My Week at Imperial Summer Maker School 🚀
This summer, I had the opportunity to take part in the Imperial Summer Maker School at Imperial College London, and honestly, it was one of those weeks where I came away having learnt far more than I expected.
One of my favourite parts of the week was meeting so many new people. Everyone had different interests and ideas, but we were all interested in technology, engineering and innovation. It was a great opportunity to make new connections and start building my network with people who are interested in similar things.
🏎️ Getting hands-on
Throughout the week, we got to work with a range of different technologies and techniques. One of the first projects I worked on was an RC racing car, which introduced me to electronics, motors, circuits and programming.
It was pretty cool seeing something we'd built ourselves actually move and work — although, unsurprisingly, getting everything working wasn't always as straightforward as it looked!
💊 Building MediRemind
The project I was probably most excited about was MediRemind, my own electronic medication reminder.
The idea was to create a device that could open a compartment at a specific time to remind someone to take their medication. I built the prototype using a Raspberry Pi and various electronic components, with the system also being supported by an app.
Getting from the initial idea to something that actually worked involved quite a lot of trial and error. There was plenty of wiring, programming, testing and, of course, fixing things when they inevitably didn't work the first time. 😂
But that's probably what made the project so enjoyable.
🛠️ What I learnt
The week taught me a lot about electronics, programming, prototyping and product design, but more importantly, it taught me how different it feels to take an idea from your head and actually turn it into something physical.
One of my biggest takeaways was that sometimes the best way to learn is simply to build something, make mistakes and figure it out as you go.
You don't always need to know exactly what you're doing before you start. Sometimes you just have to give it a go and work things out along the way.
Overall, I'm really grateful to Imperial College London and everyone involved in the Summer Maker School for such a great experience. I met some great people, learnt loads of new things and came away with even more ideas about what I want to build next.
Definitely a week I'll remember. 🚀
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