Blog #3 – Ellena Jeon

Posted on July 4, 2025July 4, 2025 by Ellena Jeon

Hi everyone,

Welcome back!

This past weekend marked a much-needed breath of fresh air as we celebrated the halfway point of our internship. We took a break from the constant prototyping grind and visited Karura Forest. This forest is an oasis of green tucked into Nairobi’s busy landscape.

As we walked beneath the towering trees and listened to stories of Kenya’s “freedom fighters” from the 1960s, I couldn’t help but feel inspired. The tales of courage, sacrifice, and resilience echoed with a quiet strength, reminding me of the persistence we’ve been channeling into our projects, especially when things aren’t working quite right. We painted away after the 5km hike, and somehow, in that moment, with each brush stroke in nature, I felt a quiet reassurance: not that our prototype was perfect, but that progress was possible.

This week, we continued working in parallel on two projects. For the Pinard Horn fetal monitoring device, we’ve been exploring a wide range of signal-processing techniques. We’re aiming to amplify and extract the fetal heartbeat from background noise, using methods like band-pass filtering, wavelet transforms, and Hilbert transformation. Diving into dense signal processing literature and experimenting with code has been challenging since this isn’t a field I’ve had much exposure to before. But with each research paper, YouTube tutorial, and long debugging sessions, I’ve slowly started connecting the dots. This learning process is emblematic of something deeper I’ve been experiencing here: searching for familiarity within the unfamiliar, whether it’s in our design studio or out in Nairobi.

Speaking of the unfamiliar, we also had the chance to visit Nairobi National Park on Sunday. Riding in a 4×4 for five hours, we marveled at giraffes, rhinos, ostriches, impalas, lions, and more—all roaming freely against the backdrop of the Nairobi skyline. The roof of the vehicle was open, and although the cold wind turned my cheeks red, I couldn’t look away from the stunning sunset over the vast savannah. It was raw, breathtaking, and unlike anything I’ve seen before. Even in the discomfort of the wind and dust, I found a kind of awe. Like our technical challenges, there’s beauty in facing the unknown when you begin to make sense of it.

Back in the lab, our active cast project is also gaining momentum. This device aims to combat muscle atrophy during injury recovery by integrating electrical muscle stimulation and a sensor to track muscle engagement. After many trials and errors, we finally got our circuit to work just before the weekend. Watching the system activate with the voltage rising and dropping felt like a quiet triumph. It reminded me of the stories from Karura. Resilience doesn’t always roar; sometimes, it travels softly in wires and code.

Thank you for following along with our journey. We’re learning not just to prototype devices, but to prototype ourselves, adapting, adjusting, and growing through every challenge and adventure.

Ellena

Blog #2 – Ellena Jeon

Posted on June 28, 2025June 28, 2025 by Ellena Jeon

Hi everyone,

Welcome back! This past couple of weeks, we wrapped up our summer workshop and started prototyping our project.

The final week of the summer workshop consisted of brainstorming, prototyping, and iterating. We selected our project, a digital fetoscope, where we decided to retrofit a pinard horn. The idea behind it is that we would pick up the sound that is amplified via a pinard horn and digitize the fetal heart rate. This would significantly reduce the cost of monitoring the baby’s heart rate, as ultrasounds are not readily available in most hospitals in Kenya.

Our summer workshop peers also had great projects that they were prototyping for a competition at the end of the week, and we watched their innovative pitches on Friday! To conclude the end of the summer program and to say goodbye to everyone who’ve been nothing but kind, helpful, and humorous, we visited a Brazilian Barbecue restaurant!

We will be working on this project for the next 4 weeks, along with our host project that we were assigned a couple of days ago! We are assigned to create an active cast that would reduce the effect of muscle atrophy for sports-related injuries. We spent the whole day conducting a literature review about the physiopathology of muscle atrophy, current solutions that exist, and the implementation of the therapy methods into a case.

We visited the Nairobi Arboretum for a quick stroll in nature, and the vegetation there was so diverse, and we got to see so many monkeys! We also went to the Rice meet-up for all of the different programs in Kenya, and we ate delicious Ethiopian food. I met a fellow Bakerite’87 there as well!

Blog #1 – Ellena Jeon

Posted on June 13, 2025June 14, 2025 by Ellena Jeon

Welcome to my first blog!

My first week was filled with 3 hands-on projects: a 3D-printed phone holder, a foot stand, and an ultrasonic sensor. Click below to read more about them!

Project 1

Our first project focused on 3D modeling and printing.

Using TinkerCAD, my team, BioNova,was challenged to design and fabricate a functional phone stand from scratch.

As we analyzed the sample model provided, we noticed that the top portion, specifically the connection point, was prone to cracking under stress.

To address this, we redesigned the joint by adjusting and smoothing the angle to better distribute the load and improve structural integrity. Throughout the process, we collaborated closely to iterate on the design, ensuring both aesthetics and functionality. In doing so, we not only learned how to navigate TinkerCAD and build a 3D model from the ground up, but also developed problem-solving skills by improving upon an existing design based on real-world performance concerns. This project introduced us to the fundamentals of rapid prototyping and the importance of teamwork in engineering design.

Project 2

Next, we were tasked to create a foot stand. From ideation and design to precise measurements, we made sure that we finalized every detail before going into the manual work.To construct the base, we used a saw to cut metal at 45-degree angles to create a mitered joint. You may be wondering why are we using hand tools to cut metal? Well, I wondered the same thing, but in lower resource settings, electricity is not always guaranteed. Or, as our mentor, Eubrea, puts it, “I like to see you suffer.”

