Category: Uncategorized

The Beginning of an Idea

Hi, My name is Drew Meisenheimer and I am a senior here at Mary Washington. Before I begin this phase of what has so far been a really incredible journey, there are some things you should know about me. All of this may not make any sense whatsoever at first, but trust me when I say it will all tie together. The biggest thing to know is that I love the idea of the American Road Trip. I love it so much that coming to school at Mary Washington, the First Year Seminar I decided to take was centered around the American Road Trip. An added bonus was that this FSEM was taught in the Department of Historic Preservation, which ended up being my major. I know what you’re thinking, what is a preservation major doing in a fellowship with technology? Don’t we just like old things and new things aren’t our speed? I will get to that, and it is cool how it connects. There are a lot of ways historic places and artifacts can connect to modern systems and ideas. Anyway, in the FSEM I was told one thing on Day 1 that most freshmen overwhelmed with entering college would just let go right over their heads. Not me, I took this one thing to heart as the best advice I could possibly receive and it led me to this project now, as well as many other awesome places. “Life is about the detours, let your curiosity drive you to places you never expected” were the words of wisdom from the professor of the class that influenced me so much. This is something I have always believed, and yet did not quite understand the extent of what it meant until very recently, but that approach to life changed how I look at everything now. Back to the class, the semester project was to design our own Road Trip, so it was my first opportunity to take the advice to heart. I have designed every one of my family road trips since I can remember, and this was my chance to make my dream trip. I picked as many National Parks as I could, and found every baseball related attraction between, and wrote about a trip to all of it. Not only that, but I have now been to some of the places on it, among them Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park where Hinchliffe Stadium is (National Parks and Baseball in One spot!!!!), the site of Forbes Field at the University of Pittsburgh, and the site of Griffith Stadium in Washington DC where the Howard University Hospital now sits. Yes, these places will connect to this story too, buckle in for this ride with me. We are just getting started

Let my curiosity drive me, right? It was a road trip I can only take like this, in fragments not all at once, but it gives an opportunity for literal detours as well as figurative ones, and I know that will make life fun.

Future Assignments

After the FSEM, I did not expect this to grow further, and if it did I did not expect it to be because of the baseball aspect. I tend to seek out all things National Parks more, so that is where I thought it would go. But that is the thing about detours, they take you where you least expect. I did not touch the baseball aspect again for another two years, when in the Fall of 2023 I took a preservation class called Material Culture and was required to do a semester project where I analyzed any physical object of my choosing made or modified by people, and write a paper about the thing itself or how it relates to broader contexts of history. I have a baseball glove from the 1940s, and this is where the idea starts to develop into what I have now. I took this glove and started to think about how I could use it, and found a very clear answer. The 1940s were the height of the Negro Leagues, professional baseball leagues where people were prevented from what was considered the highest level of the game because of the color of their skin. I decided to dive headfirst into that. I put more work into this paper and presentation than any other assignment in my life, and it showed in the final product, which I was super proud of. I learned about people like Rube Foster, the founder of the Negro National League, and Buck O’Neil, a player for the Kansas City Monarchs whose achievements took way too long to be recognized. It opened my eyes to a glimpse of what the experience for them might have been like, and made me think that this is a story that should be told more often than it is.

Now lets jump ahead a semester to the Spring of 2024. I took an archaeology class for the first time, and my professor encouraged me to try to connect the class term project with the one I did for Material Culture. The project was to make a podcast episode about anything relating to American Archaeology of our choosing. I thought it was impossible to connect, until I thought a little outside the box and learned that archaeology is more than just digging in the dirt. It is just as much about resources from the past, and what they can tell us about the way people lived. Baseball stadiums fit perfectly into this, so I was able to make it work. One of the stadiums on my “road trip” from freshman year that I had visited a couple times already seemed to me like the perfect place to start. I decided to look at Hinchliffe Stadium, a Negro League ballpark in Paterson, New Jersey that had just finished a massive restoration project, and see if any archaeological study was done, and if not what could be done to help interpret the site better.

