Author: bts7ua
Video Presentation Reflections
It was really interesting to see all the different videos today. I was surprised about how they were of different styles, yet they were all able to capture their stories. However, while watching the videos, I was still able to see how different video formats were better able to capture certain aspects of the stories. Interviews seemed more suited for narrative and illustrating feedback given on prototypes, while use of the whiteboard seemed more suited for illustrating thought processes and design decisions, and an overhead video seemed better suited for showing the final prototypes. I felt that due to this, and the inability to combine all types of video formats, different groups clearly had different strengths. For example, combining interviews and whiteboard drawings may not be as effective due to the switch between two drastically different video formats. The transitions become somewhat awkward between such different formats. I feel that outlining the design process was integral to these videos, as they were meant to tell a story about the process. Videos that did not spend a lot of time detailing their troubles and revelations throughout their process, I thought were not as effective in achieving this goal. However, I did find these videos just as enjoyable.
Filming Process
I found the filming process to be both challenging and a lot of fun. It really tested my creativity. I found story boarding very helpful in the process of developing the video. However, we ended up using a combination of brainstorming ideas for different parts on loose leaf and planning out the video step by step. Furthermore, some parts of the video evolved during the filming process. In engineering we often think step by step about how to solve a problem, so it both excited and challenged me to do something more creative where ideas are not necessarily formed sequentially. I look forward to seeing everyone’s final presentations on Monday.
Nasal Cannula Update
After coming up with need areas, Leah, Debbie and I chose to focus on solving the poor fit of the nasal cannula in NICU babies of different sizes. We started off making need and want statements, visiting the NICU fellow Jameel, and sketching out preliminary ideas. Jameel who originally introduced both Debbie and I to this problem had proposed the solution of 3D printing a custom nasal cannula for each baby in need of one. However, we decided not to narrow ourselves to this solution and came up with many proposed solutions of own. From the sketches we made, we made low fidelity models out of bendy straws, pipe cleaners, tape, and mesh. These low fidelity models really aided in the visualization of our ideas. We have been working on building a prototype for our adjustable nasal cannula design. We are currently struggling with 3D printing, as we desire to print the piece so that it is flexible. We planed on using ninja flex filament to print our piece, but we have not yet gotten it to work.
Brooke and Trey’s PHP Project
Over the past few weeks, Trey had been trying to alter his schedule so that he had a better sleeping pattern (going to bed earlier and waking up earlier) in order to have more time to work out in the morning. Overall, he had made an improvement in altering his schedule so that he went to bed earlier and rose earlier. However, he struggled with increasing the amounts of time he worked out. There were a number of external factors contributing to this including guys’ rush and snow days. He had stated that often he lacked the motivation to go work out in the morning, especially before a 9am class. Reviewing Trey’s data, in the future it may be more manageable for him to aim to work out on mornings he does not have a 9am class instead of trying to work out every morning. He could also try to work out at a later time on days when he does have 9am class. Overall Trey was satisfied with his improvement with getting up earlier however he feels he still is at the same point in his workout schedule as he was beforehand. However now that guys’ rush is over, he feels he will have the time to improve on this goal.
Over the past few weeks, Brooke has been trying to get back into the shape she once was in while in high school. In order to obtain this, we decided to try and increase the number of days she would run and how far she would run. We had planned on her running everyday. Initially she started off pretty consistent with running however as time into the project progressed she became less and less consistent as her workload increased, AOE rush occurred, and the snow days took place. Additionally because of these things, Brooke began having to stay up later on most days and this resulted in her being unable to get up early enough to exercise before her 10:30 am classes; a routine she had enjoyed at the beginning of the project. After data collection, we believe it would definitely have been more realistic and beneficial to have had her just aim to run 3-4x a week as opposed to everyday- one because off days are good for recovery and two because it would allow Brooke to schedule working out around a busier work load. Overall, although she did only run roughly half of the days, Brooke feels this was a big improvement compared to her workout history last semester and is satisfied with the results of this project.
Brooke-First Entry
Hi everyone! My name is Brooke Sutherland. I am from Haverford, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. I want to go to medical school and potentially study either orthopedics or cardiology. I had open heart surgery two days after I was born and my many visits to the cardiologist have peaked my interest in the field. I am on the travel team for club tennis here at UVA. I was nationally ranked in juniors but I injured a tendon in my foot right before the college recruiting period. My experiences with this and other injuries throughout my tennis career have made me interested in orthopedics and sports medicine as well. I am excited for both the clinical and design parts of the class. I want to improve at thinking outside of the box and I hope to design something that solves a real world problem in healthcare.
BME Design 