January 29, 2025

The Starting Line

This week began with a race. For our first commute to Rise Bionics, we split the team in half. Simon and I switched lines halfway through our metro ride while the others rode straight north. In the end, it didn’t matter. Both halves arrived simultaneously. It may have even been faster to just take a cab the whole way. I was glad to take the metro, however. Navigating crowded platforms and pushing into packed cars emphasized that part one of our program is over.
At least for Team Rise, this meant we were back at the beginning, staring at a blank white board. The prosthetics and orthotics industry that Rise Bionics is a part of includes stakeholders from patients and manufacturers to surgeons and NGOs. Most of our first couple days were spent trying to understand these players and to envision what an engaged community made up of them would look like. The white board filled up. We crossed things out. Then, erased it all and did it again. Eventually, we reached an impasse where it felt as though our limited knowledge could carry us no further. To keep moving forward, we drafted questions and made plans to conduct interviews over the next few days. In the meantime, we had the opportunity to try our hands at another problem.
Rise uses iPads to take scans for their prosthetic devices, so that they can be done from anywhere. When a professional is out in the field, they carry this scanner in a customized padded case, but right now the case only carries one iPad. The Rise team tasked us with elegantly reworking the interior to carry another (elegance at Rise is a key aspect of any solution). We spent the next couple hours experimenting, discussing, and practicing all of the ways you can cut foam. It was a welcome challenge and rewarding to see the progress taking place.
Over the next few weeks with GCIL, however, not everything will be as tangible as shaving down styrofoam. I will need to become comfortable with not knowing now and embrace the inevitable struggles in trying to make something elegant. I don’t often dance, but perhaps I should have shrugged off my drowsiness and participated in last night’s Bhangra class. In retrospect, it strikes me as a great representation of the process I will undertake: stretching well outside of my comfort zone in hopes of making something capable of bringing people together.

By,
Rohan