New Delhi Trip Supporters/Sponsors:
I am incredibly thankful for those who have supported my trip to India!
Broadcom Foundation
I am so grateful to the Broadcom Foundation for all the funding and for all the effort the people at the foundation have given to me. They provided me with an all expense paid trip to Washington D.C. to compete in the Broadcom MASTERS Competition at the end of September, 2013. They awarded me the $3500 Technology Award that I am using to fund my Mayo Clinic internship in India. Their generosity has made a big impact on my life and they have given me an incredible opportunity to expand my project work and learn so much from this incredible trip!
Thank you!!
Mayo Clinic InSciEd Out Program
I am so grateful to the Mayo Clinic InSciEd Out program for extending the invitation for this internship in New Delhi, India. I am traveling to India with my Mayo mentor, Dr. Chris Pierret, who is an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biolology at Mayo Clinic and also the coordinator of the InSciEd Program. Integrated Science Education Outreach (InSciEd Out) is a collaboration formed between Mayo Clinic, Winona State University, and Rochester Public Schools (MN) with the shared vision of achieving excellence in science education in public schools.
Society for Science & the Public
Society for Science & the Public, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education, has run some of the world's most prestigious science competitions for more than seven decades.
Society for Science & the Public, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education, has run some of the world's most prestigious science competitions for more than seven decades.
Thermocycler Sponsors:
I'm so grateful to my sponsors who have contributed to the development and redesign of my thermocycler!
SparkFun Electronics
SparkFun generously donated $500 worth of supplies! This has allowed me to create multiple prototypes, mold my own parts and resupply important electrical components such as wires, resistors, and microcontrollers. If you are a hobbyist or want to use electronics in a science fair project, there is no better place to go than to SparkFun. They have almost everything imaginable! There are many places to buy electronic components, but SparkFun really keeps up with the latest and best technology for hobbyists.
SparkFun generously donated $500 worth of supplies! This has allowed me to create multiple prototypes, mold my own parts and resupply important electrical components such as wires, resistors, and microcontrollers. If you are a hobbyist or want to use electronics in a science fair project, there is no better place to go than to SparkFun. They have almost everything imaginable! There are many places to buy electronic components, but SparkFun really keeps up with the latest and best technology for hobbyists.
One cool thing SparkFun supplied was a bag of Polymorph. Polymorph is plastic-like beads that melt at a low temperature. A heat gun really works well to melt it. After melting, we shaped it by hand into a custom part!
I used it to make a special bracket to mount my servo on my thermocycler. The screw holes were in an awkward place and we couldn't figure out how to mount it. We applied some polymorph in place like putty, and after it cooled into a hard plastic, we drilled holes through it and attached the servo with bolts & nuts! This was awesome! Thanks, SparkFun!
I used it to make a special bracket to mount my servo on my thermocycler. The screw holes were in an awkward place and we couldn't figure out how to mount it. We applied some polymorph in place like putty, and after it cooled into a hard plastic, we drilled holes through it and attached the servo with bolts & nuts! This was awesome! Thanks, SparkFun!
CCS (Customer Computer Services)
CCS generously provided me with an advanced C compiler for PIC microcontrollers. The CCS C compiler allowed me to quickly program the thermocycler using their huge library of built-in functions. It makes microcontroller programming a snap! The CCS compiler is a fantastic way to get started with microcontrollers and they offer educational discounts for hobbyists!
CCS generously provided me with an advanced C compiler for PIC microcontrollers. The CCS C compiler allowed me to quickly program the thermocycler using their huge library of built-in functions. It makes microcontroller programming a snap! The CCS compiler is a fantastic way to get started with microcontrollers and they offer educational discounts for hobbyists!
- Check out their compiler, which shows their huge function library & great debugger software: Compiler Functions
- Here is a link to their educational discounts: Educational Discounts
A picture of me, programming my PIC with the CCS software on New Years Eve. This software helped us get an amazing amount of code finished the night before I left. Overall, we programmed complex LCD menus, read rotary dials and buttons, controlled 2 servos on my robotic arm that moves test-tubes, read 3 temperature sensors, operated a real-time control loop with math, kept an interrupt-based timer going, and communicated between the two PICs on my electronic control board. One smaller PIC is dedicated to pulse width modulation (PWM) power control to hold temperatures of 3 separate oil baths, which the test tubes are dipped in.
Other Supporters:
Website Donation
Another "Austin McCoy", a 24 year old programmer who lives in Austin, Texas, generously donated his domain austinmccoy.com to my website. Thank you!!
Another "Austin McCoy", a 24 year old programmer who lives in Austin, Texas, generously donated his domain austinmccoy.com to my website. Thank you!!
Google+
