The temperate air and cool breeze felt refreshing on our walk over to the Bilbao School of Engineering in the morning. Saioa met us at the front of the school as we walked upstairs to the bioengineering lab. In a brief demonstration, two students showed us their current projects, which were a forearm crutch and a wheelchair. In concept, their studio resembled the Bilbao health college very closely, with a clear background, mats, and cameras on the ceiling to record biomechanical data. Once an individual puts on the markers on themselves, one of the students showed us how, in real time, the app matches a person’s motion and records data such as position, angle, and velocity. This information is critical in the design process since it allows engineers to build equipment that is specific and mechanically optimal for the body. They employed this technology in the design of both the crutch and the wheelchair. Both devices made use of pressure sensors that would inspire our upcoming project. One important piece of information that one of the students mentioned was that one motivation for the pressure sensors was to determine if someone fell. Hospital falls account for a large sum of extended hospital stays and are often deadly to elderly patients. Unfortunately, they are not uncommon and can stem from multiple reasons, including medication, a need to use the restroom, and patient overconfidence. To better understand this critical healthcare issue, Saioa led a workshop in which multiple teams had different prompts and needed to come up with a solution (we must work collaboratively with nurses and engineers).

     My team included me, Eloise, Johnathan, and Kyla. Together, we re-enacted 3 patient scenarios and schemed how best to mitigate patient falls, specifically from a hospital bed. We had to scheme and assemble a prototype using the materials that Saioa kindly lent us for the project. We began by considering who our project was for. Naturally, it was for patients in beds susceptible to falling. One potential cause for this was the flimsy or low railing on the side of beds, which we opted to innovate by building a three-layered railing system. Essentially, we would create a bed with a pressure sensor grid that could measure the weight distribution of the patient and the time between placement and release (to measure how fast the patient gets up from the bed). This would control our three-layered railing that would lift to a certain height (of three different heights) to save the patient from falling. There would be cushions so that the patient would never get hurt as the railing lifted and could cushion any contact they might make as they start to fall. Once we finished our prototype, we gave a brief demonstration and explanation to the class. It reminded me very much of my Engineering 717 class :). 

      After a fun day at the school, we headed to the fine arts museum, which housed pieces that I would say resembled actual art more than the Guggenheim. The first painting depicted an infant Bilbao with only the old town and river settlements established. Right next to this painting reused an unfinished painting of the city. Intriguingly, the artist who has not yet completed the picture opts to work on the painting in March of every year. Thus, his time is incredibly limited for his project (he is also 90 years old!). Hopefully, he finishes the painting. Upstairs, there were some more contemporary exhibits that I thought fancied my imagination, like the crochet image and the kneeling man. Another great day in Bilbao!