Sandia Preparatory (142)/Interim Report

Interim Report
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_interim1112.php?team_id=142

Not sure what happened to this interim report. Mode appears to be down at the moment!

Introduction
Hi,

My name is Nico Marrero. I am a computer scientist working at New Mexico Tech. See the biography on my User Page.

Progress
I noticed that your interim report is all in the future tense (i.e., "we will", "we should be able", etc.). How much progress have you made on your model? Are you just starting out? I can see that you have already done some initial research into the components and interactions of components in the bloodstream.

Mentors
Do you have a mentor who is helping you? If not, I think it would be very helpful to have a domain expert to whom you can ask questions, as this is a complicated subject and your team wants to have a very accurate model, which is a great goal!

You can contact consult for help in finding a mentor, if you haven't already.

Model
In your model, will you be simulating a small slice of the bloodstream or something larger? You mentioned clotting, will you be adding wounds to your simulation? If you haven't already, I think it would be a very good idea to decide on exactly what you are going to include, otherwise you will experience the all-too-common computer science ailment of "feature creep." This can quickly lead to code getting out of hand, being difficult to debug, and then not getting finished on time.

Where are you going to be getting your bloodstream data from to help you tweak your parameters? A mentor could also direct you to the appropriate references for this information.

How are you going to verify and validate your model? That will be something we will be looking for at the Expo. How can you be sure your model is correct? What external support can you find for your model's conclusions?

Face to Face Evaluation
Your next milestone is a face to face evaluation in February. Here is a link to the rubric so you can prepare: face to face rubric

Rubrics
The judges will use these rubrics to evaluate your projects at the end of the year. Use them as checklists for what you need to communicate to the judges.


 * Expo Judges Rubric
 * Finalist Judges Rubric