Week 5

Monday 12th February 2024

• Today's plans include recording footage around the Tyndall premises as well as work some more on the PhD project.
• I have recorded some more footage around Tyndall, including by the river, and at the outdoor dining area.
• I am currently typing up a more detailed version of the PhD project plan.
• Here it is completed for now:

PhD Student Plan

 

Jake Sharratt Martínez

Working title: Organizing a bigger kitchen for the cafeteria

My focus of this PhD is to try to gather methods on how to build a bigger and better cafeteria for the students and staff of the building. I am working on this topic because from what I can see from the cafeteria in this building, it feels too small and does not feel like it can offer more people to sit down and eat. Equally, when it comes to the people working in the cafeteria, it doesn’t offer enough space to have many different people preparing many different foods to please different people. So, with that in mind, I decided I would take part in planning how to expand the college to accommodate for this.

The state of the art of this project as of right now is that there is a kitchen that can cook different foods, however, the cafeteria does not have sufficient ingredients required to cook all kinds of dishes. It also lacks the amount of equipment and cooks needed to prepare larger meals, so in terms of the kitchen, with what we have now, we cannot prepare big dinner meals such as fish and chips or full dish pizzas for multiple different students and staff members at once. In terms of the students and staff members, considering the amount of people that visit the building daily, the cafeteria needs to grow about 50%.

Obviously, as I am not an expert in construction, I will need to look deeper into how this growth in the cafeteria can be done. This can be done by looking up information surrounding how construction work can be planned, completed and at what cost, to ensure that it is not too expensive. That way, we can find the most practical and cost-effective solution to try and expand the cafeteria. In terms of planning, we need to find the perfect design and map that can help to expand the cafeteria, not to mention, how many people it would take to work on this project, and how long that will take.

Tuesday 13th February 2024

• I was thinking about what I would do and talk about tomorrow, as I had a plan to meet up with people in the cafeteria at 11:00am.
• I have brought some electrical equipment over to the IT room using a trolley called Barry.
• Here are the notes that I was given by Ré, during the meeting that I had with him this morning.

1. In terms of dummy script, more questions regarding their project.
2. What will be the outcome?
3. What will be different between now and 3-4 years time?
4. Do you have any project planned?
5. Expand the script to have more PhD project related questions.
6. Get in touch with Tala soon and do a dummy video/audio
7. Put all the Who What Whens in one place

• I have arranged a meeting with Tala at 2:00pm at A3.3.02 to do my test interview.
• I have updated my Who What When list to make it colour coded.

Who?	What?	When?
Me	Creative Video about Tyndall	[FINISHING UP] By the end of week 5 (16/02/2024)
Me and the student	Video blog which is an interview of different students in Tyndall	By the end of week 9 (15/03/2024)
The student	Plans for the future of the students’ projects	By the end of week 13 (12/04/2024)
Me	Rerecord my footage	[DONE] Whenever I’m working from home
Me	Record some more footage around the Tyndall building	[DONE] Whenever the weather is good
Me	Compose some music for the video	[DONE] By the end of week 4 or 5
Me and the audience for the video	Try to put more information about Tyndall to entice international markets	[DONE] By the end of week 4 or 5
Me and the audience for the video	Rewrite the script to add more information	[DONE] By the end of week 4 or 5
Me	Composing music for the creative video project	[DONE] By the end of week 4, whenever I am working at home
Me	Work on effects for the creative video project	[DONE] By the end of week 4.
Me	Rewrite script for creative video project	[DONE] By the end of week 4.
Me	Composing music for the student podcast	[DONE] By the end of week 5, whenever I am working at home
Me	Creating graphics for the student podcast	[DONE] By the end of week 3.
Me	Record more footage around Tyndall	[DONE] By the end of week 5 (16/02/2024)
Me and the student	Visit up at the coffee morning for a chat	14/02/2024 at 11:00am
Me and Tala	Meet up with Tala for an interview training	[ORGANIZED] By the end of week 9 (15/03/2024)
Me	Work on my PhD project	By the end of week 13 (12/04/2024)

• I worked on a revision for my dummy script:

Interview Dummy Script:

Me: Hello there, it is an absolute pleasure to meet up with you today. What is your name?

Student: My name is John Smith. Good to see you too, I would be glad to explain how it is to study at Tyndall.

