Invention Bootcamp

A Chance to  Mentor and Have Fun!

Portland State University's "Invention Bootcamp" is typically held in person. During the height of the pandemic, however, it was conducted remotely. Being a remote teacher had a unique set of challenges, chief among them was that none of the campers wanted to turn on their video! As such, there was a fair amount of time spent getting to know the group we were assigned and getting them comfortable enough to show their face. Spending this time coaxing the class eventually proved to be very rewarding as I was constantly amazed at the brilliant the ideas the kids would come up with. 

The theme of the camp was indoor air quality. Given an Adafruit Circuit Playground express, we were tasked to come up with an invention related to that topic. We followed the whole design process to come up with our inventions. We interviewed our family members about their concerns, made pareto charts, and scored round-table ideas. My group settled on the idea of a Roomba that not only vacuums the floor but also has an air filtration and monitoring system on it. One of my students had the amusing idea to make our design look like a cute robot vacuuming, instead of the classic Roomba design, and our prototype was born! 

I am grateful to have been a part of this camp that not only sparked my interest in indoor air quality, but left many lasting bright spots in my memory of this difficult period in history.