**How are we halfway through our time in Costa Rica?!**
This past week was spent primarily on the test method development project for the modified guidewire design. I am working with 1 engineer from R&D, 2 engineers from Design Assurance, and Sarah (also DA). We have also already reached out to colleagues in the CAD design and mechanical testing departments to get input on the project. I love seeing how many departments and types of engineers come together to make projects successful. So far, we have completed most of the background research and come up with a loose plan for the next 5 weeks. We currently have 3 basic approaches to validating the safety of the modified guidewire:
- Equation modeling
- Human testing
- Universal Testing Machine
Each method allows us to effectively evaluate the new design, so we just have to continue getting inputs from different people, analyzing the research, and considering the needed resources in order to pick the best path. Another really interesting takeaway from last week was from a meeting with a coworker about the differences between U.S. and Costa Rican universities. While taking time off to co-op is normal in the U.S., I learned it is abundantly more common in Costa Rica (even required by a lot of schools). I also learned how lucky I was to have a year-long senior capstone project sponsored by a large company. During capstone, we had the opportunity to take advantage of all resources from industry and from my university. This is not as common in Costa Rica.
In addition to completing my project, increasing my networking skills was one of my major goals for the summer. I know I struggle in this area, but it is so important to have confidence in connecting with other professionals in the field. To work on this, I have made it a point to set up short meetings with people across different departments to chat about their jobs and backgrounds. I have already learned a ton about what people in R&D do and the different paths they took to get there. I hope to leave the summer with a clearer insight on what type of career I’d like to pursue. I’m still not sure yet, but I think I’ll have it a bit more figured out with the help of these meetings.
Post-surfing during high tide
Another valuable thing I learned this week is that if you can’t do more than 2 push-ups in a row, you definitely cannot surf for 2 hours during high tide. I unfortunately learned this the hard way (and have many bumps and bruises to prove it) but I still had a blast trying! We went to Tamarindo beach this weekend, and it was the picture of paradise. We spent Saturday laying on the beach, going to farmers’ markets, and learning to surf. It was very challenging, but everyone was able to stand up and ride a wave by the end! On Sunday, we went to Playa Conchal. The shore was covered in tiny shells instead of sand and the water was a beautiful clear blue. We had delicious food and no one got severely sunburned, so I’d say all-in-all a pretty perfect weekend!
