Week 1: Jan. 21-27
"The beginning is the most important part of the work" -Plato
What I Did...
This week I had the chance to begin earning about not only the mindset of a maker, but also the thought process and methodologies used by makers, which I found incredibly fascinating. I learned how.
What I Learned...
Some things I learned this week that I found beneficial was advanced 3D printing techniques with the Ultimaker and Taz printers as well as the Cura application. I also had the opportunity to learn about how ideas and solutions are formulated through the Design-Thinking process, and found it interesting how it compared and differed from the Human-Centered Design process.
What Challenged Me...
Something things I found challenging was trying to find a way to not only learn but to incorporate and understand the abundance of information I had learned this week. From understanding different methodologies to learning technical skills like navigating through new 3D printing applications. It felt like there was a lot to take in. I found that noting down what I had learned in a systematic way and then reviewing that information throughout the week, helped me better assimilate that knowledge in a less overwhelming way.
Resources to Share...
Sometimes when I'm overwhelmed with work or I'm having trouble studying in a disorganized environment, it helps to play background music and set the ambiance for working. Some of personal favorite playlists include:
- playlist to study like a medieval philosopher having the truth revealed by divine grace
- A playlist for a 19th century villain scheming against his enemies
- Relaxing With Chinese Bamboo Flute, Guzheng, Erhu | Instrumental Music Collection
- playlist to study like aristotle to achieve excellence fulfilling his role in the cosmos
What I'm Curious About...
Some questions I found myself curious about was during my Advanced 3D printing training, when I was wondering if there were other 3D printing resources or labs Ground to further my understanding and experience with 3D printing.
Next Week...
Next week, I plan implementing the skills and methods I learned this week such as self-efficacy confidence and reducing procrastination.
Goals
- Utilize the resources available in the Women's Maker Program to not only learn a new makerspace technology, but to also improve and improve my understanding in an already familiar makerspace technology or method.
- To form community relations and the knowledge and skills learned in this program to improve an aspect of the community.
- To better myself as an engineer and a person through this program and the bonds formed in the duration of the program.
Week 2: Jan. 28-Feb. 3
"Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience" -Colin Powell
What I Accomplished...
This week, I had the opportunity to meet with our team for the first time. There, we were able to get to know each and find out what we had in common, like learning how we all relatively lived in the same area. This week I also was able to use the Ultimaker 3D printer for the first time and implement my knowledge of the machine. I made a print of miniature bust of the Roman goddesses, Roma, because I had found her symbolization of embodying military strength and Roman civilization itself really interesting.
What I Learned...
- You learn as you go! Most of my initial knowledge the Ultimaker printer was theoretically and I had no practical experience with that particular machine. At first, I was really hesitant to get started, afraid I would break the machine or push the wrong controls, and that fear hindered me a bit. But then, as I started to feel more comfortable working with the Ultimaker, and more importantly feeling more comfortable making mistakes, I was able to gain practical knowledge with the machine and the Cura application. I only learned that the printer needed a few minutes to heat up the build plate when I began to use it.
- It's ok to ask for help! Another big mental bock I ran to was asking for help when I was confused or stuck on a certain print setting as I was working with the Ultimaker. Even after going through my notes and what I remembered from the information session, I couldn't find the initial height settings in the Cura application. After a very long duration of flustered confusion and embarrassment, I finally asked the girl next to me in the makerspace lab for help and she kindly showed where I could add more print settings. She then gave me really helpful tips on how she personally reduces print times and here favorite infill patterns. By asking for hep, I not only was able to get useful insight, but I also got to meet a fellow engineer!
- Empathy is more than just listening! In the past, when I thought of what it meant to b 'empathetic', I had always associated it with being a good listener or a quiet, dependable friend. But after reading the Design Thinking Handbook by Eli Woolery, I realized it's so much more than that. Empathy requires more than just listening and observing, but actively listening by asking questions, gaining a deeper understanding, and fully immersing yourself into the perspective you wish to know.
Challenges I Faced...
