Sunday, April 29, 2012

Independent Component 2



Literal
(a) Statement saying: “I, Kenji Karuhaka, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.” 
(b) For my independent component, I decided to complete tasks that require some kind of technical or mechanical work. I looked at circuit boards and soldered off components such as diodes, resistors, and capacitors of different sizes. My father also taught me about how to remove and replace components without damaging the traces in the board. I also have had problems with my laptop and replaced the LCD monitor and d/c input jack for the charger. While I was replacing the monitor, I originally thought it was a bad connector, however, after testing a new one, I realized the LCD was damaged. I also worked on my R/C car. At my service learning, I was told that it is good for biomeds to have hobbies such as R/C since it teaches about basic electronics as well as allowing you to practice different skills. This caused me to get back into R/C and learn about all the different components and how to replace worn or damaged parts.
Interpretive
It shows 30 hours of work because as I was doing the different tasks, I also had to learn about what I was doing. I had to look up instructions on how to complete tasks the right way as well as plan what I had to do. The task itself would also at times be hard, due to losing of components, not being able to locate a certain part, or just figuring out how to attack the problem. The work was time consuming and sometimes caused me to work in my room for a few hours at a time, but it would be fun.
Applied
It helped with my original EQ of what is most important for success as a biomedical engineer because I was able to use skills usually used by engineers of different fields. My new EQ, "What is most important when creating prosthetics using biomedical engineering?" was helped because I got to work with different mechanical systems that use motors and pulleys with my R/C car which can be used in robotic prosthetics.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Helping 2013

Kendall Delgado: April 26, 2012 - 5:20 pm

1) She wanted to do either autistic child development or event planning. She wanted to do child development because she knows someone with autism and already has some connections in that area. Event planning, was another option, however, she felt that it may be difficult to get service learning and I explained that she should pick whichever one is more fun for her and she is more passionate about because of possibly getting tired of senior project. I also told her about Norma who is also doing event planning and maybe talking with her for more info.

2) Since she knows someone with autism, she thought she could do service learning with that person's teacher. For event planning, she was gonna ask her friend's aunt who works as an event planner. I told her that those would both be great places to start and again talked about Norma.

3) She hopes to learn more about child development and event planning. She wants to see the senior presentations on those topics in order to learn more and decide on a final topic.

4) She didn't have any other questions and I just went over how she should think when she decides on a topic because I felt that it's better to get a fun topic vs a rigorous academic topic.

Christopher Hernandez: April 26, 2012 - 1:00 pm

1) His ideas were either video game journalism or WW2 reenactments. I could tell he was passionate about both and felt.either topic was fine. Just service learning may be hard especially for video game journalism because it is like the entertainment industry and he may not have a lot of options. But we also talked about independent component options.

2) For video game journalism, he wasn't too sure. He was gonna write reviews on games, but it seemed more like an independent component. For reenactments, he knows a group that does things like that and was thinking of talking to somone in charge of the group and perhaps joining them.

3) For senior pesentations, he was hoping to go into gaming or history ones and also kind of get more ideas. He wants to see presentations be interesting and factual and I told him aboit some of the different topics we have this year according to his interests.

4) He didn't have any other questions and I talked to him a little more about his topics.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Answer 3

EQ: What is the best way to create a prosthetic limb using  biomedical engineering?

Answer 3: Determine what you want the the limb to do and make a specific function a goal.

Evidence: If someone gets a prosthetic arm, making the arm to have the ability to apply specific amounts of pressure can make an arm feel more realistic which is sometimes what the patient wants.

Sources: InMotion: A brief history of prosthetics
                National Geographic Magazine: Bionics
                Wikipedia: Bionics