Driving Question: How might we explore innovation through robotics?
What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?
Our goals were to create a contactless delivery robot and pitch it to a panel of experts. With the help of the robotics team from the workshops, we learned all the basic concepts to create our own innovation.
What new things did you learn about yourself?
It was really interesting to realize that we were capable of coding, and we loved using our hands to create a robot.
Driving Question: How might we explore innovation through robotics?
What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?
Our goal for this module was to create a working robot completed with a prototype and functioning code. We spent lots of time brainstorming and sketching ideas for this robot. We also wanted to make sure our robot was super unique and one of a kind.
Our final prototype was a success and could perform the actions that it was intended to do. Our robot is also innovative because it is different than anything you will see on the current market.
What new things did you learn about yourself?
I learned that I should be more open to failures and feedback since those things could only help. My thoughts before were “get everything right” or “no mistakes,” now, I am open to failure and will welcome it with open arms.
What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?
The biggest lesson for me is that everything is a process, and nothing amazing can come from nothing.
Driving Question: How might we use blockchain technology to create future innovative ventures?
What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?
At the beginning of this module, I wasn’t quite sure what blockchain was and all I wanted to do was figure it out. By the end of the module, I was able to go beyond just understanding basic blockchain I was able to merge it with something that I enjoyed in my summative product.
What new things did you learn about yourself?
I learned to embody the TGS core value of grit, as I was online because of COVID this term. It really taught me to be patient with myself and to let my curiosity fuel me and challenge me to learn something new. This term was full of a lot of personal growth and I can proudly say I’m not the same as I was in the beginning of the term.
What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?
I think that my biggest lesson is to trust myself. At the beginning of this project, I was scared that I wouldn’t understand anything because I didn’t have a background in tech and coding. I thought I would really struggle, and before I even started the module, I was stressed about it. But I convinced myself to open my mind and be positive and to link it with something I understood.
Driving Question: How might we use blockchain technology to create future innovative ventures?
What were your goals for this module?
Helena: My biggest goal for the module was having good teamwork with my peers, learning about blockchain, and applying it to something I am really passionate about. Having an impactful final summative that showcases an issue is so important for our community, and I’m proud to see that we achieved all of them together.
Methini: For our module summative, my teammates and I designed a project called Kolmnaist, which means three women. The theme of our project was using blockchain technology to create an NFT collection that empowers women from India, Estonia, and Brazil.
My goal for this module was to understand what blockchain is and how it works because blockchain was a whole new topic for me. When we started learning about blockchain, all I could think about was its negative aspects, like affecting the environment and people. But later on, we explored how we can use blockchain for a positive impact.
Studying the fourth industrial revolution is genuinely a shock on how innovative the world is becoming.
What new things did you learn about yourselves?
Helena: I learned that I am actually very interested in exploring this technology that, at first, I didn’t think I was ever going to connect to.
Methini: I learned to develop my pitching skills and also realized that I’m not too fond of blockchain and its future roles in our day-to-day life.
What are your biggest takeaway lessons from this project?
Helena: I think I learned a lot about adversity and dealing with things going out of plan, but still being able to adapt and make the most out of it.
Methini: My biggest takeaway from this module is to be confident while pitching/presenting, have clear eye contact with the audience, and understand ways to use blockchain positively.
Driving Question: How might we use blockchain technology to create future innovative ventures?
What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?
My goal for this module was to develop a solid and applicable understanding of blockchain. Coming in, I knew absolutely nothing about NFTs, cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, or web 3.0. Now, I can say that I have a significant knowledge bank about these emerging technologies. I was able to apply my understanding to create a wireframe and white paper for a decentralized face-to-face loaning platform: Cash $Back.
What new things did you learn about yourself?
Through this module, I learned a lot about the feedback process. I had multiple ideas for my module summative that I was really excited about. However, when I brought them up with guest speakers and module leads, they got picked apart and heavily criticized. I realized that I didn’t know quite as much as I thought about blockchain, and as such was able to begin seeing this feedback not as something to fear, but something to learn from. By the end of the module, I hoped for critical feedback on my work, as I knew that that is what would help me the most.
What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?
From this module, I took away a really good understanding of a technology that could be very relevant to all of us in the future. I found a passion for design – spending hours on end choosing color palettes, font combinations and arranging features for my wireframe. I came to new realizations about how educational access and wealth inequality can hinder or aid the adoption of new technologies – an insight into the privilege I have to do so. Finally, I came up with an idea that, if developed properly, could lead me to a path of dApp development and entrepreneurship. Blockchain is now a huge passion of mine.
