This week–my last week here!–everything came rushing towards me at 100 miles per hour as I rushed to finish everything in time for my leaving.
I had two main goals: completing two high fidelity prototypes and organizing documentation. Since I was waiting on materials, I spent most of Monday organizing all 35 of my prototypes, with labels and notes on various design decisions. By the end of the day Monday my stainless steel tubing arrived and I spent the rest of the week assembling my prototypes and typing up documentation while waiting for the glue to dry.
My prototyping hit a rocky patch when after completing prototypes, my boss grabbed me and asked if I could solder a second thermistor to the circuit board…which was inside my prototype…glued shut. So, I had to smash open my prototype (I tried cutting along the line of glue to save the prototype, but alas there was no hope for it) to retrieve the circuit board and reprint the main body.
But, despite that kerfuffle, I had such a big moment of pride when I assembled everything together, clicked my power button (that little thing that gave me so much trouble) and it worked! It looks very professional, if I do say so myself.
Friday, I gave a short presentation on all my work to my boss and coworkers, assembled all of my documentation onto a flash drive, cleaned up my desk, and then…I was done. It was an amazing experiences, with both ups and downs, but ultimately I wouldn’t change a thing (well, maybe I would have told myself to pack fuzzy socks to protect my cold feet, but other than that…).
Huge shoutout to everyone who made this amazing opportunity possible. In particular, many thanks to:
Professors Carlos Dos Santos and Luis Villwock, who made us feel so welcome and helped us navigate PUCRS
The Eduardos, the two technicians at FreeZone who were so helpful with all my 3D printing, sanding, gluing, and soldering needs
Francisco and everyone at Toth for giving me this awesome project and helping me with my awful Portuguese.
The OEDK for offering this extraordinary internship experience and arranging everything! I’m super excited to get back to Rice and see all my amazing friend like Jeremy Palmer who is so much cooler than me!!
Até logo, Brasil!