Schedule Chart

Update

Over the thanksgiving break I took the two packages of dried Kombu that I had and made a batch that would sit for three days. I then proceeded to take the batch out and try to store it in a new way, that being in wax paper. I had no time to attend to it afterwards in order to change the wax paper in attempt to prevent molding. 
This being said, it molded again. This time it was even more disgusting. The mold was black and almost looked like cotton candy(of course not any that you would eat). I was revolted and was not sure what to do. I carefully cleaned it up although the whole time any disease I could think of, or make up, ran through my head as something I could catch. 
I consulted others and after a lot of thinking I found that me not having time to work with the pieces after soaking lead to me discovering what is probably my problem. 
The kelp mildews since it is extremely, even after wiping it off, wet and moist. These are the perfect conditions for mold growth. I now need to find away in which after the inside of the kelp is preserved, the outside can dry and therefore no mold will grow, but the kelp will still be malleable for me to work with.
 I am currently testing different substances to do the trick and I think I have found one that may work(for fear at this point of theft of ideas, I am not sharing what substance just yet). Other substances have failed horribly. After I do more tests to see if I have found the case in which to not allow mold to grow, I will mass produce, mass produce, mass produce. I will then be able to stitch the pieces together and have a presentable bag. I am on the verge of something that will most likely take place during Christmas break. After Christmas break I believe I will no longer have a problem with storing the kelp pieces and therefore can plan out my time to work on the bag. After the bag is made I will bring all the information I have found and put it together into a presentation.

Looking To The Near Future

I have hit a stalling point in my genius project and am looking to get it going again during thanksgiving break, but no doubt I have been thinking of things that I will do and ways that I will take the project while I have been idle.

I want to complete multiple single strip experiments on the kelp in order to perfect the conditions under which I will prepare the kelp to be used for the bag. Once I have a working formula and set of steps I can then make large amounts of progress on the prototype.

I want to go out into the ocean, for example the kelp beds, and get some kelp. What I will have to learn in order to do so, like how to cut the kelp from its growth or snorkeling, I will do

I also need to look into something organic that can get rid of the potent smell of my project. It is not pleasant, but I have not decided whether I should just mask the smell by putting something nice smelling over it(which usually does not work) or if I can find something that extracts the smell.

I also think it would be cool to come into contact with sushi restaurants that probably have large amounts of kombu that they use in their cooking in order to get the kombu that way.

Lastly, I think it would be beneficial to talk to another expert that works with unconventional materials, like a materials engineer or even a specialized fashion designer, who could share some insight into the best means of adhesive that I could use in making my bags if I decide that the hemp string is not the way to go. I know locally there is a fashion student named Peytie Slater who was on project runway. On this show some challenges were based off of unconventional materials and I think Peytie would have some good insight into how exactly she worked with them.

This is where I want to go with this project and I think there are some successes in store, for I have thus far fallen into a bit of failure, but am ready to pull myself out of it.

Lets tak a moment to look back on the beginning of my project when everything was nice and clean. When everything was going well. The genius project is meant to be a challenge and I am stuck in the middle of it. Since then I have run into mold and odor, but I am still looking up(that is if I can remember where I put the notes that I wrote for improvements on my processes).
<--Before After-->

Europe!!!!! Meeting My Mentor

My Genius Project is not perfect, but one of the things that has completely worked out, without a doubt, is my mentor.
I found her as I was researching online if my idea was original. She is a designer that had worked with kelp as a material for lamps and other sculptors. The first perfect thing, her name is also Julia. The second, which at first I did not feel was perfect, but turned out to be perfect, was that she lives in London. I communicated with her over email, remembering how thrilled I was when I got a response last January. We corresponded through email a few times for I had questions that one would normally ask a mentor. My project was going pretty well and Julia acted as a catalyst for me, someone who did not answer my questions, but gave me hints in order to prompt me to learn things on my own.

Last summer was the set date that my mom, my aunt, my cousin, and I were to go on a trip to Europe.  This trip was planned even before I found my mentor, not only that, but she was going to be in London around the time we were.

Here is a quick detour so that I can tell the story in the order that I lived it.
 This was my first flight out of the country and in the airport I had to have my hands swabbed and checked. I used think that they just chose random people for things like this, so I just went with it and didn't think I would cause a problem. My hand swab came off as positive, so they proceeded to check my bags and bring me into a separate room for a pat-down. They did not find anything, but it definitely was a long diversion from both our trip and this blog post.

Back to what I was writing.
My mentor and I set up a meeting at Central Saint Martins, University of Arts, in London. This was one of the most prestigious design schools in London and she was doing some seminars there. Something that was extremely interesting is that they were setting up the student senior projects. Julia gave a quick tour of these projects and explained how each one either satirically proved a point or solved a impactful problem. There was a story behind each project and I couldn't help thinking that the these projects have the same message that the genius project does. The projects where all so incredible and I could see that same spark in the genius projects that have been introduced at my school. Click to see some of the projects

After seeing the projects, Julia and I sat down to share insight and stories, which is where my story about the airport comes into relevance. I let her know of my occurrence and immediately we had something else in common. It turns out that the same thing happened to her, whereon she divulged into why it happened. It has to do with the compound x that we work with.

