For this project, we had to use the engineering design cycle to solve a problem in biotechnology. After narrowing it down to the over the counter medicine, we came up with multiple ideas to solve this problem. Our first idea was to use vitamin supplements as a healthier and cheaper alternative to traditional medication. However this wouldn't be much safer than the medicine we are trying to change. So, we came up with the idea to change the FDA policies about medication. The FDA doesn't monitor each product, just the ingredients but we found that it would be extremely difficult to change and wouldn't fix the price problem. So we came up the idea to use food as an alternative medicine. We developed recipes based on the chemical effects of foods on the body. We made two foods that help you wake up, one that helps you sleep, one that helps with stress, and one that helps with the flu/colds. The ingredients for each are listed below. This solution solved our problem because the food could also double as a meal and would be cheaper than normal medicine. It also is hard to overdose on food and is not as severe. With this solution, you know what you are putting into your body.
Concepts
Engineering Design Cycle 1. Identify the need and constraints. 2. Research the problem. 3. Develop possible solutions. 4. Select a promising solution. 5. Build a prototype. 6. Test and evaluate prototype. 7. Redesign as needed.
Reflection
During this project we went through many ups and downs. When we started this project, we had many ideas and didn't know which to do. Then we came up with the idea to make food that can act like medicine. This was a peak in the project because we all liked the idea and there was so much we could learn about medication and the effect of food on the body. Once we started working, it was hard to develop recipes because there was so many different foods to choose from to put in the foods. This was a pit because it put our project on hold for a bit. We solved this problem by using Pinterest and Yummly to help us find recipes that could work. We ended up with chocolate bark, overnight oats, granola bars, smoothies, and vegetable chips. Then we had to actually make the food. This was one of the best parts of the project because I love to cook. Once we had given out all of our food and had people fill out a survey about it, we could analyze our results. This was both a pit and a peak of the project because for the most part, the foods were effective, but the sleep food wasn't. This was a pit because it was sad that one of our foods didn't work. During this project, I learned how the different chemical properties of foods effect the body and how we can use this to our advantage in the future with eating habits. I also learned that it is important to have a good work ethic while working on a project such as this, even if you might seem that you are going too fast compared to other people in your class just because you aren't getting distracted. This is important, especially in a job environment, because if you do more work than others you will be rewarded, not punished.