Bio-Design Challenge

This challenge occurs annually, this year taking place in New York at the end of June. Myself and three other students, who during the Fall 2018 semester took a class all about Colony Collapse Disorder and honey bees, have decided to continue our research by participating in this challenge (You can see my honors experience for said class by clicking the Pre-Approved Experiences tab and then pressing the button labeled "Sticky Innovation").  We are working on introducing a propolis trap to the common Langstroth hive that will increase fitness and overall organism health. This trap allows bees to store their propolis, a bee-made probiotic that enhances colony health. Resin-producing trees provide certain ingredients the bees use to create this sticky substance. Our product is easily install-able, low maintenance, and does not disrupt the hive after placement.
Check back at the end of June to see my final reflections after we have finished presenting in New York City! If you would like to learn more about the project itself visit:  http://biodesignchallenge.org/about.

What is the Challenge?

This challenge is intended for Universities around the world to engage in critical scientific thinking, while also carefully constructing a design. It is meant to mimic the actual process of scientific production and creation. It gives students a chance to showcase their work and talent while interacting with experts in their respective fields. I am extremely excited to travel to NYC and present with my group. Seeing all the other projects and sharing scientific ideas is going to make for an excellent experience I will keep with me for a long time.

What are we up against?

Only one group wins each year, last year the victors' project consisted of a toilet (called the MYCOmmunity Toilet) that recycled human waste into fertilizer using mycellium (a type of fungus) and microbiota. This group did an excellent job researching the problem they wanted to address and creating a way to feasibly counter it. My group aims to put in as much time and effort, researching our ideas and putting together a comprehensive and informative presentation to the standards set by this group.

What is the Project?

So far our project consists of using a central hub that attracts bees with certain pheromone-producing plants to provide them with the necessary chemicals to make propolis. Although propolis is the mechanism, improved hive health is our main goal. We would like to make these hubs accessible to orchard owners as well as general farmers. This way both bees owned by serious commercial beekeepers and native bees will be able to make propolis and better their hives. We are also in the process of making a video to showcase our product, check back April 19th to see the finished work. Thank you!

When do we present?

We will be presenting our project many times throughout the semester: to experts and at fairs. Two such presentations are April 22nd at an Activities Fair, and April 25th at 1819 Innovation Hub for our final grade in the class. This will help us gain as much practice as possible in sharing our ideations. The final presentation for the BDC will be in New York City at the end of June.

Our Project

Here are some  photos of our ideation process, some rough drafts, and pictures during filming of our video. I also have attached a poster we will be using for our presentation, pictures of our product, the PowerPoint of our presentation, and the final video for our project.
The video and power point are still in progress.. They will be completed by the end of the week (April 26th) so check back to see what we've accomplished!
This is the first set of ideations we created for the video, and completed story board
This is the second set of ideations we created for the video. We decided to change styles and put the information-heavy details into our power point instead.
These are some of the photos taken while filming in Burnett Woods near campus.