Today at Integrated Lab Solutions, We began investigating the stability of samples at a low pH (acidic environment). A lot of time was spent trying to figure out how much formic acid solution needed to be added to a normal sample. We thought that we had calculated the right amount based on the diluted solution’s molarity and the pKa, but when we added it, the pH came out to be almost basic. We came to the conclusion that a component of the sample was reacting with the formic acid to create a buffer. To solve the issue, we continued to guess and check the amount of formic acid needed to reach a pH of 3. To check the pH of each sample, a small sample of each solution was placed into a machine called the Indiko Plus (pictured below) and a pH test was run. Finding the right concentration and amount of formic acid to be added was quite the accomplishment today, and tomorrow I look forward to seeing the results of the normal pH test that we started yesterday. 
Category: Z WEP Archives
Day 3 – Neil Lancia and Roundtable Meeting with Igor!
Today I shadowed Neil Lancia, a product manager responsible for the Lenovo App Explorer (can you tell that app is kind of a big deal?). After introducing ourselves, answering some email, and responding to a few forum comments, we headed down to the development lab and the HTC Vive to test out a third-party virtual-reality assistant, which allows users to play their favorite legacy games in VR, even if a VR-specific version has not been made for them. For about 45 minutes, I got to play Bioshock 1 and offer my feedback on the experience so that Lenovo can better inprove their apps for the future. They wanted to get a fresh set of eyes on the game, so that they could see how an example consumer, particularly one who has a ton of gaming experience (me), liked it, and what criticism or praise I could offer it. It was a bit disorienting but they said my feedback was very useful and they appreciated the fact that I was able to offer consistent feedback, since apparently most people just get lost in the game as they play and don’t offer much feedback at all.
In the afternoon, we went to a 12-person “roundtable” meeting with Igor Bergman, and I got to listen to a Q&A session where some product managers and engineers were able to ask him questions. After one of the questions, Igor took the opportunity to casually roast engineers in general, as he pointed out that on one of their recent consumer-directed apps, some engineer had placed a CPU temperature gauge, something about which the average consumer should barely EVER care, on the very front page of the app, instead of something visually appealing to an average consumer. His point was that engineers should not be in charge of marketing and that product owners need to step up and take care of it, but it really resonated with me because I consider myself an engineer with a good understanding of the customer as well.
NOTE: I was able to visit the Industrial Design Lab at the end of the day, and saw a stack of Yoga devices that were made in colors that will never reach the market. It would have made for a very nice picture, so I asked if I could take one, and I was told very decisively “NO”, so I was unfortunately not able to get pictures of specific activities during the day. See above (or below, I’m not sure) for a cool angled picture of the main building I have been in for the last three days.
Day 3- Triangle Vet Hospital and Surgery!
Today, we headed over to Triangle Vet Hospital. The most interesting part of the day was a surgery Aesha and I got to sit in on. Standing out of the way, we watched as the vet technician prepped the dog with an anesthetic, shaving the fur off her abdomen and cleaning the area with alcohol. We then put on our caps and masks and entered the small OR, both bracing ourselves as to what was to come. Much like the beloved show Grey’s Anatomy, the surgeons scrubbed in, and prepped all the tools on a table to the side of the patient. They began the procedure, (stop reading if squeamish!) cutting open the abdomen and pulling out the intestines, stomach, spleen, and some blood to come with it. They let us peak in to see there was a mass growing in the intestine, so they cut a good sized portion of the intestine out and stitched the remaining ends together. Closing the patient up, Aesha and I turned to each other, surprised to see that neither of us had passed out but rather both of us were smiling. It was a great experience getting so upclose and personal and really understanding what it means to be a surgical veterinarian. Can’t wait to see more! 
SAS Work Experience Day 3 – Sales/Presales
Today at SAS, I was located in building C, which holds both the executive offices and the sales department. I was initially greeted by Elizabeth Dove, who works in sales and was able to tell me all about her wonderful experiences at SAS, and her career path. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to her, because we actually shared a lot of the same interests and passions. For example, when discussing colleges and school, I mentioned that I was interested in history but did not want to pursue it in the future. Coincidentally, she shared the same passion and we were able to talk about this for a while! In addition, she told me about how she pursued business in college and ended up working in retail, because of her strong interest in fashion. I as well am super intrigued by the business side of the fashion industry, and she was able to provide me with lots of advice and insight because she herself had gone into it! After meeting with her, I was able to shadow the sales account manager for the rest of the day, and learn a lot about what he does and what a day in his life looks like.
Day 2
Today the plans for Nashville were discussed. I am going to go to Nashville to talk to an alumni from Cary Academy who is a producer and went to Belmont. Jake Mansfield has agreed to be a mentor for me while I am there. He has lots of connection in Nashville so I am excited to work with him. I cannot work with him during the dates of DT so I will be traveling to Nashville with my mom after school is over for a couple days. I should be going to Nashville on the 19th of June and staying for a couple day. The reason he cannot work with me during the dates of DT is because he is busy touring. We haven’t discussed what he will be teaching my while I am there but those discussions should be held in the future. I am excited to have to opportunity to go to Nashville and I am lucky to have the opportunity altogether. I am looking forward to the rest of the week as well as next week and traveling to Nashville.
