My name is Julia Freeburn, I am a student at Charlottetown Rural High School and will be entering grade 12 in September. For the next 5 weeks, I will be working with my mentors Tiffany Cameron and Haley Butler along with Dr. Ali Ahmadi researching 3D bioprinting of scaffolds for tissue engineering. One part of my project focuses on creating cell-laden scaffolds out of potato starch and chitosan which can be used as medical implants to help repair damaged tissues or organs. I am also working on using chitosan as a material for multi-material bioprinting. I am excited to be learning about such interesting and relevant topics while meeting some amazing women engineers.

Week 1: July 9 - 13

ProGRES week 1 was focused around orientation. On Monday, we were given a tour of the UPEI campus along with a tour of the engineering building specifically. On the building tour. I then worked on WHMIS safety training. The rest of the day was left for me to meet with my mentors and get a more in depth description of what tissue scaffold engineering really entails, while seeing examples of the 3D printed scaffolds. On Tuesday, I finished my WHMIS training, and then met with my mentors again for an intro into my project, more specifically the biomaterial which is being used to print the scaffolds. The afternoon was filled with a field trip to Aspin Kemp & Associates, where we were given a tour and description of some of the projects they are currently working on. I was given an intro to Solidworks on Wednesday which is a Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software used in engineering. The rest of the day was focused on reading articles and journals to learn more background information on tissue engineering. Thursday was a full project day, so the day was filled with research along with a demonstration from my mentor on how the 100% potato starch bioink is formed. On Friday, I finished my reading reflections which this week were on Julie Payette and Jennifer Sidey, then continued to research innovations in tissue engineering.

Week 2: July 16 - 20

The first half of Week 2 was focused mainly on using a CAD program, Solidworks, to design our own 3D printed objects. I chose to design a flower pot which is in the shape of a watering can. I attended Dr.David Burton’s seminar on Tuesday afternoon which focused on soil health and carbon farming. On Wednesday afternoon we attended a SPUR presentation which had the guest speakers Dr. Amy Hsiao, and Dr. James Moran who both talked about their background and experience in research. Thursday consisted of a field trip to Diversified Metal Engineering Ltd. where we were given a tour by a project manager who outlined her typical day on the job and background in mechanical engineering. The rest of the day was spent finalizing my Solidworks design and researching Rheology. I was given an intro to the software program Fiji which allows us to examine and determine the degradation of the scaffold samples over time.

Degradation of 100% potato starch scaffolds on Day 0, Day 13, and Day 28

Week 3: July 23 - 27

This week highly revolved around my project, during my project time I was working with the software Fiji to create a spreadsheet to compare the degradation rates of the scaffolds over time. There are five different scaffold compositions, 100% potato starch, 75% potato starch, 50% potato starch, 75% chitosan, and 100% chitosan. I then inputted the average area and perimeter values of each scaffold into a formula to find the printability. With this information we can now see hoe each different scaffold composition degraded over time. On Tuesday, we all traveled to Engineers PEI to attend a lunch where we met with women in engineering how told us about their everyday work, education, and experiences in the field. Thursday morning we inscribed our names into the project notebook given to us at the beginning of the program with a laser cutter. Friday was an eventful day, the morning was spent in a leadership activity where girls visiting from Japan joined us. My group consisted of Misato, Seina and I, we worked on designing and creating a windmill out of everyday materials capable of lifting a tea bag. On Friday afternoon we had a small photo shoot with all of the ProGRES girls and some of our mentors.

Week 4: July 30 - August 3

This week my project switched gears from bio-printing scaffolds to multi material bio-printing, however we were using the same material. The material is but into a syringe which is then hooked up to air pressure, you can input different codes into the computer in order to control the frequency/rest of each material. We made the chitosan material by combining chitosan, water, vinegar, and food colouring to differentiate between them. We then used a multi-material nozzle, with one needle head. Our goal was to be able to switch between colours with minimal mixing and make the transition period as small as possible. We changed a number of variables in order to try and accomplish this. Some variables we altered consist of; the nozzle size, the air pressure applied, the thickness of the material, and angle of the nozzle head. We even tried to use Fluff as a material to test and see if a material of that consistency would be successful in printing. This material was not successful and looked to be mixed the majority of the time, with little to no original colours shown. One thing which was discovered was that even after the air pressure is stopped in one syringe, meaning we want that material to stop printing, there is additional product still in the nozzle head which is expelled leading to mixing in the nozzle with the next material being printed. To try and fix this issue we would program the computer to have a “rest time” where both syringes are not having air pressure applied. The hope was that by doing this the first material would have time to expel the excess before the second material began to print, therefore decreasing the mixing of both materials. The rest of the week has been spent preparing for my final presentation.

Week 1: Julie Payette and Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons

This weeks readings were focused on women engineers and astronauts as leaders. Both articles were biographys which were written about two very successful women in this filed, Julie Payette and Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons. Julie Payette is currently Canada's 29th Governal General and has vast experience as both an engineer and an astronaut. Most recently Ms. Payette served as the flight engineer on the 29th Shuttle Mission to the International Space Station. She has had countless special honors some of which include; Engineer Canada Gold Medal (2010), Because Mothers Matter Awards- Rideau Hall (2016), and NASA Exceptional Service Medal. Ms. Payette was given the highest recognition of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers. Dr. Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons has a background as a mechanical engineer, combustion scientist, and a lecturer. She was awarded the Institute of Engineering and Technology Young Women Engineer of the Year Award (2016) along with many others. Before joining the Canadian Space Program, Dr.Sidey-Gibbons worked as an assistant professor at the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. She is also the co-founder of the Cambridge chapter of Robogals, which is an internationally organization run by students that aims to inspire and empowers young women in science. Both of these women have shown that anything is possible if you work hard and never give up. Dr. Sidey-Gibbons said something which is believe is very relevant when reflecting on these two amazing women, she says; "I look up to women who were the early pioneers in engineering and science fields". Both of these successful women are now role models which young women and girls, including myself, are looking up to.

