Overview of the Week
As we get further into this experience, it seems like the weeks go by so quickly! There was not much new this week, but I am very excited and encouraged by the progress that was made at work. Keep reading to learn more!
Self-Care Sunday
Empanadas and churro from Crispy Churro
OPI Nailbar at Multiplaza Escazu
This last weekend, I decided to stay in and relax for a few days. On Sunday, I decided that after Mass, I would have a self-care day! I went to Multiplaza Escazu where I got my nails done at the OPI Nail Bar. This nail bar was, well… literally a bar. You walked up and there was a round thin table, where the nail techs would sit on one side to do the customers nails on the other. It was a great experience, and it was great quality for a low price. I got a gel manicure for only $23, something that typically costs more around $40 back in the US. Afterwards, I went to Crispy Churro, a stand in the mall that sells all kinds of foods. There, I got two empanadas and tried a dulce de leche filled churro which was so delicious!
The Legalities of Design
At work, there was a lot going on, but unfortunately, most of it is confidential 🙁
Here is what I can share though. For one project, this week I was able to review and give my input on a proposal made by a partner company on one of the new products that Establishment Labs is working on producing. It was very interesting to read and understand this technical document, and it was also very rewarding to take part in a conversation like this one. I also got to see how communication can be very back-and-forth in business relationships like this one, and how it takes several meetings and emails to clarify all details and descriptions of these projects. For this same project, we worked on putting together a presentation to share with our manager that contained information about all the research I’ve been doing and the next steps in the laboratory tests that we will be conducting. I am excited about taking part in the upcoming progress of this project. I was also able to write a large portion of the laboratory techniques that will be used for testing this project in the next few weeks which has been a great learning experience.
For our other heavily design-based project, we met with the design team this week to pitch our 15 ideas and narrow them down to the top 4-5. This meeting was very helpful in reasoning why each idea would/would not be feasible, and we were able to pick a top 4 ideas to move forward to our meeting with the legal team. At this second meeting, we decided to proceed with 3 of the 4 ideas which did not appear to infringe any patents. We are now in the process of finding readily available materials and determining how we will make our prototypes in hopes that we will be able to see some of our ideas come to fruition in the coming weeks before we leave.
Going Forward
Next week will be a busy one – we will be taking a trip to a supply store to find inspiration/materials for prototyping, hopefully I will conduct some experiments in the lab, and we will begin prototyping. I am really looking forward to getting deeper into these projects, and I hope we will be able to make substantial progress. It is crazy to think that we only have 3 weeks left! Talk to y’all next week 🙂