Grand Challenges Impact Lab

2024 Student Blog


February 1, 2024

An Ice Cream a Day

gcil

It has been an abrupt transition going from the first three weeks of days jam packed with activities to a practically clear schedule now that we have started working with our organizations. Other teams come back to UTC campus around 6 pm looking exhausted, as if they actually accomplished something that day, and I can…


A Stroll by the Lake

gcil

After a week or so of research, brainstorming, and survey development, the Sensing Local team set out toward Ulsoor Lake to conduct our first of many audits of one of Bangalore’s many urban lakes. Opening to the public only at 4:00 PM, our group made our way through the gates as they opened to a…


January 31, 2024

It’s Never That Serious

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After a long and restful weekend filled with 12 hr sleep days, tissues of snot, and a whole season of “Love is Blind”, me and the rest of Hasiru Dala make our way to HQ. Here we meet with Sarika, the head of the research initiative within the company to learn more about past research…


Carbon Fiber and Grand Challenges

gcil

I am thoroughly enjoying my time at Rise Bionics, engaging in a diverse range of activities from wielding power tools to assisting in the intricate process of crafting orthotics and prosthetics. This hands-on experience in the manufacturing process not only provides insight into the technology behind Rise’s medical devices but also allows us to speak…


January 30, 2024

Pivoting

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The GCILers have officially completed one week of working with our individual programs! Huzzah! It has been really fun to see everyone start to branch off into their own work groups and organizations. It has also been interesting to see how things are starting off for everyone. Some organizations have more structure than others. Some…


The Best Weekend Yet

gcil

This holiday weekend, the first weekend since starting our journeys to entrepreneurship with our individual organizations, was filled with many exciting firsts. For some of us with a less rigorous schedule, our weekend began on Thursday when we went to the local Turf Club and experienced our first derby. After navigating our way through the…


January 29, 2024

Trip to Goa

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This weekend, a group of students and I found ourselves on a last minute trip to Goa. For breakfast the first day we went to a beachside restaurant a block from our hotel. We were happy to see eggs and bacon on the menu and all got a taste of home while looking at the…


January 26, 2024

50 Lives

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Today wraps up the first week of working with our organization, Rise Bionics. The team has been working diligently trying to finish an order of 50 and get it shipped out by next week. So much so, that after introductions to the team and a quick tour of the workshop, Arun’s first question to us…


If I Were a Carpenter

gcil

Rather frequently, I ask myself the very question Johnny Cash poses to himself in his iconic song, “If I were a carpenter…?”. In moments when I am frustrated, overwhelmed, or at wits end with the world around me, as I felt today, I ponder my life as a carpenter. I’m not sure what drives my…


January 25, 2024

All the Windows of the Soul

gcil

It has been 25 days now in India. If I could roll back to day one and redo it all like my own version of Groundhog’s Day, would I have the same motivations I have now? I wonder if I have changed much and reflect on how certain things still feel like me. I still…



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