¡Hola a todos! This week I will be writing about my second week at Establishment Labs, where I was finally able to get started on my assigned projects! Here are my highlights and lowlights of the week:

Highlights:

• Finally getting access to my work laptop
• Getting assigned interesting projects
• Hanging out with the GMI cohort over the weekend
• Cooking fire meals with Vanessa

Lowlights:

• Ants invading our kitchen
• Having to do 120 training modules
• Spending hours planning out a trip to Puerto Viejo with Laurel to join Katy and Jhalak but it ultimately not working out
• The guilt felt from me being the sole reason that meetings happen in English instead of Spanish :’)

Weekend Trip to Selina 

Before starting our second week of the internship, Vanessa and I went to go visit the GMI cohort at Selina San Jose. It was really nice seeing them because Vanessa and I had not seen them since we’ve moved to Don Francisco. When we got there, we first walked to a nearby grocery store/market. We came across some great deals such as 7 avocados for 1000 colones! We then went to the Jade museum, which is home to a large collection of pre-columbian jade artififacts. We then ate dinner at La Tortilleria where I was able to try a chorreada, a large cornbread like tortilla served with cheese and sour cream.

Chilling at the Jade Museum

My casado at La Tortilleria

Establishment Labs

On Monday Vanessa and I officially met our manager Audry in person. This was exciting because we were able to get our project assignments from her. The first project I was assigned is the IOT reader project. To give some context, the Motiva breast implants that Establishment Labs (ESTA) produces each contain a small chip that contains information such as the lot number and date of operation. The information on this chip is read using a device called the Motiva Reader. ESTA is now manufacturing an upgraded version of the chip and therefore also has to upgrade the reader as well. I am tasked to research potential IOT companies that ESTA can outsource to to develop the software for their new IOT reader.  Along with that, I will also have to brainstorm potential new features to be included in the new IOT reader, as well as doing some research on potential materials for the IOT reader exterior casing. The second project that I, as well as Vanessa is assigned to is the MotivaImagine Insertion Sleeve project. Currently, ESTA has a product called the MotivaImagine Insertion Sleeve, which is used by surgeons to insert the breast implant into the patient’s body. This product essentially works very similarly to a piping bag used to decorate cakes; the surgeon inserts the implant into the top of the funnel and then squeezes it out using his hands. ESTA is now trying to create a new version of this product that does not infringe on the patents of other breast implant insertion devices. Vanessa and I are tasked to conduct a prior art search on similar devices, brainstorm new designs, prototype some potential designs, and test those prototypes. This project is run more like a standard design project, which is very exciting because I get to go through all the steps in the design process in a industry setting. Audry also took the team out to lunch this day, which was very nice of her.

Current MotivaImagine Insertion Sleeve – the surgeon first dips it into a saline solution to lubricate it, then inserts the implant into the wide end and squeezes it out through the narrow end into the patient’s body.

Late Monday afternoon I had finally received access to my work laptop, which meant that I could start going through my training modules. Tuesday and Wednesday were both spent doing my 100+ training modules remotely at Don Francisco. Vanessa and I both went into work on Thursday, since that’s when the majority of the RDI department comes into work in person. I had a couple of meetings regarding my two projects where we set up formal timelines for each project and defined my deliverables. Friday was also a remote workday and I spent it doing my IOT company research and some prior art searching for the Insertion Device project. 

That about sums it up for this week. It was a bit slow because of my trainings and also because of the process of getting eased into my projects. See you next week when I dive deeper into my projects and give more updates!