Hola! Estamos listos para implementacion!
We are less than one day away from boarding our plane to Oaxaca, Mexico and we could not be more excited!!! We presented our final Milestone presentation on Friday, May 10th and discussed our implementation procedures in terms of building the Polyhouse Solar Dryer and using GrainPro bags to alleviate their storage problem. We also discussed our ideas for community engagement such as translating our construction manual to Spanish and on a fun note, sharing our mesquite chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe by baking with them.
UT Updates:
This past semester we prototyped and conquered various obstacles that came into play during our construction phase. Through the installation of our exhaust fan and testing with sliced onions (similar sugar content to mesquite), we were able to reduce the humidity and maintain high drying temperature (~120°) within the PSD. Having prototyped with various placements of the insulation and exhaust fan, we feel confident in exhibiting similar, if not warmer conditions in Oaxaca, to improve the drying process of the mesquite pods.
In-Country Updates:
Richard, the Guerro, and contractors worked together to grout the rooftop of the building where we are implementing the PSD. They grouted the rooftop to remove areas of water buildup. The grout will then direct the rainwater to the perimeter of the roof to prevent puddles from forming. In addition, they were able to use our funds to complete the construction of stairs that lead from the entrance to the backside of the site. Take a look at the pictures below for the in-country progress thus far!
During our time with PUC thus far, we have learned a lot in the design and prototyping stages of our project. Here are some of our favorite moments and lessons learned that we have shared as a team this year.
Gaby Kackley:
Favorite Moment: "Throughout the year, whenever we’d need to take a break from working or just wanted to hangout we always ended up getting boba. As much as I love working with the team, my favorite memory is just of us hanging out as friends. I remember when we first met I was so excited/nervous because I wanted us to all be best friends and anytime we’d get boba I’d be reminded of how close we’ve gotten since August. Now whenever I miss the team I crave boba lol."
Lesson Learned: "You can’t do everything on your own, and you’re not supposed to! Working on a project with multiple moving parts means some responsibilities will overlap, and you’re working with a team for a reason."
Ryan Kutnik:
Favorite Moment: “My favorite memory of this year so far is getting to make mesquite cookies for our bake sale. We used the mesquite flour that we will actually be helping to produce in Oaxaca, so it was really special to work with and actually taste the final product months before travelling to Mexico.”
Lesson Learned: “My most important lesson learned from PUC was developing effective communication among a team so that everybody’s roles were clear and that we all got along well. this is significant because in order for every aspect of our project to go smoothly as possible, we would need to be working as a well oiled machine, which I think we did very well this year!”
Hannah Myers:
Favorite Moment: “One of my favorite memories is when all of my teammates dressed up and came to my birthday party! We all barely knew each other at the time, but having them all be there showed how much they were committed to developing a tight relationship amongst each other. Haha they all even played one of my favorite games: Fish Bowl!”
Lesson Learned: “Take thorough and organized notes when attacking a problem. At times, things can get confusing when determining the problem and identifying what needs to be solved. So having good and clear communication skills in conjunction with organized notes will provide great clarity in attacking the problem.”
Archik Raje:
Favorite Moment: “There has been a lot of incredible memories with this team this year, but I’m going to with when we hit 15000 dollars. WOW. When were close, we had a huge push to get to our goal. But more than that it was a reflection of the month we had working as hard as we could, asking everybody we knew, all with 5 people. We were super proud of ourselves, and we deserved it”
Lesson Learned: “Doing stuff out of your comfort zone is fun and rewarding! This project has allowed us to do so many things that we have never done before, and we’ve been able to grow a lot because of it. We applied to join a project that is very different than anything we’ve learned in a classroom, asked people to put faith in us and donate money, and learned how to bake excessive amounts of cookies! We’ll have even more things to take us out of our comfort zone in-country, but we’ve gotten used to it and are excited to what comes out of it.”
Hannah Ilan:
Favorite Moment: “I have A LOT of fun memories with you dorks and I had a hard time choosing one, but I think one of my top memories was when we filmed our fundraiser promotional video toward the beginning of the fall semester. I feel like we didn’t know each other very well during that time so we were still getting comfortable being goofy around one another but we kept messing up our lines over and over again and we just kept laughing so hard and it just made me happy to see all of us be productive while also having fun. That’s when I realized we were going to have a good team for the year.”
Lesson Learned: “Communication is KEY. If you’re confused, ask for clarification. When you’re stressed, ask for help. Everyone is more than willing to help you when you need help. Working on a team that thinks a lot differently than me and specializes in a field of study that can give me a headache made me realize that being on a team with different strengths doesn’t mean you’re the weak link, it just means communication is essential bridging the differences between how everyone thinks/works.”
We plan to post daily blog entries to keep you updated on our project in-country, so stay tuned! Follow us on Instagram: @pucmexico2019 and Facebook: PUC Team Mexico 2019.