With this project, I looked at a lot of primary resources and resource surveys and reports, as well as reaching out to various preservation professionals in Paterson to see if they knew anything, so the research I did was way different from anything I had done before. The final product is something I was super proud of at the time especially given I hated using technology so recording and editing a podcast episode was unfathomable to me, I actually had a lot of fun. Looking at it now, the podcast episode could have been a lot better, but the enjoyment of that phase and desire to improve upon it is actually the inspiration for the current phase of the project that I am in, which I will get to. It also led to the next phase, which is possibly the coolest thing I have ever done.

Coolest Research Project Ever

After the archaeology podcast project, my professor came to me with an idea, another detour that I was not at all expecting but am so glad I took. She asked if I wanted to do an independent study class where I build on what I have done so far in the FSEM, Material Culture, and the Archeology classes and expand that work, turning it into some kind of interpretive resource. I took the opportunity and ran. After 135 hours in the fall of 2024 working on something that I sometimes could not even envision a final product, but always knew I could make it awesome, I now have a StoryMap on ArcGIS that combines every element and goes deeper. I did not want to stop at Hinchliffe Stadium, so I used that as a starting point and included 12 other former Negro League Ballparks in the StoryMap. Some of these, like Hinchliffe or Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, are still standing. Others, like Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC or Greenlee Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are gone without a trace. A lot more, like Forbes Field in Pittsburgh or Bush Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana have some of it still standing or have been adaptively reused in some way. Some have higher levels of protection and standards of preservation from being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and others were allowed to be torn down because nobody saw their importance in time. Seeing how sites were and still are similar in spite of all their differences was just as cool to me as reading the stories of players that played in these places and whose lives deserve more recognition, and what better way is there to recognize what they did than tell the story of the place where they did it? The project also gave me an opportunity to reach out to more places and make connections with places that help to tell these stories. The StoryMap might be my single proudest accomplishment so far in an academic sense, but it is still missing something. I found a lot of side tangents and rabbit holes I could go down but did not have time to in the semester I had for it. Some of these are talking about how stadiums are seen in various movies, to talking about how a lot of the spaces were shared by multiple teams and how that worked, and so many other topics. I want to dive deeper into some of that. This brings us to the current phase of this project.

Podcast Time

In trying to figure out the best way to tell these stories, I realize that I have an opportunity to improve a skill that I started to build about a year ago: Podcasting. The professor I worked with on the StoryMap had the same idea, and recommended I apply for this Digital Knowledge Center Fellowship to have some more support in doing that, and build on other skills as well. I am going to create some podcast episodes, the plan currently being to publish one and have two more ready to either record or edit into a finished product. I am also going to have a domain of one’s own, or a website, to house all of this and the StoryMap in a more accessible place. While my skills for all of this are currently very slim if they exist at all, I am excited to learn about how it all works and expand what I can do. Telling these stories in the process seems like a fun way to go about that, and so begins this phase.

The first step to making this Podcast was to determine the topic of the first few episodes, of which I currently have three. Since the main ideas of the project are Historic Preservation and Baseball, I figured the opening episodes should explain what those two things are. I am planning a two part opener talking about Historic Preservation and all it entails in one, with the help of fellow preservation major Michael Murphy to add more insight, and in the other talking about the history of baseball and how it has changed, as well as implications of those changes either in the game or the world around it. The last episode is going to be about how baseball movies show stadiums, specifically the ones in my StoryMap, and how that does or does not impact how these places are preserved or how their stories are told.

