Solve a World Problem

Heroin Patch:

Process:

In this project, we were asked to solve a world problem. My group that consisted of Nathan and Gracie began by brainstorming possible topics. We brainstormed individually for about 3 minutes and then gathered our ideas together. The topics came down to traffic, over fishing, wildfires, and substance abuse. In the end, we chose substance abuse because of how wide range the topic was. We noticed that this would give us a lot of freedom for research. The next couple of days, we each researched a different drug that the world was having a problem with. We then merged our research and chose Heroin as our drug because it was causing many overdoses and highly addictive.

We spent the next consecutive days planning out the patch and making the slide show shown above. Our patch is used amongst people who are in the hospital for a failed heroin overdose or people who are just highly addicted. They would come in every 2 weeks to get a new patch and it would insert less and less methadone ( substitute for heroin) every visit. This would be inserted through a small needle like insulin for diabetic people. We then presented our project to the class and made a sample of what the product may potentially look like. Overall, this patch would help many people and make the world a better place.

Engineering Design Cycle:

Identify Need - We wanted to solve the problem of substance abuse. We chose heroin because it is highly addictive and lethal.

Research Problem - We researched Nicotine Patches and heroin in general to get an idea of what our solution may be.

Share Out - We shared out our research to our group members to get a better understanding of the problem.

Solutions - We came listed possible solutions for heroin addiction.

Select Solution - Our final solution was a patch that inserted methadone into the body. This is a substitute drug for heroin and will help the person ease off their addiction. The patch inserts less and less methadone every two weeks.

Develop Prototype - We used bandage for the outer part of the patch and cotton for the inner part. We used a thumbtack to symbolize a needle that would insert methadone. We also made a box that included warnings about the patch and what not to do while using it.

Redesign - We adjusted the time span that the patch would be used decided to make the patch skin colored. We realized that bright colors were too distracting and bold.

Prepare and Practice - We split up the slides and practiced our part of the presentation at home.

Presentation - We shared out our physical patch and how it works. We also described our process and how we came to our solution.

Reflection:

In this project, I learned a lot about myself. For example, I learned that I was being creative and communicating well with my teammates. I led discussions about our project and worked with my team to make the logo. We visited our creative sides by sketching out different potential logos and then coming together to make the final sketch. Although I was effective in these areas, I struggled in others. I realized that I can work on being a critical thinker and collaborating more. I could have generated more ideas to my team as well as avoiding finishing work individually. In the next project, I am going to focus on improving these skills and becoming a better classmate and teammate.