Week 4 Blog

 

Monday 17JUN2024:

Monday started with managing the cables on the Centimani so that the motors did not pull each other out of place. I was also given an overview from Ben of how to work the water jet cutting machine. The water jet cutting machine uses pressurized water combined with abrasive garnet particulates to cut through hard materials. I finished up by 2:00 and packed up so I could head back to my apartment and get started on the online IACUC courses. I needed to finish the courses so that I would be eligible to receive animal handling safety training at Rice.

Tuesday 18JUN2024:

Tuesday I was able to stay at my apartment, after attending the workshops, and work on the IACUC online courses. I was able to get the rest of the courses done by the end of the day and was able to relax knowing the next day would be a holiday.

Wednesday 19JUN2024:

N/A due to Holiday

Thursday 20JUN2024:

Once I had gotten back to work on Thursday, I was asked to use the water jet cutter to make tube holding components out of an aluminum sheet as well as go over how to use the Nanosecond Laser in the main lab for etching grooves to hold the tubes in one of the 4 types of parts I needed to cut. I had gotten started and managed to cut a few copies of one of the 4 pieces but, after trying to search for them in the tank, Ben and I realized that the water jet cutter was overdue for cleaning. This meant the built-up abrasive inside the tank was dislodging the pieces I was cutting, causing them to fall to the bottom of the tank where we had to scoop them up. We were unable to finish cleaning the instrument before the end of the day, and I was unable to cut anymore of the parts.

Friday 21JUN2024:

Friday started with a field trip to a surface water treatment facility where we got to learn a fair bit about the processes and instruments used in water treatment, as well as how some of the working relationships can be between engineers and operators in the field. After the field trip, and a good breakfast/lunch, I went back to the BRC to try and finish cutting the rest of the components as well as get the grooves etched. I ran into some trouble trying to add tabs to the pieces so they would be less likely to fall but, with Ben’s help, figured out how to generate the paths I needed. Eventually. Everything ran much more quickly after that, and I was able to get most of the pieces cut before needing to head back to the apartment. However, I was not able to finish cutting the pieces or get the grooves made, which was unfortunate.

[End of post for Week 4]