This has been an absolutely CRAZY week, filled with both highs and lows. Over the course of the week, we made a lot of progress on the mechanical/physical aspects of the oil drum. We installed “tracks” to help the frame slide in and out of the oil drum easily. In addition, we mounted the drum on a flat cart with wheels in order to make it portable and easy to move around in a hospital setting. We also used this cart to create a stand which can hold the lid of our device – which we attached to the drum this week as well – at a 90 degree angle, allowing the mask tray to be placed on it to make changing masks in/out very easy.

In addition, midway through the week, we began working on figuring out the electrical components of our circuit. We started with looking at the safety switch mechanism, which uses a switch to complete the circuit when it touches a magnet, and breaks the circuit when separated from the magnet. By placing a magnet on the lid so that it comes into contact with the switch when closed, we will be able to turn on the UV bulbs when the lid is closed and have them automatically turn off when the lid is opened. In addition, when the lid is closed, a blue light will turn on for a designated cycle length, after which it will be shut off. If the lid is opened midway through a cycle, a red light will turn on. We were able to get this mechanism working, which we were very proud of due to our limited practical experience with electrical circuits.

Next, we began looking at the part of the circuit which contains the UV bulbs (all of the components were taken out of the previous Steribox). We bought some fluorescent lights that were nearly identical to our UV ones, with the thought that they would allow us to test the circuit without dangerous UV exposure. However, after speaking with electrical specialists, we discovered some flaws in the circuit design that might make the entire arrangement infeasible. This was extremely hard to hear, and my teammate and I were both trying to hide our panic, as the news could mean completely changing our design in the few days we had left. But, after talking through the problems a bit more, we determined that we could actually incorporate additional safety measures which would allow us to achieve at least partial functionality using the fluorescent bulbs by the end of the internship. Though it was challenging at first to change the scope of what we would be able to put together as our end product, once we re-defined what could reasonably be achieved we were able to work much more efficiently on producing the best final device possible.

Over the next few days, we worked very closely with electrical specialists in order to begin putting together our circuit and installing it in the oil drum. During the first part of our final week, we will be finalizing the electronics, as well as preparing for our project pitch on Tuesday and a second presentation on Thursday!

I honestly can’t believe we’re entering the final week of this internship. I feel as though I have learned so much, and I’m also sad to leave behind the amazing people I’ve met!