Radiant Roots

Phase 4: Evaluate/ Reflect

04.01 In-House EXPO

Items needed during Expo day: 

• Radiant roots solar garden table 

• Monitor 

• Clicker 

• Snacks 

• Table  

   Changes for Expo day: 

• Colored Radiant Roots Solar Garden Table

In-House Expo Presentation Video:

Final EXPO Criteria, Display, Outline & Team Needs

In-House EXPO Reflection:

What was the general “vibe” that you got from the audience [excitement/confusion/indifference/etc]?

The general vibe presented at the in-house expo was excitement and anxiety. We were all very eager to present and get the experience of presenting in front of strangers, however, we were all equally as nervous, as we all wanted to ensure that we presented as best as possible. 

What surprised you the most about the In-House EXPO set-up/presentations?

There was nothing that surprised us about the In-House EXPO setup/presentations; however, we were surprised at how little time we had to set up.

What questions were you asked that stood out?

The singular question that stood out was discussing the problem in greater frequencies so viewers understand what we are trying to solve. 

What were the positives about the event and/or your presentations?

Overall, the event was pretty fun for us. We got people pretty interested in our project as they paid attention to what we said and showed off as a product. It was just fun getting to show off to everyone what all our hard work from these past months has culminated into. The judge we had seemed pretty interested in our project as well as she paid attention and asked questions overall being very engaged with what we had to say. 

What areas need improvement over the next week?

The areas that need improvement are showcasing the presentation board and the videos. This allows the viewers to see the exact parts of the presentation board and watch the garden testing.

Final EXPO Judges’ Rubric

Your presentation will be judged by 16-24 professionals and program alumni based on your explanation of the engineering design process. Your presentation will be evaluated on a scale of 1-10 using the criteria listed below. 

• How well was the problem being solved clearly stated and defined?

• How well did the team research and review current and past solutions before deciding to pursue their own solution?

• How well did the team state the goals of their project?

• How well was the design process presented in the building and testing of the prototype [this does not mean that they had to finish the prototype]?

• How well did the prototype design address all of the stated goals?

• How thorough and professional was their collected data?

• How well was professional feedback [from a mentor] presented?

• How well did the team describe what they learned and/or what next steps will be needed?

• How would you rate this project overall?

• Any additional feedback and/or comments?

How does the rubric affect your approach to the presentations [compared to what you did at the In-House EXPO event]?

The rubric will affect our approach to the final EXPO presentation as we will make sure to hit all these specific topics in a much clearer and concise manner than we were able to achieve at the in-house. For example, during the in-house, we weren't able to define mentor feedback and our review of past solutions, so for the actual EXPO, we would make sure to include these points in our presentation. 

EXPO Display: What are all the items that your team will display, and what will the set-up look like? Make sure everything has a purpose. You will be provided a 3x6 table and plenty of space between you and the next group.

Outline: What will you say and do? Who will say and do it? When in the presentation will you say and do it? [Make sure to indicate who is responsible for certain aspects of the presentation.]

Introduction

• Problem statement (Angel): Angel will recite the problem statement.

• Forming the team (Julian): Julian will explain why the problem is important and how we came together.

• Past solutions vs ours (Alejandro): Alejandro will talk about the competitor products we discovered and how ours is an improvement.

• Preliminary work (Nolan): Nolan will talk about the development of our Gantt chart and what work went into the project before the development phases.

The Design Process

• Polling and research books (Nolan): Nolan will talk about the research books and how they impacted our product.

• Sketches and 3D model (Julian): Julian will talk about sketches and the 3d model and how they were created.

• Phase 1 (Alejandro): Alejandro will explain what we did in phase 1 and how it is crucial to our final product.

• Phase 2 (Angel): Angel will explain what we did in phase 2 and how it is crucial to our final product.

Demo

• Phase 3 first half (Alejandro): Alejandro talks about his contributions to the final product's construction.

• Phase 3 Construction (Angel): Angel talks about his part in the construction and what he contributed to the final product.

• Product Demonstration (Julian): Julian talks about his contributions to the build and how the final product works.

Conclusion

• Next steps (Nolan): Finally, Nolan talks about what our next steps are for the project as a whole.