Me: And I’m glad to have you on board so that the listeners can have a good idea of how the life of a Tyndall student is.

John: I’m ready for my first question.

Me: So, what got you interested in studying at Tyndall in the first place?

John: Well, I decided to study here not only because it offered a perfect opportunity to work on a PhD project that I was passionate about, but also because in terms of geographical convenience, it was easy for me to get to.

Me: That’s nice, and coincidentally, the same thing also applies to me. I’m working as an intern here for college, and I also find it convenient for me that Tyndall is not difficult to get to.

John: Indeed. And from where I get off it only takes ten minutes to get to which is not long.

Me: Yeah, so while we’re talking about Tyndall, are there any aspects of the place you really loved?

John: A couple, I would say that although the place is huge, it is surprisingly easy to access and look around in, and all the blocks are near each other.

Me: I agree, and I also feel like the people working here are very nice and will always help you out with any situation.

John: Not to mention that if you ever get stuck, there is a useful map on the intranet on the Tyndall website.

Me: Yeah, and I do admit that I use that occasionally if I’m ever stuck.

John: Same.

Me: So, what would an average day at Tyndall be like for you? For me, I work on various projects, such as video and audio work, but what about you?

John: I spend my days gathering research for my PhD project, and I write down any documents that includes any research that I make.

Me: And would you consider that an easy or a tough job?

John: I’d say it’s somewhere in the middle. It does take a long time to do, and at some points, it is tedious, but the payoff is very satisfying.

Me: Well, that’s good. And what exactly is your PhD project all about anyway?

John: My project is about trying to find a cure for athlete’s foot, as I know some of my friends who have done extensive exercise, and they tend to suffer from it quite a lot. So, I thought for my project, I would try to find what a remedy for it is.

Me: I see, and what do you hope the outcome will be out of this project?

John: I would imagine that it would give me the right combination of ingredients and knowledge needed to make a remedy for athlete’s foot.

Me: And if you were to charge money for this remedy, what would it be?

John: Well, I’m not a chemist so I’m not going to sell this right away. I suppose if I were to sell it though, I’d probably sell it for €2. If it’s slightly quality, then maybe €3.

Me: That’s a pretty humble price.

John: Yeah.

Me: And are there gonna be differences between the project now and the project in three to four years’ time?

John: Well, of course, because as I’m still early on this project, I will need to do a bit more research on the topic of working on a cure for a disease.

Me: And that’s been going well for you?

John: Sure. I feel confident in this project.

Me: That’s great to hear. Now, tell me. Are there any hobbies that you enjoy doing outside of Tyndall?

John: That’s a curious question. When I get home after a day’s work, I usually settle down with a good book, or if there’s an episode of a favorite show that I want to watch on the streaming services, I can easily have a go with those too.

Me: What would be the genre you would love to see or read the most?

John: Normally, I sit down and check out an action book or film, but I also really enjoy comedies and horror movies. I’m open to any genre, really.

Me: In you were to create a movie or show for Netflix, or Amazon Prime, or really, anything, what would it be about?

John: It would most likely revolve around adapting a book that I am currently reading. Of course, I don’t want it to be exactly like the book, otherwise there would be no point in the movie existing, so I would like to make it different in many ways, but still familiar enough for old audiences.

Me: Would you ever like to see the world?

John: Oooh, now that would be exciting. Mind you, there are some places that I always wanted to visit.

Me: Really? Like which ones?

John: There’s France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and of course, America. I imagine all of these would have lovely cuisine and the places you can visit look lovely.

Me: Seeing as you mentioned cuisine, do you normally get any takeaway or eat out?

John: Sometimes whenever there isn’t much in the house, we usually get some takeaway.

Me: And what do you love to get the most?

John: Chinese food. There’s something about always getting spice bags that does the trick for me. I love the mix of chicken and the spices, and how cheap and filling it is. Never disappoints.

Me: Sounds yummy. Do you enjoy playing sports?

John: I’m not much of a sporty guy, I don’t join in too many sports clubs. Although with my friends, I enjoy playing baseball and basketball.

Me: I’ve never actually played baseball, and it’s surprising you get to play it. I would love to play it properly.

John: Perhaps one day, we could let you join in one of the games.

