With orientation and other “new intern” tasks complete, this past week I focused on getting down to business and working on my SMART goals. One of my goals is to revise the product development process for a gastrointestinal forceps device. This week, a member of the device’s R&D team traveled to Costa Rica to observe the building process of the device’s latest batch…and he came all the way from Delhi, India! I’ve always known that big companies like Boston Scientific have offices all around the globe, but interacting face-to-face with employees from both Costa Rica and India this week was pretty eye-opening. Observing the building process of the forceps was quite fascinating as well, especially since as an undergraduate, I had zero exposure to manufacturing, making all of this very new to me. My intention for this week is to gather more knowledge on this build process through meeting with my coworkers and studying the prior product development process. Later on, I will begin documenting everything.
A gastrointestinal forceps tool (courtesy of Google Images), which is used to collect tissue samples from the GI tract
Another instance in which I was exposed to the multi-national aspect of Boston Scientific was during a Process Development (PD) Town Hall on Wednesday afternoon. The purpose of the town hall was for BSC PD teams from all over the world to convene via a Skype video call and discuss general updates. The meeting included Coyol (of course), Marlborough, MA (where the BSC HQ is), teams in Minnesota, teams in California, and the team in India. Discussions ranged from new employee hires (including the GMIers!), general project updates, various activities and events that the BSC community hosted, and more. Part of me hopes that some of the U.S. employees took note of the Rice interns in Costa Rica and wondered to themselves “I wonder what program Rice has that these students are part of?” – that way, they might decide to look into Rice and GMI and maybe even discover this blog!
I couldn’t have a full discussion of the globalness of this past week without talking a little about my Spanish speaking. As much as I try to be a humble and modest person on a day-to-day basis, I must say that I am quite proud of my progress in conducting this internship in Spanish. Almost all of my exchanges with my coworkers have been in Spanish, and I feel that my listening skills (which have always been weaker than my speaking, writing, and reading skills) are improving rapidly. As an example, I sat down for a one-on-one meeting with one of my supervisors on Thursday regarding my other two SMART goals. I had arranged the meeting so I could ask him some rather important questions about both of those projects. We sat there for roughly twenty minutes or so, and I listened very closely as he addressed each of my questions. Although I must admit that I didn’t understand each and every one of his words, I could still understand enough that I was able to ask him follow-up questions, clarify his statements, and revise my goals based on our conversation. For years, I have desired to reach a point in my Spanish-speaking abilities where I am able to converse freely and conduct business, and I feel that his point has pretty much been reached. This makes me very happy and excited to keep going!
Lastly, after the long work week, several of my classmates and I decided to take advantage of our proximity to one of the largest cities in Central America by exploring two historic and rather colorful neighborhoods there: Amón and Escalante. The former is known for its colonial architecture while the latter has been recognized as a restaurant and bar hub. As someone who has always been captivated by large cities and their architectures, I love walking neighborhoods like these and discovering what they offer and how they’re being utilized. Below is a photo of the foreign affairs building in Amón, which interestingly enough has a fragment of the Berlin Wall on display!
A facade of the Costa Rica Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Amón. Isn’t it pretty?
Looking ahead, I’m excited to keep working on my PD projects and seeing what happens next at BSC.