The next step was to outline everything in these episodes. For the Historic Preservation one, I consulted Michael for advice, since he is helping me tell about it on the episode. He liked my ideas of a broad overview of key terms and legislation in a style that someone who knows nothing about Preservation will understand, since the target audience is baseball fans who may not know anything about it. For this one I am thinking we will just use the outline to have a conversation about it with a more laid back vibe than lecture format, but that could change based on whether it seems to be working or not. For the baseball history overview, I am digging deeper into significant periods of time, and telling about things that occurred to change the game. Of course I will emphasize the periods of social progress, and throughout the episode I will connect it to preservation and why that should exist too. For the movies episode, I found the movies that feature the ballparks in my StoryMap and those are the movies I plan to focus on. Some of the parks have been torn down, others still stand and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and others have some sort of repurposing done to part or all of it. It is fascinating, and I plan to dive into whether them being featured in these movies effects the methods of preservation, or lack thereof. Based on what I have found so far, I am hypothesizing that the two things are not connected, but more may tell me something different so we will see.

This seems to be a good start to a series, and I am formulating other ideas as I go too, so I may outline some more in the future this semester, or at the very least have a running list of ideas to go back to later.

But Wait… There’s More!

Of course, the Podcast is not the only part of this stage of the project. I am also going to make a website to house my StoryMap as well as the Podcast series. On it I am thinking in addition to the episodes, I will put transcripts on the page for each episode. This is not only for accessibility, but also because some people prefer to read and that allows them to get the content too. It will definitely take more time to make this possible, but it is a necessary commitment in my view, and I find doing transcripts fun because I can use that to reflect on how I can improve. This makes me better at public speaking, and for these purposes it makes me better at podcasting, which I consider a win. In terms of a podcast name, a website name, and a domain name, I have had some ideas. The domain name can basically be the same as the website name so that makes it a little easier. Obviously I need it to connect to Baseball and Preservation, and there are a lot of ways to go with that. I called the StoryMap “Preserving in Place: National Register & the Negro Leagues” which might be a good starting place. It feels too academic for this type of thing, and it does not encompass everything that will be in the podcast and website, so I would need to refine it a little.

For the Podcast, I think a simple title that covers everything is all I need. For now I like how “Preserving Our Pastime” sounds. Preservation is clearly there, and baseball being considered by many the National Pastime, it makes sense. This could change before I release my first episode, but for now anyway that is what I think I am going with.

For the Website and Domain, I want it to be catchy, and honestly for the domain I think preservingourpastime.com is easy to remember, and connects to the podcast in people’s heads. So I may go with that, but for the website I am not sure. I want to make it something catchy that may connect to something people know too. For a while “People Will Stay” as a reference to the famous Field of Dreams “People Will Come” speech, but it does not really stand out or feel original. At the end of the day, I think “Preserving Our Pastime” works for all three things, it is simple, to the point, and hopefully will catch some interest from people.

Next Steps

Now that episodes are outlined and a name for everything has at least been thought about, I need to make a plan for the next couple weeks until the next update. I think the biggest thing will be meeting with Michael Murphy to talk more about the first episode, and come up with a plan together for how it is going to work and when to record. If we are both able with our own time restraints, I think actually recording the audio is possible too. In addition, I think finding out how websites work and setting that up with the structure for everything to go on it also makes sense as a next step. These seem like logical next steps for now, and I feel like I am going to find more to refine as I go so I will include all of that in the next update. I hope this stage of the detour is as fun as the last, it has been so far, and I hope everyone reading about it finds as much enjoyment in it as I have. Farewell for now, its time for some fun!

Dear reader, thank you for accompanying me on the journey from initial concepts to a finished lighting project in the HCC! I hope that you learned a lot and that you’ll be able to implement my code in your own lighting endeavors.

My biggest personal takeaway from this project is that creative engineering causes creative outcomes. This installation is nothing like my original plan, which was also nothing like my original project proposal. We even completely changed the installation plan on the very day we were installing it. Other than the fact that sparkle lights happened, nothing ended up the way I thought it would- and I’m so glad. This is so much better than my original creative vision!

I hope, when you do your own projects, that you persevere through difficult things like fried microcontrollers and discover projects that are far cooler than what you originally intended to make. You can do a project just like this one with a few wires, a microcontroller, and a string of lights!

