Day 4

Dissolved Oxygen Fun

I spent the bulk of my day today fine-tuning some of the enzyme kinetics aspects in my code and incorporating dissolved oxygen, which is a key component in cellular respiration. First, I had to add into my code directions so that the dissolved oxygen would be consumed. In a physical experiment, there might be bubblers to add more dissolved oxygen to the water as organisms consume the oxygen, so I had to also add that aspect into my code. Unfortunately, it was difficult to see on the model if my code was working, so I decided to write code so that the background would change colors to indicate how much oxygen was left. That solved my problem! And it was cool seeing all the colors.

Look at all the colors! The different shapes represent different elements in the model (fungi, bacteria, enzymes, and contaminants), and the blue background represents nutrient-rich water.

-Emily

Day 4- Working With Gather IQ

Today we came to building R, one of the research and development buildings and the first thing I did was get to meet some members of the development team working to create a new SAS application. The team gave me and the other SAS interns a presentation on the development process and how there are many more than just developing and marketing a software. Then, I got to go hands-on with the GatherIQ, one of SAS’s projects in development. I was working with Matthew Schaeffer who could read at the speed of light where I could read at a normal speed, so he would always want to get ahead and I would make him go back so I could finish reading things on the website. After getting hang of the purpose of the website we submitted a survey to help SAS understand what users thought about it. I thought the purpose of the website wasn’t clear at first and it would take at least five minutes of digging to figure out what SAS was getting at. Then I had lunch in an incredible cafeteria called that took place in an open space called the atrium.

The chefs were really nice and the food was great! After lunch, then I went upstairs to a new conference room to present on ideas that I thought would make for a good app. The purpose of GatherIQ is to raise awareness on global issues by sharing information, data specifically, on social media. So, the other interns and I had to come up with ways to present the information so that a younger audience like middle schoolers would be interested in learning about the issues and would want to share them with their friends. My group came up with the idea that the user should be rewarded in some way if they view the page or share it/retweet the page/ like it. So, we thought that for every 100 retweets it would get a sponsored company would donate 10 dollars towards the cause or something along these lines. This activity was really fun and its really cool how SAS will actually use our feedback to make changes to their app going forward!

Day 4: Protect the Environment!

Today, I met with the environmental team at SEPI. Their main responsibility is to predict and monitor the environmental impacts that different construction projects can have. This includes the impact on wetlands, endangered species, ecosystems, wildlife, etc. Their job also includes securing permits for construction projects that may impact the surrounding environment from the state. I was with a team today whose job is to go and scout out different potential project sites and the environment around them. They take notes of any wetlands or bodies of water nearby, types of plants, soil, and other environmental aspects, and then place flag markers on or near any notable areas. Their job site today was a mile-long stretch of road in Durham, but the area was pretty urban and didn’t have much vegetation or soil to observe, so we ended up just leaving and eating lunch at Smash Burger instead. A successful day in my book!

A picture from Tuesday where I was watching a guy dig up a water shut-off switch, because I don’t have any pictures from today.

Day 4 – Audio

On my final day here at Trailblazers Studio, I went through the audio department: the final stage of video production. I started the day by sitting in on a meeting with a client. They had brought in a woman to record a voice message to be played on the phone when the client’s company is called. To be honest I always assumed the messages on the phone were computers, but they are actual people. The woman recording had the most soothing voice imaginable and was very professional. The entire meeting and recording only lasted about 30 minutes. After the client and the talent left, I watched Michel edit the audio and ship it off to the company. The whole process was quick but the final piece was perfectly put together. After that I went around the audio department and talked to people about music, casting talent, and actually editing audio. I ended the day with watching a short documentary regarding the Salem witch trials. Sound effects and reenactments played a big role in the show and put it all together. Finally, the day was over and we said our fair-wells over Duck Donuts (because it was national donut day). Overall, I had a great time at Trailblazers and learned so much about the industry

