Dear Diary,

I feel: 🙂(good)

Since we went to Minnesota yesterday, it was like we had a three day weekend. It was a nice break from work.
We went to the University of Minnesota to meet other REU students and hear about their work. Some of them were working alone or only had one other partner. It was cool to see their work, and the campus is beautiful.
After our presentations, we got to go to Mall of America! I’m glad I didn’t go with the intent of clothes shopping or I could’ve stayed forever. I went with the mindset to experience the place, and it was amazing. There are roller coasters, an aquarium, a Crayola store/experience where you can make your own crayons!, and so many stores and restaurants.

At work today, we had another manufacturing class with Xiao. We got to see a 3D concrete printer. We also talked about applications of 3D printing.

For lunch and lecture today, Professor Alex Braidwood came in. Online it says he’s a graphic designer, and he didn’t disappoint with his awesome designs and even audible designs where you listen to data. He’s worked on so many cool and creative projects, and he works at the intersection of graphic design, HCI, and ecology/sustainability. It was definitely an interesting lecture, and I really enjoyed it.

This afternoon, we got to light paint! It’s a really cool photography feature where you can paint with light. We start out in complete darkness and then used our smart phones to introduce light to the scene. The end result is really cool patterns and trails of light.

Tidbit(s) of information:

• I love M&Ms, and a while back they came out with three experimental flavors (mint, coffee, and I think a raspberry or something). All three flavors were limited time items, but by voting, one flavor would get to stay. I actually voted a few times for mint, but I never heard anything about which flavor won. I hadn’t been able to find any mint M&Ms since their initial experimental run, but at the Mall of America, I found mint M&Ms! They won!
• The power went out in all of Ames this weekend for an hour or so. It was a little weird not knowing what to do.

Sincerely,
Lara