One noticeable challenge I ran into this week occurred when I was using the Ultimaker 3D printer for the first time. I was too focused on print time and not quality so my print didn't come out the way I had intended. Once I realized the root of that issue was my reluctance to ask for help and getting over that mental barrier, I began to see a positive change in the process and had a much easier time. After some trial-and-error, I now have a better understanding of the Ultimaker machine and feel more prepared and qualified to handle potential problems I may face in the future when 3D printer.
Questions I had...
- Are there other 3D printer labs on Grounds?
- Are there other applications outside of Cura and MakerBot that can be used for the Ultimaker and MakerBot 3D printers?
- Can the PVA filament be used with NinjaFlex filament in one of the printers with the dual-nozzle so as to create a print with a flexible material and dissolvable support material?
- How do you change the filaments on a 3D printer?
Wisdom to Share...
As I was waiting for my Roma print to finish, I had a little free time on my hands and took the opportunity to look more into the history of 3D printing. I remember in 3rd grade when 3D printing became a new and exciting technology, but it goes back a lot further than you think! While modern 3D printing became popularized in 2010, the stereolithography apparatus (SLA) was patented by Charles Hull in 1986!
Next Week...
I plan to implement what I've learned this week with using the Ultimaker 3D printer and try to print another model that has more details. I intend to change the settings I used this week in order to maintain the quality and resolution of the model. Additionally, I plan to begin learning a secondary makerspace technology. I also hope to further work with our team to expand on our community project idea!
Week 3: Feb. 4-11
"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose" -Zora Neale Hurston
What I Did...
This week, our team made progress on our community project. We decided to tackle the issue of reducing clothing waste within the student population. To do this, we decided to host a clothing drive to collect old clothing from students and distribute them. We mostly focused on planning this week, deciding the structure of our solution, and working out the finer details. A large amount of our time was also spent on research, we wanted to get a better understanding of the environment of the issue we had hoped to resolve to we began to delve into the lifeline of clothing and the ins and-outs of running of clothing drive.
What I Learned...
- How to prevent an excess of clothing. To begin researching the particulars of clothing drive, we decided to go out and talk to owners of local thrift stores to get an idea of what clothes they accepted and how they sorted through clothing. From talking to the owner of Twice is Nice and a worker at Plato's Closet, I learned that both stores have a fallback plan for clothing their stores cannot accepts, so as to not accumulate the amount of clothes they won't be able to sell. Twice is Nice accepts all forms of donation and clothing that isn't up to par or isn't sold is donated to local non-profits. Plato's Closet keeps in contact with their donors and when a donated item doesn't match their criteria, they simply return the donations to the original donors. This experience helped us get a better idea of how to manage excess or nonessential donations without waste and allowed me to become more familiar with businesses in our community!
2. Environmental impact of textiles. In addition to primary sources, our team engaged in desk research and secondary information to get a better idea of the lifeline of clothing. Most of us understand that material and fashion waste is an issue, but the question was what made it harmful to the environment? After delving a little deeper, we were able to learn how nearly 85% of textiles within the US end up in landfills or burned. In addition, fashion waste has a detrimental impact on the environment around us as the production and disposal of textiles results in carbon emissions.
3. Developing a growth mindset. Outside of research for our community project, I also had the opportunity to do some self-reelection through out the week as I earned about my growth mindset. I learned how I have a growth mindset but despite having a good foundation in learning and determination, I sometimes have trouble taking criticism and can sometimes be too hard on myself. Despite this, I know that my mindset is still developing with every moment and as long as I continue to work hard and challenge myself, I will always have the potential to do great things!
What Challenged Me...
Since I was so excited to begin working on our community project, I immediately made plans to visit local thrifts stores in the Charlottesville area. It wasn't until about 20 minutes before the bus arrived that I realized I could only think of one or two questions to ask the thrift store workers when I arrived... Luckily, our team had much better questions in mind than I did and it really helped give direction to the research.
Things I Was Curious About...
As I spent the past week learning about myself and the community around me, I began to wonder what factors influence a person's mindset. Was it their nature? The environment around them? Their own words and actions? I began to wonder the reasoning behind why I think the way I do. Outside of my philosophical wandering, I wondered how to improve small details surrounding our community project. Are there better ways to survey our peers? What's the best way to publicize our project and get the word out about donating? How do we make this project develop beyond us?
Resources to Share..
