Day 35: Goodbye, and Thanks for All the Pizza

It's been a fun ride. I hope you enjoyed following my blog as much as I did working here at RIT.

Thanks for reading! And to the future interns reading this, I hope you enjoy yourselves as I much as I did.

- Ian Gooding

Day 34: The Final Countdown

Today I helped the Insight Lab do a demo of our projects to some freshman students.

The highlight for today was having all the interns practice and review our presentations. Mine was met with minimal criticism and some possible ideas for expansion, which I did throughout the day. Now that we've done a practice session, I'm feeling even more confident going into tomorrow, although it's a little sad to see this whole thing coming to a close.

Regardless, hope to see you tomorrow.

Day 33: Approaching The End

After finishing up my presentation for our dry-runs tomorrow, I had some time to do a few other things.

- I made a sign for the presentations

- Did some art in my freetime

- The interns decided to do a gift exchange and I was given a sketch notebook and some graphite pencils. Hopefully this will push me to do more art of paper in my free time...

First to present tomorrow, hope it goes well! I've got a good Powerpoint and have summarized everything I need to say. Now it's just the execution.

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This may look bad, but I intentionally did this. I converted a .png (image) into a .txt (text) file and ran it through Wordpress, and re-saved it as a image. Makes cool glitch images.

Below was just for fun. Abstract. Reminds me of fractal geometry in some ways.

And here's the sign you'll be seeing if you come to watch our presentations this Friday. Hope to see you there.

 

Day 32: Manual Labor Proves Inescapable

Today I got to talk with my adviser about finishing up my work and my presentation, but the majority of the day was spent doing more labor.

John and I (as well as a few other interns here and there) had to move everything from one room down two floors to a new one. There was an unbelievable amount of furniture, electronics, and crap in general. This took from about 10:30 to 5:00, although we took a 30 min pizza break for lunch.

I'm really tired right now, but I'm looking to make sure everything is ready for Friday.

Day 31: Nearing Completion

Today I spent all my time finishing up my PowerPoint that I'll be presenting this Friday at 9:00. Apparently I'm going to be the first intern to present, but I don't really feel nervous about it.

So far I'm really happy with the PowerPoint, I just need to practice my speech a bit and get the timing worked out.

Day 30: Presentation Work Continues

Repeat of yesterday. Final BBQ. Nothing much to say today, enjoy some more pictures.

Day 29: Presentation Work

Besides doing a little more experimenting with the Leap Motion, I began serious work on my final presentation today. I'm currently debating to go classic bullet-point style or spending the time to make cleaner, unique slides and prepare a little more. I'm feeling the latter.

Here's two quick paintings I did using Leap Motion (never used a mouse!):

And here's an example slide:

Day 28: Review and Enhancements

Jake had a chance to look over my guides and make some suggestions as to what I should change. I spent most of the day altering my guides and making changes to my abstract. On top of this I continued to experiment with the Leap Motion. 

I've also begun work on my final presentation, which is going to be presented next Friday, on my Birthday. 

Day 27: A New Toy

Today was a short day for me. After checking in with my adviser about my work, he said he'll look over it and get some information that was missing.

However, he gave a new toy and just told me to experiment with it and see what it could be used for. It's called the Leap Motion and is a device compatible with computers via USB that recognizes hand motions. Much like a Kinect, except more vertical. Search it on the web to find some demo videos if you want to know more about it. It's quite fun to play with and hopefully I can find some use(s) for it.

Day 26: Observatory Visit

Today I finished some more work, making some pictures and renders with humans in them so they'd have a scale for people to understand how large they are. Apparently I was the only one doing actual work yesterday, according to the rest of the interns.

The highlight however was the visit to the Mees Observatory. I'd been to observatory in Ionia before so this wasn't all that new to me, but it was still as enjoyable as ever. Before we went out, we had a little introductory presentation or "quiz". I was happy I knew all the answers to the astronomy and space related questions. I didn't know much about Star Trek though.

When we got up there we were greeted not only with a clear sky but a meteor shower as well. The Perseid Meteor Shower is an annual event that occurs near this time of year. I usually keep track of these events, but for some this was a new delight. Using binoculars we could see various constellations, Polaris, and many other objects. In the telescope we observed some globular clusters, galaxies, nebulae, and other celestial bodies. The only things new to me were the globular clusters and a constellation known as "the coat hanger", but many hadn't seen any of this before, so they were even more entertained than I was. I didn't take any pictures during this visit, but oh well.

However, I do have pictures of my work:

Day 25: Waiting for Direction

Today I mostly sat around and discussed some things with the other interns while cleaning up my work.

