For this assignment, the Creative Engineering Project our objective was to identify a world problem and discover a way to fix it. My group and I decided to concentrate our attention on the matter of cancer. Because finding a cure to cancer is nearly impossible to do with our limited resources and finite amount of time, we decided to focus more in depth on the recovery process. We found that many cancer patients lose many key nutrients and vitamins during their battle to recovery. In order to help reduce this problem we created a drink, CARE. This drink contains vital vitamins and nutrients, which the patients lose during their chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and or recovery process.
CARE drink
You may wonder, what is CARE? It is an acronym and it stands for Comfort, Aid, Relief, and Energize; This drink was created to help assist cancer patients as the go through the tough processes of chemotherapy and or radiation therapy. CARE was developed to help convalescents gain back the important vitamins and nutrients they lose during the difficult road to recovery.
CARE slideshow:
Engineering and Design Cycle:
1. Identify the need: Weight gain in cancer patients.
2. Research the problem: We collected extensive research over the course of three days.
3. Develop a solution: We took a couple days deciding how we would create an item which would be easy to digest, keep down, and give all the vital nutrients to cancer patients.
4. Select the most promising solution: CARE, a drink which has necessary vitamins for people going through chemotherapy.
5. Construct a prototype: We created this drink using a blender and many different ingredients.
6. Test and evaluate prototype: Jake tried our drink during school.
7. Communicate the design: We gave a presentation to our class.
8. Redesign: We intend to create many different types of drinks to suit everyone's' needs.
9. Repeat: Redo procedure to insure we have created the best drink to suit cancer patients needs.
2. Research the problem: We collected extensive research over the course of three days.
3. Develop a solution: We took a couple days deciding how we would create an item which would be easy to digest, keep down, and give all the vital nutrients to cancer patients.
4. Select the most promising solution: CARE, a drink which has necessary vitamins for people going through chemotherapy.
5. Construct a prototype: We created this drink using a blender and many different ingredients.
6. Test and evaluate prototype: Jake tried our drink during school.
7. Communicate the design: We gave a presentation to our class.
8. Redesign: We intend to create many different types of drinks to suit everyone's' needs.
9. Repeat: Redo procedure to insure we have created the best drink to suit cancer patients needs.
Concepts:
CARE: an acronym which stands for Comfort, Aid, Relief, and Energize.
Cancer: A disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy body tissue.
Chemotherapy: The treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances especially used in the treatment of cancer
Radiation Therapy: The treatment of disease, especially cancer, using X-rays or similar forms of radiation.
Recovery: A return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.
Cancer: A disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy body tissue.
Chemotherapy: The treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances especially used in the treatment of cancer
Radiation Therapy: The treatment of disease, especially cancer, using X-rays or similar forms of radiation.
Recovery: A return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.
Reflection:
This project has been a great way for my group and me to improve very important life skills: leadership, creativity, and collaboration. I have learned a lot about problems around the world, specifically cancer. My group and I worked very well together and I definitely involved myself and took more responsibility in the project. I could have improved on time management and always working productively during the class, which I will strive to achieve in the upcoming project.. One of the challenges we faced was deciding what we wanted to create. We were going to create a more comfortable bed for cancer patients but realized we didn't have the time, money, or supplies to accomplish this goal. One of our peaks was creating our drink. It was organic, cost efficient, and easy to make. All in all our group produced a great end result and I look forward to working on this project and many other projects in the future.