Final Post

I seem to have fallen behind on my intended blogging ideals of one every 2-3 days and instead find myself now recapping an entire 1.5 weeks in one post. In terms of the social and personal aspects of this class, I can honestly say that I have found the interactions with the team to be extremely rewarding. Coming into this project I was very concerned that the students would be bored with the project due to its advanced stage as well as the rather tedious nature of the device design process. Instead I was blown away by the interest the students had in our project, as well as the detail and level of observation they put in even when the team was not directly working on the project. Each of them fit in quickly and easily and brought a special something to the project and made it an experience I hope to have again.

On the side of the class, I enjoyed the overarching topics, and I felt that a lot of the material was rewarding. I particularly enjoyed exercises which allowed for us to test our business plans and canvasses as needed. The guest speakers were topical, and largely interesting, but my favorite would have to be the owner of 7 beans. His story was substantially more human than the other presenters, and you can tell that he had to work for what he had. I particularly enjoyed how he quite candidly was willing to share failures and low moments. I often feel that when presenters present, these things are overlooked but are fundamentally the most important part of being an entrepreneur.

I cannot express how much I enjoyed the opportunity to work with and meet the students from India and bring them in onto the Nonspec team. We spoke about continuing the relationship we have now through continued testing in India, and we are looking forward to moving our project along with their help, ingenuity, and feedback. I would not hesitate to take this class again (if it was even remotely feasible) for that aspect alone!

Day 3-4-5

The last few days have been a blur on a huge level. On Sunday we took a flight to Goa early in the morning and I had the chance to use the flight delay to catch up on my game. After that the students ended up taking four minivans across the hilly area to Hubli. The ride was an interesting combination of terrifying driving, beautiful vistas, and dense forest. The jungle area housing was incredibly colorful, and the places we got to see on the way looked amazing! The students met us that night, and I quite literally tumbled out of the car and into bed. There was some delicious meal that I effectively was in a daze through. It seems to be a common theme for me for this trip that I am slightly out of it after 7PM. The next day we were given a tour of the campus and I had the opportunity to meet the Indian students on my team! I was happy to find that they were as excited to work with us a we were with them. After the tour we were dropped off at the clinic where we would have the opportunity to hopefully test our design. After a quick explanation to the doctor we had the opportunity to watch the workflow of the clinic. As in the US the clinic is run by the clinician, but the actual work is done by the technicians (and they are very skilled at what they do) the clinician uses a thermoformed socket alongside basic components to make devices for the local amputees. For patients who have more income the new and higher tech limbs are available. During our visit I did a quick material and parts inventory of what the patients were using. One of the interesting things is that the high tech limbs were actually aftermarket devices. In the states, we had heard of the practice of reselling lightly used diabetic patients limbs for patients without the means for purchase in other countries, but this was the first time we had found it outright. The designs themselves were standard and the patients seemed happy with the devices. While there it was established that the clinician did not in fact speak the local language (Kannada) and the patient did not speak any Hindi. In that case it seemed that the Techs had to do a lot of bridging of speech from the patient to the doctor (and at first left us assuming the doctor was just very brusque) The practices in the clinic are excellent for the region but about 10 years delayed from current US standard of care. This is excellent for Nonspec as it means our approach (designed to emulate the US device approach) will be a welcome change for the patients who are currently not experiencing any osseofixation or designs to assist with hydrostatic suspension in the limb. The components in the clinic are on par with what we expected to find, and all in all it appears they are an excellent group to begin testing our technology with. The second day we met the principal of the college, and he seemed to very much like our idea and he felt that our work was something that could have a great use in India, even without the mass production price point. We interviewed with patients today, and it was heartening to hear that our device seemed to be something that was of high quality and good make. (I look forward to when the patient has the opportunity to handle our final run devices) The students form India are integral to our research, and have provided us with so much information about the region as well as interacting with patients for us. I don’t think we could have done any of this without their support and I look forward to continuing to work with them!

Day 2

After 8 hours on the bus today we saw (and came back from) the Taj Mahal. During the tour the idea of organizing a project of this magnitude while still attempting symmetry was probably the most daunting. The size of these sites. After getting back I made sure to get some internet to look into the site. The “management team” was actually 37 individuals in charge of specific portions of the design and execution. Larger portions such as the layout were left to a single person (One designer, one architect, one inlayer and one mason) and construction was performed by craftsman under their supervision. From my initial inspection of the documents available to me at this time, it appears that the majority of work was in fact from a master template. With twenty thousand people working on this project over the 20 years of its construction there is and was a monumental amount of coordination without any of the digital tools we take for granted. The building itself was spectacular, the onion dome is without question a feat of engineering and I would hazard that current approaches w2ould make making something like that impossible even today. There is something incredibly awe inspiring about seeing something that people have made without the use of existing tech. The most interesting approach was the use of the bamboo scaffolding. The scaffold allowed for the generation of the dome as well as the distribution of the stresses in the dome during construction. It seems they are using the same technique on the minaret that is being repaired in the north east corner of the compound. Again like yesterday I wish I could have had some signage or research done on the location. I was originally expecting the ever present signage describing and explaining what it is that I am looking at. The epitaphs in calligraphy are beautiful sayings and knowing and translating some of them would have just added to the grandness of the location. I would love to see a group of Indian preservationists handle the making of a more interactive experience without the requirement for the tour guide or the local historian. Perhaps someone at the college would be interested in undertaking this kind of project.

Day 1

Last night we landed in India, and I can honestly say that the entire flight experience after getting on a plane after already being awake for 24 hours was fascinating. The flight itself was a bit of a fever dream and landing around 2AM did not help that process. The lighting and smog made for a very surreal cushioned world feel on landing and there is a lot to be said for the abject thrill (and a tiny bit of terror) during our first bus ride.

During the drive to the hotel, the infrastructure was particularly fascinating as we drove through. Many buildings were in a state of disrepair and I found myself wondering who built them. Buildings are always built with a purpose, and to have so many structures that appear disused indicates a fascinating shift in population demographics. Historically this kind of shift is gradual (unless there is an instance of a mass disaster) and can be seen in every country. I was heavily reminded of the buildings in and around Detroit where the city had to raze 10% of the structures to bring back growth to the area. Unlike in Detroit however I am shocked how courteous and polite everyone is. As a New Englander, I traditionally am used to a reasonable amount of standoffishness, but everyone here has been incredibly welcoming.

Today we went to the tallest minaret as well as the red fort (with some rather droll shopping in between) and I was interested how little educational plaques were on or around the monuments. This is something that is common across the world, but I am always a little disappointed to not have more access to information. Next time, I will be sure to find an itinerary and research the locations so I can appreciate them a bit more.

All in all, I think the hardest thing for me to handle was my inability to brush my teeth without using the sink water. For some reason I can do this while camping, but the second the sink is in front of me it becomes an impossibly messy task in which I manage to use a half bottle of water in a process that should have taken less than a few mouthfuls.

While it may be the first day, I am optimistic about the rest of the trip. Tomorrow we will visit the Taj Mahal as well as take a rather aggressively long bus ride.