Group Needs: What does your group need that you can provide yourselves, and what does your group need that King/Cureton can provide?

Team-provided:

Garden

Teacher-provided:

TV and HDMI cord

04.02 Final Expo

Items needed during Expo day: 

• Radiant roots solar garden table 

• Monitor 

• Clicker 

• Snacks 

• Table  

   Changes for Expo day: 

• Colored Radiant Roots Solar Garden Table

Reflections:

Nolan: The final EXPO event went well. The first judges seemed to like our product and presentation, and we were able to adjust to any needs necessary before we presented to them, such as the questions everyone should answer. The guests who visited showed signs of enjoying our project and listened carefully. They asked questions about the longevity and the prowess brought by our product. This was beneficial to our presentation since, through the practice with the first judges and the guests, we thought we were able to prepare for the second group of judges. The second group mostly enjoyed our presentation, but one individual in a green shirt tried to get clarification about our product. He wanted to understand more about our problem statement, how our product is supposed to be better than long-standing irrigation-based gardens, and many other statements. The questions were helpful, but they just came off rude. The last group of judges enjoyed our presentation, though, and wanted to make sure we had plans for excess water. Even though there were some mishaps, the day was not overly difficult. 

Julian: Overall, the Expo experience is surely an experiences that I will never forget. While the build up to the event was a journey in itself, the actual event was a complete other beast that needed to be tackled. The expo itself was a very long and tiring event, however, the culmination of all seven months of hardwork was interesting to see finally set up ont he display. As the team started presenting, it was interesting to see how people would react to our display, receiving mostly positive feedback from both the genrarl public as well as the judges. However, there was one judge who gave our presentation a very harsh feedback, which was appreciated as it helped us improve our subsequent presentations, it ultimately brought down the teams energy exponentially for the rest of the expo. However, after that presentation, everyother meeting we believed went well. Once the presentations ended, we started packing up and went to the award ceremony. 

Overall, I think that our performance at the Senior Expo was well even if we didn’t gain any form of recognition. The whole team worked diligently during the seven months and developvment and I believe that was shown effectively during the expo. Now that we have the time to reflect, I believe that we could’ve explained how our product truly helped our problem, as we mainly focused on the developmental process. With that being said however, I still believe that we performed as expected and as such, had a great experience at the expo.

Alejandro:  Overall EXPO was a really fun time in my opinion. It was great being able to finally show off what the four of us have been working hard to achieve this whole school year. It really was a culmination of all the hard work we've done this year into this ultimate event that really showed the world everything we've done. Most everyone was nice, most people took an interest in hearing a bit about our product and the judges were very nice and gave good feedback, aside from the second group of judges which my teammates did already mention, but despite that, most of the judges gave good feedback and ways to improve especially presentation-wise. If we had an extra week to prepare, and with the hindsight we have from doing this event there would be some things worth changing, such as in our presentation really making sure that while we explain the process of making this prototype and how it works, we also hammer in why every detail of it works in solving the issue of food insecurity. It's something we touched on a bit, but we could have definitely gone harder on when explaning as some judges did point out. Another thing is planning out how to make our booth more appealing, part of the expo is appealing booths. Some of the most popular ones, and even the winning ones, had very well-designed and amazing-looking booths while ours was admittedly bare. It was serviceable but could have been better at getting people's attention. 

Despite everything, I'm still proud of how far we as a team have come during this EXPO, and that we all finally made it. Presenting during EXPO was pretty different from our standard presentations as with standard presentations we just do it in front of the class in a formal tone altogether. But in EXPO, while it was like that for the judges (just without a slideshow), when presenting to other people things changed, like for example, our tone might not have been as serious and formal depending on who it is we were presenting too, sometimes we had to split up when presenting to other people instead of it being all four of us. Despite this, our team dynamic was very strong throughout the EXPO and we never encountered any problems doing such things. Overall though, I believe we still did great during EXPO. We presented well, people took an interest in our project, and we got to share with the public all the hard work we did which I'm proud of.  

