Engineer Jeremy de Leon has been named the national winner of the 2023 James Dyson Award for his creation called the Make-roscope, a keychain microscope.
De Leon’s portable keychain microscope emerged as a cost-effective alternative solution to the traditional microscope. As De Leon said during a recent Dyson media event, students in a typical Philippine school laboratory would need to wait their turn to use a shared microscope. But with his invention, the students can have their own microscope and have better hands-on learning experience.
De Leon created the Make-roscope for just Php35, using a laser pointer and a hairpin. By attaching it in front of a smartphone or tablet camera, microscopic samples can be magnified up to 400 times. Back in 2021, De Leon won first place and Php20,000 in the #PinoyInnovator TikTok challenge and planned to market it as a smartphone keychain accessory. It is now sold at Jeremake.com as part of a lab kit for Php549.
For winning the national leg of the James Dyson Award and outshining 46 other entries from 12 universities, De Leon will take home Php330,000 and advance to the global phase of the competition. He says will use the prize money to improve his invention.
The top 20 finalists will be announced on October 18, with the grand winner set to be unveiled on November 15. Sir James Dyson himself will personally select the grand winner who will be rewarded with up to Php2 million.
Source: Manila Times