Seriously, who let me regulate my own sleep schedule? Waking up at 7:30 every day means that I wake up at 7:30 EVERY DAY, but somehow I still think it’s acceptable to not get into bed until 12:30 or 1. This could be used as evidence as to why I was on JV math team in high school and not varsity.
A massive contributor to my sleepiness is the amount of physical activity I have been doing lately. I keep tripling my move goal on my Apple Watch which I’m totally enjoying but it is intense.
An example of the insanity!
Saturday was my 21st birthday and also the escape room activity. We did, in fact, escape, so I was able to get dinner at Texas Roadhouse with my boyfriend later that night which was a fun present.
Nothing much is happening with research yet, so my goal has been to try and appreciate some of the pretty nature on campus. Here are some pictures I took on my walk today:
On this walk, I attempted to find a piano in the music building, but was disappointed to learn that all of the good pianos were locked up. I want to play jazz, not steal a grand!
Hello and welcome to my first blog of the REU! I’m not counting my other one. Fresh start?
I can’t decide how I feel about the blogging requirement yet. In high school we had a couple of blog assignments which I liked, but they were a lot more structured and I really knew what I would be writing about each time. Here, I feel a little lost.
Today is day 3 of the REU and day 2 of being in VRAC. Yesterday was a really intense day–so much walking around in the heat! There were so many pictures being taken and I looked so sweaty and I wasn’t super into that, honestly. When I got back to my room after the day was done I just stared at the wall while I ate my food. I had zero energy left.
POV: you’re my wall at the end of the day yesterday
Today’s been a lot better for me. We started later (yay!) and then learned about our projects and met our profs and grad student mentors. I’m actually really excited about my project. I was concerned when I read the paper we were given beforehand because there are a ton of physics/engineering concepts in there and I know very little about either of those.
So I’m sure you’re curious: what’s the project?
In short (because I literally don’t know in long), we’re working with 3D scanners and their biometric applications, specifically fingerprints. We know that scanning can be done at a very fine scale, but we don’t yet know the accuracy of the scanners. In order to test this, we’re going to work out how to scan a finger, create a 3D model, and then print out a finger in skin-like material and see if we can get it to unlock a phone. So that’s sick.
This winter, I was able to visit the Mayo Clinic 3-D printing lab, where they print surgical cutting guides. I had approximately zero interest in anything to do with additive manufacturing before that, but my horizons have been widened now. I wouldn’t say the project is right up my alley, but it’s like another connected alley with a really cute cat in it that I couldn’t help but stop and pet. Maybe this is a sign that I should not spend my time in alleys. Moving on.
A cat, for reference
I like all my blogs to have a theme or a thing that I do every time, but I’m not sure what that will be for this one. Something I’m going to include right now is the song I’m listening to:
Wide Open Spaces!
Fantastic song. Makes me want to run around in a field, which is convenient because, like, Iowa.
Anyway, I’ve written too much and now you’re bored. See you next time!
Anyway, I think that AI is ~fine~. I like that it makes it easier for me to code and I just try to ignore all of the scary things it could potentially do for me in the future.