The video below is a short clip of the lights in the HCC displaying the Rainbow Comet code from one of my earlier blog posts. The full code currently running is posted in blog post 7.

And, of course, here’s some sparkle lights code, adapted from the original nighttime code for the third floor:

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
#ifdef __AVR__
  #include <avr/power.h>
#endif
#define PIN      5
#define NUMPIXELS 150


Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

#define DELAYVAL 15
#define DELAYVAL2 50
#define DELAYVAL300 10 
#define BIGDELAYLOOP  15400
#define BIGDELAY 13900


void setup() {
#if defined(__AVR_ATtiny85__) && (F_CPU == 16000000)
  clock_prescale_set(clock_div_1);
#endif

  pixels.begin(); 
 


}

void loop() {
  for (int g=0; g<12; g++)
{
  for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS; i++) {


    pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
     pixels.show();
   
    }
for (int q=0; q<2400; q++)
  {
  int x=0;
  int y=0;
  int z=120;

for (int t=0; t<50; t++) //red to green
{
for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS; i++) {

pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(z, x, y));

pixels.show();

}

delay(DELAYVAL2);

z--;
x++;
}

for (int t=0; t<50; t++) //green to blue
{
for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS; i++) {

pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(z, x, y));

pixels.show();


}

delay(DELAYVAL2);

y++;
x--;
}

for (int t=0; t<50; t++) //blue to red
{
for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS; i++) {

pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(z, x, y));

pixels.show();


}

delay(DELAYVAL2);

y--;
z++;
} 
 
  }
    
}

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve written! However, if you’ve been on campus, you might have seen the lights up and running in the HCC. In blog post 6, I talked about the successful installation, so if you’d like to learn more, check it out!

If you read blog post 6, you may remember that I fried one of the boards on accident. We got a new one, and I wired it correctly this time. In this post, I wanted to address the wiring system I used in full. It’s a little complex, so bear with me.

The third floor wiring system is relatively simple. The lights have a voltage wire and a ground wire that connect directly to a power converter that plugs into the wall. The Elegoo Mega, my microcontroller of choice, is plugged directly into a separate power converter. Lastly, the two components (microcontroller and lights) are connected to each other by a ground wire and a digital wire, which connects to one of the digital pins on the microcontroller. The code calls out that specific digital pin and assigns lights to it. All in all, it’s four wires. Just don’t forget to connect the lights to a microcontroller ground pin- the digital pin puts out voltage and if you don’t close the loop, it will fry something. I’ll include resources if you want to learn more under the block of code!

The second floor wiring system is more complex than the one on the third floor, but only because of the second set of lights. Instead of requiring six wires, the second floor system uses eight. One set of lights is wired in the exact same way as the lights on the third floor, and the other set simply connects to a different digital pin and ground pin on the microcontroller. Just remember that each set of lights needs power (from the power converter) and data (from the microcontroller) and that every time a power or data wire is connected, a ground wire needs to be connected, too.

I’ll include a picture below, but it’s a bit difficult to see the wiring as it looks like a tangled mess. There’s a method to the madness, I promise!

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Evelynestallation blog post without a block of code, so I’ll attach the code the second floor lights are currently running. It’s a really pretty one- three rainbow comets, a pause, and then white sparkles. I enjoyed coding it, and I hope you enjoy getting to use it! The code for the third floor is similar. Just cut out everything marked with the number 2, and you’ll be all set.

