Mwisho

The end of the internship brought mixed reactions as this was the last week. I had learnt a lot and improved my skills in engineering design as well as electronics. The last week required endurance and it demanded our undivided attention. Working prototypes were a must.

Unfortunately, our team seemed to be making little progress with each passing day. We needed to integrate each part. We needed to program our hardware. The PCB had malfunctioned due to a physical error and had to undergo further changes. The only way to implement those changes was to fabricate another one. The code was undergoing further review as well. The victory was so near and yet so far.

In this week, we had visitors from NEST 360 Malawi's office to check on the projects we had been working on. We presented Oxygen Analyzer and Drip Assistance System with 3D designs only as the other components were not fitted at the time. Only the Vein Finder, which is a device for locating veins, was the one which was operational but it was going to undergo further 3D Design changes by inclusion of a battery compartment, charging port as well as repositioning the power button. The team worked hard to make it work but we could not finish all in the last week. The Design Studio Manager, Hillary Lodzanyama, observed that it was necessary to extend for another week so that we properly finish the prototypes in preparation of the final presentation. Maximum effort and a few sleepless nights will do the trick or will they? Well, my team and I are built on positivity and we have to push until we get things done either way. Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences together with RICE University had trusted us to come up with these three projects and we were bound to make it happen. This was really mwisho…..kumapeto….The end? Maybe not.