My name is Rose Kirk-Landry and I am interning in environmental engineering at the Energy and Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Monday – We spent the morning with Lei (EGI’s data scientist) going over some basics for coding with python. He set us up with VScode and showed us a few commands like print. We then worked on a few practice problems from leetcode. That afternoon, Aaron (another scientist) led us through some more complicated python skills involving different types of files, using different libraries, and using paths.
Tuesday – We didn’t have work since it was the 4th of July, but I spent some time trying to figure out a python program to draw a graph from data using matplotlib. Heres what I got:
Wednesday – We finally received some rtc modules which solved our problem of trying to record time without them. After we installed them, we changed our code in the arduino IDE to read time and to do so in a 00:00:00 format.
Thursday – I finally figured out how to save our temperature sensor data into a csv/txt file from the arduino serial monitor. I did this by getting MacPorts (package manager that makes it easier to install/update/delete programs) and used it to download PuTTY, a terminal emulator that gives the host computer (my laptop) access to the external computer (sensor). PuTTY is not a native mac app so it was a little hard to use. I got the format of the relevant data port through a terminal command and then programmed PuTTY to save the data (time, temp (C/F)) in csv format.
Friday – We visited a lab near our office where Eric (another EGI scientist) showed us how the triaxial load frame works to compress different rock core samples and measure their fluid capacity. We got to see all of the different components and the various things the machine measures but unfortunately after all the setup was done it didn’t actually work. Hopefully we will get to sit in on a full trial at some point.
Other – Here’s some of what I made in the studio this week:
Wow Rose, you speak the lingo like an engineer… keep up the good work, figuring out the obstacles one by one! I am so glad you are learning all these new skills – it may come in handy in college. And the pottery is amazing too!