Me-mo: "The Smart Note-Taking Device"

An "aging-friendly" device that helps you never forget the last note you wrote down!

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Inspiration

I was inspired to create "Me-mo" as a device for my abuelos and my dad. They are all important people in my life and I wanted to design something that would be useful to them in their everyday routines.

As my grandparents and my dad have aged, I have noticed an increase in their forgetfulness and their efforts to remember important things by jotting them down. My dad writes memos on the backs of mail envelopes, my grandpa writes notes on small squares of paper when he's on the phone, and grandma likes to write down her favorite novelas and songs in notebooks. Although this is a temporary solution, they all run into the same issues of forgetting what, where, and when they wrote down these notes and memos. "Me-mo" serves to bridge the gap and help my abuelos, my dad, and other aging adults minimize forgetfulness while not compromising their routine of note-taking.

In addition to creating this device with my family in mind, my university work-study job further encouraged me to develop "Me-mo" to address the: aging in place with resilience and resources track. I am a student worker at a non-profit organization that specializes in providing support and resources to family caregivers that care for aging adults suffering with brain impairing conditions like Alzheimer's and dementia. Through my job I have learned more about the daily struggles and obstacles that caregivers and care recipients encounter while managing these life with these conditions. With my personal experiences and a driving interest in helping older adults, I created "Me-mo" to one day alleviate and assist our loved ones so they may age comfortably and respectably without compromising their lifestyles!

What I learned?

MedHacks 2020 was my first hackathon and my first introduction to designing and addressing a real-world problem: aging in place with resilience and resources. I learned more about myself over the course of the weekend as I was encouraged to think outside of the box and develop my idea from the ground up. From this small experience, I learned about encountering and addressing challenges with my idea through researching and problem-solving. One thing I do hope to improve at my next hackathon is working in a team! As a rookie, working independently was a HUGE challenge because I am sophomore, undergraduate, biomedical engineer and I do not have any coding or technical experience creating a program or even a mobile phone app. Overall, this was a wonderful experience and I am thankful to have been apart of MedHacks 2020 this year!

How I developed my project?

I approached my project by focusing on the of development end of my idea. I worked independently throughout this hackathon and with no coding or technical background skills I took a lot of freedom and liberty with my developing my device. I relied on online research, learning, and reading about other available devices to shape "Me-mo" from my beginning note-taking idea into what it is now.

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