Week #23 - January 19th-January 26th

This week has been one of the busiest and most transformative yet. I’ve been balancing heavy schoolwork alongside preparation for the regional science fair, the upcoming SAT, and BPA State, all happening within the same window. The workload has been intense, but it’s pushed me to manage my time more deliberately than ever before.

The highlight of the week was traveling to Pasadena to visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as part of the Enterprise Neurosystem team. During the meetings, we discussed plans for implementing sensor networks in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, focusing on multi‑phase deployment strategies and different sensor topology models to ensure reliability in remote environments. Listening to conversations about large‑scale environmental monitoring systems and seeing how these networks are structured from concept to execution was incredibly inspiring and directly connected to my interests in IoT and distributed sensing systems.

While there, I also had the opportunity to meet my ISM mentor in person, along with numerous professionals, including NASA scientists and experienced technology veterans. Being in that environment made the field feel tangible and reinforced that this is the direction I want to pursue.

Outside of the technical experience, I explored Southern California, mostly around Los Angeles, and even bought my first two vinyl records, a small but memorable milestone. Now that I’m back, the focus shifts to finalizing my science fair board and preparing for the next round of academic challenges.

This week felt like stepping into the future I’m working toward.