I loved meeting my mentor and this chance to get to know someone from out of the country was something I never got to do before. I like to think that is why this part of my project is perfect.

Should Have Seen It Coming

 This weekend really threw me off, but with the kind of project I am doing, I should have seen it coming. To my horror and intense surprise, I pulled back the paper towels that encased my seaweed strips and found MOLD!!!!

This was devastating to me knowing that I would have to restart on all of this work. I decided I would throw it in the trash, go buy some more kelp, and soak it again.

The deal is that this I am trying to make this kelp moist again, or at least not hard as a rock(it would be nice if it was not slimy), and mold loves to grow in moist places. It feeds on the compound that I am using to preserve the seaweed and the recent high humidity did not help. Basically I was angry at first since this had not happened all summer when I left it untouched sitting in the paper towels, but it was happening now.

I decided to do more research on how to prevent this from happening again, because I don't want to make something and have it be unusable due to mold occurrence. I was extremely defeated, but I needed to see this as an opportunity to start fresh. An opportunity to try out different ways of connecting the seaweed strips or even obtaining them. I realized that once I solved the problem I was having before with using to much of the compound in the soaking process as to leave dry residue of it on the outside of the seaweed, the mold would probably not form. The compound would be safely stored inside the cells of the kelp and not on the outside where the mold can feed to grow.

With that said I am starting anew with a bach of kelp already soaked and sitting(no mold has formed yet). I am going to try to use a smaller hole punching method and maybe a different type of string. The process in now revised and more shapely.

With this new mindset, the old moldy strips even came out of the trash and where wiped clean. The mold was only really on the surface, but that is not to say that it will not form again. I knew there would be challenges in this Genius Project, but it is times like these where I can now see it as an opportunity to find out more to make the project the best it can be. Hopefully next time something happens I can skip the bummer and go straight to the optimism.

Work in the Chemistry Lab

The first thing I set my mind on for this genius project was the way in which I was going to make the kelp malleable or able to be worked with. If you have ever seen seaweed chilling on the beach it is smelly, dried out, and probably surrounded by nats. My problem is that if this disgusting seaweed is in the form of a bag that will be used countless times, it should not be in such a state, therefore I must figure out a way to preserve this sea plant. After plenty of research on the internet, I found a classified solution to this problem. All I can say is that it involves a compound(I will call it compound-X) that I can extract from an organic substance. The plant cells of the kelp absorb the compound, thus keeping the moisture in and allowing the kelp not to dry out. Now that the kelp is permanently moist, I can make it do what I want it to do.

I found a YouTube video for how to extract compound-X and set off, everyday after school for about two or so weeks, to the chemistry lab. It was tough mostly because the teacher only really stayed for about an hour after school directly got out, so my experiment was cut off in one hour intervals. If I was not done boiling after an hour, then I would have to clean up and nothing got done. The next session after school I thought I was being clever and I boiled the mixture at a higher temperature so that it would go faster, which now I know is never what you should do for anything. This just boiled out the compound-X because I exceeded its boiling point in the process. If my substance was set out overnight(even though I covered it!) it would dry out and I would have to start all over again. It was quite frustrating, however I have now perfected the process and all that is left now is to head to the chemistry lab again. I failed three times with each misstep teaching me something I should do differently. Even better, now the teacher has a distillation apparatus and a separatory funnel which will make my life even easier. For previously I was just make-shifting my way out of not having the correct tools.

This was last school year and now that I have AP Chemistry I am really excited to get back in the lab and try again. The irony of it is that after all these trials I learned that you can just buy this compound-X at the store for something quite cheap.  

Hey guys this is the background on my project that this blog will follow. The GENIUS PROJECT

The genius project aims to incorporate a student's passion for something, an impact to the community, and a challenging task. I decided to incorporate my passion for chemistry, to solve the problem that we have with plastic pollution on our coasts, and to work with seaweed/kelp as an unconventional material.I feel that not only does my project directly impact our carlsbad community, it also addresses a problem that is impactful worldwide.

Trying to create a bag that is reusable and biodegradable is not a new concept, but I have decided to use a material(I guess you could call it a material) that in the definite probability that it ends up getting tossed away and heading to the ocean, will not cause a problem, for seaweed/kelp humbly resides in the sea proving it is not harmful there. Most people do not want anything to do with this slimy plant, but perhaps after I am through with it people may actually consider having it at their sides and carrying their things.

Thus far I have, noticed reusable bags in stores more, gone to the beach and wanted seaweed to briskly touch my leg so that I could grab it, stayed after school in the chemistry lab, arranged a meeting with someone in another country, got stopped by security at the airport, and altogether learned a thing or two. However, my genius project is not done. There is so much more to do before presenting it towards the end of senior year. I need to put everything together and ultimately share my achievements and complications along the way.

All in all, the genius project is challenging, but I genuinely appreciate it for its ability to motivate me to do something extra, yet enjoyable and useful, with my time.