I am Chisomo Mukoka, 20 years old and come from Malawi studying Chemical Engineering in my fourth year. This is my first week at the OEDK Rice University. The first week has been an amazing time learning basics and practicing on engineering design. I have learnt so much even about the life in Houston(Houston Zoo,Rice Village,Lakewood church,Walmart). I am happy to be able to interact with people of different majors to achieve the same goal. I am proud to be able to apply engineering design process concepts to solve a need for the Houston zoo and to realize how much i can achieve by thinking outside my comfort zone. The culture presentations were amazing and I feel like am among my people back home, helped me open up.
The quizzes we get to do after the work hours have given me a broad and better understanding of the engineering design process. The safety quiz for the OEDK is something i will take back home. It is good not to assume everybody understands the safety guidelines, let them prove it, that way accidents are prevented.
Our first project is to practice the principles we have been learning is to help the Houston Zoo with an enrichment device for a Red River Hog. This project has helped us to understand the importance of team work(as we are always working together) and the engineering design process( from clarifying the team assignment to brainstorming solutions). I have a better understanding of what i need to ask to get the answers that can help me design a safe and acceptable design. Interviewing the Client (Houston Zoo) helped me to interpret answers from the interview into design criterion.
After this summer, I want to be able to go back home and lead my fellow engineering students in design projects(the right way). ENGI 120 should help me to approach every design problem and tackle it because I know the fundamentals and have the researching skills. I also hope to be able to incorporate knowledge from my studies to solve real life problems.
Looking forward to completing the zoo project and working on more projects at the OEDK.