Day Four – 5/31

Not to anyone’s surprise, in the morning Luke and I met with Dr. Laber in the well-known conference room. He derived some more equations, talked more about precision medicine, data analysis, and how calculus applies to problem-solving. Although I have not taken calculus, stats, nor did I know what was going on it wasn’t complete gibberish to me. We went on our lunch break and then met Lisa, another worker in the BOM (Bureau of Mines). Lisa, Luke and I went out to coffee and she introduced us to what she does as the main graphic designer on staff at Laber Labs. She showed us all the different tools she uses for design on her iPad and computer, and told us more about her story. Growing up in Cary, NC we had a lot in common and a lot to talk about! She showed us how to use the program Unity, and we got introduced to AR (augmented reality). She showed us museum exhibits she had helped design herself which became a moving picture when a device was held up to the poster on the wall…super cool stuff! She made us each a card with our names on them in big letters, and we played around with the program Unity to create our own AR simulation. With different images appearing, the letters moving around, and the card seemingly coming to life when help up to a computer camera it was really cool to try something like this which I had never done before. After spending most of the afternoon struggling with frustration with the new Unity program, we got maybe half a step towards the right direction in four hours and called it a day. Overall, was really interesting to learn all sorts of new things today!

The beautiful view from the stats department!

Day 4 – DAY 4!

My Friday (and first Summerfest experience) with the Symphony was an all around chaotic experience. I started the day with my usual spreadsheet work and paper shredding until it was time to pack the cart (which is an extremely tedious process fyi) and head on over to Koka Booth.

After setting up our booth, my supervisor took me on a tour of the amphitheater. There is a whole downstairs with elevators and dressing rooms and tons and tons of sheet music! My duties included setting out booklets, taking pictures of the families that came, marking which tables were open, and picking “Picnic of the Week”. The annual Summerfest goers pack picnics with themes in hopes of winning a gift card from Lowes. After the many hours of running around, my feet hurt like crazy, but it was so worth getting to see the production that the marketing team had been talking about all week. AND I did it all over again on Saturday 🙂

Random Summerfest folks with their picnic

IMG_7079-18gu6lm

Today I got to work in the clinic alongside Dr. Hsu which meant that I went a couple buildings over to the medical center. I got to meet five cancer patients that day with ages ranging from 42 to 81 with cancers ranging from colorectal cancer to anal cancer to pancreatic cancer to even lung cancer. I couldn’t take many pictures because by law, you’re not allowed to take pictures within the clinical facility, but the picture below is of the office space that I sat in while Dr. Hsu showed me different CT scans and showed me how to identify cancer or abnormal spotting on a patient. The first patient that we saw had colorectal cancer and had already gotten most of his colon removed in surgery; however, what we saw on the CT scans was a little disheartening as we found an abnormal spot on his lungs not because the cancer had spread from his colon, but because he was a heavy smoker. So Dr. Hsu ordered more scans and tests to continue with treatment. Another patient that we saw that day was in the terminal stages of his cancer. Dr. Hsu explained to me that his cancer started out as colorectal cancer and then spread to his pancreas where the cancer cells multiplied so quickly that it completely compressed his stomach (you could see the dramatic decrease in the size of his stomach on the scan) so that he needed a feeding tube to consume food. His cancer, unfortunately, was completely untreatable, but Dr. Hsu saw that he was healthy enough and strong enough (despite losing more than twenty pounds) to undergo another round of chemotherapy just to contain the cancer enough to give him a few more good living months. Another patient we saw that previously had anal cancer came in because of an arterial clot. What Dr. Hsu explained to me is that venal clots are common, easier to detect and treat, and sometimes occur without another factor or cause influencing it. However, arterial clots are much rarer and can easily be fatal, and they are primarily caused by some other disease or outside influencer. What Dr. Hsu was worried about was that his cancer had returned and that was what was causing the clot, so he ordered more scans be completed to check for any signs of recurring cancer.

The experience in the clinic was totally different than all of my other days in the lab. And what struck me most about my experience in the clinic was the general disposition of all of the cancer patients. The relationship that the cancer patients have with their doctors is absolutely spectacular. Because the oncologist sees them regularly for long periods of time, they become extremely attached; I was really fascinated and comforted by the positive relationships that the oncologists formed with their patients and vice versa.

Day 4: The Grind

Friday, was primarily a work day for the FHI 360 team – a needed one at that. With three projects to complete, Friday was spent knocking out component after component of various projects.

