Friday – 6:00 am – Costa Rica vs. Brazil. The score was tied at 0-0 for 85 minutes until Brazil scored twice in the last two minutes. Hundreds of Boston Scientific employees watched this soccer game together in the cafeteria, and the energy in the room was incredible. The outcome was too bad for Costa Rica, but watching with everyone was a unique experience!
As for the workweek, I’ve finished training and now am more productive for my team. We are validating the test methods that will be used to later validate the process and equipment which is used to build our product. I used to be confused by this explanation because it involves multiple levels of validation, but every day I get more details and understand better.
Here’s a quick run-down of some work highlights:
- Interacted with the production team that operates our product line
- Talked with engineers about the details of how the product moves through production, including taking the product apart
- Practiced using paperwork forms (often gets a bad rap but is essential)
- Used lab equipment to obtain data
- Analyzed my data in Minitab, which is a new program for me
- Attended a global process development town hall meeting
Every one of these was a learning experience, even familiar tasks. Research I’ve done in the past usually aimed to acquire data, but seldom have I seen data impact the future steps of a project like I saw this week. After just a few minutes of statistics, data revealed a next step the project must take. The inclusion of this step could add weeks or months to the project timeline, which could be a challenge given the quickly-approaching release date. It was neat to see data be so influential in industry.
The town hall meeting was a brand-new experience because I had never been in a global meeting before. I joined a room full of Costa Rican engineers to teleconference and talk with teams in Boston, Minnesota, California, and even India. Engineers who presented came from departments and areas of the world with diverse challenges and goals. Hearing from everyone helped me understand the bigger-picture perspective that Boston Scientific employees in Costa Rica have being members of a company based abroad. Actually, this point was made by one of Costa Rica’s vice-presidents, Epsy Campbell, when she spoke at the TEDx-type event last week.
Adventures this week were great! I went to hear the Orquesta Nacional de Costa Rica with Theresa and Christine, and the classical program (Schubert, Schumann, and a premiere by Cohn) was wonderful. Many aspects of the venue made it a lovely experience – we sat in the fancy café for coffee before the performance, and the theater is impressively done in wood and marble. Here’s the view from the balcony where we sat.
Another great part of the weekend was meeting up with some friends from the design course. It was great to see them again and talk about internships and other fun topics. It’s cool how many shared interests we have. The food was delicious, and I hope to go to more restaurants following their recommendations in the coming weeks!