Day 1
Today I had a phone interview with Mr. Greg Hawks about songwriting. Mr. Greg Hawks is a music teacher and provides kids with lessons on how to play instruments as well as helped kids write songs. He plays a total of 5 instruments: Drums, bass, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, guitar being the main instrument he plays. He taught himself to play all these instruments in the 80s and 90s, when he discovered he wanted to be a professional musician. He has since had lots of bands and played lots of different styles of music. Now, He loves to play country music, especially classic country and bluegrass. I asked him lots of questions about his songwriting career. He started songwriting in the 90s when originality was a really big thing in music. He has since never stopped. He doesn’t write often, but when he does he writes for long periods a time. So he might write 4 times a year but each time lasts from around a couple weeks to 3 months he says. I asked him his process with songwriting and he says he is usually influenced by mainly, a feeling he’ll get when listening to other music. He’ll also draw inspiration from his own life or social and political issues. He will usually start with the lyrics and only the lyrics. Only on rare occasions does he start with music. He says it takes him a couple days to a week to even write something remotely good.
When I asked him advice on songwriting, he had lots to say, but first he asked me a couple questions. He asked me if this is what I plan to do with my future and I said yes and he asked me when I initially started songwriting and I said 12/13 and he asked me who was my inspiration and I said Taylor Swift. He asked me if I wanted to be a country artist and I said yes and he also asked me how many songs I’ve written and I said around 100. After his questions he said that I should definitely keep doing everything I am doing, and write every day even if it’s not the best writing or I’m not “feeling it” bc practice makes you better. I also told him about what I have done in Nashville (recorded, written songs) and he said to definitely make and solidify connections in Nashville bc it’s a city built on connections. He said to keep trying and keep going and for college, he said to definitely check out Belmont and apply for the songwriting program. He also said that if I don’t get into the program to still go to Belmont bc it’s in the city and it’s still possible to be a songwriter even if I am not in the program. I also told him that I do perform places around the area and he said to keep doing that to get your name out there and build up a fan base here. Overall, he gave me lots and lots of good advice and it was cool to hear from a songwriter and get advice from an experience songwriter. I think this was a great way to start off the work experience program for me, and I hope that I continue to enjoy it.
Day 3 at Raleigh Orthopaedics in Cary
Today at the office was a little slower than the previous two days. There were less patients the therapists had to see, but I still talked to a good amount of them. Once again, they were all very friendly and were interested in getting to know me. Many of them asked me why I was there, and I explained the whole concept of Work Experience. Everyone had the same reaction: I wish I had that opportunity in high school. I think based off of my limited yet enriching experience and other people’s reactions, this should definitely be continued for many years in the future.
During the times I wasn’t helping or talking to a patient, I would use the equipment they had just to try it out. Some of it is similar to the equipment in Boston’s office, but there were things such as a power plate which vibrates at the feet to loosen the body, or an ultrasound unit to improve blood circulation. I am getting a really good feel for the flow and work ethic/environment at the office, so I am enjoying each day there.
Work Experience Day 3
Today, Thursday, June 1st, I got to shadow individuals from the Internal and External Communications departments at SAS. I got to learn about SAS’ personal intranet and its press releases, articles, and social media usage to reach consumers.
One of my favorite activities from today was helping with a video shoot that Internal Communications was filming for a employee overview video for the Research & Development department along with a shoot for their own department. I was able to meet the writers that wrote the scripts and the videographers/editors. I got to help move the sets from out the studio to differentparts of the camp us. For one video, I was in charge of monitoring the teleprompter (which they built right at the SAS’ scenics warehouse). The employees explained to me that their schedules were very chaotic (they even went to a meeting about Crisis Emergency Operations for SAS between shoots), but I found it very entertaining and exciting to be on my feet. Another interesting part of my day was when the Managing Editor for External Communications was able to show me how Google basically controls their department because of the importance of organic growth. I found it very interesting how minor word choices can actually have a big impact in how people can access and learn about SAS’ software.
Day 3: In Pursuit of the Protein
We were unlucky today. Filtering out a relatively lightweight protein with various buffer solutions is already a tedious, time-consuming process, but knowing that you’ll likely have to do it all over again is just heartbreaking. We began the day by running mixtures of acid-base buffers (a solution known as HEPES) along with solutions of tiny carbon-nitrogen rings (imidazole) to extract as much of our precious Nb6B9 as possible. I got in a lot of good practice using micro pipettes, especially when we needed to place little volumes of protein indicators in our filtered solutions. The initial results we got from the indicators weren’t pretty – the image below shows a gradient of color from light brown to blue and back to brown. This seemingly harmless, variegated collection told Dr. Masoudi and I that only a few samples of our solution had a high concentration of protein, meaning we had lost quite a bit of Nb6B9 along the way. Our electrophoresis analysis of the results was even more disappointing. This analysis works by introducing a specific binding agent, called SDS, to each of the proteins. Proteins composed of longer amino acid chains will invariably bind with more of the agent, making the larger structures more net-negative and the smaller structures less net-negative. When a current is applied to the sieve, the protein samples travel different distances based on their relative negativity; the larger proteins have a more difficult time reaching the bottom of the cylinder compared to the smaller proteins. Through this process, we were able to identify that we had some Nb6B9 but not nearly enough. We’ll probably have to go through the entire filtration process again to increase our yield… 🙁
Regardless, there’s still hope for tomorrow! Stay tuned!
Thursday (Day 3)
Today, I did preparation for my exploits with NCFC in the coming days. I’d like to be able to have good conversations with the people at NCFC, so I have been doing research on NCFC’s MLS bid. I also contacted a former player for NCFC (they were the Railhawks then) Jordan Graye, as he used to work for my dad. I have hopefully been successfull in up setting up an interview with him next week, so that is very cool! I emailed Jordan Graye a list of questions that i would ask in an interview, including some that concerned the NCFC MLS bid, a question which came out of my research.