PATHS-UP Digital Scholars Young Scholars 2024

 What did I learn? I learned a lot in the past 3 weeks, from how neurons work in the brain to how to design a circuit board. This was a great way to experience some real work done by medical scientists and engineers. The professors were great as well as the many speakers I had the privilege of listening to. I got to learn Python and C++, how to program and make a motion alarm, the Simon Says game, and so much more. What was the hardest part? The hardest part of this experience was coding the TinyWatch, both getting expected readings and linking the buttons correctly. But with the help of my partner and mentors, I was able to figure it out. And traffic.

I really enjoyed learning about the many applications of computer science in the health field. I already enjoy computer science and want to pursue a career relating to it, and this program has opened my eyes to new possibilities and new career paths I could take. I love the problem solving aspect of programming, and this program has piqued my interest with applications like neuroscience and machine learning. I also loved designing the circuit board and programming edge detection in images. I enjoyed the tours of the campus; they showed me what the other campus tours couldn't: the more technical and complex aspects of Rice that the engineering majors get to take advantage of. 

 Week 3 - Genevieve   July 25, 2024 Week 3 Today is the last day of PATHS-UP. At the end of these three weeks, I accomplished one of my goals: gaining some experience coding.  My original device aimed to assist patients with Alzheimer's. However, it transformed into a device that helps patients with Bipolar Disorder better manage their episodes.  I enjoyed creating my project and hope to continue working on it in the future.

After week 3, I have learned a lot about different engineering careers and I was also able to explore things that I have never tried before. For example, I didn't have any programming experience before coming to this program. However, after finishing the program I got really interested in coding and I want to further advance my coding journey. I also learned about new subjects such as computer vision and neuro-engineering. This program helped me understand deeper on electronics and circuits and their overall implication for digital health. I learned how can I use digital technology to create a positive impact in the healthcare field. Overall, this program was really great which opened my eyes to explore new study areas. 

 The biggest takeaways from this week was a lot of the programming and making the presentation. In that process a lot of collaboration was required in order to make a quality presentation, and the practice that went into making sure that my teammate and I are prepared during the presentation. Furthermore, working on the code required lots of trial and error in order to make both the TinyWatch and EMG functional. We also toured the OEDK which had dozens of workshop machines for STEM students to work on projects.

  July 25, 2024 Week three This week we learned a little bit of Python which was really cool to learn and experience. We also toured the OEDK lab which had a lot of cool features and basically had everything anyone could need in there, but even if it didn't you could send orders in to order what you needed. It was also cool seeing all the different clubs that were in the OEDK lab because you could see what they were working on firsthand and how they used the lab for their experiments. We also got a little bit of details on how each grade works with their team and whatnot. During this week we have also been working on our presentations which are happening today which is a crazy thought cause it felt like a long time coming so I'm excited.

 Hi. This camp did not change my life. I will be raising my kids the same way as I planned to. I did not join this camp for the digital aspect of it. I thought it was about health. However, I think doing this computer science-focused camp has expanded my knowledge of the field and has helped me in the career-choosing process. I have decided to never do anything related to computer science. I think the mentors did a great job in running the camp and assisting us and the activities were very valuable. My favorite part of the camp was when went outside and did tours. Also, please invest in chairs with backrests. My back and butt hurt the whole time, and I could feel the angle of my scoliosis increasing.  my dad

 My favorite highlight in week 3 is to visit the Oshman Engineering Design building. At there I was able to hear the stories about projects and effort of college students which evoke my interesting in college and I can not wait for more future research project I can make with my peers.

 The PATHS-UP program gave me an insight into bioengineering as a possible field to persue. I really proved how much human health can be imporved by combing together medicine and technology. I learned the basics of coding and got to code in different languages from C to Phyton. The informative lectures taught me how to present with a poster, all about computer vision and about neuroscience. Learning coding through the audrino spark fun kit and the tiny watch was a genetle introduction into a field so intimidating- computer science. I also got to learn all about rice and it's big devotion to STEM and engineering with the buildings that set rice apart from other colleges like haveing a clean room. 

 This program has been a real game changer for me it shown me what all I can do with my minimal amount of knowledge and how much more there is for me to learn. I have learned not only more about programming and engineering but also health and I have also gained knowledge in presenting communicating with others. I have truly enjoyed my time hear and will take what I learned to further my goals.

Take Away Overall the experience here at PATHS-UP has been great and I  have learned a lot. I have become better at presenting and, I have gotten better at making presentations in a shorter amount of time. I have also became a better coder with the ability to code in java, c++, and some python. I have also learned to collaborate with peers to make better projects and presentations. All in all it was a great experience and I learned a lot from it.

