their device—it was really great to be able to learn more about their projects and hear about their perspectives. I think that beyond design, “I like”/”I wish” has so much applicability to general life—this is definitely something I would encourage everyone to try in giving feedback.

Later in the week, we had a workshop led by Phil Repisky that focused on problem decomposition, which is basically breaking down the components of our devices and its problem space into its essential components. We also learned about stakeholder communication from Dr. Tracy Volz, especially the principle of active listening. I really enjoyed the “Listening Assessment” we completed, as it pointed out a lot of areas that I can improve on in communication. Listening is so fundamental to any teamwork and collaboration we complete in global health, so it was an invaluable learning opportunity.

Thursday’s workshop was definitely my favorite of the week. The first half focused on the intersections of our work in global health with the Black Lives Matter movement, and specifically on health disparities that often afflict Black people worldwide. This is an area I am super passionate about and it was especially enlightening to hear the perspectives of the Malawian members of our community in discussing global health disparities. I feel like I learned so much and was really able to contextualize how important the work that we do is. I would encourage everyone to check out this website and explore the various disparities that may exist in their communities. The second half of our workshop on Thursday was focused on brainstorming. I really enjoyed this exercise—we kind of had the space to independently explore our own ideas but were really able to come together as a group and strengthen each other’s ideas. It really highlighted how valuable everyone’s perspective and contribution is to the team!

After the brainstorming session and the various workshops and research conducted over the week, there are a few focus areas for each of our devices:

Walk-through decontamination unit: From some of the feedback we have received, we think it is really important to consider the ease of use of our device, as it may not be necessarily be very intuitive to stand in a tunnel for 10 seconds as a disinfectant sprays out. Instead, we are considering various shapes of design for the tunnel, as well as different conceptions for the length/width of the tunnel, and other measures such as implementing a noise/visual sign to alert users of when they are decontaminated. We are also looking into the best chemicals to use for the disinfectant—among others, we are considering Sodium Hypochlorite and Hydrogen Peroxide.

Hands-free sanitation station: We are primarily looking at ways to cut down on the power use in the device, perhaps by removing the Arduino nano or potentially by being able to power off some parts of the device when they are not in use. We are also working on ways to really highlight the hands-free nature of the device, whether that is via a sign or some other method we have yet to think of.

 

We ended the week off with a worship led by Dr. Gobin on stakeholders and systems. We learned about the various levels and kinds of stakeholders that are involved in producing global health technologies. Our team’s stakeholder map ended up being so much larger and more intricate than I could have imagined starting off. It really put into scope how many people are invested in the success of this project and how many lives this has the potential of affecting. Friday was also Juneteenth, a holiday that marks the emancipation of slaves in Texas. After our workshop, I was able to attend a few of the lectures from the Juneteenth series being hosted by Rice. It was so interesting to learn more about the history of this holiday, especially in light of the Black Lives Matter discussion we just had.

Over the weekend, we had a bit of team bonding. I had so much fun learning some more about my teammates. We played a game where we guessed everyone’s responses to various questions—from our favorite colors, animals, movies, snacks, and other ~extremely~ important thing. It was so nice to be able to learn a bit more about my teammates. I was even able to learn how to say “Hi” in Chichiwe, “Muli Bwanji”—I was told I sound like a native (although I think my teammates may have just been flattering me 😊).

Over this past week, I have learned a tremendous amount about our devices, their problem space,  various tools to use in the design process, communication, stakeholders, and so much more. I have to say, my favorite part of the week has been getting to know my teammates better and really starting to come together. I am so excited to build on the progress we have made this week and continue learning and growing together throughout the rest of the internship!

Signing Off,

Sana