Uncle Bugs

Engine runs on liquid air

2012-01-24T23:06:00.000-08:00

00:15 January 24, 2012

A new zero-emissions engine capable of competingcommercially with hydrogen fuel cells and battery electric systems appeared onthe radar yesterday when respected British engineering consultancy Ricardovalidated Dearman engine technology and its commercial potential. The Dearmanengine operates by injecting cryogenic (liquid) air into ambient heat insidethe engine to produce high pressure gas that drives the engine - the exhaustemits cold air. It's cheaper to build than battery electric or fuel cell technology,with excellent energy density, fast refuelling and no range anxiety.

Think of the Dearman engine as an internalcombustion engine without a spark plug, with cryogenic liquid air injectedinstead of petroleum. There is no combustion, but because the air is stored atcryogenic temperatures (sub minus 160 degrees Celsius), ambient temperaturescan superheat it and return it to gaseous form, causing a rapid expansion ofgases.

When the piston is at the top of the cylinder, someheat exchange fluid is admitted to the engine cylinder. Immediately after thisa small quantity of cryogenic liquid is sprayed into the cylinder; it comesinto contact with the ambient (but in relative terms to the cryogenictemperatures, super hot) heat exchange fluid and boils very rapidly, buildingup pressure and pushing the piston down.

At the bottom of the stroke the exhaust valve opensand the returning piston pushes the heat exchange fluid and air out of theengine where the heat exchange fluid is recovered and the cold air exhausted.At the top of the stroke a new cycle begins.

Using cryogenic liquids as the energy carrier makesa lot of sense, most importantly because the energy density of liquid aircompares favourably to the only two current technologies (Nitrogen and batteries)in contention for powering the zero-emission engines that will be used insubsequent generation automobiles, ships, forklifts, motorcycles, buses,trucks, mining equipment, through to certain classes of gensets.

Convenience (aka very fast re-fuelling times) islikely to be the other big selling point in comparison with the other zeroemission technologies.

Air is superabundant and cryogenic liquids arealready produced and distributed in huge volumes in all countries, making thenecessary supporting infrastructure for Dearman engine introductioninexpensive.

Liquid air is a low-risk energy source - it isstored at low pressure and has no combustion risk. Whatsmore, the insulatedtank used for is storage is cheaper to produce than re-enforced high-pressurevessels and the marginal cost of additional energy storage is very low - justincrease the tank size.

On top of all of that, there are number of othertechnologies servicing different scales of applications that are beingdeveloped that could all use the same energy vector (cryogenic liquid) andshare the infrastructure. Last but not least, none of the proposed technologiesrequire scarce materials.

Ricardo and Dearman are now working together tobring the technology "closer towards commercial maturity."

Read the original article from Gizmag here

If you have a comment on this new technology, pls share with us.

Thank you

Bugs Tan

Innovation Advisor

Creative Kids from Albany

2012-01-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

AtLiberty School in Albany, fourth-grader Sydney Birch shows a prototype of herinvention 'umbrella glasses' to keep rain off the lenses.

Her innovation and those of her classmates were showed off at an inventionconvention last week.

Libertyteacher Max Nazarian’s fourth-graders created the inventions to solve manymodern-day issues.

Productsfeatured included a headband that lights up when the wearer has a question sohis or her arm doesn’t get tired from raising a hand, a pair of slippers withlights attached to the toes so the wearer can see in the dark, and a siphoningmechanism attached to a milk jug to preventspillage when the creator’s little brother pours the milk into his cereal.

'Theyworked hard and had a lot of fun,' Nazarian said. “I am very proud of what theyaccomplished.”

Theyoung inventors showed off their creations at the school on Friday.

Read the original article from Democrat-herald here

Best wishes

Bugs Tan

25th Jan 2012

Preventing People from Riding on the Train Rooftop

2012-01-18T00:27:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Chinese new year is just a few days away. Hundreds of millions of people would travel home to celebrate with their loves one. Train being a cheap mean of transportation is very popular. It is so popular that the train could take more than it should. Desperate passengers has no choice but to climb on top the roof. Which we know is dangerous. But despite knowing the danger, people still take the risk.

