Mae, Pura Vida!
It has been five years since I’ve used my Spanish and it has come in handy since arriving in San José. The first two weeks in Costa Rica have been a whirlwind, from cultural immersion and national parks to intensive technical classes on innovation.
Before I recap my first two weeks in Costa Rica, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Eddie Yao, a recent graduate of Duke University from the Washington DC area. With my background in biomedical engineering and electrical engineering, I am excited for this opportunity to work in Costa Rica for the summer and to spend time getting to know our 2020 GMI cohort.
Our first week in Costa Rica began with Medical Device Design Bootcamp led by Dr. Clifton at the Intel campus in Heredia. Students from the University of Costa Rica (UCR), the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC), the National University of Costa Rica and our cohort collaborated on our accelerated medical device design project, essentially an entire year of senior design in one week. My team was tasked to address the problem of overactive neurogenic bladder. After two days of background research, market analysis, and needs identification, we began prototyping our medical device. We proposed a design called O-Cclusion and in front of members from industry in Costa Rica like Establishment Labs, Abbott, Intel and Microtech, we had the opportunity to pitch our device and business plan. During the week, our team had fun getting to know each other and improving my Spanish while having interesting discussions about engineering, design, and life in Costa Rica.
Our second week consisted of a clinical observation and innovation workshop led by Paul Fearis. I had the opportunity to visit the Hospital de Niños (Children’s Hospital) in San José and observe the orthopedic department to identify possible needs for our insight-informed innovation.
With work, there’s always play. For the first weekend, our entire cohort visited Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. It was our chance to fully appreciate Costa Rica’s biodiversity and natural beauty. We saw many animals like sloths, monkeys, lizards, and insects while enjoying the beach.
For our second weekend trip, we went to La Fortuna to explore the Arenal Volcano and the hot springs. Leaving on Friday, we took a three-hour bus ride with our driver, Marcos through the bumpy and winding roads of the mountains. We began with a relaxing day at the Baldi Hot Springs Resort, which had 25 different temperature pools with swim-up bars. The next morning, we hiked in the Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal to see the Old Lava Flow and Ceiba Tree of the Arenal Volcano. The Ceiba Tree is about 400 years old and is enormous (see picture for scale).
We returned to San José on Sunday in time to watch Costa Rica’s CONCACAF Gold Cup opening match. Costa Rica soundly defeated Nicaragua 4-0 and I was able to enjoy an Imperial and chifrijo while cheering on La Sele. I’m looking forward to start working at Boston Scientific on Monday, relearning Spanish, and exploring Costa Rica this summer.
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