1. How would you describe your project to your friends and colleagues? How would you describe it to a future employer?

I would describe this project as an enjoyable invention implementing group design and research to invent the non-electronic blood pressure device. To a future employer I would describe it as the same thing but then show them the digication website in which this reflection is posted on.

2. What specific skills and knowledge did you learn from senior biodesign?

I learned how much effort and group cooperation must go into a biodesign. I had an idea of the skills and knowledge needed from previous classes but Senior Design gave me the hands on aspect that I was missing. These skills consisted of being original, creative, the ability to work well in a group, time management, and the ability to research efficiently and orderly. A lot of the knowledge needed was design specific and was a result of proper research. However, politics,
patents, grants, and major planning methods were not design specific but needed as a whole for any biodesign.

3. How can you apply what you discovered and learned to other areas of your life?

Considering this is what I will be doing after I graduate I can use almost everything I learned and apply it to my research and design career.

4. What was your favorite aspect of your project?

My favorite aspect was being able to research and create something that has not been done before. School as a whole is always about studying material that has been proven and provided. In this project we were able to use what has been done to invent something new.

5. What problems or challenges did you encounter? Did the challenges cause you to discover something new about your field of study?

A major challenge was channeling our ideas to a workable device. The group and several great ideas but they turned too complex and expensive to be assembled on time. Further, coming up with an idea that appealed to everyone also proved difficult but with group cooperation an idea was settled on.

6. What would you do or change about your project if you could start over again?

I would probably go in a different direction that was slightly more complex. I really wanted to use fiber optics in the device but due to the time and expense constraint we were not able to. I would probably explore this from the start if given the opportunity to start over.

7. What would you like to learn further about your project if you had the time to continue to work on it?

Again, fiber optics are a major interest as are color changing polymers. If more time was allotted I would continue to study these areas and try to implement them into a new design.