By: Arshia Rampuria

The GT Block class is the starting course for the three pathways Innovation Academy provides, Information Technology, Health Sciences, and Engineering. After two full months of takin this course, our freshman class is glad to present where we’ve been and what is on the plan to be done in the future.  

Where We’ve Been  

In the week of September 30^th, the GT Block classes officially completed their first major project, centered around the process of creating a biologically inspired prototype.  

This project spanned over four weeks, which can be divided into three learning weeks and one week based on application. Students were assigned to groups of two to three people, and each group was assigned an organism that would connect to the subsequent and final projects. 

Each of the learning weeks centered around one of the three pathways, and we learned knowledge and application skills throughout them. In the Information Technology week, we learned how to code the basics and alter the aesthetics of an HTML site. In the Healthcare week, we learned about the chain of infection processes as well as the breakdown of disaster response. In the Engineering week, we learned about how to create, test, build, and analyze a prototype, which we implemented on a shoe.  

This all came together in the last week, where we applied this knowledge through the basis of a prototype inspired by our organism. Our goal was to design and build a tool that could help prepare before, during, or after disasters, record our findings in an EDPL, and make websites highlighting specific parts of our process.  

Overall, this four-week project highlights the structure of the GT Block class and provides an excellent start for exploration in the three pathways. 

Where We’re Going 

The introductory week of September 30^th was the beginning of a new project that shifts the focus to prosthesis. Each group has the same number of members, but instead of having a selected organism, we will have a selected location of where we build our prosthetic, from the leg or even the hand.  

We’re excited to see where this takes us!