Blog posts
Dom and Ms. Risch traveled to the main campus of Western Connecticut State University to work with Dr. Molinelli on testing our sunscreen samples. We were limited on time and equipment so we decided to test Sample B and D, as they were the samples with the best consistency. Dr. Molinelli worked to find a solvent in which our samples were soluble. That turned out to be THF (tetrahydrofuran). We ran a blank standard- just THF on its own, and then our samples. It was found that both samples seemed to absorb UVC, but not UVA or UVB. This seemed a bit strange, but we were encouraged by some level of absorbance for our sample. Dr. Molinelli also gave us a tour of the chemistry labs, including the Chemistry Club room which had a periodic table blanket and lots of Chemistry board games!
0 Comments
In class today getting close to the June 1st date and we got a lot done. One thing that was a challenge was the project reel. With the project reel after having it finally completed the edit software ran into a few technical difficulties we had to work around but we finally exported and uploaded it to the launch pad. We also made huge movements toward experiments getting over 15 trials done and organized the data. We have also made four solutions for Sunbrew sunscreen using the data and information we collected based off the other solutions. While we still have a lot of work to do we have made great steps towards the ultimate goal.
In class today, our team continued to work in different groups: Ingredient Experimentation, Product Experimentation, and Website/Booth Design. In the Ingredient Experimentation group, we continued to test different amounts of each ingredient mixed together to observe the consistency of our mixture, and prepared this new mixture to give to the Product Experimentation group, which started to experiment with our first mixture. They spread this on a plastic bag with UV detecting beads inside to see how much the beads would change color when comparing them to UV detecting beads without any mixture spreaded on it. Our beads tested with our sunscreen stayed a light blue, and some even stayed white. The beads without our sunscreen became a darker shade of blue, meaning that they absorbed more UV rays. This meant that our product was successful, which is why the Ingredient Experimentation group continued to refine the amounts of each ingredient so it would better protect against UV rays at a more consistent level. The Website/Booth Design group worked on finishing up our team’s Website by updating it with all of our current information such as blog posts and experimentation results. They also worked on the finishing details of our booth, such as the design/theme that it would be, and what we would have to show people visiting. This included the Project Reel, showing our team and our product, so we could put it in LaunchPad and possibly include it to show at our booth. Another thing that our team accomplished was to confirm one of our member’s appointments with a Westcon expert, where we could get information about how we can improve our product, and test it out to see if it is truly effective at being a sunscreen.
Today was a very productive today in the lab! We solidified our constant for our qualitative data with the UV reactive beads by putting 20 beads in a ziploc bag for 3 minutes under a UV light. From here our plan is to test all of our ingredients individually and record the data, then test the final combination. Our ingredient list is finally solid, which is going to allow us to finally make solid tests on our ingredients. The spectrophotometer forced group was working on learning how to operate the equipment and designing an experiment to be able to get quantitative data. Tomorrow our group is going to focus on setting up marketing strategies, booth design and starting the presentation planning. Everything is moving well!
Today was a very productive today in the lab! We solidified our constant for our qualitative data with the UV reactive beads by putting 20 beads in a Ziploc bag for 3 minutes under a UV light. From here our plan is to test all of our ingredients individually and record the data, then test the final combination. Our ingredient list is finally solid, which is going to allow us to finally make solid tests on our ingredients. The spectrophotometer forced group was working on learning how to operate the equipment and designing an experiment to be able to get quantitative data. Tomorrow our group is going to focus on setting up marketing strategies, booth design and starting the presentation planning. Everything is moving well!
This past class saw a plethora of improvement from both divisions: Ingredient Development and Experimentation. The Ingredient Development group worked diligently to narrow down the possible ingredients list and identified many chemicals that can replaced with those that are less harmful or more environmentally friendly. The list is almost in a completed rough draft, which will allow that group to create percentages for each chemical that will go into a testable product. After these percentages are founded, we will be able to order the ingredients and produce a prototype. Once that is complete, the prototype will go to the Experimentation team and it will be tested with two methods that they have begun to look into: Sunscreen beads and a spectrophotometer. Primarily, the Experimentation group began to examine formulas that pertain to the SPF levels of a substance, and whether or not it is applicable to our case. Soon, they will write out procedures out for both experiments and consult with our advisor to ensure its reliability and validity.
After our brief hiatus due to our Washington D.C. trip, CAFFEiNATION is back and better than ever! During today’s class, we broke up into groups once again. Matt and Sam continued to work on the website after taking pointers from Gary Robinson at our IBM trip. The rest of the class broke off and started working on the experimentation of SunBrew. We have a solid idea at this point, but we still do not have a formula for our sunblock. Our plans for the future is that an experimentation group will form and an ingredient list will also form. This way the ingredient group will find out how we will get the things we need and the experimentation group will find out how we will test everything out. Mike Pace paid our class a visit and gave us his specific feedback from MockExpo. He told us that we needed to shift our focus slightly to show off the coffee as much as possible. He had a lot of great ideas for us that really helped us out.
As a group, we traveled to IBM in Southbury to the practice Expo. We split into 5 groups, each of which focusing on a different part of the project. Some of them were presentation skills, how to make your product stand out, booth design, etc. These helped us form new ideas for experimentation, marketing, and design that will help make our project stick out in the crowd of people and prepare us better for ExpoFest in June. In my group, how to make your project stand out, we looked at the idea that our project doesn’t have to be completely new. He showed us that we can work off of someone else’s idea as long as we change it enough to be considered a new project. Tissues for example, Kleenex is always associated with tissues but there are plenty of other brands who are making a living producing tissues as well, some with moisturizer, some softer, but all tissues just changed to have a new twist that makes them superior to the previous version. The MockExpo was incredibly helpful for our group to get a solid footing where our project stands.
We started the beginning of class taking profile pictures for the website and a group photo for the social media. We then decided on our product name, SunBrew, and CAFFEiNATION for our team name. After taking our pictures and deciding on the names we divided ourselves up into groups to continue our working from the last class. Jamie was continuing his work on the logo and uploading the pictures we took to the drive. Matt and Antonio are working on trivia questions that will be used at our booth. Sam was adding the pictures to the website and adding more information to it. Tara is helping Sam with the website and the two of them are polishing up as much as they can. Cora, Dom, Tad and Joey were polishing up the presentation for IBM on March 11th.
These past few weeks we have done a lot of research on UV rays and how it affects the skin, as well as the effect of sunscreen on the ocean as it has harmful ingredients such as zinc oxide, which never biodegrades. This week we split into 3 different groups to focus on different parts of our project. Jamie and Antonio made a draft of the team logo and are beginning to plan the t-shirts and booth for Expo. The next team consisting of Matt, Tara, Sam, and Cora is working on the website and social media presence. The third team, Joey, Dom, and Tad, are working on the presentation for our trip to IBM for a mock expo on March 11th.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2019
Categories |