Digital Health Young Scholars 2025

 Week 3 of the Digital Health Young Scholars program has been as exciting as the last few weeks. On Monday, we went on a tour of Rice University and to the Rice Coffee House. Throughout the week, we learned about AI and raspberry pi. We continued coding in Python on Google Colab, and I created a graph that models a line of best fit based on data. My partner and I were able to finish our final project. My final project is about creating a watch that assists individuals with dementia in underdeveloped populations. I had many triumphs and challenges with this project. A major challenge I faced was coming up with an idea that can be implemented with the TinyWatch. We had some good ideas, but they could not be fulfilled since we did not have a way to carry them out. For example, we thought about creating a project on preventing and detecting heart attacks, but we could not figure out how to use the TinyWatch to detect a heart attack. Creating the code for fall detection was also difficu...

Week 3 of the DHYS Summer 2025 Program was extremely fun and engaging, and it held many interesting experiences. I really enjoyed the tour of the Rice Campus that we finally went on, as well as the coffee from Rice Coffee House which was extremely good. As for project stuff, Matthew and I worked on and completed our final project addressing Parkinson's disease and made a poster displaying it's functionality, usage, and how it could be implemented in the world today to make an impact. I had a lot of fun programming the TinyWatch with the functionality to track tremors, Bluetooth, REM Cycle disruption, etc. Despite there being many challenges, including the separation of steps from tremors, and the integration of the pulse oximeter (curse the pulse oximeter), I was able to overcome those challenges to create a project that has amazing functionalities and that I am proud of. Overall, this program has been a great experience and I loved meeting all of the other students in my cohor...

 Week 3 RICE The final week of the Digital Health Young Scholar Program for the summer was filled with triumphs and good food. On Monday, we had our official tour of the Rice University campus. Despite the sunny weather, we learned more about Rice and its surprisingly dark origin story. After the tour, we enjoyed an amazing Tex-Mex lunch, which was by far the best meal we've had! Later that day, we worked on Python coding in Google Colab and imported the Torch library.  The goal of our code was to estimate house prices based on square footage. To end the day, Jazlyn and I began working on our prototype, searching for code to help integrate a pulse sensor with a temperature sensor, which was an original idea we were excited about. I found some relevant code and made edits that day while Jazlyn began designing our poster and researching heat stroke. On Tuesday, we focused entirely on developing our medical device. That was the day Dr. Young helped us get the BPM (beats per minut...

  Week 3 - BlogPost The start of week 3 began with a tour around campus, got to see some dorms, scenery, and inside of different buildings. On the tour we visited the Rice Coffeehouse and were able to enjoy some drinks and pastries! Then we worked on Python coding through Google Colab and learned about estimating house prices w/ Sq. f. Later, we worked on researching and making the prototype of our project. Day 2 started off primarily with working on our final poster. My team had our idea for the project and was able to get most of the poster done. All we had left to do was to build the project and 3D print the ring base we were trying to do. On Day 3 we mostly only worked on the project doing the hands-on work. I 3D printed the ring and had it to work on our final product. We were able to get most of the code and get it to work correctly. On Day 4 we began the day with finalizing a survey that has to do with research for the program. We had to wear our shirts today to take a pictu...

Last week of the PathsUp Digital Health Summer Program! On Monday 06/23, we went on out official Rice University tour. We visited and learned about different parts of the campus. We also took a short stop at the Rice Coffee House, I ordered a large lemonade and a plain bagel with cream cheese which was delicious. Later that day we also continued working on our final project and also expanded our knowledge of torch on Google Colab.  On Tuesday 06/24, we used most of our day to expand and work on our final project. My partner and I agreed to used the LCD screen, red board, and breadboard for our project on Heat Stroke. Tuesday was the day where we finally cleaned up our idea and started bringing it to life.  On Wednesday 06/25, my partner and I finished coding our prototype. Where we used the Arduino software to code out pulse senser and temperature sensor!  Overall, these past three weeks have taught me plenty of things on how engineering and technology can solve real-worl...

The final week was bittersweet as I was able to learn a lot of finishing ideas for the completion of the project, yet I had to start saying goodbye to my mentors, friends, and advisors. During this week I finished my cough detector and added menu buttons to ensure effective accessibility. This was a struggle as I had to incorporate the bluetooth code that add multiple tabs and lines of code. I also first learned about a raspberry pi which is a device that is used as an embedded system to control lane keeping, control cars, and other devices. Additionally I learned more about the logic behind AI using linear regression and plotting yes and no. I had most fun completing our poster as I created and did the layout of the tiny watch and conclusion. I was able to learn more about cystic fibrosis and the overall condition. I had a great time going to this new coffee house where I got a peach-mango smoothie and got to connect with my friends. Overall this program and Rice was something I had n...

This week was an amazing time for us to finish up our final project and poster as well as learn new concepts such as AI and how to use a raspberry pi. This week was amazing because I started to fully understand how I could make a project and code it to help dementia patients. Coding the project and working through the challenges we some of my favorite experiences throughout the week. Dr. Young and Mr. Franklin were once again very helpful in this process when designing the poster and figuring out some issues in my code. Touring Rice University was also amazing as we got to see all the buildings and architecture that make Rice so beautiful. I loved seeing the Quad and School of Business that had really nice and well thought out designs. I've also always wanted to learn more about AI before attending this program. Learning how to predict house price using neural networks was very interesting this week. This program has taught me so much about computer science, electrical components, ...