 This was a really cool opportunity to get comfortable with basic engineering ad software development. I became more comfortable with using Arduino IDE and with the C++ syntax. We faced a lot of challenges while trying to create our final project, but we overcame all of them in an efficient, successful way. I was very proud of my partner and I for connecting two Arduinos together and getting them to communicate. I enjoyed learning about machine learning and the brain research. Hearing from people who have done research similar to what I want to do in college was an inspiring experience that I am very grateful for. One of my favorite parts was the clean room tour because we got to physically see real world applications of the things we learned about. 

     The whole workshop was a great experience. I loved working with the mentors and others in building things from the TinyWatch and Sparkfun Kit. Learning the Arduino code and applying it was definitely a challenging but also really fun. I also loved going on tours of Rice Campus, the Clean Room, and the OEDK building (attached below is a picture). I'm also really happy with the final project and the way our watch turned out. The thing I will definitely use the most in the future is the python and C skills I learned. I want to do a computer science related major and I know the things I have learned in this program will help. 

 For week three of the program, we went to OEDK and saw the various engineering materials that Rice has to offer. I finished my project and am ready to present. The biggest takeaway from this camp was about the hard work and patience that must go into Computer Science and Engineering. My desired career path is far from this, however, it did teach me more patience and resilience. It also allowed me to test the waters and try out Computer Science. I also intend on taking Computer Science A in my senior year (this year), so I was able to learn about various coding languages and I am now able to utilize this in my class. My favorite part of this camp was meeting new people (and old friends) as they made the camp even more enjoyable. Working on the code for my project was EXTREMELY frustrating as for some reason, things just weren't working, but the satisfaction that came with actually getting it to work was all the more worthwhile. 

 What I took away I took away that it is actually a lot easier than I expected to create an inexpensive health device to help underserved populations. I did this through Dr. Young's guidance about both the Python and C language. Moreover, I am now more intrigued about the biomedical and computer engineering field through the tour of the clean room seen below in the image and Dr. Guha's lecture about computer vision. It opened my eyes to a field I wasn't previously even considering. The Paths Up program helped me tremendously in finding my interests and building upon them, from teaching us to make circuitboards to playing with Arduino's.

 During Week 3 of PATHS-UP, I had a lot of fun collaborating with my team member in creating our wearable device. We went through a lot of struggles in getting our code to upload on run on the watch but we were able to solve most of them. The tour of OEDK was very interesting and unique; it was cool getting to see the workspace of student engineers and some of the crazy projects. The lectures on neuroscience and machine learning were very interesting and made me more curios about the new technology we have. Overall, PATHS-UP taught me a lot and was a very fun learning experience!

 These past 3 weeks have been great for me. I have been able to learn some C and python. I also loved doing the SparkFun Inventor's kit because I could go on my own pace and do things as soon as I'm finished instead of having to wait for others or making them wait for me. I also liked the program because it helped me make new friends and talk to more people. I also like the lunches because they had a good variety to pick from. 

 This week, me and my partner worked to create the poster presentation and finalize our prototype. We changed the layout of the PCB board and learned about machine learning. I enjoyed building using the SparkFun kit and tinkering with the code of the TinyWatch. I struggled to grasp the different variables of codes and how they fit together, receiving many errors on the codes and having to redo it. All in all, the coding experience and people I met through this program are the most impactful parts of it.

 This experience was really cool for me to see all the stuff around campus even things underground was cool and seeing what college students do an how there days go is cool too but also learning all the knowledge from our mentors and the speakers the came in was really good too. I think this can help  me an even others in life with all the knowledge we have and learned an will be able to use as we get older to accomplish our goals and achieve our career which i’m ready to achieve after this and the others as well, but overall this was a great experience an i would probably want to experience but now it’s done it’s time to get sum rest and sleep lol!!

Thoughts on the Projects Work on the final project has been very interesting. Coming up with the final idea has been challenging, while simultaneously encouraging creativity. Furthermore, my group decided to integrate the EKG which came with its own challenges such as researching how it works as well as finding the code for it. In my group making the EKG work has been the priority, but now that it works we're shifting our focus onto the final watch.  Week 3/Final Project I'm looking forward to spending more time on the project next week. The idea behind the EKG is its designed for older people who are prone to seizures and having the EKG act as a way to alert a caretaker/family of the person. We wanted to add a buzzer to it whenever it detects an anomaly in muscle tension or the heart as a way to alert somebody. Alongside the EKG we want to have the watch act as a way to monitor vitals and tell the location of a person as well as how far it is from their home using the GPS, Blu...