The first project that we’ve been working on is putting together literature regarding a correlation between adherence to medication and the financial support of savings groups. The idea behind this paper, is that financially supported community members are more able to focus on their health. On Friday, we used Mendeley, a reference gathering source like NoodleTools to help compile a list of relevant resources for the project.

The second project we’re working on is more on the technical side of things; with Dr. Callahan, research utilization specialist, from the contraceptive technologies innovation department, Chiara, Krishan, Salma, and I are working to design a presentation that both highlights the information of a past research study, but also engages the audience. One of the issues with traditional research papers is that for financiers, the information may come across as too technical, complicated, or boring. By engaging the audience, FHI 360 is more capable of garnering support and grants.

The final project that we worked on was the YTH or Youth, Tech, Health project. In this assignment we’re tasked with using social media to promote global health – a task which we’ve begun to accomplish using Instagram. With our Water.Wellness account we hope to promote global access through education, feedback, and partnerships with larger organizations like Swell. Our promotion plan is a line of Swells called the Swellness Collection, where pieces from the collection utilize artwork from developing nations. Part of the proceeds also goes to funding the construction of wells where water access is low. For the communities this aims to help, the project both provides financial support to artisans in the region, and also enables the community to get water. One of the primary challenges for at-risk water scarce populations is that low access to water impedes other aspects of life. How can a community be economically productive if they’re primary concern is dehydration?

Day 4- GatherIQ

Today was drastically different from the previous days on the SAS campus. It began very much like Tuesday, with all of the CA students who had been working in different departments meeting up in the lobby at R Building. After a slight disagreement with the receptionist over my visitors badge, we were taking up a few floors to a conference room, where we met Dee, Paul, and Mary; the leads on the GatherIQ app SAS is developing. What is GatherIQ? GatherIQ is a website with a corresponding app that allows users to gain access to various projects. These projects consist of a mission statement, or a why the project exists. This often provides context for the research contained in the project. Users can then view compilations of data in the form of podcasts, papers, data tables, charts, and other visual aids. The user can also share their findings on Twitter thanks to a built in system to see what people on social media are saying about that given subject.

After walking us through the steps required to bring product such as this to market, including testing, usability, and QA, we took part in a feedback session for the app. Divided into groups, we were given time to navigate the app and just get on thoughts on it, without any context given by the developers. My partner, Matthew Cinoman, and I took very different views on the app. While we both agreed the interface was a tad clunky and there was information overload, Matthew couldn’t see the practical application of the app for everyday use. I, on the other hand, being involved in debate and the like, appreciated the app’s ability to conduct people with reliable data on any given issue.

One group lunch later and we were back in a conference room, however this time we were divided into two teams and given lists of questions that would help them better understand how to improve the app. For my group (Will, Jessica, and Matt), this included “what makes you want to take a survey”, “should users be able to create action items”, etc. We later had to present how we answered each question. Classy as ever, we made a power point to communicate our ideas. A main emphasis of our presentation was to give more power to the user. This not only entailed the ability to create action items, but also to more effectively sort through and choose what topics they wished to follow, allowing for a more personalized collection of projects. Additionally, we thought it would be really unique to incorporate a rewards system for how activate a user is in sharing and contributing to data, with more activity correlating with Team 1 (Kevin, Isaac, and a girl from New Jersey named Nancy) then presented their ideas on how to make the app more popular with younger audiences, such as modeling the interface off of Instagrams and being able to unlock different types/colors of graphs for the kids out there collecting data about Syrian migrants.

All in all, it a great day filled with great ideas and meaningful contributions!

~GatherIQ App homepage

~Example of project interface

~Kevin hard at work brainstorming ways to make GatherIQ more like Instagram

Day 4- Commercial Voice and Mixing Rock

Mr. Hodgen worked with two clients today. The first was a duo of rock artist. They came in around noon and after settling in a bit, Mr. Hodgen started to mix their music.

Mixing music means that he is doing all of the editing and revising. So he is going through their songs and taking out and replacing moments the artist don’t like as well as adding in effects such as echo, deep voice, fading etc.

rock music-1da51wt

When the rock artists were satisfied with how their music sounded they wrapped things up and Mr. Hodgen had another client come in. She was a women who was recording herself reading a script for a virtual teachers guide. She had amazing diction and pronunciation. It was amazing to hear a voice that sounded exactly like the voices you hear during commercials on television.