Driving Question: How might we use blockchain technology to create future innovative ventures?
What were your goals for this module?
My goal for this module was to design a decentralized app, token/coin, or NFT collection based on a concrete understanding of what blockchain is. I achieved my goals by being particularly attentive with our guest speakers and asking many questions to understand what blockchain is.
What new things did you learn about yourself?
I learned how interested I am for the potential impact of Web 3.0 on our world.
What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?
Driving Question: How can I de-stigmatize mental illness through information and awareness?
Project Description: For her service-learning project, Class of 2022 Senior Noemie created lessons around understanding the fundamentals of mental health.
These include understanding what mental health is, what factors can affect mental health, understanding mental illness, keeping yourself and others safe, and how and where to reach out or find help. Noemie then presented these seminars to students at TGS due to being unable to complete the seminars at home due to Covid.
Project Reflection: I learned so much from this experience, and I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to complete this project and hopefully help at some people understand this topic better. This project was very important to me as, growing up in NZ, I have had so many experiences seeing the effects of poor mental health on peers and people within my community, so it meant so much to be able to be part of the road to a better future around this topic.
Driving Question: How can we improve our spice tolerance through a mixture of science and cultural understanding?
Project Summary: This project was a dive into the science and Mexican cuisine and culture. Saffron and Santiago researched many different kinds of chili peppers before deciding on five local peppers that they and a group of volunteers would be eating to increase their spice tolerance: costeño, pasilla, jalapeño, chiltepín, and habanero. The pair recorded themselves doing so to share their findings.
Student Reflection: “Working on this project was painful, but it was so fun and totally worth it. I learned that eating spicy food can make you feel like you’re being stabbed and yet fill you with a rush of adrenaline, and to be able to share that feeling is simply amazing.” – Class of 2024 student Santiago D.
Driving Question: How can we model a clay sculpture inspired by Mexican beliefs and religious syncretism (the merging of different beliefs) to represent a fusion of our personal beliefs and values?
Project Summary: Bido calls his sculpture “Al Khail,” which means horse in Arabic. It is intended to show a fusion of his values and beliefs. The wings are a symbol of freedom, ambition, and a representation of spirituality. Al Khail is inspired mainly by nature.
Bido’s belief in “Kama Tudeen Tudan,” meaning “Good Karma,” is represented by the birds on the top of the horse and inspired by the Old Man’s Beard plant grown in Oaxaca’s cloud forest.
Both the plant and the tree live together and are kind to each other as part of the mutualistic symbiosis relationship. Similarly, the horse was kind enough to let the birds live on top of him; it turns out the birds feed on the little creatures on the horse’s body, creating a mutually beneficial relationship that started with an act of kindness.
Student Reflection: “I had a limiting belief before starting this module that I’m not very artistic — the first time I experimented with clay I found it very difficult; however, I dedicated time to experimenting with different techniques and used digital art and 3D modeling to help create my sculpture. I learned that just by accepting something and working hard for it, we can really achieve more than we expect.”
Driving Question: How can we model a clay sculpture inspired by Mexican beliefs and religious syncretism (the merging of different beliefs) to represent a fusion of our personal beliefs and values?
Project Summary: Life is seen as a transitory stage towards something greater for many belief systems. “El Camino” – meaning “The Path” – represents a merger between the Zapotec and Catholic belief systems in Oaxaca, and the most important one in the construction of Lucas’s faith, Buddhism.
The upper part of Lucas’s sculpture symbolizes the Zapotec’s way towards Mictlan, a place of eternal peace, which consists of a nine-level journey that takes four years to complete. The cross on the opposite end is an element of the Christian faith that embraces the challenges that ultimately become our passports to sanctification. In the middle, they meet to become one, referencing both the syncretism in Oaxaca and the end of duality – a Buddhist concept of spiritual enlightenment.
Student Reflection: “Over my weeks in Mexico, I could explore in-depth the values of the belief systems that gave birth to Oaxaca’s unique syncretic landscape. As I appreciated the elements of these highly different cultures, I was able to see a multitude of symbols that resembled my own faith everywhere. The final sculpture I constructed is an embracement of both my learnings and some of my most foundational beliefs about life and the universe.”
