July 5

The day started early, like most days here at Memorial University of Newfoundland. At 6:20 I woke up, took a quick shower, and went off to morning recreation – Tai Chi. Our Program Director, Dr. Lye, runs a Tai Chi session every morning. By the end of my 28 days here, I will have learned all 108 moves. Although I have to wake up to do the optional morning rec, it’s invigorating, and definitely worth it.

After breakfast, we went off to the Inco Center, a gorgeous building covered in blue glass. There we were greeted by a special guest… Barry Bisson, the president of Shad himself! He introduced himself and opened up the floor to “Town Hall,” a discussion about our experiences at Shad and any suggestions we might have. We had a second lecture by Barry Yetman about engineering. Lunch followed, and then 12 of us left a little early to walk across campus to a hospital where we attended an anatomy seminar. We touched plasticized organs, different bones, and saw a lung filled and emptied of air. It was an interesting experience, seeing how amazing the human body really is.

At 4 o’clock we had afternoon recreation, an amazing game of open-field capture the flag. After dinner we broke up into our House groups. We prepped ourselves for our first idea vetting. We went in with eight ideas. The four “judges,” including Barry Bisson, gave us constructive criticism about each of our ideas, and their potential drawbacks and flaws. We regrouped again and decided on our three best. Tomorrow we will have a more in depth discussion about our final product idea. The theme this year, “Design for Canada’s Aging Population” is a challenge, but there are many avenues open for product innovation.

Finally we had snacks and said our goodnights. The day was long and our bodies and mind longed for some sleep. I feel like I’ve been here for a month, not just eight days. I know tomorrow will be just as good an adventure as today, and I’m looking forward to some well-needed shut eye.

Ann de Sequeira, Shad Valley Memorial University of Newfoundland 2010
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario