Hey everyone, it was an adventure filled week here in Costa Rica as I finished my last finals of undergrad and explored San Jose with the 3 other GMI students (Apple, Rei, and Alex) over the weekend. Being on a quarter system, finals for my undergraduate program at California Polytechnic State University were this last week. I was, however, able to make arrangements with my professors and Resonetics that allowed me to participate in this opportunity while also completing my degree in parallel. I had my biomaterials final on Tuesday after which I took a much needed break and attended a world cup qualifier soccer match between Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago with the others and 2 local Costa Rican students they met during the bootcamp. The atmosphere was electric and fans were ecstatic as Costa Rica came away with a 2-1 win. My last exam was three days later on Friday and I can not think of a more unique place to end my undergraduate career and begin the next chapter of my life. I am so excited for all the opportunities the GMI program will present and share in that journey with all the people I have and will meet along the way.
On Saturday, Rei, Alex, Apple, and I went on an early morning hike at the Haciendo La Chimba, a working coffee farm in the nearby city of Santa Ana. On this hike, they had a variety of sculptures and art pieces including a gigantic buddha statue and wooden hand with a view overlooking the valley. After the hike, we embarked on a coffee tour where we learned about the extensive history of the farm and its workers dating back to the 19th century. In addition to coffee, the hacienda was home to numerous animals including peacocks and several rescue cats. One of which was mantequilla who followed us around for the whole tour and never passed up on the opportunity to garner some pets from the visitors.
On Sunday, we went downtown to explore some attractions in the city of San Jose and visit the local Chinatown for lunch and shopping. While downtown we visited the Museos del Banco Central and Museo del Jade (Jade Museum). We learned about the history of the area and the native civilizations that inhabited it. The museums had thousands of artifacts on display from gold accessories worn by tribe warriors to jade sculptures and tools, to pottery and masonry widely crafted in the time period for various rituals and everyday use.
To end this post, I wanted to share a brief update on my last week working at Resonetics. Because of finals, I was taking some time off work to complete those both Tuesday and Friday but I have been steadily making progress on my projects I was tasked with. In exciting news, I finally got SolidWorks installed last Wednesday which allowed me to complete updates and drawings for a new fixture being implemented into one of the laser manufacturing processes. Next step is to 3D print the updated components and run functional tests to ensure the fixtures efficacy before sourcing an external machine shop to fabricate the components from metal. Additionally, I was introduced to new product integration (NPI) project where I will be assisting the NPI engineer with documentation for a potential new manufacturing contract. That’s all I have for this week, thanks for reading! Pura Vida!