Me: Boy, that would be neat!

John: Yeah…

Me: Hey, since you mentioned how your friends play baseball and basketball, are they the ones who also do extensive exercise, like you said?

John: Actually, now that you mention it, they are.

Me: So, would they be susceptible to getting athlete’s foot?

John: Unfortunately, yes. It doesn’t happen too frequently, but when it happens, my friends tell me that it is the most infuriating thing ever.

Me: Ouch, that doesn’t sound fun.

John: Yeah, that’s for sure.

Me: I guess that’s the reason why you chose to find a cure for athlete’s foot as your PhD project.

John: Yeah, pretty much.

Me: I’m sure your friends will be very grateful for the project that you’re doing. It does sound very ambitious to be fair, so I wish you the best of luck.

John: Thanks.

Me: One final question before I wrap up, is there any advice you would like to give to your listeners? I’m mainly aiming at younger people in the middle of leaving college and nearing seeking jobs.

John: If I had any advice to give, it would be when it comes to looking for a job, look deeply at it. Check if it pays well, if it’s useful from your location, how long the work week is, and above all else, plan. Planning is never a bad option. After all, a good saying that I once read says “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Me: Indeed. Well, thank you John for a nice and chilling conversation today, it was a pleasure to have you here.

John: And the same for you!

Me: Alright, see ya!

John: Bye!

Wednesday 14th February 2024

• Today I have a meeting at 11am at the cafeteria that I arranged to go to. I might decide to take my computer to take notes down.
• Unfortunately, no interns or PhD students showed up.
• I had a meeting with Ré and he suggested that I do some kind of preparation in order to do my practice interview. With that I'm going to look over the dummy script that I made, as well as all the questions that I have written down, so hopefully, I will be able to know how to do the interview tomorrow. I could also practice doing an interview at home tonight so that I got more confidence.
• I was also told how to edit the video for the interview, and just like the creative video, I can put in some footage of Tyndall.
• I was thinking on perhaps working from home on Friday, to accommodate for all the video production that I am going to do.
• I was working on more of my PhD project plan:

The overall goal of this project is to try and find a realistic and economical method of expanding the campus cafeteria to ensure more space for students and more options for food on the menu. So far, regarding finding out the cost side of all this, we found that to create one square foot of land would cost around €100 to €200 per square metre. So we need to find the best way to try and raise that amount of money. This can be done in many ways. We could arrange some events or performances that can help with trying to gather some money for the cafeteria expansion. I could also look up other ways that you can raise money for expansion. Bearing in mind this can take several years to work on, I need to figure out if the time I must prepare this PhD project is sufficient to start construction of the new cafeteria.

Thursday 15th February 2024

• Today I am going to do my test meeting with Tala. I will admit that I am a little bit nervous, because I only have one shot at this. Nevertheless, I will practice asking my questions as well as preparing my video. I was thinking for the video to add some sound effects and some music that I made.
• Here are the questions that I probably will be asking. Of course there is the possibility that I won't ask all the questions here, this is just as a guide:
• What is your name?
• What made you interested in studying at Tyndall?
• What is your favorite aspect of Tyndall?
• Were you excited to learn about your project before you did it?
• What is your project about and what does it do?
• Who is this project targeting?
• How did you approach this project?
• Were there any projects you saw that may have a similar function to yours?
• On a scale of 1-10 (1 being easiest, 10 being hardest) how challenging do you think this project is?
• Were there any struggles or setbacks while working on your project?
• On a scale of 1-10 (1 being least enjoyable, 10 being most enjoyable), how enjoyable do you find this project?
• Are there any changes you would have made to this project with the experience you have now?
• What do you plan to do next for your project?
• If you had a television program, what would it be about?
• What's your favorite type of music/show/movie/book/etc.?
• If you were interested in starting a band, what kind of music would you make, and how many members would you have?
• Where and what do you like to eat on your lunch break?
• Any particular restaurants you like to eat at?
• How do you get to Tyndall?
• Do you like to play any sports?
• Have you ever travelled the world, or thought of travelling the world?
• What other hobbies do you have?
• After you finish studying at Tyndall, where would you like to go?
• Have you ever gone anywhere on the train yourself before?
• I have finished up with the dummy interview with Tala, and aside from some minor hiccups, I feel like the interview went really well. I engaged with the interviewee and asked some generally interesting questions. When I get home I'm going to edit this into a video.
• I'm working on more of my PhD project plan and here is what I have written up so far:

