3D Printing in Singapore

This weekend I attended a forum on 3D printing. It was part of the Singapore Mini Maker Faire - a weekend festival for traditional and techy craft things.

I first found out about 3D printing a few years ago when I read through a Korean friend's Graphic Design thesis (to check the English grammar). Since then, it has also popped up on my work radar, along with Raspberry Pi, Makey Makey and other fun things which see craft and tech converge. I also like the vibe of the Maker movement (which embraces these things). It seems to be global, creative, entrepreneurial - with participants from the super-brainy to those simply twiddling about at home trying things out. In a good way, breaking ground. Then sharing. Also, this is the last sort of thing I expected to exist in inside-the-box Singapore. But it does! With quite a few enthusiasts. :) In fact one of the SMEs leading in making 3D printers is Singaporean.

The forum took us through what 3D printing is, what types exist (FFF, SLS, DLP - which all print using different methods), kinds of printers - from the simple home Makerbot to big 'send your files and we'll do it for you' outfits like Shapeways (not a range of slimming foods, as I had previously thought!) Basically you can design your own stuff using computer programs, then get it printed - or you can 3D scan ('catch') and replicate stuff. Or, you can download existing opensource files and modify them before printing. There are even apps which apparently will allow you to catch and design using your iPhone.

MakerBot & items printed

Printing seems to mostly entail building up the 3D object by layering. Different materials can be used (I would guess depending on your printer) from plastic and metal to chocolate. Items can be printed in totality with moving parts intact. The plastic examples I saw were pretty crude and done on home printing machines. But as we all know, designs have been made to print guns or even rooms, with work progressing on functioning human organs for transplant. Architectural practices are making good use of the process to create scale models, and many industries are using it to create testable prototypes of objects prior to manufacture (also called Rapid Prototyping).

The object in the tub is on a turntable,
being captured frame by frame

MakerBot in process. it will take
about an hour to complete the object

A second speaker took us through the pros and cons of home printing. Another - the manufacturer - took us through more technical and financial aspects. This was followed by discussion with the audience on issues such as regulation, education, IP, waste / recycling. Nearly all interesting stuff for me.

The Maker Faire itself was a bit mixed. It was really busy family-time when I got down there, so it was difficult to talk and find out more about other things that interested me, like arduino. I think the trick is to go early. There were a few predictable stalls, but I did get to see some 3D catch and printing in process. And chatted to a guy who runs groups which focus on making of all kinds - which I will definitely keep in touch with.

Here are some SG links:
www.funbiestudios.com (printing house)
www.romscraj.com (hardware)
www.sourcemake.com (facilitator)
http://makerfairesingapore.com/

Weird English phrases continued

Here's some more British English which I find is not used overseas! The first two were new even to an American friend.

1. Gammy
This is a slightly old fashioned term. It's an adjective meaning 'not working properly, damaged'. I've only heard it used to refer to human limbs, but it might have other uses! After a recent fight injury, I used this: "Hold on, I can't walk so fast with my gammy leg!"

2. Self-flage (self-flaj)
Short for self-flagellation, something very religious Christian monks used to do to punish themselves (for sins). Now we use it a bit jokingly; self-flage is definitely informal language, and to be honest I've never seen it written down so I'm not sure of the spelling! It means to do something, voluntarily or not, which is harmful, difficult or annoying to ourselves.

Example:
"I can't believe she went back to him, that's a bit self-flage." or
"I'm going to spend the weekend in the office working on X - total self-flage!"

3. Urchin
This is another old-fashioned term. It refers traditionally to a mischievous small child, often a poor one or 'street kid'. Most of the kids in Oliver the musical would be considered urchins. Sometimes also called street urchins. We don't use it very much in modern English.

In old fashioned English, urchin also meant 'hedgehog' - hence the name for another spiny creature, the sea urchin.


For more odd UK English...
A couple more strange 'English' terms
Four more weird English phrases
Three weird English phrases

Melon milk

Alongside the more common strawberry and chocolate flavoured milks in our local store, was Melon flavoured milk. From Japanese dairy group Meiji. So I thought I'd try it. Actually, it's pretty nice - sweet, of course, but with a definite refreshing aftertaste of honeydew. In fact there are no melon-related ingredients at all in it, just milk and flavourings. Amazing what you can do with chemicals!

