My vision with this project was to create seamless phone charging by harnessing body heat. I wanted to produce a stylish sweatshirt that had wireless charging capabilities  in the pocket, so you could simply slip your phone in the pocket to charge. My initial thoughts were to use 10 thermoelectric generators linked in series with elastic between them, strapped to the chest and stomach.

I soon found that this did not produce enough electricity to be useable, much less charge a phone. So after more research and planning, I decided to add another row of 5 thermoelectric generators, a voltage boosting device, and a solar panel on the back. This circuit worked to provide over 5v in good light, but I couldn't figure out how to keep the voltage constant. The solar panel, while providing a lot of power, also made the voltage level vary greatly. Any circuit board I connected to steady the voltage would suck up too much power, so the booster wouldn't have enough to produce.

So as we approached the Expo, I decided to hook up the circuit to a voltage readout for people to see how much electricity my shirt made. I also glued heatsinks to the thermoelectric generators to make them more efficient.

So looking at my final project: an Ironman-like long sleeve shirt that doesn't exactly charge a phone (not to mention it looks a bit like a bomb), it's safe to say this isn't what I expected my project would look like at the end of this class. I went into the expo a little disappointed that I didn't reach my initial goal. I saw only my struggles and failures as I looked at my project. The inefficiency of my TEGs, the inability to provide a constant 5 volts, and how uncomfortable and awkward wearing it is.

Despite all of these flaws, people at the Expo seemed really impressed by what I had made. I received quite a few compliments about the amount of work I put in, and how cool it looked. I was also impressed by how easily I could talk about my project. All of the research I had done made it so that I could go on and on in great detail. It was a really rewarding evening in many ways. Getting so much positive feedback, realizing how much work I put in to this project, and even receiving a surprise award for my efforts were all so encouraging.

After this night it really made me reflect about my project, only this time I could finally see the successes that it held. The fact that I could produce a voltage seemingly out of thin air, hook it up to something that actually display it, and have it all contained within a simple shirt was quite amazing. After the Expo I was rewarded with feeling proud about my accomplishments.

This whole STEAM experience has solidified in my brain that I could be a pretty successful engineer in the future. After every massive project we took on during my 4 years in STEAM, I would feel so motivated to keep creating and innovating long after I received a final grade. It made me realize that I can actually do this stuff, and that is the kind of mentality I want to take with me for the future.