With spring break just two weeks away, it is really starting to sink in that our time here at Rice is coming to an end. I have mixed feelings about this program coming to an end. On one hand, it is exciting that we will be starting a new chapter in our lives in just a few short months, but on the other hand, it’s sad to think that we only have a short amount of time left together as part of the GMI program.
This experience has taught me so many things and has helped me grow into a better person, both personally and professionally. Probably the most important of those has been learning to be more flexible and willing to stop and take a step back when necessary. Working on my implementation project, Truvent, hasn’t been a walk in the park. This project was handed down to us from a previous design team, so we’ve been trying to use their work and improve it. Unfortunately, the approach we’ve been using and spending a lot of time on just isn’t working out. We’ve been really focused on trying to measure the force that a person would place on the top of the BVM to understand whether or not there are any leaks in the seal between the cushion and the patient’s face. While this seems like a really great approach, it is difficult to get accurate results with these types of force sensors. And so here we are, halfway through the semester, and we’re taking yet another pivot. Chandler and I decided that we needed to take a step back and think of other ways that we could determine whether or not there is a good seal. We did several brainstorming sessions with Dr. Richardson and the GMI team, and we have some really great ideas to prototype and test moving forward. It definitely helps to have new people incorporated into the ideation phase, because they tend to bring in new ideas that you may not have thought of previously, especially when you’ve been working on the project for a long period of time. Now that we’ve started to look into some other ideas, I’m feeling much better about the direction of the project, and I’m excited to see where it takes us.
My other big project, developing a virtual reality (VR) system for GMI, with Tasha and Chandler is finally making some strides. We’ve begun a collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine, and we have some really great people to work with. One of the big perks of the GMI program is the fact that TMC is literally right across the street. This helps to open new doors and has proved to be hugely beneficial for this project. By partnering with Baylor, it helps us get access to operating rooms so that we can begin recording procedures for virtual ethnography in VR. This is also beneficial for them, because their medical students can use this for learning purposes. This past week, we finally got the 360-degree camera and started working with it to learn how it functions. We were able to both record and live stream practice videos and watch them in VR viewers. Our next steps will be to use the simulation center over at Baylor to test different camera placements to determine the best location for the camera in an actual operating room. This project is getting more and more exciting as we go, and I’m really looking forward to continuing to work on it and seeing where we can take it.
For my professional development elective, Strategic Thinking, I’m still working on the project for my internship, to develop a manufacturing and distribution strategy for Multisensor Diagnostics. This class has proven to be more challenging and frustrating (in a good way) than I had anticipated. The professor really challenges us to thinking deeply into the problem to make sure that we understand what the problem actually is and why it is a problem. This can be really frustrating, because it is not all that straightforward. It takes a lot more effort than it may seem. However, by pushing us to go beyond our comfort zone, we are actually learning a lot about thinking critically and being better problem solvers.
The job hunt continues to challenge me and is becoming more and more urgent as the time to graduation gets shorter and shorter. Although it is difficult and frustrating at times, I continue to remind myself to be persistent and patient. We’re flying out to the Bay Area for the next few days for a networking trip, so that should be a lot of fun and helpful in making new connections.
Spring break is just two weeks away. I’m not sure how it got here so quickly, but it’ll be nice to visit with family and friends for a few days back home. Until then, I’ll be spending all of my time between the OEDK prototyping and Baylor in the VR world. Pretty great way to spend your time, if I do say so myself!