The HAZE

Yep, during my net-absence, Singapore had a record air pollution problem aka the Haze. In fact this happens to some extent every summer here (and in Malaysia, as I was in Kuala Lumpur 10+ years ago when we had it.) The cause: smoke from bushfires in Indonesia.

It is like when your neighbour has a bonfire in their garden* and if the wind blows the wrong way, you get the smoke, particles and whiff on your own property. Only on a much larger, and lengthier, scale!

The fires are apparently a time-honoured, slash-&-burn land-management practice for Indonesian farmers. But I guess over decades some farms and plantations have grown hugely in scale. And this year there were accusations that corporations were clearing land cheaply (and I think illegally) with fire, and I suppose hoping nobody would notice amongst the annual expected smoke output. If that was the case: we noticed!
 
This year was Singapore's worst case of Haze since 1997. They use a Pollution Standards Index (PSI) to monitor Haze here, where under 50 is healthy; at 100 it becomes 'unhealthy', 300 'hazardous'. This year we had readings of over 400.
 
In daily life, everything was foggy. Even at street level, and across the whole country. At first I couldn't work out what was happening - I spent summer here last year with no noticeable Haze issue. I genuinely thought someone was having a nearby bonfire. But when you find familiar tall buildings 'whited out' you realise it might be something else!

View, Chinatown 21 June 2013

To be honest, I'm in a high risk group for air pollution (asthmatic, though sporty!) and I didn't notice any effects lung-wise. I didn't wear a mask, even though our office was giving them out. On the streets, however, many people were wearing masks, and you could find mile-long queues for the outlets that still had stock of the N95 recommended mask type. But we all had burning eyes during the haze period, and I would wake each morning to find them gummed (as if with conjunctivitis, though it came and went with the pollution.)

And the smog got in everywhere ..I kept my tiny apartment sealed, but left half a slatted window open in the bathroom one night. In the morning I found a dusty, fogged room!

TV every day was awash with haze news, haze discussion, political to-ing and fro-ing as SG and Malaysia tried to get things changed in Indonesia. TV channels posted up a permanent PSI indicator on their broadcasts.

Also, everything got cancelled. Parties, sports activities ...friends were even vetoing indoor drinks in favour of 'going home because of the haze' (a bit far fetched I have to protest!) On the worst day, our office closed and sent everyone home at midday. We have an outdoor hawker area near my workplace, which come sundown is usually full of locals. During the haze: maybe three customers. These traders must have lost a lot of business. 1997's three month haze crisis apparently lost SE Asia $9 billion in retail, tourism and other things. It only lasted for two weeks in Singapore this year (the fires are apparently minimised now, so let's hope it doesn't come back), and they say tourism has not been significantly impacted. But if you are a small trader here, you must have noticed dents.

After it all died down, I ventured out onto my tiny (and usually very clean) balcony to hang out laundry, and found the tiles and rails covered in a fine layer of brown ash! I guess this is what we had been breathing for two weeks :/



You can just make out Singapore's largest and tallest HDB complex 'The Pinnacle at Duxton'
in the background. It normally looms clearly over this street!

 You can click on the pix to enlarge them.

* I don't know if this is a universal thing - but in Europe, homeowners in rural areas often do hedge-trimming etc at weekends, and then burn the offcuts and other garden debris in a 'bonfire'. It's not uncommon to have smoke in your garden in late summer and autumn, especially on Sunday afternoons!

Cute beer

Here's a beer a friend tried at a Japanese bar in Singapore recently. The label says literally "Wednesday's Cat", which I am hoping doesn't mean it was actually brewed by hurling an unsuspecting feline-of-the-day into the vat.

Assuming it's simply a cute brand, we think it's aimed at women! (Quiet a small can too.) Unusual enough to make me write about it though :)

Enforced absence

I've been absent! Basically: no net access for over a month. Been taking lots of pics and having a few Asian adventures though. They will be posted shortly now I'm back online. Thanks for viewing!