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
#ifdef __AVR__
  #include <avr/power.h>
#endif
#define PIN      5
#define PIN2     7
#define NUMPIXELS 300
#define NUMPIXELS2 178

Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels2(NUMPIXELS2, PIN2, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

#define DELAYVAL 15
#define DELAYVAL2 50
#define DELAYVAL300 10 
#define BIGDELAYLOOP  12000


void setup() {
#if defined(__AVR_ATtiny85__) && (F_CPU == 16000000)
  clock_prescale_set(clock_div_1);
#endif

  pixels.begin(); 
    pixels2.begin();
 


}

void loop() {
  for (int g=0; g<12; g++)
{
  for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS; i++) {


    pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
     pixels.show();
   
    }
    for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS2; i++) {


    pixels2.setPixelColor(i, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));
     pixels2.show();
   
    }
  //rainbows comet loop
  
    for(int i=NUMPIXELS; i>-56; i--) {
 
   pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(255, 0, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+1, pixels.Color(255, 62.5, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+2, pixels.Color(255, 127.5, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+3, pixels.Color(0, 255, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+4, pixels.Color(0, 127.5, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+5, pixels.Color(0, 0, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+6, pixels.Color(255, 0, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+7, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));

 
 pixels.setPixelColor(i+60, pixels.Color(255, 0, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+61, pixels.Color(255, 62.5, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+62, pixels.Color(255, 127.5, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+63, pixels.Color(0, 255, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+64, pixels.Color(0, 127.5, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+65, pixels.Color(0, 0, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+66, pixels.Color(255, 0, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+67, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));

   pixels.setPixelColor(i+120, pixels.Color(255, 0, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+121, pixels.Color(255, 62.5, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+122, pixels.Color(255, 127.5, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+123, pixels.Color(0, 255, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+124, pixels.Color(0, 127.5, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+125, pixels.Color(0, 0, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+126, pixels.Color(255, 0, 255));
   pixels.setPixelColor(i+127, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
   
   pixels.show();
   delay(DELAYVAL300*4);
    }
    
    for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS; i++) {


    pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
     pixels.show();
   
    }
    for(int i=22; i<NUMPIXELS2+NUMPIXELS2; i++) {
 
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i, pixels2.Color(255, 0, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-1, pixels2.Color(255, 62.5, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-2, pixels2.Color(255, 127.5, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-3, pixels2.Color(0, 255, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-4, pixels2.Color(0, 127.5, 255));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-5, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 255));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-6, pixels2.Color(255, 0, 255));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-7, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));

   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-60, pixels2.Color(125, 0, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-61, pixels2.Color(125, 31, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-62, pixels2.Color(125, 62, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-63, pixels2.Color(0, 125, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-64, pixels2.Color(0, 62, 125));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-65, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 125));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-66, pixels2.Color(125, 0, 125));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-67, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));


   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-120, pixels2.Color(125, 0, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-121, pixels2.Color(125, 31, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-122, pixels2.Color(125, 62, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-123, pixels2.Color(0, 125, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-124, pixels2.Color(0, 62, 125));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-125, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 125));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-126, pixels2.Color(125, 0, 125));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(i-127, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));
   
 
    
   
   pixels2.show();
   delay(DELAYVAL300*4);
    }
    
    for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS2; i++) {


    pixels2.setPixelColor(i, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));
     pixels2.show();
   
    }
     delay(BIGDELAYLOOP);
    
    
    //triple sparkle

     for (int a=0; a<100; a++)
{
long w= random(0,NUMPIXELS);
long p= random(0,NUMPIXELS);
long q= random(0,NUMPIXELS);
long ww= random(0,NUMPIXELS2);
long pp= random(0,NUMPIXELS2);
long qq= random(0,NUMPIXELS2);

    pixels.setPixelColor(w, pixels.Color(255, 255, 255));
    pixels.show();
    pixels.setPixelColor(p, pixels.Color(255, 255, 255));
    pixels.show();
    pixels.setPixelColor(q, pixels.Color(255, 255, 255));
    pixels.show();
   
    pixels2.setPixelColor(ww, pixels2.Color(255, 255, 255));
    pixels2.show();
    pixels2.setPixelColor(pp, pixels2.Color(255, 255, 255));
    pixels2.show();
    pixels2.setPixelColor(qq, pixels2.Color(255, 255, 255));
    pixels2.show();

   delay(200);

   pixels.setPixelColor(w, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(p, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
   pixels.setPixelColor(q, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
   pixels.show();

   pixels2.setPixelColor(ww, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(pp, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));
   pixels2.setPixelColor(qq, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));
   pixels2.show();
}
for(int i=NUMPIXELS; i>0; i--) {


    pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
     pixels.show();
   
    }

    for(int i=NUMPIXELS2; i>0; i--) {


    pixels2.setPixelColor(i, pixels2.Color(0, 0, 0));
     pixels2.show();
   
    }}}

For more information on the specifics of electric currents, watch the video below:

For more information on circuits, visit this link!

How Stuff Works: Circuits

And to wire your own Elegoo Mega, visit the link here:

Elegoo Mega Data Sheet (pdf)

I first wanted to say thanks to those who have taken time to read the blog, and I hope you learned a a thing or two. This will be my last 3D molecular representations blog post and in it I will go over some of my final thoughts and show off all that I have learned.

Brief Overview of Accomplishments…

The CAD side of things…

Three months ago, I started this project by learning how to use CAD software, Fusion360, to edit STL files of 3D molecular structures that were provided by the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Through this time, I learned how to use many of the more basic tools in Fusion360 such as sketch, extrude, fillet, chamfer, split face, combine, inspect, combine mesh, tesselate, and plane cut. These tools were all I needed to make the necessary edits in creating 3D molecular models. I have a more in-depth explanation for most of these tools linked so check them out if you are interested.

The 3D-Printing side of things…

The 3D-printing side of things was a more complicated matter as there seemed to be a sort of “guaranteed chance of error” with the MMU 3D-Printer. In the beginning I was making no progress because the “Wipe Tower” would not be enabled if a particular extruder was set to only be utilized for supports. After figuring out how to work around this issue another problem arose with the soluble filament. The problem here was that the PVA filament I used would constantly clog and sometimes caused a glitch where the MMU would load and unload the filament endlessly. The work around for this was simply using a different soluble filament called BVOH filament. Even with all this there were still issues that I ultimately could not completely avoid such as clogging, simple errors, and filament expiring or going bad from too much exposure to moisture. However, I did find using a filament drier was very useful in keeping filaments in good condition for longer. That idea was from Shannon and Cartland so thanks for that one!

Final Model Montage and Final Thoughts…

Here is a picture of the new and improved BCR-ABL model without all the printing errors from before. Now, I want mention that before I talked about “oh you can show different subunits using different colors.” I just want to say I thought using two colors here would look cool and I wanted to figure out the MMU printer and it does not represent multiple subunits in this case. Also, thanks to Dr. Agrawal for choosing these colors (they look like a gender reveal but otherwise its nice).

Altogether

Apart

Video of the assembly (not including the simulated imatinib or ATP).

Final Thoughts…

I hadn’t mentioned it yet but in order to avoid the “drooping” of the filament for this print. I changed the infill from 20% to 30% and changed the orientation in which the model is printed. An example is shown below.

Before

After

Once again thanks for tuning in. I had a great time with this project, and I think I learned a good bit. I think there is much more that can be done with this concept and there are plenty examples of “model molecules” that can be printed to be used as a teaching tool. I may continue this project in my own time before presenting to the Research and Creativity Day symposium in the Spring because there was more that I wished to do. My big idea for this project was to make a series of models that can explain mechanism of molecules such as hemoglobin, but I ran out of time. For example, imagine a series of models that starts with a model of hemoglobin similar to what I had done in this project but with a highlighted section (section printed in a different filament). Then next to this model was another model that is the same color as the highlighted section (for example the porphyrin rings) which shows how the interactions of the ring to hemoglobin allows interactions with oxygen or CO2. I had an idea to make a wider model stand that can occupy two models to be displayed which would facilitate this idea. Anyways, good luck to those who wish to replicate this process.