Angel: After 7 months of working hard on this project, the final EXPO had finally arrived. There was anxiety and uncertainty going into this final presentation, but nothing that hadn't been done before. As we first started to present, people were interested in our project, they had questions and comments. After our first set of people, the judges finally showed up, our first presentation went fairly well, most of the judges liked our idea and presentation. Overall the first presentation went fairly well.

04.03 Analysis of Project/ Future of the Design

If our group had another year with the experience and knowledge we have now, this project would reach for higher goals. Our project had big goals at the beginning of this project, but within time we found out how complex our idea really was and that we weren't going to be able to achieve our final product. As this is being written, we only have a table with a water system and solar panels. 

At the beginning of our project, the main goal was to build a small greenhouse that was sustainable for any weather conditions; the garden would also operate with little human input. Although this was a great idea and would have been amazing if we completed that idea, we unfortunately did not have the funds or materials to construct even a small scale greenhouse. Today, we have a small table that simulates what would be going in the greenhouse. 

With the extra year, we would ensure that we find people with materials we need, we would also do everything possible to have funds. We would still have the same idea as our initial idea, we would use our time to construct and test our product. We would also ensure that the extra year would be used efficiently. This extra would allow us to try and do any extra testing to ensure this greenhouse works 

We are satisfied with what we have done so far but we recognize that there are several ways we could have improved to have our initial idea. For starters, our mentor. Our mentor was helpful at the beginning of this project, but unfortunately to variables outside of our control, she could no longer help us for a period of time. Without mentors we were unable to reach some companies for materials. That was our first mistake which was to only choose one mentor. 

We also recognize that we should have reached out to many more companies for funds or materials. Luckily thanks to some connection we were able to get the materials we have now. We could have used other materials but again due to some variables out of our control we could not get them. If we could back we would use our time in phase 1 to reach out to more companies or other members for funds. 

We would also take more time to work on our actual project. The product came out to be great but if had taken more time to plan and build our product. As we were building our product, there were several that arises which we did not plan for. For example, some of the irrigation sprinklers were not working and there was a little bit of leakage. But before the expo we should be ready. But again just preparing would be something we would work on more.  

With this project we have been able to gain a number of skills. To begin, communication throughout these 7 months. Our teammates had to have good communication. Communicating when assignments were completed and ensuring that everyone looks at the portfolio before submitting. As team we have to decide on what was best for our group. If one didn’t have materials, perhaps another could. We had to communicate when things couldn’t be done to reduce miscommunication and running the risk of assignments not being done on time. 

Something that was unique about this project is that this project really was on our own time. We had to learn how to time manage. All four of us had UNCC classes and English. Some of us had jobs or extracurricular activities.  We never had individual assignments due dates. We had phase due dates. This would allows to split our work and ensure that all assignments were turned in on time. We also had several recordings during this project. These recording had to be planned to fit our schedule. 

Work ethic was a major skill that all of us had to learn. While we could say that splitting the work was efficient. It’s important to note that if a group member needed help, then the rest of the group members were expected to help eachother out. Every group member was expected to put effort and complete these assignments in a timely manner. Every group member did this and we got the grades that reflected our work ethic.

04.04 Mentor, Judge, and Instructor Feedback

Throughout the course of the project, both of our mentor provided us with invaluable feedback that helped us during all the phases of the project, with our first mentor Christina Moore helping us with more of the conceptual stages and assignments, and Victor Zapata helping us with a majority of the construction and the final overall build for the expo presentation. In the beginning of phase one, we reached out to Christina Moore to help out with grounding our project, and seeing if it is even a project that could be feasible within the time span of the expo. During the meeting, we received tremendous feedback on how feasible our project is as well as recommendations for people we should contact for materials during construction. Overall, throughout phase one we were in constant contact and continuously using our mentor and their feedback as a way to ensure that our ideas have a good base to grow on.