Week 2: Female peer mentors early in college increase women’s positive academic experiences and retention in engineering and Debbie Sterling

The paper by Tara C. Dennehy and Nilanjana Dasgupta is outlining the importance of female mentors for female undergraduates which was tested in a year long experiment involving 150 women. Women who were assigned a female mentor during the time of this 1 year study felt that their confidence along with a sense of belonging had been preserved throughout the year. One result which I found particularly interesting was that no women that had a female mentor dropped out, whereas 11% of those which did not, dropped out by the end of the first year. The mentors acted as a role model and having in which could relate the the women's struggles was more beneficial than a male mentor in most cases.

Debbie Sterling is a mechanical engineer who outlines her struggles and obstacles she faced and is still facing today as a women in engineering. She often felt that she did not belong amongst her fellow classmates and colleges as the vast majority were men. This drove her to create a toy aimed at young girls to help develop their special skills. Girls are often at a disadvantage when it comes to special skills do to the fact that we are not as exposed to building games as children. She had trouble in the beginning as people would not take her seriously, or understand the importance, but now her toy, “GoldieBlox” is wanted in stores all over the world.

I believe both Debbie Sterling’s TED Talk and the study completed by Tara C. Dennehy and Nilanjana Dasgupta highlight a key factor. They both speak of the problem in which many women in science and engineering specifically feel that they do not belong. However, by exposing young girls to games such as “GoldieBlox” that encourage them to enjoy and pursue engineering and giving them role models and mentors to look up to we can ensure that more girls feel that becoming an engineering is something they are capable of doing.

Week 3: What is sustainability and women in leadership roles

United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

I believe that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a great way to see what we want our world to be like in the future and how we can work towards a better future. These goals are wide spread however they all have a common goal of sustainability. Engineers can play a huge role in sustainability, this is especially clear when working at the School of Sustainable Design Engineering. I have learned that engineers can play a role in many of these goals. For example, engineers are on the forefront of creating, designing, and researching new agricultural techniques and resources which could help us to accomplish goal number one; Sustainable Agriculture leading to zero world hunger. Engineers are also creating new water systems and machines to access and sanitize water which is the focus of goal number three, Clean water and Sanitation. Another goal which we can already see being used in many places around the world, and which engineers are highly responsible for is, Affordable and Clean Energy, which is goal number seven. Engineers are working on ways to provide clean energy in ways which are sustainable, for example solar panels and wind turbines. Reading these goals allowed me to realize what a major impact engineers can have on the world, by reading the goals and thinking about how engineering related to each of these issues I was able to see the extensive impact that it has on sustainability in the world.

Abby Wambach Speech

In the past few weeks we have been looking and recognizing the impact that female mentors have on female students in engineering and science in general, this video again shows what a positive impact that has. Abby Wambach is an inspiration to women and girls everywhere, but what I took most from her speech is the importance of leadership. Leadership is not just important tin the spotlight, another thing that Abby expresses, it is necessary to be a leader at all times, even if it does not directly benefit you. In engineering there is a need for strong female leaders who mentor and support the new generation of women entering the field. Abby referred to the women graduating as the “wolf pack” because of the immense positive impact that wolves had on an entire ecosystem. Wolves were the thing missing from that ecosystem in order to make it as successful as possible, just as women are in the science and engineering fields

Week 4: Skills used in Engineering and emotional intelligence

How six young women invented a life-changing device in less than a day

This group of women is working towards making a product which will be life changing for many people. Team Tactile had an opportunity to make a product, and they took that opportunity to change the world for the better. They are making a product which is revolutionary not only in the technology but in the price as well. These women did not give up and have now become role models for young girls all over the world to see that STEM fields are not only for men, and that women are succeeding and changing the world too. When they were faced with challenges regarding their prototype, they did not give up, they kept working that drive and perseverance is an amazing example for young women all over the world that if they have a goal they can achieve it no matter what obstacles may stand in their way.

Emotion Intelligence: What it is and Why You Need It

Emotional intelligence is something that I have been interested in for the past few years. I find it so interesting the shocking impact it has on almost every aspect of your life. Emotional intelligence is not equal to your IQ and I believe people often get so caught up in grades that they forget about emotional intelligence. What i did not know about emotional intelligence however is the relationship that it has with a person's income. A person who has high emotional intelligence makes on average $29,000 more than a person with low emotional intelligence. Research has shown that it is not necessarily a person's IQ which sets them apart from others, but rather their emotional intelligence. Knowing this it reminds me to not only focus on getting good grades, but also setting aside time to practice and improve my emotional intelligence.

JK Rowling

Failure and imagination are two things which are important to accept, integrate, and learn from in any profession, and in life as a whole. However, while listening to JK Rowling's speech I was often reminded how much failure and imagination relates so specifically to engineering. In order to be successful in engineering you need to have a good imagination, you need to have the ability to think outside the box, you need to be able to think of solutions to things that may not even be an issue yet. It is important for engineers to create and explore new ideas and in order to do that imagination is key. Failure, although not always fun, is also a major part in engineering. You need to learn from your past mistakes to make your product or idea better. It is the failure which makes people so driven to improve, and also allows you to recognize the issues and find a way to fix them in the future.