Tech dreams big and small
For one Singapore-based startup at Tech Saturday, the sky wasn’t the limit when it decided to turn its tech dreams into reality. ASTROSCALE was founded in 2013 with the intention of cleaning house in one of the harshest environments known to man — space.
Space may be the final frontier for Star Trek fans, but it’s also home to junk. According to ASTROSCALE, space has more than 20,000 large pieces of debris.
Ms Elaina Sutiono, associate brand manager at ASTROSCALE, said that the company plans to dock one of its satellites onto a piece of debris, then use its engines to drag the debris into the lower atmosphere. Once there, it burns up, along with the satellite. The company plans to launch its first mission in 2018.
FUN FOR EVERYONE
Over 17,000 people visited Tech Saturday, which was held on May 21 at Suntec Convention Centre. Visitors were entertained by drone races and got their hands on the latest gadgets, apps and prototype technologies.
Many companies at the tech carnival were Singapore-based startups like TWare. It was showcasing its AiraWear massage jacket, which houses inflatable modules that allow users to enjoy a massage anytime, anywhere. Said TWare’s marketing executive Ong Si Quan: “You pair the jacket with our app, then select one of the programmes we have created and enjoy a massage.”
There was plenty for future Smart Nation practitioners to see and do. The Kids Hackathon 2016, for instance, pitted school children in a competition to use their robotic kits to help protect our country.
One young visitor to the show, 11-year-old John Tan, was impressed by what he saw. Said the budding techie: “I like the fact that it’s about technology and programming. I like programming and use Blender, an open-source 3D animation software.”
Older visitors were also part of the fun, participating in worksheds targeted at seniors. Ms Susan Lim took part in a 3D printing workshop. “I think the technology is quite interesting. Later, I will join another workshop,” the 69-year-old said.
‘C’ IS FOR COOKIE
Another innovation on display left many visitors hungry for more — a 3D cookie printer that was being showcased by a team from the National University of Singapore’s Keio-NUS Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments Center (CUTE Center).
Said Mr Yan Liangkun, a research engineer at the CUTE Center: “This technology uses a similar 3D printing process but instead of plastic, we use a cookie dough to print customised, edible cookie pieces. Our showcase model today takes 3-5 minutes to print a cookie.”
Ms Chan Li Han, CEO of local startup DynaOptics, was showcasing a free-form lens attachment for smartphones that can offer greatly improved image quality over conventional designs. “It’s amazing to see so many families that are so interested in technology and be able to share what we are doing with the world,” she said.
