Qioptiq Workshop

Qioptiq

During the workshop, I never thought of using cell phones as medical instruments, which Mr Siew exposed us to. By using Physics concepts of focus length, refraction of light and lenses, we were to design an equipment to be attached to a handheld phone so that we could take a picture of a tooth clearer under various conditions. Initially, many of the groups were excited to “invent” their own product and played around with the various materials provided, including lenses of different sizes and focal lengths. However, after a few rounds of trial and error, we reached a roadblock where we could not think of any other ways to utilize the lens to our advantage. In the end, our group decided to just use a simple lens and optical fibre.

While we initially tried to attach two or more lenses together, we found out that the more of them we attached, the less clear and distorted the images were, and which served no practical purpose. The optical fibre served to provide light to the object if it were taken in dark conditions. 

Sometimes, the simpler an item is, the better, as it is portable, convenient and easy to attach. Moreover, the activity taught us that product creation and innovation is never easy. It requires repeated attempts to come up with ideas, testing and marketing, which can take many years of effort.