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Final Reflections

  Module learning The goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the semester was to improve my confidence in terms of public speaking and communication with my peers. Throughout the semester, I have engaged in various activities and assignments, the most prominent of which are report writing and presentation, that have allowed me to work towards this goal. At the start of this module, I was prepared to do most of the work individually. However, right off the bat, the reader response topic that I picked paired me with someone to work with that also shared the same topic. I felt that it was out of my comfort zone as I preferred to write summaries and reports by myself, as that way I can police the work without the need to consult someone else. As every paired or group project goes, there will be differences in terms of writing styles and research priorities presented by different members. What was important at the start was to just write out a reader response that is good enou

Contributions to the Research Project

  1) Helped to proofread, edit, and format the group report 2) Made sure that the references are APA style and that they are in alphabetical order 3) Standardised the fronts and slide designs 4) Organised and portion the presentation slides so that there is good flow between members 5) Inserted graphics, images and included animations to the slides so that they are eye-catching and smoother

JSEG Technologies video pitch

 

Summary Reader Response Draft #3

  geCKo Materials, a company that produces artificial gecko material, came out of Professor Mark Cutkosky’s lab in Stanford (Muller, 2023, 0:40). It is an adhesive that is inspired by the way geckos can scale walls and move about on the ceiling. Its website states that the key feature of this adhesive is that it mimics the gecko’s foot structure, which allows it to cling to almost any rough or smooth surface. According to a YouTube video, when observing a toe from a gecko under a microscope, it is made up of very fine structures called spatulas which are less than one micrometre across. Although it is currently impossible to replicate this intricate branching structure, the tape uses a crude approximation of it. Instead of spatulas, the tape is covered with rows of sharp silicon wedges with tips that are around one micrometre (Muller, 2023, 5:14). Unlike how sticky tape works, where the tape sticks due to the chemicals found on one surface of the tape, gecko adhesive is a dry adhesiv

My first draft

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  geCKo Materials, a company that is producing artificial gecko material, came out of Professor Mark Cutkosky’s lab in Stanford. It is an adhesive that is inspired by the way geckos can scale walls and move about on the ceiling. The key feature of this adhesive is that it mimics the gecko’s foot structure, which allows it to cling to almost any rough or smooth surface. If a toe from a gecko’s is placed under a microscope, it can be observed that it is made up of very fine structures called spatulas which are less than one micrometre across. Although currently it is impossible to replicate this intricate branching structure, the tape makes use of a crude approximation of it. Instead of spatulas, the tape is covered with rows of sharp silicon wedges with tips that are around one micrometre. Unlike how sticky tape works, where the tape sticks due to the chemicals found on one surface of the tape, gecko adhesive is a dry adhesive that is easy to remove without the use of force at all and

Summary Draft 1 (geCKo Material)

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"Artificial gecko skin comes out of Professor Mark Cutkosky’s Stanford lab" ( Muller , 2023) and is now marketed as geCKo Materials. It is an adhesive that is inspired by the incredible way geckos can scale walls and even move about on the ceiling. The key feature of this adhesive is that it basically mimics the gecko’s foot structure, which allows it to cling to almost any surface be it rough or smooth due to it being able to make close contact with the surface. "This field is a rather young one as it was born out of the discovery of the mechanism of adhesion in the gecko in 2002, namely Van der Waals forces" (Hawkes, 2015). Unlike how sticky tape works, where the tape sticks due to the chemicals found on one surface of the tape, gecko adhesive is a dry adhesive that is easy to remove without the use of force at all and it leaves no marks or residue. Although currently it is impossible to replicate the intricate branching structure of a gecko’s foot, the tape make

Research Pathway

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 1. Jeremiah was scrolling TikTok and came across a video  "Stickiest non sticky tape"  2. Jeremiah was  intrigued by the short clip and decided to watch the full video on youtube “The stickiest *Non sticky* substance."  3. Gareth asked ChatGPT on a summarised overview of gecko material. The prompt was "Have you ever heard of this material called Gecko Material by Stanford University?"  4.  The team listed down the various features and functions in a google doc.  5. The team discussed the potential strength and weaknesses the the product might have.   6. The team compared the gecko material with other more popular non dry adhesives like duct tape or scotch tape.  7. The team looked through the thesis on the gecko material written by Stanford university.   8. The team then compiled their findings and wrote the summary.