Day 28-29

Days 28 and 29 were spent on modifying the presentation. Yesterday, we did a dry run in front of our advisors and fellow interns. Before that, two women from MCSBA came in to interview Emma and I for their newsletter(as we were the only ones present at that time.)

Today, we took those critiques to modify our presentation. We didn't need to do anything major, just add a few slides and edit some information. One day left! This internship flew by so fast.

Day 27

Today I, again, spent a majority of the time working on a presentation. I modified it based on the critiques we got yesterday from both Tyler and Emma. Then, I practiced running through my slides. The only time I was not doing something relating to the presentation was when I accompanied Emma to the ROTC office-which took a while to find. No one was there, so she had to take a few pamphlets to validate the trip. I am very ready to be done working on this presentation, and work more on the probe's frame with Tania.

Day 26

Today, Hudson and I presented to Tyler and Emma. They both gave us some good tips on how to make our presentation go smoother and be more friendly to the audience. After that, we mostly just worked on modifying our presentation.
Tania managed to get a piece for the frame we're building that may work, and I put everything back together. (I had previously taken the sliding part off of the diagonal beam so that I could work with it better.) Other than that, all that was worked on was the presentation. This is the last week! I am partly excited, and partly sad that the internship is going to be over.

Day 25

Today we mostly just worked more on our presentations. Tania was out, so beside the sketches I made for the part we need, I didn't do much today for the frame. We ran through our slides for Rolo, and got some good tips on what to improve. Other than that, it was an uneventful day. Hudson and I continue to have creative differences in our presentation, but other than that I believe the presentation is going well. I do miss having work to do though, as composing a powerpoint is much less enthralling than coding, or even data processing.

Our presentations, and the end of the internship is only a week and a day away. after that, I have to start working on college applications... a task I have been putting off. This internship has made the summer go by so fast. I don't know if it's because I have learned so much, or just because it has given my days purpose, all I know is that I return to high school for my last year in less than a month!

Day 24

Today Hudson wasn't here because he had soccer try-outs. Because of his absences, I did not do any drastic work on the presentation. Not that I would have anyway, because I spent most of today with Tania. First, we went to the University of Rochester to drop off some test imaging sheets, and see their imaging system. The imaging system they have there is far more larger, (and much more expensive) with more lights, a better camera. However, they are aparently having issues with the program that runs their imaging system.

After that, Tania, Emma (who accompanied us on this adventure) and I went to Home Depot in search for a part for the frame we are building. What we need is a piece that will attach the extremely sensitive spectral probe- which cannot withstand any pressure or bending, to a moving plate designed for fine movements. That plate is attached to a sliding piece which moves along the diagonal beam.

Unfortunately, we could not find any parts that would suffice, so now I am drawing plans for a piece that would work for our purpose with the hopes of getting it 3D printed. I have a few ideas that may work, but I will have to consult with Tania tomorrow.

Day 23

Today I helped Tania build the frame for a spectral point reader. At least, I believe thats what it is. I spent most of the morning accidentally putting the pieces in the wrong order, but finally I got it! The structure requires a diagonally aligned bar, which was tricky to attach as the materials are designed to have everything connect at a 90 degree angle. Other than working on building this, all Hudson and I did was work more on our presentation. Tomorrow, Tania and I are going to go on an adventure to Home Depot to search for a piece we need. Fingers crossed that we find it!

Day 22

Today Hudson and I worked on our final presentation. I always like to make my presentations to be as visually helpful to the audience as possible, which is proving to be difficult with the content we need to present on. I think we have completed about one third of the presentation today, which is good because it leaves time for constructing a frame with Tania. I made several visual aids, including a MISHA. Other than the work we did on the presentation, today was an uneventful day. The same will likely be said for the rest of the week.

Day 21

Today, we went to the REU student presentations. I was very confused the entire time. All the concepts that they had done their research in were much more complicated than my simple high schooler mind could understand! I do have some idea now, though, on how to format my presentation. I do hope that my audience won't be as lost as I was! I doubt that they will be, as my research this summer wasn't nearly on the level as some of these REU students.

Sinse I came back to the lab earlier than the other interns to finish yesterdays blog (I had to leave early for work and had no time to do it,) I spent at least an hour organizing my desktop. We are entering the end game now, about to start our presentations, so I figured it would be a good time to invest in organizing my results and documents. There are only two weeks left now until the internship is over! I can't believe how fast the time flew.

Day 20

Today, Hudson and I worked on creating a presentation that would explain our data analysis process: capturing with MISHA,  transferring data to our computers, feeding the images through our code, then processing with ENVI. Other than that, it was a fairly uneventful day. I processed more images through ENVI, but was mostly unsuccessful. Hudson and I need to start working on our final presentation, which is only two weeks away! I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. Tomorrow, we will be spending a majority of the day going to Undergraduate students presentations on their over the summer research projects. I assume that most of the presentation will go over my head, as I am a mere high schooler and they are college students. Hopefully I can pick up some pointers on how to my presentation though!

Day 19

Today was, again, spent on processing images on ENVI. I delved more into the features of ENVI, discovering some very useful (and un-useful) filters that I could apply to the documents. All of my work for today yielded little results- the best I got was a (possibly) clearer image of the corvette sticker.

I didn't work much on mosaicking today. I find that I have lost some motivation for it after yesterday. I will work more on that task tomorrow. I am very quickly finding that image processing is a much slower, and less rewarding, than coding.