 Thoughts on Projects The projects that we have been working on on the Arduino Board and the Tiny watch have been challenging, but still fun and doable. The later projects also start to get pretty interesting like the Simon says game and the Olimex. Looking Forward to Next week I'm looking forward to finish the final project and preset it to everyone. It will  be an EKG that you put on during your sleep and starts beeping and lighting up if it spikes too much. This should be able to help people that are prone to seizures. Tour The tour was intriguing and the fact that we got to keep the suit was something I didn't expect, but I'm glad they allowed us to.                                         

   Preparations Some things I did to prepare for this program were things like reading about the program from the internet as well as asking my friend who came last session what to expect. With the information I gained from both of these things I decided to start practicing coding from what I learned in my computer science class in school by doing things like logic problems. First Impressions My first thoughts on my mentors were the level of intelligence that surpassed most people I have met. The projects that we started on during the first week were a good introduction to the program and what to expect and I enjoyed the tour as well. Things I am looking forward to I am eager to begin working on and brainstorming the final build of this program. I am also looking forward to watching my peers present their own discoveries and builds during their time at this program. I also want to deeper my understanding of coding and specifically get better at coding efficiently. Tour Highlig...

1. Current projects that I'm working on are GPS, Bluetooth connection to tiny watches, and assembling different functions on the Arduino board. At first, I didn't know we even had a small GPS circuit to cooperate with the small screen, so I thought I had to run the code to the tiny screen. I was surprised that I could also combine different sets of code and circuits for the small screen to function conveniently.  2. Week 3 is coming up, and there's a project that me and my partner will be present. Of course, I will look forward to our project going smoothly. We can express our ideas to the audience concisely, and also learn new things as we work on the project. About our project, we have two strong candidates that are going on. Accelerometers and Pedometer, those two can work together to best benefit people currently in rehabilitation. The two components can provide a certain step that a person has to walk to improve rehabilitation. Also, a person with a heart health proble...

Week 2 - Genevieve July 18, 2024 Week 2 First Thoughts I was very excited to begin working on our projects! I appreciate that this project is an opportunity to create something that could positively impact someone else's life. Additionally, I enjoy collaborating with my partner, Khanh. I can tell that she shares the same enthusiasm as me.  Looking Forward To Week 3 Next week, I am looking forward to presenting my project. I will present a device for patients with Alzheimer's or dementia. A common symptom of the disease is confusion, which can potentially lead to someone becoming lost. By combining the pulse oximeter, accelerometer, GPS, and Bluetooth, I hope to create a wearable that will allow caregviers to track a patient's locations, measure their level of stress, and detect falls.  The Clean Room Visiting Rice's Clean Room was my favorite part of this week. I found it interesting that the room is separated by yellow and blue light. Here are some pictures below: elow...

 July 18, 2024 Week 2 1. The projects I have been working on are getting certain things on the Arduino board to work and trying to troubleshoot the problems. I have also been working on changing the code of certain things in the Arduino board like the color, the names that appear, and the sounds the buzzer makes. Some other projects have been getting different components of the Tiny watch to work together because individually I have gotten all aspects to work. 2. The most exciting thing looking forward to week three is obviously the final project but also trying to get the final project to work in real-time and not just being an idea. I am excited for week three to see if I can finish the Arduino board and make the robot cause I have yet to be able to start on that part. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm excited about presenting the final project but that's mainly just nerves talking cause I will be nervous and maybe a bit scared. 3. We did tour the Clean Room this week which ...

 Week 2 - Chelyee Ho         Question 1:          This week, my partner, Dhrumi, and I worked on creating our final project for the showcase which            will be happening next Thursday. Our task was to create something that combined elements from            both the Arduino Board and the TinyWatch that could benefit the medical field. At first, we were            thinking of creating a way to incorporate the Simon Says game and the TinyWatch by having the            TinyWatch displays the score from the Simon Says game and the player's heart rate for people            with Alzheimer's. I thought this was ambitious because Mr. Chris was just talking about how it is               to physically connect the TinyWatch and...

 1. My first thoughts on the project that were working on were if it was going to be too complicated for me since I have never worked in any type of project like this, it is the first time that I am introduced to coding and building circuits. 2. Im looking forward for what my project is going to look like, not only this but in what im going to learn as me and my partner build it. My final project will be a health tracker that specializes in helping a patient monitor their heart rate levels, blood pressure and oxygen level, its not promoted to one specific condition which is good because it has a wider range of people it can help. 3.  I wasn't present for the tour, but something that I like about the campus is the trees, sadly a lot of them fell due to Hurricane Beryl but the good thing is that there's still many more that are still standing. I also like the squirrels here, they're very nice and even approach you; although its a bit dangerous since they're not pet animal...