I really love reading, whether it's books, comics, or manhwas, I probably have a book near me. One thing I've always had trouble with was keeping track of the books I've read and the books I plan to read. Whenever someone asks me for a book recommendation all I can show them is my disorganized list in my notes app of 423 books I plan to read at one point in my life. One of my new semester resolutions was to stay better organized, so this year I'm determined to find the perfect system. So recently, I've been tracking the books I've read this year on Goodreads, StoryGraph, and Excel. Soon, I'm going to try using Notion as well! This isn't much of resource section since I haven't found the perfect one yet, but so far I found keeping track of books I want to read on spreadsheet the most efficient! The only issue I've found with that is deciding how to categorize all the data...
Next Week...
I plan to further research important concept and information needed for our community project. In addition, I hope to take steps towards making our project more tangible. Additionally, since I am this period's Team Leader, I plan to begin tracking our team's project progress and goals on Notion. In terms of furthering my makerspace technology skills, I hope to be able to print to more finer detailed 3D print this week, since I ran into some trouble with the Ultimaker printers last week and was unable to. I also plan to begin making progress towards my second makerspace technology skill, which will be virtual/augmented reality.
Week 4: Feb. 12- 17
"You cannot look in a new direction by looking harder in the same direction" -Edward de Bono
What I Did...
This week, I finished up my 3D printing challenge. While I had already made a print of the Roman goddess Roma earlier, I wanted my final print to be more detailed so I took the time this week to print out the 3D model of an armadillo lizard on the Ultimaker 3S. The print took about two and a half hours and required no support. I'm pretty satisfied with this print and I had fun doing it! (His name is Dio)
To progress our community project, we continued to do research this week, mostly through expert interviews. We had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Garner in the Office of Sustainability and she gave us a lot of helpful insight into our project.
Things I learned...
Through our meeting with Ms. Garner, we learned how our current project idea isn't the best solution. Tackling fashion waste is a complicated issue. It deals with not only the logistics of properly recycling and creating a system where people feel encouraged to sustainably dispose of their clothing, put also the social side of the issue where we have to understand why it's not entirely possible for individuals to reduce fashion waste on their own.
I also had the opportunity to get a better understanding of myself and how I interpret failure from the article "Using Growth Mindset to Get Over Your Fear of Failure". Last week, I learned that I had a string foundation for a growth mindset and from this article I learned how people with growth mindsets typically handle rejection well, which I found to be fairly true within my own life. The article talked about when people with a growth mindset meet failure, they simply believe that their abilities can be developed, which I though really resounded with me. This article helped me a lot in gaining insight into my own interpretations and gave great advice on how to continue to grow.
Through my experiences this week, I feel like I also learned how to be both a better interviewer and learner. In my first interview, to the thrift store Twice is Nice, I came with last-minute questions prepared and was ready to get the answers I wanted to hear. It was in that first meeting that I realized the goal of research wasn't to prove something you thought you knew, but rather to learn and recognize something you didn't know you didn't understand. Through my research experiences, I had the chance to hear people's genuine thoughts that greatly differed from my preconceived expectations. I learned how Twice is Nice wasn't really a thrift store intending to sell trendy clothes but was made in the hopes of helping the elderly community in Charlottesville. I learned how there are better solutions, albeit more difficult and complicated, to hande fashion waste. By removing my own bias and asking the right questions, I was able to learn so much more than I would have imagined.
Things That Challenged Me...
This week became pretty overwhelming with numerous exams and lab reports coming up so one thing I found particularly challenging wasn't necessarily time management by prioritizing what was most important. I've always found it hard to methodize the things I need to do because they all feel important to me.
Next Week I Plan To...
Track tasks and progress made by our team on the community project in Notion. I will also begin working on the second makerspace technology which I've decided will be Virtual Reality. With our team, we will focus on implementing education in our solution and getting the ball rolling on our project.
Week 5: Feb. 18-25
"I am still learning" -Michelangelo
What I Did...