Entering into phase two, there were a lot more meetings held with Christina Moore that helped us really solidify the logistics of our project. This includes helping us find specific codes and regulations that tie into the safety requirements that need to be considered not only for the phase 2 assignment, but also for the actual construction of the product. Our meetings with Christina Moore also helped gain an idea on what the actual life cycle of our product would be, highlighting the benefit of our recyclable aspect and showing us real examples from Duke Energy that have similar functions implemented. With the similar back and forth communication we have been able to have with our mentor, we were able to, in real time, explain our development process and create our Base 3D Model with constant feedback being provided and implemented into the creation of our model. Finally, for phase 2, Mrs. Moore helped us really visualize our prototype, and how it would act in multiple scenarios. Overall, Without the help of Christina Moore, A majority of phase 2 would not have been completed.

Heading into phase three, our contact with Mrs. Moore dwindled, due in part to relief efforts from hurricane Helene that she was coordinating on behalf of Duke Energy, as well as personal conflicts. Despite the hindered communication, She was able to give us some great feedback for the first half of phase 3 and the prototype's construction, explaining how the irrigation system should be implemented for the most optimal configuration, as well as telling us the proper safety precautions to take when working with solar panels. Mrs. Moore was able to help us with the STEM principles and provide sporadic feedback when possible throughout the construction of our final prototype. In fact, Mrs. Moore was the reason we were able to upgrade our irrigation system as we were able to borrow the materials from the gardens featured at Optimist Hall, which is sponsored by Duke Energy. Once more, Mrs. Moore was a tremendous help throughout the construction process of the table and without her cooperation, our project would not have been as successful as possible. 

So far, I have spent the majority of the time talking about the numerous contributions that Mrs. Moore has in our project, however, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the numerous invaluable pieces of feedback that we received from Angel’s dad, Victor Zapata. Victor Zapata was an enormous help especially when it came to phase 3, as his countless years in the agriculture industry provided us feedback on not only the actual construction, but as well as planning the irrigation system and other systems that were planned for our product. This feedback included not only telling us where the most optimal configurations for each system would be located, but also why these positions were the most optimal and the most beneficial for our system. Overall, when it came to the construction and realistic planning of our product, Victor Zapata was able to help immensely by using his first hand experience to effectively teach us why our research would work in a practical manner.

Throughout the length of the project, we had the opportunity to read two research books that tied into our project's main topic. These research books we read gave us invaluable insight into, not only how to construct and maintain a solar greenhouse/ farm, but also what it meant for these greenhouses and farms to run on solar energy, and the greater cultural impact that had on the world. These research books were great in providing us analytical data and concise practical information, however the data and methods provided by the books were too technical for beginners like us to truly wrap our heads around. However, I bring these books up as both Christina Moore and Victor Zapata were able to take the contents from the book and explain it in simple terms that we could then use to apply for our project, which came in handy for both major parts of the expo.

When it comes to the first expo book and our mentors' involvement, we were able to have them essentially teach us through example what the complex information in the text actually meant. Christina Moore was the primary support for this section, with her helping us understand factors such as the RF value for covering material and the proper operations for soil insulation. A big part of this support was helping our group understand how to protect our table from the rapidly changing environment that is present in North Carolina, which while we didn't end up being able to implement in the actual final product, is something that we were able to leverage and implement in our final presentation at the actual Expo. Overall, our mentors' support on helping us break down the book was incredibly helpful.

When it comes to our Second book and our mentors' involvement in the explanation of that book, it comes down to essentially teaching by example what the book meant. The second book was a lot more conceptual and theoretical then the first book, delving into what it meant to care for agriculture and what permaculture and horticulture have to offer. In these instances, we were able to leverage the knowledge of Victor Zapata to essentially show us first hand what both permaculture and horticulture have provided humanity. This included examples of the plants that were highlighted in the book, including thievery herbs that were planted in our final product at the expo. Overall, getting this first hand experience was extremely crucial as seeing the fruits of our labor presented in not only textual form thanks to the book, but also from the perspective of a professional helped us truly understand the gravity of our accomplishment. 

Heading into phase 4 of the expo, there was very little that we really had to ask our mentors for help on. Phase 4 was mostly just the group reflecting on our experience at the expo and what it meant to us as individuals to have been a part of the expo itself. However, with that being said, we were able to rely on our mentors as we were able to practice presenting for both the in-house and actual expo in front of them and used their feedback to improve our presentation at both events. We were also able to use them both as mock questionnaires, to get a gauge on how to answer the questions asked at both events in a timely, concise, and effective manner. Overall, while their involvement during phase 4 was fairly minimal, their efforts throughout the whole expo were proudly represented in our ability to confidently present and properly explain our project at the actual expo.

