Ridgewood High School InvenTeam November Update
We started the month with a sort of team reorganization. While we had our groups previously set during the grant application process, we needed a change when we were chosen as an official Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam. With the new goal of building a working prototype and distinct tasks being assigned to us in Canvas, the first step was this reorganization. We started with original teams of Chemistry, Engineering, User Experience, and Business, and we broke these off into smaller groups. Now we have more specialized teams of Management, Finance, Administration, Communication, Technology, Research, and Sustainability. Each group has two to three members with one particular leader. These leaders are mostly seniors who have demonstrated specific skills in their team's field. With this new organization in place, we have been able to hit the ground running.
While each team member has a specific role, nothing on our team happens in isolation. For example, Ashli, the head of communication, needs to understand how the bottle's design works to correctly describe it on our Instagram page and to our greater Ridgewood community. As a result, our team's most important aspect is our Sunday night meetings. Each Sunday from Seven to Eight PM, the team gathers to discuss what we have done in the previous week and what we intend to accomplish for the next. The meeting is how the entire team can learn about what is going on in management, research, and design.
Carina, head of the research team, explained that we are developing a new design for our electrodes: "The testing is interesting because we are working with the planar/sandwich electrodes, a new development from our cylindrical electrode design. Additionally, the planar/sandwich design produced much higher H2O2 concentrations in preliminary testing than the cylindrical design and is now in the range needed to sanitize water. The conclusion is super exciting news and supports our decision to abandon the cylindrical design." With all of this in mind, our research and development have come a long way.
Moreover, Hailey of the technology team has designed a holder for the electrode in our bottle. After going through countless drafts, Hailey was inspired by something familiar to her: "I remembered something that had once been a big part of my life, my clarinet from middle school. The mouthpiece held a removable reed that had to be held onto the clarinet with adequate pressure and did not cover the reed. It was also adjustable, so that way, the optimal amount of pressure could be achieved." With this design in mind, she got to work on modeling the design using the program Fusion360, and she will soon be 3D printing it for testing. This is also particularly exciting!
While we have participated in weekly meetings since the beginning of the summer, we have been virtually every session. Any group can benefit immensely from safe in-person contact. Mr. Wohner, one of our advisors, delivered us a safe outdoor fabrication day by setting up a tent outside the Ridgewood High School building.
The day was an incredible opportunity for some of us to meet in person for the first time. Yet, as it comes to in-person meetings, we had to make sure that it was COVID-safe. Every precaution was taken. First, each team member was fitted with goggles, an apron, latex gloves, an N-95 mask, and a face shield. With the appropriate PPE and social distancing, we were able to gather as a team finally. It is a testament to what creative thinking can accomplish. Sure, it was not convenient to dress like one team member called "a team of aliens," but it was safe and effective. The rewards speak for themselves.
The day was not intense, but it was an enriching experience in many different ways. First, we were able to make meaningful progress on our bottle. In a sort of production-line, we were able to deburr our titanium, drill the appropriate holes, degrease the strips, and spray. Off to the side, we also had David testing our H202 and solar panels. While these jobs were essential for the production of our prototype, Elliott, a member of the Technical team, saw an even greater reward through team collaboration: "Drilling the titanium is an interesting way that technology team interacts with the research team." He drilled the holes for the electrodes with a drill press on Fabrication Day, and over time Elliott has worked to create an even better pattern for them.
Fabrication Day was an incredible boost to the team's morale. Productivity increased, and we even were able to have a little fun. For our prototype water bottles, two were spray painted with bright yellow paint. (You can recognize Matthew's bottle with the drips.) Nevertheless, using Adobe Illustrator, Emily made a particular design incorporating our team members' names, our InvenTeam logo, and our high school with the paint on the bottles. Using a precise laser, we then were able to peel off the paint revealing our design. Seeing our first bottle etched was the first step of many toward our final prototype.
All in all, this has been an exciting month for the Solar AquaTech InvenTeam. Sometimes it seems like we have a million balls in the air, but with our devoted and brilliant team, the sky's the limit. Moreover, I think this has been the month that our team indeed became a family. Maybe it is the spirit of Thanksgiving and "counting our blessings," as our advisor Dr. Labowsky loves to say, but we have grown so much as of late. In signing off, we cannot wait to share with you all the progress that we will continue to make, and we are truly looking forward to what the rest of the groups have to share!
