Katie Day 1-I’m Official

Today was a crazy busy day! First I met with Ms. Karkare, a nutrition consultant and registered dietitian. Later, I had a tour of the Interfaith Food Shuttle building and an overview of what they do there. I met the team of interns, and even experienced a webinar of how the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans will impact Cooking Matters (one of Interfaith Food Shuttle’s programs). Plus, I got this pretty sweet official-looking nametag above. Then, I interviewed the outpatient dietitian at Wakemed Cary, Ms. Kharod. Each interaction I had today gave me a different example of all the ways nutrition experts impact the world. Ms. Karkare works with her clients in a one-on-one setting, while Interfaith takes more of a community-centered focus around improving the diets of impoverished Americans in the Triangle. Ms. Kharod’s work is similar to Ms. Karkare’s, but in a more clinical setting. I look forward to experiencing and exploring many different aspects of this diverse field of study!

Day 1- The Autism Umbrella

Today was my first day working at Camp Royall: a camp that specializes in working with kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder. My first job was helping set up for a Special Needs class from Carrboro High School that was coming in as a field trip. The first activity was boating which consisted of helping the kids into either a big row boat or smaller paddle boats and letting them boat around the small lake. Then, we set up a campfire and sang campfire songs which all of the students loved. My favorite part though was the hayride we took all around the camp. I wasn’t expecting to be able to interact directly with these amazing kids, but I’m so glad that I was able to hang out with them. What I learnt was how wide the spectrum is for kids with Autism. The varying symptoms and degree of the neurological disorder is why Autism Spectrum Disorder is often referred to as an umbrella term for different types of diagnosis including Asperger’s, classical autism, and high-functioning autism. After the school group left around 1:00, I was assigned to sorting out binders for every counselor that comes to camp this summer. It was quite a tedious job, but an important one as the binders allow counselors to create a visual schedule for each individual camper.

I learnt that kids with autism are often very visual and might really like the structure and order which they get through schedules. Overall, I had a great first day!

-Fiona

Cameron’s Excellent RTI Adventure

Hey all!

Cameron here (of course?). So here’s how my first day has gone. I met Mrs. Michelle, as shown in my earlier post, before I had an intro session about the program. After the session, we went on a tour of the building, meeting several of her coworkers along the way and we were also promised a demonstration of one of their experiments, where they test the effectiveness of firefighter gear. Sounds cool, right? Well, the guy actually has to stand, in the gear, and exercize in various positions for 30 minutes, all the while being in a wind tunnel with Fluorescent aerosol flown around. Afterwards, they sit in a uv light area while the scientists determine where they need to reinforce the gear. I think it’s awesome they just sit there and glow…

Anyways, after the tour we tested several ECMs by lighting a kerosene lamp and placing them in this thing:

The kerosene lamp is in the right compartment, while the ECMs are in the glass door. They use pumps to take in the smoke, and then we evaluate their efficiency by checking for white lines, which indicate blockages (these are bad, if you don’t realize…). A picture of the graph is below!

After a couple of tests, we left and went to a safety meeting (concerning the department, not me :P), where we met this guy:

This is Mr. Stan Parker, head of security at RTI, and I gotta say… Doesn’t his moustache look awesome?! Literally, I want that moustache when I grow up. Now I only need to grow facial hair…

Other than his awesome moustache, Stan Parker is also pretty nice, and has some very interesting, if not fun, stories.

After meeting Mr. Parker, we went to lunch, had a delicious cheeseburger and fries (I know what I’m eating for my two weeks!) and then headed back to the office to continue working with the ECMs. After a ton more tests (all of which were perfect, if I do say so myself), I was offered the chance to try it by myself. Mine vs. the master’s is below.

The Master (above)

Mine (above)

They’re pretty close, right? The control (left) has a palm tree-like blockage, and the test (right) is ideal (as in, no blockage) for both. A job well done, if I do say so myself.

After receiving a delivery containing more ECMs, the day ended. Tomorrow, we go back to testing them. I hope you enjoyed my post!

Thanks,

Cameron L.

Day 1: SAS-ing it up!

Today, Grace and I started our 4-day shadowing experience at SAS. First, we got a tour of the Finance building with Lisa, the head of this sector of finance management. We met the rest of her team, and then she gave us an overview of how she and her team fit into SAS. We learned that there are over 6o countries where SAS has locations, and Lisa even told us about some of the struggles that come with collaborating with international employees! In addition, we talked to two employees about analyst and budgeting careers. And finally, we got to sit in at a Finance Division Meeting.

-Khushi

SAS Day 1: M&M’s!

This week another student, Khushi and I, Grace, are shadowing the Global Research and Analysis team at SAS under Lisa. This group works within the Finance branch of SAS, analyzing, collecting, and managing the ledgers and expenses SAS undergoes. We learned the ins and outs of SAS financial analysis, from the data collection systems to how to coordinate international marketing, as well as budget distribution amongst the SAS community. We even got to attend a finance department meeting!