During both the actual in-house expo and final expo, there were several moments where we were able to leverage what we learned with our mentors into our presentations. For example, there were several questions that related to leveraging excess rainwater from our system which was something that we had considered implementing after Christina Moore had brought it up several times in our early meetings. We were able to take these bits of conversation from our meetings and effectively intertwine them into the answer and explanation for our product. A similar phenomenon occurred when it came to the construction of the irrigation system, in which we had to replace the original proposed and designed irrigation system. For this explanation, which was integral to our presentation, we were able to leverage what we learned from Victor Zapata, and truly highlighted the technical aspect of why the irrigation system couldn’t function properly.

Overall, this expo was an experience that we as a group will never forget. And while we consider our project a success thanks to the hard work and effort that we all put throughout the seven months of work, we would be remiss to not acknowledge the equally important feedback received from our mentors when it comes to the whole project. Whether it was Christina Moore walking us through the developmental process of our project, to Victor Zapata showing us the ropes during construction, their input is something that we will appreciate for as long as we remember the experience from this project. So, as we go on to our individual journeys, it is important to not only remember what our mentors taught us during this expo, but also what their support meant to us, in hopes of being that support for someone else in the future. 

04.05 Group Reflection

Group Reflection:

 Overall, as a group, we are very proud of what we were able to achieve with our product throughout the entirety of the expo. While we aimed for a much grander final product at the beginning of the expo, with the materials we received, our final product is an equally, if not an even more, efficient version of our original proposed idea. However, the scaling down of our project, while helping us immensely to push our product over the finish line, also caused major issues as a lot of the factors we had considered for our original design had to be either scraped or completely redone to fit the new design. This required frequent collaboration between us and our mentors, as well as lots of time spent redesigning and altering our overall product pitch that we borrowed from earlier phases before we switched the design. With this in mind, there are several strengths in our product and several weaknesses that have to be acknowledged to fully evaluate our final product. 

The biggest and most important strength of our new product is the new and improved size of the irrigation system, including the solar panels. This new and improved size is a major strength for our project as it works more efficiently than our original proposed idea, as everything is a lot more centralized, allowing for not only shorter time for water travel and better results when it comes to overall plant maintenance and table Maintenace. Another strength our product has is the new found adeptness of the table to different environments, as the first design was meant to be stationary in one orientation, meanwhile, this new design can be constructed and mounted in any way you see fit for the needs of your space. The last and final crucial strength of our product is the durability and strength of the table itself, as the new compact size allows for a much more even distribution of weight and pressure on the table, allowing for the table to withstand harsh conditions more efficiently than previously. 

With the aforementioned benefits above, there must also be heavy consideration when it comes to the weaknesses of our product as well. While there aren't many crucial weaknesses in our product, one of the largest drawbacks has been the new production capabilities. The table's new and improved size allows for higher durability and ease of travel; it also limits the amount of crops that can be green on a table. As a subsequent result of this lower yield amount, if community implementation were to occur with the table that we have currently produced, the communities would have to ask for more tables, therefore increasing our costs for the product as a whole, especially in maintenance and manufacturing. So, with both the strengths and weaknesses in mind, our group is incredibly proud of how the final product turned out and can't wait to show it off at the final expo. Any further steps from this point on for our product would include finding ways to fix the few weaknesses we have left, and to begin testing the table in different configurations. 

04.06 Individual Reflections

Nolan:

This project was decent and went well. We successfully created our product but had minor difficulties during the process. The start was in the middle, but every phase wasn’t overly difficult. The first phase didn’t require much work and was simple to do. The assignments were based on beginner-level assignments, such as making a website. 

Regarding the second and third phases, both of them had some type of work. The trailer and documentary related to these phases took time to complete due to the script. The overall process was simple to do and didn’t have much work attached to it. The research book wasn’t bad, but there was a lot of reading to do. This was slightly difficult since the time for the books we chose didn’t match the number of pages we had to read. 

