Here is what I did this summer…what did you do? Mrs. Fernandez RET: FIU 2016 Here is what I did this summer…what did you do? Mrs. Fernandez

Lab safety & selecting a project a new appreciation for details & research I was assigned to Dr. Shekhar Bhansali’s lab in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering My first task, as an intern…lab safety! Not just your average hair pulled back, closed toed shoes, etc… Blood borne Pathogens Environmental Awareness PT 1 and PT 2  EPA: Hazardous Waste Awareness & Handling Fire Safety HAZCOM: In Sync With GHS Laboratory Hazard Awareness Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Laboratory Safe Handling of Biomedical Waste Safe use of Biosafety Cabinets Safe Use of Fume Hoods Security Awareness Training Small Spills and Leaks www.turbosquid.com www.seton.com

In the first lab Passaging ovarian cancer cells We were given the opportunity to sub culture and ovarian cancer cell line It was a very meticulous task that involved the use of: Human ovarian cancer cells Biohazard hood Pipets Vacuum Media Centrifuge Incubator (near body temperature) The key in this lab was: Having a sterile environment to avoid contamination! Cells could only be passaged ten times.

Ameri learning about nano-technology The Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute The Institute contains the Motorola Nanofabrication Research Facilities, which is supported by a class 100 clean room and nanofabrication (ameri.fiu.edu) Each Tuesday we were introduced to processes and topics dealing with production of pressure sensors at the nano-scale We created a large scale sample to understand the nano-fabrication process This was the souvenir we would be learning to create!

In the second lab Growing nano-wires www.bluenanoinc.com We completed our internship in a lab that is responsible for creating cortisol sensors Our PhD student is researching how to thermally grow silver nano-wires to use as conductors How do you grow silver wires? Through the VLS (vapor liquid solid) process, the substrate vaporizes and forms different nucleation seeds (so far it has been done with silicon, they then coat it with silver) First we had to take a diced silicon wafer and prepare it by: Soaking it in acetone placing it in the ultrasonicator drying it Soaking it in methanol or isopropyl alcohol Then cleaning it off with deionized water and drying it

After preparing the diced wafer… Palladium deposition needs to take place. Why palladium? Its is the most efficient metal after testing A vacuum state must be reached (so they do not collide) The CHA machine electron gun shoots out electrons and it pushes out atoms on the target Uniform deposition takes place

…finally the furnace The palladium coated wafers are put in a furnace 1500 Celcius For 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and one hour When the metals become an alloy the silicon forms wires They are then coated with silver (we did not get to do this)

A tour of the facilities 3D printing lab: They were printing an AORTA! A tour of the facilities On Thursdays we were able to explore the engineering labs throughout our “summer home.” Make It Lab – 3D printing Smart Grid BEIL Virtual Reality Driving Simulator Photo courtesy of: A. Shepard Clip art: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/04/37/4d/04374ddfb591a9b8100c6557efaa258f.jpg

This Jetta is on the third floor! Photo & Video courtesy of: A. Shepard Car simulation lab Photo courtesy of: M. Hernandez This Jetta is on the third floor! With coding they create the animations and then use scenario definition language to create the scenarios http://lctr.eng.fiu.edu/DrivingSimulator.htm

Virtual reality & smart grid Secure it in its place Place smart phone in eye-piece You can then actually see the virtual reality world and it panes around as you move your head! https://ohlsc.fiu.edu/tag/built-environment-informatics-laboratory/ The Smart-Grid test bed @ FIU simulates a power grid that includes operational and energy measures Photo: FIU https://energy.fiu.edu/2014/12/smart-grid-test-bed-lab/

Friday Workshops Team building, resources & protocols That’s me Each Friday, we would gather for Professional Development participating in team activities, protocols, brainstorm, and learn from each other

I also got to work with some pretty great people! Internships and you… This was one of my best educational experiences! Make it a point to find an internship/shadowing program this summer Choose an unfamiliar topic Open up your minds to new worlds of knowledge Future Possibilities Networking I also got to work with some pretty great people! Photo courtesy of: S. Strange