This week, I begun working on my second makerspace technology, which I've chosen to be virtual reality. I used the Oculus Quest and the Samsung Gear VR. I've begun working on the 360 Tour VR challenge using the Lapentor 360 software. This week our team also wrapped up the interview research we had planned for our community project. To better manage the workload, our team split off into two groups so Elyana and I worked together to speak to workers at the thrift store Uplift Thrift. Additionally, we also followed up with a prior contact, Lela Garner, and are waiting to hear back from her.
Things I Learned...
Some introspective things I learned revolved around leadership as this week I learned how to better delegate tasks and split up work Since most of the members of our team had 2-3 midterms this week, none of us really had the time to focus on all the tasks we needed to complete for our community project along with our individual makerspace technology learning. To resolve this, we decided to split up our tasks, where two of us would interview different experts. This really helped in term so of time-management!
Some interesting things I learned were other methods of getting rid of excess of clothes we get in the clothing drive. A big part of our project involved reducing waste and by producing waste and having clothes that no one gets, we would be actively working against our own goals. After talking a worker at Uplift Thrift, we learned that they got rid of their excess by donating to the unhoused community in Charlottesville or to non-profits that help unhoused people.
One other thing I learned this week, that was admittedly pretty silly and I should have known, involved my second makerspace technology. As I was working through the various Live 360 software, I realized the point of the point of panoramic photos. I hadn't realized that you can view the photo in a 3D space and look at it a though you are currently there.
What Challenged Me...
One thing I found particularly challenging was navigating through the 360 Tour software. There were a lot of options on editing features and hotspots that I got a little confused at times.
Questions I Had...
Is there a way to import the 360 Tour images edited in the Lapentor into the VR headset or on my account? I was able to edit the photos and adjust the hot spots but I couldn't find a way to actually see it in VR.
Resources to Share...
One thing that really had helped me get through the stress of this week was trying out yoga. I didn't have much experience with it and I'm not that flexible anymore but I thought I would try it out and I ended up really liking it! The University of Virginia has a Night Owl yoga class at the AFC on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for free and they're all beginner friendly. They also sometimes have different themes And sometimes they have fun themed classes like candlelight or Ashtanga yoga. Fair warning: Thursday nights are a little intense but really, really fun!
Next Week I Wiill...
I plan to finish the VR 360 Tour challenge and figure out how to view the images with the VR headset. I also hope to use the research we found this week to start adjusting and conducting our plan. I hope to also follow up with contacts for further resources on making our plan happen and prepare for the middle school girl's maker camp.
Week 6: Feb. 26-Mar. 4
"Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought" -Albert Szent-Gyorgy
Things I Learned...
One large concern and large focal point of research for our group, was whether or not fashion waste was even an issue. After speaking with our contact Lela Garner in the Office of Sustainability, we understand that fashion waste is an issue on Grounds. She stated that a large amount of waste on Grounds is textile or material waste, however there aren't statistics to scientifically prove this statement. So while we understand that fashion waste is an issue, we don't have a great grasp on the magnitude of the issue. Further evidence that fashion waste is an issue comes from our student survey. In the survey, we asked respondents how many articles of clothing sat in their closets that they didn't use or wear anymore. If the issue was not prevalent and not worth pursuing, the answer would predominantly be 1-2 items of clothing. However, the most selected answer was 6-10 items of clothing by 50% of respondents and 38.5% of respondents said that had a great number than that.
After looking at the data, it seems that the main issue on campus isn't exactly purchasing too many items of clothing at once. Of the 29 responses received, 41.4% of respondents stated that they typically purchase 1-2 items when they shop and 79.3% stated that they only shopped on occasion. With this information, I think we can conclude that "over-shopping" isn't the core of the issue of fashion waste on Grounds.
Things That Challenged Me...
Outside of analyzing data for our community project, I was wrapping up my second maker technology project. I had selected VR which I had no prior experience in. It was really fun to learn about and experiment with. However, I ran into some issue with importing the images form the 360 tour and recording what I saw in the headset to help with documenting my experience. I will try to continue working on this so I am able to add some more images and documents to my portfolio.
Resources to Share...
This is a resource I stumbled upon last semester when I needed to teach myself JavaScript in a week, but as University of Virginia students, we have access to a plethora of online teaching resources like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, and the Learning Hub at the library. Some of my favorites has been the "SOLIDWORKS 2021 Essential Training", where I was able to learn the basics and fundamentals of the SOLIDWORKS 3D modeling program over winter break. Some of the tutorials are very comprehensive and time-consuming but they really are worth it! It's a great way to learn a new skill without needing to take a class on it or any prior experience.