The fourth phase hasn’t been bad. All of the phases were related regarding their difficulty. The project was in the middle due to having a full and active team. Due to this, everything truly went well for this project. The small problems were related to getting materials for the product, but this ended up working out before the Final EXPO. My personal feelings aren’t very active or versatile related to this project since the process was related to a smooth ride. I do know that this may not be the same for everyone, but I still hope for the best. 

Julian: 

Overall, this project was an experience that I will surely never forget. Despite the problems we encountered along the way, such as construction time, we were able to make a functioning product that we had envisioned since the beginning of the project, while consistently improving upon our idea until we had something that not only functioned but that we are proud to present. Our journey with our product started in phase 1, in which we had to do the framework for our product. This consisted of creating the team website, creating our team identity, and most importantly, having us find the problem we wanted to solve. While our product may have changed from concept to the final presented project, we have still kept our original goal in mind, never straying from the goal of helping people.

Heading into the second phase, the project became a lot more analytical, and we, as a team, had to figure out how our product would work in reality. This included doing research into how regulations and laws would impact our product if it were on the market, creating annotated technical drawings that provided the actual dimensions of our product, and conducting interviews with people from our target demographics to receive feedback. This phase culminated in the creation of our first prototype, which is was two 1:12 scale replicas of our design. These prototypes allowed us as a team to not only envision how our product would actually act in a 3d setting but also provided insight into the appropriate steps we needed to take for the product's actual construction. After our prototype construction came phase three, where we now took our ideas and started constructing the actual product that will be represented in the expo. This phase was hallmarked by lots of back and forth between our team and our mentors when it came to construction, as well as constant changes being made to our design as a means of ensuring that the creation of our product could still occur.

Phase three culminated in the phase three presentations, in which each team got to show off the current state of their product. This was a monumental occasion for us as a team as it allowed us to truly highlight the development of our build and truly capture the attention of our peers. Especially with a project like ours, it’s hard to explain it in a theoretical manner and capture the attention of an active audience, something that deeply impacted us during the Shark Tank and ultimately led to the reconsideration of our project aspects. However, with the phase three presentation, we could tell that people finally took us seriously and became intrigued with our product. Phase four has been our shortest phase so far, due in part to the fact that the actual expo occurs during this phase. So far, the most crucial event that has occured for our team was the In-House Expo, in which we got to show off our product to the students and faculty at the Early College building. This was monumental for our team as we were able to practice for the actual expo and get to experience some sample reactions of how people reacted to our product. As we look forward to the final expo, I see myself reflecting on my experiences this year with a much more grateful glance than I would’ve envisioned at the beginning of the project. While this project surely had its rough patches when it came to overlapping coursework, being able to see your own idea become reality was a process that I will surely treasure for the rest of my days.  

Angel: 

This project overall is beneficial for our growth. When starting this project, there were many things that we as a group didn’t know what to expect. We came as a group with an idea of building a solar garden, although there were already solar gardens, we needed to find something that would make us unique compared to other products. For a long time we were warned about Expo, and the year finally came, and now as the time of writing this, the project is finally over. Who knew that 7 months would just pass like that, so much documentation , research, building , and presentation all leading up to the final Expo. In phase one where we researched a lot about what we wanted to do and came up with an idea to be able to promote in phase 2. Finding the correct mentors and resources for this project. 

Going into phase 2, we were able to make our prototype and finalize some of our research. We also were able to have our presentation where things went well and all of the grades reflected the effort we put into this project. Once we got to phase 3, we built our prototype which did run into some issues, but with persistence we were able to make our final prototype, finally came the in house expo and final expo, and although the calendar is short while explaining now, the reality is there were many hours of work going into this project. There were practices to make sure our presentation ran smoothly.  

Finally, reflecting on the overall project. I am thankful I got to work with the people that were in our group. Certainly looking back, there were many memories that will be taken from this project, there were also many skills we have been able to practice during the presentation. Although we didn’t win, we are able to see the progress we made in 7 months and are proud of our work. We as a group know that this expo will help us in the future for projects that are bigger and more challenging. 