 This final week, I really enjoyed getting to lock in on our personal projects. Through troubleshooting and working with my partner and Dr. Young, we were able to create an end result that we were satisfied with. Overall, this program has taught me that the more uncomfortable you are, the more you learn. I began this program with zero programming experience, but I feel that I have made the most out of my time here and will take away a plethora of knowledge that I wouldn't have found anywhere else. It opened a new creative pathway that has further inspired me to pursue a career in technology, and taught me many lessons about perseverance. Aside from the great food, questionable coffee, and great friends I've made, I'm grateful to have been able to learn so much over the past three weeks. 

    This is it! The final day. Throughout this week, I have been in crunch mode for like 99% of the time. I managed to install a fall detector, stillness alert, alerts for vitals in the pulse oximeter, etc. The final thing I need to add for the watch is to incorporate it into one file and enable Bluetooth on the watch to allow for it to send alerts to the phone via the nRF connect app. However, that is crazy difficult and confusing for me to do.     This program has been a joy to me. I got to learn about code programming and other skills that I would not be able to learn in my ordinary academic life given how busy I am most of the time. I also enjoyed being able to tour the campus and eat at their dining halls (their food is amazing).     I also felt that I wasn't doing enough compared to my peers in the program. But I resolved myself to mainly focus on making the best product I can do given my current skill set.     I wished that the program was ...

  This week, we primarily worked on our final project and poster board. My team finally figured out all of the device's code. We were then able to create a real prototype wearable watch, by customizing a 3D printed case. After creating two functioning prototypes, we began to work on our final presentation poster. We made it research poster style and added everything, from an introduction to next steps. I am looking forward to presenting my project at the symposium on July 24. 

 It’s our final week! Week 3 was almost all final project oriented. In addition to finishing up our final design my partner and I completed our board for the symposium an entire day early. We spent an entire hour reading the board over and over in order to make sure there were zero mistakes. Dr. Young and Mr. Christopher were very helpful in helping us tweak our board and help us balance our text and images. In all, this was an amazing end to the Paths Up program!

 Week 2 at Rice My first thought on the research project I have been working on is that it is strenuous when planning to create a device. Jazyln and I started by trying to assemble a necklace for thyroid issues. We weren't able to construct a product for thyroid because you can measure thyroid only with blood tests, not oxygen or heartbeat levels. We then moved on to lungs, but we couldn't decide which lung illness to create a device for. Finally, Jazyln and I settled on heat stroke, a common issue within our community, but in third-world countries. Jazlyn and I have a deep connection with heat stroke, as her father works outside, and I have researched hot zones around the world. We are now working on the code for our digital health watch.  What I am looking forward to in week three is building a Raspberry Pi and completing our project. Dr. Young has been hinting that the last week of our program would be spent constructing a Raspberry Pi. I have never designed a  Raspber...

 WEEK 1 AT RICE  Things I did to prepare for the Young Scholars program were to get some sleep, read a book on Python coding, and be open to interacting with new people. I wanted to get prepared by getting some sleep because I knew I would be learning new material I had never seen before. We learned new materials, and I was able to easily process the new information thanks to getting my full 9 hours. Another thing I did to prepare for the program was to pick up a book on Python coding. The initial sign-up survey asked about coding experience, so I wanted to learn the basics of a coding language. I ended up choosing the Python for Dummies book. The last step I took to prepare for the program was to become open-minded to meeting new people. I am a talkative person, but being in a place where I didn't know anybody terrified me. Thankfully, I was able to meet four wonderful new girls, and now we are close to each other.  My first thoughts on the research projects assigned to ...

 On Week 2, I enjoyed building our wearable health device on heatstroke. Using the TinyWatch circuit and learning to code Python has been challenging but rewarding. It feels great to work on protype to help underserved communities. For week 3, I'm looking forward to learning more coding and improving my final project. I want to finalize and polish our prototype. I'm also interested in gaining as much knowledge as possible from our mentors on circuits and coding. The cleanroom tour was really entertaining! I liked seeing how researchers work in such a sterile environment to avoid contamination. I also appreciated the guest speaker which were brought out this week to help us gain important knowledge about presentation and the PATHS-UP experience.  This week we used python coding on Google Colab to mimic a heartbeat and also to preform edge detection!

 My first thoughts on the research was I thought it would be a great time. Week two/Day one started off visiting the Rice's cleanroom. I got to see the room it was cool, but it was really hot inside of there. There we got to see a close up of a butterfly wing. We came back to the classroom to start on python coding that we would do the rest of the whole week two. Day two started off trying to connect Bluetooth to the tiny watch. It was hard to find which one to connect to at first, but then I figured it out. We made computer vision through Colab which was fun to do. Day three began with learning about Space Junk.  We worked on circuits connecting wires, a 330 resistor , and a capacitor. This was the first time using the capacitor. Finally, we ended the day off finishing up out PowerPoint and blogpost. I am looking forward to see the final product of the ring mt group is working on.  