Speaking of cleaning, I helped out the remaining undergrads clean the insight labs out. I found that nearly all the people in my lab are gone now, so I don't know what'll happen these last two weeks. I just hope it's not a waiting game.

And sorry, no pictures today.

Day 23: Finishing Up

Today I can say I'm just about done with my work. I need to now talk to project managers and leads to have them look over my work and add anything they need to. A woman also stopped by that writes for local newsletters focused on educational activity and schools. She talked to me about the work I have been doing and the program in general.

On top of this, the Summer Series today was very enjoyable, especially compared to the previous weeks. One talk was about the inception of Google Maps and investing during poor economic times. The second was about rejection and the associated emotions with it.
Third was about classical music and how it's treated. This was interesting given that I hear classical music a lot but have never gotten into it despite being a huge listener to most other genres of music, especially electronic music.
The last speaker talked about how people tend to not speak up when they see issues because they don't want the inconvenience of fixing it, feel it's "too big" to fix, or feel like they'd become an outcast. I see this problem of willful ignorance and societal pressure all the time, and there's nothing that angers me more. It's a problem that allows an enormous amount of very common and often serious/harmful issues to be ignored out of ignorance, fear, and laziness.

...Anyways, I'm taking a day off tomorrow to take care of some other objectives but hopefully I can enter the final stage(s) of my work on Friday.

Day 22: Other Events

Today I continued work on my guides and models and I'm nearly done. I need to talk to the other guys to help check them over, add/change/remove things, and to find out who's been involved in the project to give them credit. Once this is done, I'll figure out how to get them on the webpage. After that, I'll have the other interns rate the guides/models for me.

I also did another eye test for Mia (http://miavyso.blogspot.com/) and Simran (http://visualperceptionrit.blogspot.com/) that was quick and simple but a little...odd. I also did a usability study for the SET projects, even though I'm involved in the process.

Day 21: A Talk Among the Work

Today was another standard day of writing and rendering for me. I got more work on my guides and models done and more or less finished my outline, which to be honest is very mediocre in comparison to my abstract.

The highlight of the day was getting to talk to an image scientist who works with NASA. He got his degree right here at RIT too. He described how he uses images to calculate trajectories, measure damage, and anything else you could want to know. He also talked about the correction of lens distortion, which was cool. I was happy when he was asked the question along the lines of "What are some good skills going into the field of astronomical engineering and analysis" and responded with "CAD experience, mathematical skills, and camera/photography knowledge" That's at least 2/3 for me!



Below is yet another thing I do for fun. I draw sketches in my off time, usually with a pencil, but I sometimes do them digitally. This is something done in a flash game and consists of ~7,000 lines drawn individually with a mouse. At this rate I'm going to get carpal tunnel syndrome by the time I'm 18...  

Day 20: Slow but Steady

Today I focused on my guides and so far they're looking alright. I was not able to attend the undergraduate research symposium that occurred today, but it seems the multi-camera interns did a good job with their presentation.

Work was definitely slow today, but I got through some albums I've been meaning to listen to whilst doing my work. Nice and relaxing way to end the week. I'm planning to start my presentation outline next week alongside the work I have left to complete. More pictures below.

Day 19: Work Continues

Today I kept working on placing my models in different locations and arrangements. I didn't work much on the guides though.

The talk today was about visual differences in deaf people, specifically young children. As expected, the deaf children had stronger vision and were apt to pay attention to sign language users rather than words. There was more to the data than just that, but I can't recall all the details.

Something fun also happened during our break. I may have hooked Maura (http://stranded-among-the-stars.tumblr.com/) on a physics puzzle game I play. Perhaps it wasn't the best thing to show her at work...

Anyways, here's some renders:

Day 18: Lots of Work is to be Had

After talking to some of the undergrads, I have now found even more tasks to do.

Now I'm going to render the SET projects in alternative setups and locations such as a classroom or museum. On top of this I'm still working on my user manuals and such. Once they hit the final draft, I'll look them over with another undergrad who works with graphic design. I'll also likely have the other interns review my guides and models to see if they're accurate and understandable. For now, here's some examples:

Day 17: New Work

After nearly two weeks of no direct work to do, I'm happy to say I have a new project to tide me over.

I'm writing a guide/manual for three SET projects geared towards high school aged readers. This is the main project, although there is also room for making a tour/show off description for events like Imagine RIT, as well as showing the other interns the projects and having them test certain functions.

Initial look of the manual:

Day 16: Finishing Up

I spent most of the day helping the guys finish the clean room. Some ceiling parts and doors remain (along with all the electrical elements, etc.), but I probably won't be involved with that.

I also made some more renders of my SET models for the Insight webpage. My adviser got back today and I'll have a meeting with him tomorrow morning, where I can hopefully find myself a new project.

