More than just a prank

The name of this showcase is very playful, but it is definitely more than just a prank.

Ted Chen will be showcasing three items during the Singapore Mini Maker Faire on 27 & 28 July and “Prank” is one of them. So, curious to know what is Prank? Check out this 40-second YouTube video below.

Well, prank indeed it is. So, what ideas do you have now after watching this?

Besides “Prank”, Ted will be displaying the “Directional Sound” which is a portable directional speaker prototype that allows sound to be “beamed” in a particular direction. The last item would be “Internet of Things” which features mini projects using Arduino and WiFi Shield.

Who is Ted?

Ted introduces himself as a geek who likes hardware stuffs, started building random projects like mini vending machines from high school times. He felt that his internship at Texas Instruments was a major turning point for him because of the exposure to plenty of professional development kits that he could tinker with, and that he managed to interest Texas Instruments to sponsor his final year project at the end of his internship.

Ted’s Final Year Project

While he used to make things on his own in his student years, Ted has now progressed to partnering with other people and companies to take on new projects. He felt that the biggest challenge of a student maker is to juggle time between school work and making activities. He shared that he had never regretted choosing these activities over school work because he felt that the project experience and portfolio he built up are more valuable than Grade Point Average (GPA) results.

As he progressed beyond school, his challenges shifted to building solutions which can scale and are reliable, and to learn to deal with corporate clients and multilayer procedures.

Maker Movement in Singapore and the challenges

For someone who is not new to making and building, Ted expressed optimism in the way forward for the maker movement, considering that there are more push for the making culture with the advent of the Singapore Mini Maker Faire, coupled with grants from SPRING Singapore and the National Research Foundation (NRF).  He shared that he had attended many different meet-up events and had met many people who are working on cool projects with the aid of government grants.

Are you interested in the kind of things that Ted has made? Check out his booth at SCAPE Warehouse this weekend!