1.) The reason I enrolled in this course starts with a good friend of mine, Naakesh. At the beginning of the fall 2018 semester, Naakesh told me that there was an opportunity to do some research and that I should check it out, so I emailed Professor Herz and was invited to the join to course. At the time all I knew was that it was research but Naakesh told me that it was so much more than that, and I learned that for myself over the course of this past semester. It’s great to be apart of a program this isn’t focused on memorizing terms, or learning formulas, the course is focused on helping students make an impact in that field. The course allows us to make visible progress every week and adjust it and learn from our mistakes. The reason I wanted to continue taking this course and pursue the fellowship comes down to a few things. The biggest one being the ability to interact with the people we are trying to help. Approaching problems that are affecting people in different regions of the world is difficult due to the lack of understanding that region’s culture. This program allows the students to follow through with a project and deliver it to the people that need it most, and then learn from them to improve the product and their quality of life. But it was Naakesh’s words are what put over the edge and made me fully committed. Naakesh told me that the program changed his life, and seeing another culture in that light, and then being able to help, changed his entire outlook on the world and that the work he did will help change their outlook at the world too.
2.) I see this course helping my career as an engineer in a few different ways, the biggest being the ability to start on a project from its conception, and being able to see it through for hopefully a full 2 years. Throughout college, we learn different material, everything from thermodynamics, to biology, to economics, but rarely are we able to apply those subjects to the real world, and especially apply them to the fields we want to purpose after college. This experience will supply me with invaluable experience is working on an engineering project that will be helpful when I’m applying to graduate school, and when I’m looking for a job after that. Another reason this course will benefit me in the long term is that of the leadership experience and knowledge that I will gain from leading a team of my peers. In the future, I hope to get my doctorate in bioengineering and hopefully lead a group on a cancer research team. I’ve wanted to do that since I was in the seventh grade, and the experience that I gain through this course will help me achieve that goal. Another reason this course will help make me a better engineer is because of the mentors that help teach this course. Professor Kahnjan has already taught our groups about all the different aspects of a project an engineer must consider when developing said project. There are so many different factors that must be accounted for, and many of them were things I had never considered before. Professor Lori Herz has also been an excellence advisor for the project and has taught our group a lot about how to develop an idea and adjust when things don’t go as planned. I look forward to learning more from both of them over the course of the next semesters.
3.) The first step to addressing that problem, of course, is being able to provide glasses in the first place. For this, I would propose setting up a collection system, in which we either are donated or buy back old glasses for a fraction of the cost. Of course, we would also collect the prescription to later match with their new owners. The next step is being able to prescribe the glasses to the people that need them. For that, a portable optometrist tool would have to be developed in order to provide the ability to give a point of care test. Locals would be trained on how to use the tool and could begin selling glasses at a reasonable price, to both provide affordable eyewear and jobs for people throughout Kenya. Of course, more advanced prescriptions would be needed for people with more advanced eye issues, but the people that need more general eyeglasses would be able to be helped, and a large portion of the problem could be addressed.