CAD: Working on developing 3D models for the incubated companies quickly became one of my biggest tasks. After being initiated to CATIA, I went on to develop models and assemblies for companies such as Brayfoil, GIVO, Arena Recycling, Inseco and Shark Safe Barrier.
Simulations: With Brayfoil, I managed to leverage 3DS’s Simulia app to develop mechanical simulations as well as CFDs for their morphing aerofoil blades.
Rendering/animation: Throughout my placement, I developed projects on a very technical/engineering aspect. However, an essential aspect of an incubator is to raise funds which means that the commercial impact must also be developed. Hence, I created numerous render stills and animations for startups to use in their investment pitch decks.
Deep Learning: When working with GIVO, I quickly understood that they positioned themselves as an IoT-focused company. Hence, alongside their CTO, we decided to implement an image recognition algorithm which would help automate waste sorting.
Data science: Concerning the Hackathon, Soso Care’s challenge required a substantial amount of plastic waste data from Nigeria. However, granular data on plastic waste is nearly impossible to find for a country like Nigeria due to lack of research, the immensity of the country … Hence, I used my experience in data science to create simulations and generate data. The code development consisted in Discrete Particle Tracking which is a Lagrangian simulation that was achieved after lengthy research and close work with Delphine Lobelle.
Teamwork: Initially, I engaged in training to master Dassault’s 3DS platform alongside Laurent Marche who works in partnership with the company. I spent a lot of time on the Eduspace to learn different skills and worked closely with the 3DS team to engage with their experience of the platform especially in CAD development (Sebastien Rosel), simulations (Weronika Spiewak) and CFDs (Srikrishna Chittur).
Project management: As a part of my placement, I had to triangulate my work between the incubator, the startups and our partners. Hence, I organised bi-weekly follow-up meetings with all the startups as well as weekly meetings with the incubator to show progress and discuss potential opportunities or further developments.
Event organisation: Throughout my Hackathon mission with OHA, I have had the opportunity to present and discuss proposals to several stakeholders involved in the event’s organisation such as sponsors (AWS, Société Générale …), challenge owners (Soso Care, Coral AI, Save Local), researchers (Utrecht, UCT, MIT …) and organisers (OIA, OHA, City of Cape Town…). Working and interacting with so many stakeholders was very stimulating and allowed me to iterate over ideas in much more depth.
