The initial reason I was intrigued by the DIY Diagnostic team was because of the new and innovative ideas that I had heard about when researching different FRI streams. It wasn’t until after I joined the lab that I realized just how incredible this lab and all of the people working in the lab are. The DIY Diagnostic Lab is responsible for thinking up and creating new, useable, at home diagnosing tools. We strive to make products that are lacking in various industries ranging from the medical field to the environment. In this lab, I learned a variety of skills such as micro pipetting and even learning how to code and make apps. In this lab, I also met so many new people who I now call my friends. This lab is like a family and we are always working together, bouncing ideas off of each other, and collaborating whenever possible. I had a chance to work on a number of awesome projects and had great input from others when working on my own.
When I started school, I had no intentions of doing research as a freshman, or ever really. However, this lab has opened my eyes to the world of research and I have actually grown to really enjoy it. In the first semester of this lab we learned the basics and then in the second semester we got to design our own project. My project was the Pill Diagnostic App which used the image analysis software of Google’s Vision API to identify pills using just your smartphones camera. In doing this project I really feel like I learned a lot about what it means to be a researcher in the sense that whenever there are hardships or even failures, it is OK. Not everything always goes according to plan but that should not stop you from pursing your ideas, it just makes you think a little harder and try something new. I think that is what my biggest take away from this lab is; failure does not mean that it is the end, it’s just the opposite.
If I could go back I wouldn’t change a thing. I have learned so much in this lab and made a bunch of amazing friends along the way. This has been one of the best academic experiences in college for me and I am extremely thankful to everyone in DIY Diagnostics.
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