Next Week I Will...
Begin implementing the information we learned from our research for our community project, finding a way to view the 360 Tour on the VR headset, and begin preparing for the middle school girl camp.
Week 7: Mar 4-Mar 10
"Devolving a prototype early is the number one goal for our designers, or anyone who has an idea, for that matter. We don't trust it until we can see it and feel it" -Win Ng
This Week...
We began coming up with a preliminary plan for the Middle School Girl Maker Camp. Since I had chosen to learn VR as my second makerspace technology, I had a fairly good understanding of what the camp VR workshop could comprise of. For our community project, we began putting into place our prototype of the clothing swap by having a trial run for the donation drive, making flyers, listing the non-profits to donate the clothes to, and creating a survey to get feedback on the flyers we made. As a team, we decided to split the workload and each selected a teak to focus on. Kha and I focused on drafting a proposal to the HRLO co-chairs to make the clothing drive an annual event as well as the planning for having a prototype of the donation drive in the Gooch and Dillard residence halls.
Things I Learned...
One lesson that became really important this week was that the details do matter. When we started planning out the prototype, I thought it would be as simple matter of putting a box in a residence halls and seeing how it does. But as we started working on the Miro board and talking it out, I realized it was so much more than that. We had to carefully plan how we would get the word out about our project and how to properly convey the significance the issue, how to make the project last a long time, list the contacts we needed to make the project happen, and so much more.
Another thing that I learned this week was figuring out what I wanted to say in a concise and straight-forward manner. After weeks of research, I felt I had a pretty good grasp on the matter and the environment and could easily spend an hour telling someone about it. But that wasn't the point of a flyer. We had to find a way to get the important facts out and while it took me a while, I think the flyers we made came out pretty well!
Lastly, as we were making plans for the Middle School Girls Maker Camp, I learned so much about things to watch out for when encouraging girls in STEM. Learning about things that cause the gender gap in STEM like stereotype threat, implicit bias, imposter syndrome, and differential preparation was fascinating because they were all things I've noticed growing up and in school but could never really put into words. It was interesting to learn why these things occur and various methods to prevent them.
What Challenged Me...
Some challenges I ran into this week came from planning the VR workshop. Since I had begun to learn VR, I had so many ideas of what the girls could do. But after going through the Tech Girls Prep workshop, I realized I had to think from their perspective of what they would already have experience in and what would help them grow without deterring them from pursuing STEM.
Questioned I Had...
For the VR workshop, is the equipment the girls will be working with the ones available at the RMC like the oculus headsets? Will all the girls have the same equipment or will we be working with more than one? Is it possible to screencast multiple devices,? It would be cool to show their parents what they did and maybe make a video with it but I'm not quite sure the extent of screencasting. Also do we need to set up an account for each girl or do we just use our own? I know when I was working with the Oculus headset I needed a Facebook account to log in. Or will we just set up each device with our own accounts beforehand?) Finally, is there a way to see what’s happening inside a VR set so we can help the girls when they ask for it?
Next Week...
We plan to finalize the details of our preliminary VR workshop plan to send for review as well as test the apps we plan for the girls to use. For the community project, we plan to start our prototype trial in the Gooch and Dillard residence halls.
Week 8: Mar 11-Mar 17
"Dream big, stay positive, work hard, and enjoy the journey" -Urijah Faber
What I Did...
This week, I worked with Jasmine on our VR Workshop for the Middle School Girls camp. We completed our preliminary plan wherein we planned an introductory activity where the we ask the students to write what they know about VR on a sticky notes to put on the board. We intend to use this activity to establish a baseline of their knowledge and familiarity with VR technology. After, we plan to have a short presentation on the applications and uses of VR technology in various fields. We will then move on to our hands on activity which will involved working with a creative app that we are still in the process of selecting. Once the activity is over, we plan to do the same sticky note activity to see how much they learned in the workshop. In addition to planning our VR Workshop, our community project team also worked on the prototype of our clothing drive. The HRLO co-chairs got back to us and we were given the green light on hosting our prototype in Dillard and Gooch residence halls. From there, I worked on advertising and creating flyers and emails to send to the RAs to promote to residents.