After cutting the metal, we welded the pieces together. However, the angles did not quite align. We spent hours trying to perfect every corner to 90 degrees. Despite our efforts, we still ended up with small gaps at the joints. After welding, we spray-painted the steel base.

Next, we moved on to creating the wooden top. Thankfully, now that we have “suffered,” we were allowed to use power tools and cut our wood pieces. Then, to add the finishing touches, we added side panels to the wood to give it a smoothening effect. This time, the edges fit better than when we used hand tools. This project gave me a deeper appreciation for the convenience of electricity, and have much respect for all of the welders and carpenters.

Project 3

The final project that we worked on was my favorite! We learned about embedded systems and coded a microprocessor in order to create an ultrasonic sensor. I was able to code the ATmega328 microchip on Arduino IDE and create the circuit on the breadboard. Troubleshooting the circuit was always difficult for me, but my teammates, who had far more experience than me, were able to help me debug the system and gave me helpful tips on how to conduct an analysis of the circuit.

When we got the sensor to work, “Beep– bibip” was the sound of our alarm when there was an object 20 cm away from it. By the end of the session, the room was filled with giggles of success and loud buzzing noises.

After the breadboard, it was time to transfer our circuit onto the soldering breadboard. This was my first time soldering a circuit, so I struggled with the metal’s melting time and precision. However, my teammates all very patiently gave me unlimited tries until I was able to perfect one by myself.

After learning these technical skills for prototyping, we were ready to dive into the Kenyan healthcare system and immerse ourselves in the local hospitals! We visited two level 5 Hospitals: Thika and Kiambu. My group was shadowed nurses, clinical officers, doctors, and other clinicians in the Accidents and Emergency (A&E) department.

Kiambu Level 5 Hospital

The first hospital we visited was the Kiambu Hospital. Right now, in Kenya, there is a doctor’s strike, but the hospital is still very busy, and everyone is working hard to help the patients. Through both observation and interviews with the nurses, I was able to understand the triage system, vital checking procedure, and patient transport system.

Thika Level 5 Hospital

The next hospital we visited was Thika Hospital. I was placed in the A&E department again so that we could compare the two hospitals. I was able to observe two minor trauma surgeries, which were completed efficiently. We were also able to walk around and tour the reproductive health center, comprised of antenatal, postnatal, and NICU (it had very very small babies!)

During the visits, we carried around a small notebook to write down our observations. These observations included inadequate medical equipment, inefficiencies, dogma, and contamination. As a team, we shared what we saw, came up with 15 needs statements, and conducted research on 10 of them. We will be narrowing down on one to begin the process of developing our own medical innovation. Overall, these past two weeks have been completely new, challenging, and incredibly eye-opening. I am so excited to see what we will be able to achieve next week!

Thanks for reading! See you next time:)

Ellena Jeon

Bioengineering '27

About Me – Ellena

Posted on June 1, 2025June 4, 2025 by Ellena Jeon

Hello Everyone!

My name is Ellena Jeon, a rising junior from Baker College, majoring in Bioengineering.

Yesterday, I landed in Nairobi, Kenya after about 18 hours of traveling! Before leaving my family, I felt a bit nervous about living alone on an entirely different continent, especially in one I had never set foot in before. But this morning, I woke up to the sound of birds chirping, the soft morning light, and beautiful weather—so refreshing compared to the Houston heat. I opened the windows to let the soothing highland breeze in, and this settled my nerves. This quiet moment quickly turned into a growing sense of excitement for everything I’m about to experience here.

As an aspiring physician with a strong interest in design and innovation, being in Nairobi is so meaningful. It allows me to directly engage with healthcare challenges in a new cultural and clinical context, and to learn from diverse perspectives. I want to learn more about building solutions that are not only technically advanced but also culturally grounded. This summer is an opportunity to learn, listen, and grow as both a future engineer and a clinician.

This summer, I will be getting feedback on 2 projects: the Endometrial Biopsy (EMB) Trainer and the Gastroschisis Bag. The EMB trainer aims to improve how healthcare providers are trained to perform uterine biopsies. We want to specifically improve solid sample compatibility and explore local manufacturing options to ensure its accessibility and sustainability. The second project, the gastroschisis bag, is used to protect the exposed intestines of newborns with this congenital condition. The low cost prototype that we have takes about 15 minutes to create with only 2 materials. We hope to find sterilization packaging options as well as gain feedback from clinicians with this project.

Beyond the projects, some personal goals I have for this summer are:

Deepen my technical and design skills like woodworking, 3D modeling, and soldering through hands-on workshops at Kenyatta University.
Connect with a diverse group of people, and keep an open mind when encountering different cultures, professions, and healthcare systems.
Exploring Kenya and everything that Nairobi has to offer! So far, the city is lush, vibrant, and lively.

I will be working with the Kenyatta University’s Centre for Design, Innovation, and Engineering (CDIE) and participating in their Medical Device Innovation Summer Program for the first 3 weeks, where I will be learning hands-on skills, conducting needs finding and observing at Kiambu and Thika Hospital. After that, we will continue to identify personal projects, work on host projects, and gain feedback on the devices with the remaining time until the end of July.

Thanks for reading and see you next time,