Preparing for the Make-a-thon

This week we spent most of the class period receiving feedback from Milestone Labs and identifying the materials we wanted to work with for the Make-a-thon. This class was a helpful time to talk with our team and all get on the same page as we prepare for next weekend.

Classroom Session

Our class started with a talk from Valerie who is plugged into the entrepreneurship scene on campus. She was kind enough to sponsor Milestone Labs’ visit to our Make-a-thon this upcoming weekend. She came in and talked to us about the entrepreneurship resources on campus and encouraged us to apply for the iVenture accelerator program with our prototyped products. I am a Senior so unfortunately I will not be staying on campus to see our product continue, but I hope that one of my classmates takes care of this awesome opportunity.

After Valerie’s presentation, each individual group met with Milestone Labs to get feedback on our progress. Milestone Labs liked our product idea but wanted us to begin prototyping and experimenting so we could enhance our product through trial and error. They also really liked our testing protocol and procedures but wanted us to add a couple more testers that we could have more well-rounded feedback.

We spent the remainder of class brainstorming materials to use for our products. My team came up with a list of materials that included tough nylon, silicone, and a bike helmet among other items. Vishal was great because he agreed to order all of our materials, which saved us from having to go shopping all around Champaign to get them.

Material Science Meeting

Later in the week, I had the chance to meet up with a Material Science professor named Dr. Goodman. Dr. Goodman taught my class last year and when I reached out to him he was happy to help out with our project. I introduced him to our product and asked him what materials he would recommend using. He had some great insight on the material properties needed for our prototype and in the end we ended up ordering some additional items. I am very thankful that Dr. Goodman was willing to spend some time helping out our team!