Sesame Ring opens doors
Yesterday was national engineers Day. CHERYL YING (yinghqc@sph.com.sg) asks two engineers what they love about their job
Forget the One Ring from the Lord Of The Rings books. Mr Edward Tiong has something cooler. He and his partner are the creators of the Sesame Ring.
While studying at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), they noticed that it was a hassle to whip out their student matriculation card every time they had to enter a venue.
"We looked at the technology inside the card and shrunk it down to something that we could easily wear on our fingers," says the 27-year-old who graduated last year with a degree in engineering systems and design.
And so the Sesame Ring was born. The ring is now used in SUTD and was also adapted into a wristband that is used by several start-ups here.
Even the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the US took a liking to the ring and gave him the rights to develop and sell this wearable technology for its metro system.
PATENT
Mr Tiong and his partner have a provisional patent for the Sesame Ring. He hopes to eventually adapt this technology completely into a mobile device, so that people can get around with just with their mobile phones.
Creations such as the Sesame Ring prove that concepts learnt in engineering can be applied to real life. Mr Tiong believes that as an engineer, there is always space to innovate and be creative.
"Engineers by training are the ones who are able to step into the most (number of) industries after they graduate," he says.
He shared his experience in exploration and discovery at the Singapore Science Festival's National Engineers Dayyesterday.
He says it all started when he fixed his own PlayStation console.
Mr Tiong says: "I realised that if you are daring enough to poke around and explore, you'll find interesting gems. Problems don't look that complicated once you start working on them, and it can be just a very simple solution like clicking things into place."
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