We arrived orientation morning and looked around at the people we’d spend the next few weeks of our lives with. One hour of research of a brand new project under our belt, we got on a plane and arrived in Costa Rica considered experts on the topic. After a few Uber-taxi mishaps we eventually settled into our apartment and ventured out to find food which lead us to Rojo pizza- essentially the best pizza I’ve ever eaten! A few hours of sleep and then we were off at 7 am to start a week-long Bootcamp. It’s fair to say we hit the ground running!
Our first week here we attended a joint-venture boot camp with the Costa Rica students at Intel’s headquarters focusing on design innovation. I chose to work on the project concerning Neurogenic Bladder, which is a condition where people lose the ability to control their bladder by themselves. This condition affects millions of people and can be congenital or acquired after the development of a disease or injury. I have always been interested in biomechanics and muscle control which prompted me to explore what mechanisms control the bladder and how I could potentially restore that power back to the patient. Sounds amazing but I truly had no idea where to begin!
I chose to work on the project concerning Neurogenic Bladder....I have always been interested in biomechanics and muscle control which prompted me to explore what mechanisms control the bladder.
Because our group was so large, I split off from my Rice counterpart and spearheaded my own team with 3 Costa Rica students - Carolina, Carolina, and Yuliana (yes you read that twice! They go by Caro). My girls were amazing and as much as I taught them about muscle signal pathways, they returned the favor in Spanish lessons and local advice on this beautiful country that will be my home for the next two months. We first introduced ourselves in small teams tasked with the pivotal duty of upholding a marshmallow on some sticks of pasta! Our circus tent structure lasted the longest- even through a torrential downpour!
We continued the first day by doing some more background information and settled on specifying the disorder to those who suffer from underactive bladder as a result of a spinal cord injury. The very next day we were on to prototyping. We started off with a million (more like 7 but it felt like a lot) different ideas that to be honest- were probably impossible to implement- but it got our wheels turning. Eventually, we settled with a design that encompassed components of all 4 of our original ideas. We made a bladder mesh out of a balloon and some string and a valve out of some foam and legos! We worked on perfecting our presentation that covered background, design, disclosure of similar IP, failure mode risks, and market expectations. After a few iterations of our presentation, we went on to win the first prize for the best presentation and product design! This award was especially important to me because of how proud I was of my group members for not only taking a course in a different language - but keeping up with the fast pace and presenting their ideas in a language that was not their own. It really expanded my perspective of the challenges bilingual international students face.
That weekend all of the GMI students travelled to Manuel Antonio where we stopped to see crocodiles, ventured to the beach, viewed the whole coastline from 50 ft in the air by parasail, went to a national park, saw unbelievable wildlife, explored hidden beaches and practiced our broken Spanish with our driver in a converted airplane restaurant! A lot for a single weekend that’s for sure!
The next week we dove right back into a different bootcamp that took a step back and evaluated - what is it we are trying to solve? What is the need? We met Paul Fearis who taught us all about mind mapping, interviewing and extrapolating meaning from observation. I toured the Anesthesia department of Hospital De Ninos which is a specialty national hospital designed for kids. There, I took a tour of the ORs, stock rooms, recovery rooms and a whole lot in between! By the end I had 8 filled notebook pages on observations and concerns of the anesthesia department on what they think could be better. It was amazing to see the resourcefulness of the hospital staff who use innovative approaches to give products new meaning and reduce waste. The staff worked with limited space, inventory and workflow issues that made their life harder than it should be. They also showed us expensive equipment and apparatus that was almost useless due to simple design flaws that neglected the end-user needs. Their insight helped inform me on what the type of devices I hope to eventually build need to always bear in mind- efficacy, reliability, usefulness and thoughtfulness. Everyone was very accepting of our presence and gave us really useful advice to carry with us. There’s a lot I could learn from the medical staff who do amazing things with what they have available to them.
It was amazing to see the resourcefulness of the hospital staff who use innovative approaches to give products new meaning and reduce waste.
We finished out our two weeks by parting ways with a few of our friends, Ellie and Aeden returned to Houston and Matt left for Brazil- but not before a few adventures! In addition to Manuel Antonio, we implemented weekly dinners with one another and planned future trips, including one to La Fortuna we just returned from. There, we enjoyed the hot springs, hiked near Arenal volcano and explored the local town.
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