New Project about plant

As we have finished our 3D printed bionic ear, our group is starting a new project. We are basically preparing for the new one, which will be about plant and energy harvesting.

In this project, I need have more reading since I need to contribute a lot to the experiments design and performing, which includes the material choosing and methods design. As I am pretty familiar with the knowledge of plant photosynthesis (thanks to my great AP Biology class), I will be more specifically in charge of the mechanics part of the leaf, while I will learn more about the electronic part.

What’s more, instead of alginate and bovine cells, we will use totally different material for this time, which means we need to design new setting for our lab. These days, through the information we have, we are deciding the material and other electrical components of the project, while the material needs to be reconsidered. We are also preparing for the interview from MIT’s Technology Review, which records the whole process of our 3D printed bionic ear. So a new fresh ear is coming.

One of the most exciting things taking place these past two weeks is the presentation of the new project in our group meeting. This is the presentation that I have longest talk about our idea, in which I explain how our research would go. In the presentation, I first mentioned the necessity of plant energy harvesting and the general information about photosynthesis including photosystem and electron transaction way. Later, I talked about the idea of combining nanotechnology and plant biology, and the specific methods that we were going to follow. The presentation went well.

In the next week, we will start the new project and I cannot wait for the experiments with plant.