July 9th

This was a great day overall. It started with having our manufacturing “lecture” with our grad mentor. So we thought it was going to be like sitting in a real lecture where he would lecture and we would take notes but he decided not to do that. I’m honestly so glad that he decided to change it up and the way he decided to set up the course was each week we get to see a different 3D printer and this week was the food sciences department printer. They have a 3D printer that is capable of making medications. Their goal is to make different textures for medication so it can be easier to swallow. One of the materials they use is cellulose powder that they use to make a paste to 3D print with (Pictures below). After our course we had craft of research where we went around looking at the posters around VRAC. It was a lot of fun getting to see what everyone’s opinions on the posters was because it gave us an idea what people might like or dislike in a design. We were supposed to have MCA presentations but it got moved to Thursday. I was kind of glad because it gave me more time to continue on my project. Last but not least, we went to the laundromat and it honestly was fun getting to sit and talk with everyone who went. I also found out they had a Culver’s and it was so delicious! I just got a concrete mixer with Reeses and Marshmallow creme.

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July 10th

This day had little activities but it was overall a good day still. I started the day talking to Tiffany about HCI Masters program options at Iowa State and I feel like now I really understand the differences between the Masters in HCI vs a Masters of Science in HCI. The difference is the Masters in HCI is just the masters with coursework and a project towards the end vs the Master of Science is coursework on top of doing research (thesis or non thesis). I still am thinking I will stick with my plan of trying to get an industry position of a UX designer and then if I feel like I’m not getting a position in the area I want then I will consider going for the Masters to gain the skills needed for the position I really want. We then had the ethics course which has always been interesting even if I missed the first lecture. Later on in the day I was still preparing my rubiks cube for the presentation the next day.