  Initially my first thoughts on this project were just nerves. I was really scared about presenting in front of a lot of people. But the more that I think about it, the more better I feel about it. I have calmed down and is now focusing more on the materials of the project rather than the outcome.  I'm definitely most looking forward to the presentation. I'm nervous about my own but I'm really excited to see what the other teams have been working on. My final project is a watch that monitors your heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen level and stores that data on an app (hypothetically) and this information can sort of be used as an indicator for diseases that you may have (some diseases can show a change of these vitals). My favorite part about the tour was definitely getting the protection on. (I dont have pics because my phone was in my suit )

 1. I thought the project was a great way to help people by combing basic technology and human health. There were so many ways to go about this project: who to help and what to include in the final prototype. At first, the proejct didn't seem feasible but as time went on and we learned how to work the different components on the watch, the project slowly came together.  2. In the final week of the program, I look foward to presenting the finial project and sharing how a small piece of technology can help a large group of people improve their health and keep them safe. I am also excited to share all the new skills I have learned throughout this program. The finial project will be a watch that's able to help older paitents with dementia by being able to keep track of where they are at all times, their heart beat and blood oxygen levels as well as a fall dection. 3. The tour of the clean room was extremly interesting as it was a room where there were no particles and used to desi...

 1. The project the me and my partner have decided to work on has been very interesting to work on it has challenged us on our creative thinking and problem solving skills. Making sure to collaborate has been a key part in accomplishing this project.   2. Working with the mini Arduino through all the SparkFun Inventors Kit has really opened my mind to all the intricate circuits you can build. I plan to use all the things I've learned about the Arduino this past week in my project. 3. Our tour the clean room was amazing it gave us a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a room like that and it was truly special. All the different tools and technology that were held in there that we got to witness was extremely inspiring it increased my drive to become an engineer to hopefully work in places like that in the future.   

  Week 2 Blog 1. What are you first thoughts on the projects you have been working on? I really liked working on the Sparkfun electronics kit. My favorite projects this week were definitely Simon Says and the "Self Control Car" because of how fun they are to play with. I also liked how we continued to work with the tiny watch and added new things like the Bluetooth and the GPS. I loved how I was able to my message notifications on the Tiny Screen.   2. What are you most looking forward to in Week 3? In week 3, I'm most looking forward to designing our final project. I think it will be really cool to combine things we have worked on/learned in the previous 2 weeks. An idea I have for the final project is combining things we have worked on like the BPM, pulse oximeter, and maybe a temperature sensor, and if the user has any problems in one of the categories (like BPM is too fast or temperature to high), the watch will send an alert to a family/friend saying the problem and ...

 1. First thoughts I originally thought that combining the two Arduinos through I2C was going to be very difficult, but it turned out to be a straight-forward process. The website I was using had the wrong set up for connecting them together, so I used my prior knowledge to successfully make a connection. I also was nervous about trying to transfer data between the Arduinos, but it only required a few extra lines of code that I dissected to learn how it worked.  2. Looking forward I am looking forward to formatting and researching for the poster project. I like creative things, so I'm excited to work on the poster and decide the best way to include information and decide what information I need. I think our final project will be combining the Simon Says as a memory game, the display to keep track of the score, along with tracking the heartrate of someone as they play the game to find a correlation between score and anxiety. Patients with Alzheimer's or dementia get frustrated ...

 1. My first thoughts on the projects are that they are entertaining and creative. The SparkFun kit, for instance, has several builds that range from sound to screen projections. The variety allows for a unique experience all around.  2. Next week, I am looking forward to learning more about coding and finishing the SparkFun kit. In addition, I'm excited to begin my final project and create my poster board. The best part of this experience is being able to apply what I've learned to create a new, working component. 3. I was not here for the tour. 

 First Thoughts about Projects My first thoughts on the projects that we have been working on are that they are very complex, and help us immerse ourselves into the circuitry world. For instance, the Arduino projects that we have worked on like the remote controlled robot helped me learn more about circuits and how to best debug them. This can be seen when my switch did not work, so I knew that the wires that were not working as intended were the two parallel to the switch. This led me to find that one of these wires was in the 6 digital switch spot, not the 7. Looking Forward I am looking forward mostly to coding the tinywatch to fit with our project idea. This idea is catered to older individuals with dementia, as they have twice the risk of falling. Moreover, they often have low levels of self-awareness, so it makes it harder for them to call for help. For many, home care isn't financially feasible, so that is where our idea comes from. We will create a fall detection system for...