For our expansion, we would like to have an extra 20 square meters of space that we can use for our kitchen and our canteen. Considering how much one square metre is (€100 to €200 per square metre), we will need between €2,000 and €4,000. However, we might need a little extra for any more equipment that might be needed, so our aim is to try and reach around €5,000 that we can use to expand the cafeteria. This is not going to be an easy task, but we’re very determined to get this done. We must find methods of raising money. This can be done in all kinds of ways, such as having a raffle that people can take part in and win a prize, or even having a talent show or a play of some kind, where an audience can pay a fee for entry, and then the money that is gathered can be used for the budget for the cafeteria expansion. Then, once all the money has been gathered, the money can be used to ask a construction team to expand the premises, adding walls and more space in the cafeteria. After that is all complete, we can order some equipment that can be used to cook more kinds of foods, like a pizza oven for example.

Of course, this project is not going to be an easy or short task, so naturally, trying to gather all the money would take the least amount of time. Trying to advertise this would take some time and money too, though for something like this, it’s only really going to be advertised locally, so there would be no need to go to every part of the country to advertise events like these. In terms of pricing, we could charge people €10 for a ticket and we can have it run for about a month each certain day of the week, like a Wednesday or a Friday. If there are 300 tickets for example, then that would mean we would make €3,000 each week. Going by this rate, by the end of the month, we would have raised about €12,000. That would be more than enough to expand the cafeteria and buy and extra things too. After the month of causing events, we would work on a plan that we can draw out that shows a map of the proposed cafeteria redesign. We can then give it to the construction crew that we can commission to construct the redesign. Although depending on how complex this redesign is, it could take a year or two to finish construction. After that happens, we could then think of what new equipment we can order. If there is any leftover money from the construction, we could use it for the equipment budget.

Friday 16th February 2024

• Today I decided to work from home so that I may work on video projects.
• I had a meeting with Ré this afternoon that went through everything going on this week.
• I was also informed that the traffic light system was a flawed one because unbeknownst to me, red means that there is definitely a problem. So the next time I have a todo list, I need to think of a different colour code.
• I have been finishing up my video work for the creative video that also features more footage of shots I made.

• I have it all sent to Ré for feedback.
• I have been updating my Who What When list, with the finished work on the top and struck and any current work on the bottom and bold.

 

Who?	What?	When?
Me	Creative Video about Tyndall	[DONE] By the end of week 5 (16/02/2024)
Me	Rerecord my footage	[DONE] Whenever I’m working from home
Me	Record some more footage around the Tyndall building	[DONE] Whenever the weather is good
Me	Compose some music for the video	[DONE] By the end of week 4 or 5
Me and the audience for the video	Try to put more information about Tyndall to entice international markets	[DONE] By the end of week 4 or 5
Me and the audience for the video	Rewrite the script to add more information	[DONE] By the end of week 4 or 5
Me	Composing music for the creative video project	[DONE] By the end of week 4, whenever I am working at home
Me	Work on effects for the creative video project	[DONE] By the end of week 4.
Me	Rewrite script for creative video project	[DONE] By the end of week 4.
Me	Composing music for the student podcast	[DONE] By the end of week 5, whenever I am working at home
Me	Creating graphics for the student podcast	[DONE] By the end of week 3.
Me	Record more footage around Tyndall	[DONE] By the end of week 5 (16/02/2024)
Me and Tala	Meet up with Tala for an interview training	[DONE] By the end of week 9 (15/03/2024)
Me	Work on my PhD project	[DONE] By the end of week 12 (05/04/2024)
Me and the student	Video blog which is an interview of different students in Tyndall	By the end of week 12 (05/04/2024)
The student	Plans for the future of the students’ projects	By the end of week 12 (05/04/2024)
Me	Edit interview video with Tala	Whenever I am home
Me	Attend the Fire Extinguisher Training	22nd February 2024, 2:00pm

•  I was working on editing my interview video too, but unfortunately, I suffered from technical issues earlier in the afternoon so I didn't get time to work on much of the video.

• The next time I work from home, I will be able to work on this.