What I Learned...
One great lesson I learned was to use my resources. It took us a while to choose a material for the boxes and by the time we decided, it was already too late to order one in time for the prototype. After speaking to a professor at a Rodman Scholar picnic, I learned about the numerous cardboard boxes behind Olsson Hall. Because of this, we now have donation boxes to use for our prototype!
What Challenged Me...
It felt like there was a pretty big workload this week and I was a bit overwhelmed with everything there was to do. Hopefully, as we move on and progress in creating our prototype, things will go more smoothly.
Question I Had...
Since our plan for having a table at the Eco-Far fell through, is it possible to have a tent on the Observatory Hill Lawn? Is there a resource you know of that we can talk to?
Resources to Share...
In my Intro. to Engineering course last semester, we focused on sustainability and how we as students can form and build more sustainable habits. We were offered tons of info and resources, one of which being the ROSE store. The ROSE store offers old, used, or unused office supplies free of charge to students. It's a great place to get notebooks, chairs, and any supplies you need in a financially difficult time!
Next Week I Will...
I plan to put the donations boxes in place to move forward with the prototype in the Dillard and Gooch residence halls. I'll also focus on promoting by reaching out to contacts we have saved. In terms of the Maker Camp, we will improve on our plan based on the feedback we receive as well as test and select the building app the students will be working with.
Week 9: Mar. 18-24
"I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy" -Marie Curie
What I Did...
This week, our team wrapped up out prototype. For our prototype, we hosted a donation drive on a small scale in the Gooch and Dillard lounges to observe the success of a clothing drive in residence and learn what can be improved upon. Additionally, with the VR Maker Crew project, we continued to work on the Final Showcase and the Maker Camp.
Things I Learned...
A large of part of this week consisted of working on the prototype in the Gooch and Dillard lounges. As a result, I was able to learn a lot from it. When I was flyering, I didn't really plan in advance what would be ideal places to place the flyers in order to gain more attraction to our project. I also didn't print out enough flyers to take into consideration the flyers falling down or getting wet from the rain.
In addition to the advertisement process, I learned that the main lounges were a good place to collect donations. The smaller lounges were usually less occupied and people were more unlikely to see the donation boxes there. I also found it helpful to talk to the people in the lounges as I was setting up to explain what our project was and encourage them to donate. I think talking to our intended users really helped me gauge their interests as well as promote the project.
What Challenged Me...
Our plans changed very quickly in the past week so one big challenges was navigating the changes and news plans, which was especially difficult since I wasn't in person this week.
Next Week...
We will begin the donation collection process and begin preparing for the clothing swap event.
Week 10: Mar. 25-31
"It always seems impossible until it's done" -Nelson Mandela
This Week...
The VR Crew finalized our workshop plan and made edits to our final presentation. We plan to use the Gravity Sketch app and allow the middle schools to design whatever they choose to to then take screen shots and share with them at the end of the workshop. We also hope to introduce the importance of VR to them and encourage them to pursue STEM with it. I'm looking forward to seeing how the workshop goes!
Things I Learned...
As we were preparing to begin the first step of our community plan where we begin the clothing collection process on April 1st. We had to think of the remaining logistics such as the budget for the clothing swap event itself and how to efficiently use our funds. One important lesson I definitely learned this week was the importance of planning ahead and making contingency plans.
What Challenged Me...
Since I was not in person for most of last week, it was definitely a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things and catching up on what I missed while dealing with the academic workload that built up.
Things I Wondered...
Is it possible to connect the VR headset to the school Wi-Fi? We were worried about having connection issues and using up workshop time trying to connect to the UVA guest Wi-Fi.
For the virtual gallery, should I include links to the Learning Journals everyone has been making or is that more for personal use? Also am I allowed to include images of us in the virtual gallery?
Next Week...
Our SustainabiliTEAM will collect clothes through the clothing drive and host our clothing swap event!
Credits:
Created with an image by Kzenon - "Group of scientists working with gloves and gowns in laboratory"