TKS Session 13: Materials Science + Velocity Session 4
Going into this session, I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy it. This session was focused on materials science, the study of researching and discovering materials and their possible uses. So, for my intention today, I was going to “open my mind” and allow myself to absorb everything I learned and actively search for that engagement to make the most out of the session.
In today’s velocity session, we talked about the MotW (Mindset of the Week), boss mentality. The challenge for this week was that when you had an answer or question in class, you would have to stand up from your desk and speak. When doing this, the idea is that you will make yourself feel uncomfortable but you will also be noticed and everyone will focus on you. Boss mentality is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, and this was the way to foster that and start training the mindset. Also, doing these actions that make you stand out are the type of things that will make people notice and focus on you in life.
The PotW (Person of the Week) was Peter Diamandis, founder of multiple organizations such as XPRIZE, Singularity University, and Cellularity. The requirements this week were to watch 2+ of his talks and look at some of those organizations listed to get more familiar with his work.
From doing these requirements, there were a couple things that stood out to me:
Many people think the world was better 10 years ago compared to now. I’ll admit, I sometimes think that as well. In fact, 52% of Americans who took a survey also thought that. In reality, we see trends like poverty, death, and war decreasing from 10 years ago to now. The advancements in technology, healthcare, innovation breakthroughs are growing higher from 10 years ago as well. So, why does everyone think we were better off 10 years ago? This is because we only see the negative news around us. News anchors and social media know that negative news sells, so that’s all they feature. Because we see negative things all the time, all we know is that there are a lot of bad things happening in the world, but, we don’t get shown enough of the breakthroughs and advancements in our world. Something I want to do is try to surround myself with more positivity, especially when I realize that I’m not seeing enough of it. Being able to see how good our world is compared to a while ago not only can make you happier and more motivated, but it can also help you realize what else is possible and help you open your mind to 10x thinking.
Peter Diamandis uses his organization XPRIZE to bring the world together to solve its biggest problems by promoting competition and 10x thinking by holding different competitions, challenging people to try and solve a problem in the world for some money as a reward. People who make it to the finals range from grad students and PhDs to ordinary people interested in making an impact. What I love about this is that he uses competition and incentives to get more people educated and focused on the problems our world is facing. The more people working on a problem, the more likely for a solution.
To begin the actual session, we looked at the mindset of the week, which was Nth-order thinking. The way it works is you have different orders (first order, second order, third order, etc.) that evaluate the good and bad consequences and outcomes of a decision or idea. The first order is immediate, the second order is a little later, the third order is later than that, the fourth order is more long-term, and so on. The reason it can be effective to run solutions and ideas through this system of thinking is that it helps us see the big picture of the problems or successes that could happen from an idea, and that can help us determine if this is the best decision to go through with or if we need to alter something. This relates to materials science because you need to be able to evaluate both the immediate and generational consequences of releasing a material into manufacturing or utilizing a material for a specific task. This helps evaluate if the material that will be put into use is safe for humans, safe for the environment, effective, long-lasting impact, etc.
Some insights I got about materials science really helped me understand the scope and importance of it. Material science is useful because it helps us see the possibilities and resources we have to improve a current way of doing things or find a solution to something that people are facing as a problem. People use materials science to come up with and utilize different resources and materials based on the specific field they are researching.
For today’s session, we were given a workbook with three parts. Part 1 was to look into a sector (our focus topic), find a problem it was facing and the materials that could be used to solve it. We would then phrase our idea into a question. I came up with: Can incorporating enzyme-based nanoparticles and hydrogels alongside phage therapy improve the breakdown of biofilms and access to bacteria?
To come to this idea, I did a little review of some of the technical challenges of getting phage therapy FDA-approved. While doing this, I came across how phages don’t always succeed in targeting deep infections because of the strong and sticky biofilms surrounding the root bacteria. I then looked into what materials could be incorporated with phage therapy to help combat this. I then found nanoparticles (tiny particles that interact effectively with biological systems) and hydrogels (release therapeutic agents controlled over time, flexible, compatible, and respond to changes and environment), which can carry specific enzymes that are made to target and promote the breakdown of those biofilms.
The nanoparticles and hydrogels would be released simultaneously with the phages. Then they would go and destroy the biofilm of the target bacteria, and that would allow the phages to go through and have access to that bacteria to infect it.
For part 2, we did an Nth-order thinking layout to see the impact the world would have if this material innovation was successful. Some stuff I explored included:
First order:
Improved phage penetration to bacteria
Increased phage infection rate reduces treatment durations
Reduces the likelihood of biofilm-associated infections
Second order:
Reduces inflammation, which minimizes tissue damage and improves the overall results the patient has
Bacteria may develop resistance against the enzyme breakdown technique, which is necessary for combating these infections and for this overall therapy
Third order:
Because we are using less antibiotics, antibiotic resistance in bacteria could decline
These materials could lead to bioaccumulation, and we would need to evaluate their biodegradability and ecotoxicity
Fourth order:
We could use our therapy for combating other targets like cancer or other conditions that are associated with biofilms
The greater use of these engineered materials in medical treatments could raise questions about safety and public acceptance
Fifth order:
This could create a shift in global healthcare priorities and we could focus more on precision medicine rather than traditional therapies and treatments
It may cause an imbalance in human and environmental microbiomes, and we would need to make sure those ecosystems don’t get disrupted and still function as normal
For part 3, we then looked at using our Nth-order thinking layout and our ideas to create a storytelling presentation pitch. In order to do this, we first watched a video about what makes every hero a hero. Here are the 12 things that make up a hero and their journey:
Status Quo
Call to Adventure
Assistance
Departure
Trials
Approach
Crisis
Treasure
Result
Return
New Life
Resolution
and would then take you back to 1. Status Quo (upgraded)
We then took parts of this general “hero story” to create a pitch story:
Status Quo: How the world is now
Call to Adventure: Call to action
Departure: Explaining how the solution could be implemented
Crisis: Getting technical about it
Result: The entire solution presented in front of them and the impact it can have
What we then worked on was using this storytelling pitch format to write a script on how we could present our materials science idea.
Rough storytelling pitch layout:
Status Quo: How the world is now
The human species is suffering because of the development of antibiotic resistance
Phage therapy may be our last solution
An obstacle to implementing this is their ability to tackle deep infections due to biofilms
Call to Adventure: Call to action
Using enzyme-engineered nanoparticles and hydrogels alongside phages in phage therapy could improve the breakdown of biofilms and allow phages access to bacteria to infect
Departure: Explaining how the solution could be implemented
What are nanoparticles and hydrogels, and why should they work together?
First we need to engineer them to carry the required enzymes
How they will be incorporated in phage therapy
Crisis: Getting technical
Specify the enzyme types that can be used and why
More specifically how they work alongside phages and the step-by-step process of their implementation when released to go to an infection
Result: The entire solution presented in front of them and the impact it can have
These materials can target deep bacterial infections with strong and sticky biofilms
Make it easier for phage therapy to be implemented, one step closer to its approval
Helps to combat already stronger and more evolved infections and bacteria we’ve lost control of and are losing people to
This opens up new doors for different applications of this therapy
And that was session! Next week, we begin our first challenge in TKS, where we get to work with a company that will give us a real problem they are facing. We then get to work in a group to present them with a solution. If we win, then we will have our solution presented to a team of executives in the company. The challenge runs for 2 weeks, and I’m really excited about it. These are one of the opportunities to put everything you’ve learned so far to the test and see how it stacks up against real situations and problems.
Be sure to be on the lookout for my newsletter in the next couple days! This month was full of fun events and growth, and I can’t wait to share it with you all!