Day 15: Relaxed Friday

I had nothing immediate to do today, so I mostly continued with my drafting practice. This time I was actually successful in creating electrical wires. Unfortunately, attempts at flexible items and chain drives have been unsuccessful. The typical Friday intern BBQ however was enjoyable as always.

I'm looking forward to next week where I can hopefully get a new project. For now, here's more renders:

Day 14: Miscellaneous

After reviewing our abstracts in the morning, I did some drafting practice and tried to learn some of the more complicated features such as electrical wiring, chain drives, etc. Unfortunately I have nothing to show as they were, let's say, unsuccessful.

In the afternoon I visited Robert's Lab (http://rit-internship-blog.webnode.com/) where he does fine-scale 3D printing. I then took a look around some other buildings with Bob before heading back to find a bunch of computers being thrown away. My lab scooped up all of the seemingly worthless old equipment.

At the end of the day, I went to a seminar given about 3D modeling of supernovae. It takes supercomputers months to run the simulations but the results are as beautiful as they are informative.

Still waiting on my adviser, but it seems I'm able to fill time.

Day 13: Standard Issue

Very average day. Don't feel like being creative, so here's a list:
- Did some drafting practice / explored the program for my own purposes/activities
- Helped out Jacob (http://bigenwald.blogspot.com/) with some spectroscopy work
- Went to the summer series. Rather dry "video" about the changes in the American patent system that I was already aware of. Free pizza makes up for it.
- Did some testing for the Planetterrainium
- I found out my t-shirt design(s) was not voted the winner

Regardless, my adviser returns Monday, but until then I'm still looking for more stuff to do.


Oh, and for anyone who's interested in knowing what I do for fun, here's a picture of one such thing:

I'd be surprised if anyone reading this blog would know what this is if I haven't already told you in person, but if you do, congratulations for knowing/figuring it out. 

Day 12: Disappointing Discovery

Well, this is an odd find.
The CAD work I was given to do (the bulk of which is completed) appears to have already done by someone else. Looking around the Insight Lab's webpage, I found these from 2011:

A rendered model of the SCUBE:

Designs in blueprint format for the SET projects:

This probably means these previous models were either lost or forgotten. Either way, not exactly a good thing. It also surprises me that it's been 2+ years and they aren't all completed yet. Perhaps they're a little more complicated than I thought. 

On a lighter note, I finished my abstract/milestone that talks about my project, and I got a response from my adviser with some hope for new ideas/projects to work on. I'm also attempting to make some nicer renders of my CAD designs.

Day 11: Clean Room Assembly

Since I was more or less done with my drafting work and t-shirt design, I decided to help out all day by assembling a clean room for the center. Remember all the materials I helped move on Day 3? That's the stuff that is being used for the clean room. I forgot to take a picture of our progress, but it was mostly putting metal pipes together and installing plexiglas guards and paneling. Work on the ceiling began but not very much.

My main goal for now is to start I mean uhh...finish my abstract. The problem is that I've completed the work I was expected to and now I'm going to have to hunt down other things to work on, because after this abstract I have no direction. I'm hoping that once I ask around, someone in my lab will come forward and say they need some help with their work. 

Day 10: Highly Enjoyable

A variety of things were done today:

- Designed a new logo with many variations (pics below)
- Enhanced my projector model a bit
- Had a BBQ, much like every Friday
- Saw Veritasium (YouTube celebrity)
- Showed off some music/projects to other interns during break
- Had an enjoyable talk with Bob about my work here and education/schooling
- Did an interesting eye test for Mia and Simran
-"Helped" an undergrad install their new hard drive, and another about computer building
- Also had a lot of hilarious conversations with the undergrads

Day 9: Much of the Same

Just like yesterday, I kept improving my models of the four SET projects. However, I spent most of the day making a variety of attempts at t-shirt designs with varying degrees of success. Later in the day I attended a seminar about remote sensing in relation to forestry, which was interesting.

I'm also going to begin work on my first checkpoint (abstract) in the following days. While I can think of stuff to write for this one it could be a struggle to figure out what I'm going to be working on these next 5 weeks, as I've more or less finished the primary task I've been presented with.

Regardless, here's more pictures:

Projectors: 

T-shirt logos/designs:

 Design 1 without full text:

Design 2 without text:

 And some actual text:

                                                              

EDIT:

New Logo! I think we have a winner here!

Day 8: Improvements

Today I finished the SCUBE model and began to improve the look of the projectors and other objects. This is more or less my plan for the rest of the week, alongside some smaller projects such as the t-shirt design.

SCUBE:

Previous design with a different background (minus platypus):

Previous design with added shadows/texture:

I also had a few other designs that I scrapped because I didn't like them.