Alejandro:

Overall this project was very interesting for everything that the four of us had to complete in the span of 7 months. Starting in September the process was very interesting as most of us were already pretty knowledgeable about the basic idea of what an EXPO was, mainly due to the fact teachers before had warned us about getting ready for the expo, and along with that we've all been to the past expo shows seeing what it was like for these past groups to have to get through the whole expo process. At first, during these first couple of months, it seemed like it would be a bit of a daunting task to get through all of EXPO. Starting from nothing in September to then having to complete these massive and grand projects by the time April came, it all seemed pretty daunting, yet by September things were pretty smooth going as our teams were being formed and Julian had provided the group with this already interesting idea about making a self-reliant community garden. This idea was something I found to be very interesting and was on board pretty easily which is why I wanted to join this team. Along with that, Julian and Angel seemed pretty sure about this idea that it gave me much more confidence to join.

Phase one was pretty smooth as it was all about doing research, forming the team, and throwing out early ideas. For the most part as a team, we just followed the assignments in the order they were presented in. Because of us doing this, we were getting through these phase one assignments with relative ease. Getting a mentor was pretty easy as Julian had connections with his aunt who also worked at Duke Energy. Because of this, she ended up being a great help for us during these early phases as we were gathering our ideas of what it is we want to build for the expo. Early on we did decide to work on a community garden. Phase 2 was then taking that research, taking our early designs and refining them. While this was mainly taken care of mostly by Angel and Julian, the documentary and trailer were stuff I had major involvement in. For the trailer, we decided we wanted to have more fun with it and create an albeit cheesy trailer that still expressed what the point of this project was and what well complete. I handled a lot of the editing, filming, and scripting. Along with that, I did all this stuff for the first documentary as well. With this first documentary, I made sure to play it more seriously and straightforwardly. Despite that, after viewing everyone's videos during Filmfest. It made me think that while the stuff we had was good, viewing these videos made me realize we could push ourselves creatively for these videos in the second part later on. 

Phase 3 was a pretty stressful phase as we had to finally build the actual prototype. For this phase, I worked on helping build the table with Angel, along with getting footage, and then later on handling the testing after Angel took care of the irrigation system. Now testing, at first, was a little confusing. I wasn't sure how we could do our testing. Truth be told at first Angel handled a lot of the mechanics of the building, which then later confused me for testing since he didn't have much time to explain the mechanics. But, really quickly I learned how to make this thing work, and took about 1-2 hours to complete testing. That was about the more challenging part of phase 3 as overall the rest of it was just getting ready for presentation 3 and making sure this testing I did would help Julian in fixing up the prototype later on for EXPO.

Lastly, the last major note of this project was the EXPO itself and overall I honestly enjoyed it. It was a fun time, and I liked explaining to new people what this project was all about. I don't have many negative things to say about how I felt during the expo. The only negative thing I have to say is that one judge was very negative with the feedback he had to say, which did hurt our team morale a bit, but despite that, we got things back together and continued to work well together and enjoy the rest of the expo. Overall I liked being a part of this team and building the prototype. It was a lot of hard work, and a lot of challenges did arise, but despite it all, we all came together and worked very well I am proud to have been on a team like Radiant Roots for this long. 

04.07 Testing Tables

Competitions:

 ASME Elevator Pitch Competition

This competition is to sell your idea and skillsets to potential employers. This competition is joined through signing up for the competition and inputting information related to you. We only need to compel the audience to want to talk with us more and take part in our product. There is no  need to fully sell the product, just have the idea of another conversation. 

 ASME Oral Competition

This competition is to showcase your oral ability for presenting. This is held in public. This will show the ability to deliver concise presentations. There will be a focus on the presentations which allows for the competition. The focus is on the ability to communicate coherently. 

Truth be told, most likely Radiant Roots will not be competing in any of these due to the fact that we as a group are done doing this. This was always meant for us to remain just as an EXPO project but not something we really wanted to go and continue doing. The EXPO was fun, but it'll remain as that, just a project for the expo. Could things change in the future, they most definitely could, but at least as of now Radiant Roots has no plans on continuing nor joining these said competitions at least at this moment as we have decided after phase 4, we are all ready to move on to other things and projects. 

04.D2 Documentary Part 2