In my last post I went over how I edited my BCR-ABL model in Fusion360 but here I will discuss the printing process. I have now returned to using the multi-extruder with some new tools and settings which I will discuss later on. Spoiler alert, IT WORKED!

New Filament…

One of the things that I was unable to do at the start of this project was use soluble filament for support structures. I had originally used a PVA filament from Polymaker which has a printing temperature of 215-225°C and costed around 60$ for a 0.75kg wheel. We have since upgraded to a BVOH filament from Verbatim which has a printing temperature of 210 ± 10°C and costed upwards of 140$ for a 500g wheel. Overall, BVOH filament is far superior in all regards as it dissolves in water faster, it does not absorb humidity as fast and therefore can last longer, the possibilities of “stringiness” during printing is lower, and the extrusion can be more continuous. Now yes, it is also far more expensive, but I was completely unable to get anything to print with PVA and I made progress with BVOH. I believe this filament was much better than PVA because the printing temperature of BVOH is very similar to that of PLA meaning temperatures remain relatively constant throughout the print. This reduces the chance of “goopy” filament extrusion due to temperatures being too high and reduces the chance of filament solidification (clogging) from temperatures being too low.

Filament Dryer…

As I previously mentioned, BVOH filament does not absorb moisture as well as PVA, however soluble filaments across the board are more susceptible to going bad from sitting out compared to other filament types. This is most apparent during prints where the filaments can be sitting in open air for hours at a time. To resolve this issue, we purchased a COMGROW Filament dryer. This dryer can hold two wheels of filament at a time which can be left running during print times. An image is posted below.

Print Settings…

Now these print settings have not changed much, and the biggest difference was made by using a different filament with a filament dryer.

The main changes that I wish to highlight are all under “Options for support material and raft.”

• Style: Organic (read my last post for more details on organic supports)
• Top Contact Z distance: 0 (this is what is recommended for soluble support printing)
• Top Interface layer: 1 (this is just to further improve upon removal of supports)
• Interface pattern: concentric (this is what is recommended for soluble support printing)

These are the temperatures I had set for the PLA extruders. (note: bed temperature was later set to 70°C)

These are the temperatures I had set for the BVOH extruder. (note: bed temperature was later set to 70°C)

BCR-ABL Printed…

This will be a small montage of the print including a video of the soluble supports submerged in water. See you one last time next week!

Shows off the model fully connected together with Imatinib (red) in the substrate binding pocket.

This print was a major success however there were some issues. As you can see in the second image one of the pegs broke while I was trying to join the pieces. This issue can be solved by increasing the infill to strengthen the pegs. In the third image you can see apparent warping to the pink half. This issue is something that I don’t understand yet. I assume because the model was printed peg side down there was drooping of the model despite using supports. In the final model I hope to avoid these issues by increasing infill, printing the model flipped so the peg side is up allowing for a stronger base to avoid drooping, and increasing the bed temperatures to allow the filament to stick better.

Well, here we are. This project stared in May on a whim and prayer thanks to this one show I saw in D.C., and now I am putting together an actual project that has my face and voice behind it! I want to start this by saying a big thank you to everyone who inspired this project, funded this project, and took time to help me throughout the process of writing and filming.

The statistics are here! A whole script is here with some reflection editing to follow in January, plus a special surprise that I will later talking about. Like the script, most of the filming is done, except for that surprise I am going to mention in January. I will attach everything at the bottom of this post.

I was extremely lucky enough to interview three lovely people throughout this journey. I forgot to take pictures of these lovely people because I was so nervous, but I am so excited to share who these are with.

Lorelei d’Andriole is currently an assistant professor at Michigan State University who went to grad school at the University of Iowa, a hotspot for fluxus work. Lorelei and I spoke for way too long, and she will be heavily featured in this video essay.

Victoria Scrimer is an assistant professor at Millikin University, and probably the whole catalyst for this whole project. She worked with me through a different version of this project which was a fifteen page paper. I am so excited to show her knowledge about this subject in video form.

