I plan to intern with Grupo Fenix, which is a Nicaragua-based non-profit whose goal is to “research, develop and apply appropriate, renewable energy technologies in
“To conduct practical research into appropriate energy technologies, to support community self-determination and local responsibility for the projects, to increase the technical skill level and employability of local people, to improve health and living standards of families and communities, and to preserve natural resources.”
Based on the time that I’ve spent in
Other things that I like about this organization: it has been around for a while, which means they’ve had the chance to realize many of their objectives. They are able to provide microloans to families who want to purchase photovoltaic lighting. They train land mine victims to build and install solar panels, in combination with a land mine education program led by former Sandinista and Contra soldiers. Also, when I visited Grupo Fenix’s office last summer, I talked to interns who were working on cool projects like altering the shape of LEDs to make them suitable for area lighting. Another thing that interests me are the constraints placed on the engineers and interns in Grupo Fenix. Obviously they don’t have access to Olin’s machine shop—they can’t crank out a bunch of prototypes quickly and cheaply. They can’t buy new circuit components whenever they need them. In fact, when I was in their office, they showed me a wall of bins full of obsolete (in the
Please see attached pages for syllabi for each course of study that I intend to undertake.
I have tried to plan out my time commitments so that they correspond with Olin’s definition of credit hours (1 unit = 3 hours of work per week). I will be working in the office Monday through Friday, for at least 30 hours a week (Grupo Fenix’s requirement).
I’m asking for 4 design depth credits and 1 elective credit for the Design and Development in
For the ethnography class, I’m asking 4 AHS credits. I plan to spend an average of 1.5 hours working on this in the office each day, and about an hour at home, typing my notes, transcribing interviews, and completing deliverables.
I’m asking for 3 elective credits for the Spanish class. I anticipate that the nature of this class will change a lot throughout the semester. While I will eventually need to write documentation in Spanish for the database, my initial tasks are more likely to be oral (conducting interviews and talking with coworkers). I plan to use time at home to study appropriate books and complete assignments for Dr. Mandrell. This should take about 2 hours per work day, although much of the work for this class could potentially be done on weekends. Although this class will specifically focus on communication in the workplace, my overall Spanish skills will be improved through conversation with my homestay family and with Nicaraguan friends.
After discussing my plans with my adviser and with various faculty, including the ones who will be supervising me, I am confident that my three courses of study have academic merit. My activities will be different than they would be if I were simply doing an internship (not for credit). There will be a lot more conscious reflection and study, and I will be making connections between disciplines that I’ve already studied, and building skills to use in future projects.
This course of study will leave me on track to graduate from Olin. Using the previous curriculum, my adviser and I figured out that I would only need to earn 3 elective credits during my
This internship provides certain opportunities that Olin does not. While Olin emphasizes project-based learning, “real” projects like designing a database for a nonprofit would be a headache to coordinate for large numbers of students. In addition, I will be working in a different office culture and speaking a different language, which is something that Olin can’t provide. There is also the opportunity to do anthropological fieldwork, something that, while we may offer it in the future, is not currently an option at Olin. My studies in
The experience that I gain in simultaneously working on three different courses and working an internship in the same field I feel will be invaluable when I start to think about my Senior Capstone. Even the process of writing this proposal has made me think about how to take a project that I’m interested in and pull out aspects of it that relate to different disciplines. This
Ethnographic study of Nicaraguan office environment: 4 AHS credits
This course will serve as an introduction to anthropology and ethnography. I will study the office environment of Grupo Fenix using ethnographic methods, following the guidance of Caitrin Lynch. I will learn about the culture using interviews, field notes, physical artifacts, and research. My study will culminate with a 20-25 page report on my findings. Caitrin has previously taught introductory classes similar to this, so we are using her syllabi as a starting point. There are several deliverables that she expects throughout the semester, in addition to a monthly status report of 1-2 pages.
| Month | Activities | Deliverables |
| August | Read material on anthropology, ethnographic methods, culture and technology, and sustainable development | consent forms, status report |
| Research on Grupo Fenix and | ||
| September | Observe office culture | sample field notes, research proposal, status report |
| Take field notes | ||
| Determine topic of research, methods to be used, ethical considerations, expected results | ||
| Read books on methodology | ||
| October | Conduct and analyze interviews | interview assignment, data analysis assignment, status report |
| Do data analysis on interviews | ||
| November | Continue research | status report |
| December | Continue research | annotated bibliography, |
| Begin work on final report | status report | |
| January | | final report (20-25 pages) |
Appropriate design and implementation of a database system: 4 Design depth credits and 1 elective credit
I request approval to count a portion of this experience as a design course that meets the design depth requirement for graduation. The proposed course and the necessary activities and requirements for completion are described below.
This proposal has been reviewed and approved by
The course, titled “Design and Development in
The components of the course are expected to be similar to the following product development components: Planning, Management, Needs, Specifications, Concepts, Architecture, Details, Prototyping and Testing.
I chose to focus on design and appropriate technology. So, not everything that I do will be counted towards this course. There will be a considerable amount of technical skills (such as using database software) that must be learned and then applied that will not be counted. There are also activities that I will have to do for the course that would not otherwise happen in my away experience.
Spanish professional and technical communication: 3 elective credits
This course will focus on the communication skills needed in an office setting. While I am quite comfortable writing essays in Spanish for literature classes, I have never written a business letter, and I realized recently that I don’t know even the basic technical vocabulary that I will need in my internship. I will study conventional forms of addressing coworkers, supervisors, business contacts orally and in writing. I will also study the technical vocabulary necessary to communicate ideas about my work on the database. At the end of my internship, I will be expected to leave behind full documentation of my work and experiences, in both English and Spanish. My methods of study will include reading appropriate books, asking questions of my coworkers and supervisor, listening in on phone calls (with permission), and perhaps reading sample correspondence that Grupo Fenix employees have written.
I will be in contact periodically with Dr. James Mandrell, Professor of Spanish, Brandeis. He will track and assess my progress in the following ways:
1. Speak with me by telephone 4-5 times during the semester.
2. Review 4-5 of my faxes or e-mails in Spanish during the semester.
3. Assess improvement in my language skills at the end of the semester.
4. Review a paper written by me in Spanish when I return.
5. Send a brief assessment to
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