The Google Collab projects have been very exciting, especially since it introduced me to the power of Python and imported libraries. The hardware design and lessons are also exciting because I had no prior experience but they still worked. I think the TinyWatch project will be very exciting and all of the successes so far have been amazing. Some of the plans and ideas I had last week have been implemented, such as the pedometer, accelerometer, pulse ox, and time. However, the SD card might be harder to get to work, and we realized since the Bluetooth allows the watch to have the time, we do not need GPS anymore. I am looking forward to testing the watch more and refining some of the more complex functions as well as putting it together in a case and being able to actually use it. I am also looking forward to possibly adding microphone AI voice detection. 

I feel that the research projects that I have been working on (especially the final project that I'm doing about Parkinson's) have been extremely engaging, educational, and well-oriented towards growth and future success. The small projects that we have been doing with Python, Arduino, and WaveForms have been interesting and have shown me many different facets of the medical field (i.e. graphing heart rates, etc.) that I didn't think had much correlation to technology. The Parkinson's project which I'm doing has led me to better understand hardware and C++ as a whole, and understand the sheer endless opportunity that comes with digital health. For week three, I'm looking most forward to finish my final project by flushing out the integration of tremor detection and Bluetooth, while also adding more functions like a pulse oximeter, an SD card, and REM cycle detection, which will hopefully not only help with the detection of Parkinson's but help with issues an...

 My first thoughts on the research projects that we have been working on are that there are so many health issues that can be assisted or detected with technologies such as the pulse oximeter and accelerometer. While finding issues may be easy, actually coding and discovering a solution for these problems can be challenging. When finding out how to code my accelerometer to include fall detection, I ran into many issues and blocks. However, writing the code and building the projects has been extremely fun especially with the help of my mentors who have guided me along the way. I am most looking forward to continue building my final project to include the accelerometer, GPS tracker, and a memory game for dementia patients. I am excited to use the skills that I have learned over the last two weeks to code the tiny watch for dementia patients. Furthermore, I am looking forwards to learning a little more about AI from Dr. Young next week.  Finally, I am very excited about touring t...

I think that the research project I am working on is very interesting since it is something new for me. My partner and I are working on creating a watch that tracks the vitals and movement of a person with dementia. In addition, there will be a memory game to slow the progression of dementia symptoms. There are 55 million people with dementia in the world, and dementia is the seventh highest leading cause of death. Getting lost is a very critical issue for people with dementia, so a built-in GPS tracker would help find them. Being able to track their movement and vitals is important, which is why an accelerometer and a pulse oximeter will be added. However, I have had some issues while working. I have never coded with C, and it will be hard to be able to implement all of the functions we want in the TinyWatch. However, I have also had triumphs. I was able to breadboard easily with the RC Filter Circuit, and coding with Python on Google Colab was not difficult. I enjoy working on hands-...

    Today, we completed the second week of the Digital Health Young Scholars Program. This week was not the best in terms of progress for me, because I feel really behind and worried whether I can complete the final project in time and to a high standard.     So far, the research project has been quite confusing, overwhelming, yet fun. It is confusing, because I don't know what constraints I am working under. Do I have access to other sensors aside from the ones provided? Am I allowed to create a whole other watch case for the project? This confusion led to me feeling overwhelmed with the task at hand, because I want to succeed and go above and beyond for this project. I want to test myself and have a good impact on the health world. This combined with how little I completed made me worried and somewhat stressed. However, the ability for me to tinker and work with electronics and code to tackle a modern issue excites me. I already have so many ideas on how I can use ...

This week was shorter than usual but I was able to gain a lot of valuable information that helped me understand the basics of python as well as some hardware functions. My research project with Andrea is something I am looking forward to creating more on the coding side. We are doing our project on cystic fibrosis, and this hits deep because my grandpa passed away due to this. If he had this preventative measure it would have helped him from always being in the hospital and wasting bills. I am most excited to code using c++ next week and continuing working on my project. I hope to finish the tiny watch with Andrea by Tuesday and work with her on the making the poster. I hope my cough detector works and stops bugging. Week 3 will introduce me more toward the functioning of our watch and create a greater picture. The tour was exciting as we saw the ISO Class 5 Safe room. Additionally, we saw Transmission Electron Microscopy (shows the intricate structure of a butterfly wing). Overall, th...

My firs thoughts on the research project is that it is a very fun creative outlet that gives us the freedom to experiment with the provided pieces and optimize our final results. I think that we have made some pretty good progress so far, and we have a clear plan moving forward. My partner and I have formed a good dynamic where I am more comfortable with the science-y "health" aspect of the project, while she is overseeing the programming aspect. For week three, I am most looking forward to getting more time to develop our project. I am excited to design our poster and watch our idea come to life. I am also looking forward to piecing together the different parts of our watch (PulseSensor, GPS, Bluetooth, Cough detector). My partner and I are also getting together outside of the program to work on our project and troubleshoot some issues, so that'll make week three more smooth-sailing. I have attached some pictures from the clean room tour; overall, I felt that the tour wa...