TG, who I want to protect for her privacy right now, is a Chicago-based part time performance artist that I met in 2022. Our interview is not the sit down typical interview, but us playing a video game where we are talking about how it feels to be alive and trans in 2024. I wanted to include someone in my life who knows my work and I know their work. TG is one of my best friends, and I cannot understate how happy I am to include them in this project.

The main film I need to get is B-roll. I need something else to be in this essay without the faces of people I know in the frame. The second thing I need to film is going to be the performance part of this piece. I feel like it would be incomplete without me doing a little performance piece based off of a fluxus score. I won’t reveal the fluxus score now, but yes, there is a performance art piece to this.

Happy 2024 wrapped.

Hey everyone, this will be a short post today with another planned to go live by the end of the week. I left off giving a sneak peek into the next modeling project I planned with BCR-ABL. This post will go over the process I went through to edit this structure in Fusion360.

Firstly, the STL files for BCR-ABL and Gleevec (Imatinib) were obtained from the link provided. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a cancer of white blood cells. In CML, white blood cells divide uncontrollably due to an overactive tyrosine kinase protein called BCR-ABL, which results from a chromosomal translocation. This chromosomal translocation creates what is known as the “Philadelphia chromosome.” Research into CML treatments has consisted of understanding the mechanisms of BCR-ABL. Since BCR-ABL is classified as a kinase enzyme there is an interaction with ATP. Researchers were able to understand that inhibition of ATP to BCR-ABL resulted in deactivation. This led to the production of Imatinib, an inhibitory drug that binds to BCR-ABL competitively with ATP.

Editing BCR-ABL in Fusion360

Since the mechanism of Imatinib binding with BCR-ABL involves a conformational change that locks the molecule inside BCR-ABL, I had to do a slightly different design for modeling the substrate binding. In this new design the model of BCR-ABL is split down the middle allowing for the model of Imatinib to be inserted in the substrate binding zone before closing the BCR-ABL model. The same process can be done with ATP to show the similar binding process.

This was completed by using the “Plane Cut” function. This can be found under the “Mesh” tab, subsection “Modify.” When using this command ensure that “Type” is set to split body and “Filly Type” is set to uniform.

Two cylindrical tubes were created at around a 50mm diameter (important for later) and positioned in areas that allow them to act as pegs when printed.

These cylindrical tubes underwent the “Tessellate” function (found in the “Mesh” tab, subsection “Create”) and subsequently the “Combine, cut” function (found in the “Mesh” tab, subsection “Modify”) was used with each half of the BCR-ABL model creating a hole for the peg (one for each half).

A new set of cylinders was created using the same process as before but at around a 48mm diameter. The diameter was reduced slightly as in the last print using pegs, I found it was too difficult to pull the model apart.

I decided to use the same stand that I created before since it looked quite nice, and I had no issues with it. The procedure for completing this process is outlined in one of my previous posts if you are interested.

This is an image of the final product. In my next post, which will go live either tonight or tomorrow tonight, I will go over the printing process for this model. The next post after that is my last post in this series 🙁 which will go over my final project in its entirety.

Over the shuffle of my birthday, Thanksgiving, and the whole world, I forgot to update with one important post. The State of the Video will be the next post directly after this. Thanks!

I just did an interview with the DKC podcast about my inspiration coming into this project, what made me nervous about this project, and what I want people to learn out of this project. I talk a lot about the past, the vanishing act of documentation about queer art, and if we should eat candy if the candy represents someone else’s lover. I have a horrible memory, so I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I do when I relisten to my voice.

In the past few weeks, a lot of recording has happened. My script is full and my camera’s SD card might be full, so soon I will start editing. My computer setup in the corner of my apartment is full of fun little audio gadgets and editing software, so I am excited about the prospect of sitting at my desk for multiple hours and getting into this zen-like mode after classes.

I will pause for finals and other stuff. Even though I love the work of editing, the work/life balance of it all does apply to work I love.