So, how do we solve this problem. Indonesia has taken the first step. Pls read this article which was taken from BBC.

Railway staff in Indonesia have started hanging concrete balls above train tracks to try to prevent commuters from riding on carriage roofs.

The first balls were installed just above carriage-height near a station outside the capital, Jakarta.

More will be put up elsewhere if they are found to keep people off the roofs.

Previous attempts to deter roof riders included spraying roofs with paint, spreading oil on carriages and hiring musicians to perform safety songs.

Correspondents say those initiatives have failed. Officials hope that the latest move will prove to be the ultimate deterrent.

Roof riders also face the possibility of imprisonment.

Electrocuted

The balls - which can deliver a severe blow to the head - will be suspended a few inches above the tops of carriages at points where trains enter or pull out of stations, or where they go through crossings.

Critics say that 'roof surfing' takes places because there are not enough trains

Officials told the BBC that "roof surfing" can be extremely dangerous. In 2008 at least 53 passengers died in an accident while travelling on a train roof. In 2011, 11 people were killed.

Most victims are electrocuted by overhead power cables, but some fall off train carriages while trains are moving.

The BBC's Dewi Safitri in Jakarta says that passengers on train roofs can be seen every morning and evening. At peak times about 400,000 commuters cram in or onto carriages to travel into and out of the centre of Jakarta.

While tickets are cheap by Western standards, poorer people struggle to pay which is why they go on the roofs, correspondents say.

The main problem, commuters say, is just how crowded the trains are. Reports say some ticket holders also end up on train roofs because there is no room inside.

Officials say they have tried everything to stop the problem - and even put rolls of barbed wire on train roofs - but nothing has worked.

Officials say that if the latest initiative is successful, the project will be expanded.

But the "roof surfers" themselves told the Associated Press news agency that they are determined not to be put off.

"I was really scared when I first heard about these balls,'' said Mulyanto, 27, who rides daily between his hometown of Bogor and Jakarta almost every day for work.

"It sounds like it could be really dangerous. But I don't think it will last long. They have tried everything to keep us from riding... but in the end we always win.''

Trains criss-cross Indonesia - but often on poorly maintained tracks left behind by Dutch colonisers 60 years ago.

Critics say that the problem of "roof surfing" will never be completely ironed out until there are fewer delays and enough trains to meet demand.

Read the full story on bbc.uk here

Wish you all the best
Bugs Tan
18th Jan 2012

Recycle, Reuse and Reduce

2012-01-16T02:33:00.000-08:00

Hi,

We appreciate groups of people who promotes recycling and tree planting. But the trouble is at the time when we need to throw away some stuffs, we do not know who they are, where they are. Therefore, kindly allow me to introduce to you PASS.

Pls read on...

Pertubuhan Amal Seri Sinar Kuala Lumpur & Selangor
( P.A.S.S )

Are you moving soon? Or you have some old stuff that need to get rid off? Well, things that you don't want may be valuable to others! So why not do something good for the community here. Donate them to the P.A.S.S and let them recycle the old things for a good course.

Pertubuhan Amal Seri Sinar Kuala Lumpur & Selangor ( P.A.S.S ) is a non-profit Organization (NPO) formed in year 2003 by a group of public spirited Malaysians with the aim to SERVE. Since then, P.A.S.S have given humble charities more than RM135,000.00 over a span of 29 months just fromrecycling resource alone.

The target groups include orphans, broken families, underprivileged children the sick, the disabled, needy singlemothers, community projects, schools and the deaf.

Items to collect are paper, books, dolls, clothing, aluminumcans, plastics, curtains, blanket, electrical goods, computers, all usable household junk & furniture.

P.A.S.S has more than 60 recycling centres in the Klang Valley (KL, Bangsar, Ampang, PJ, Subang Jaya, Cheras and others). P.A.S.S even provide free pick up service for bulky collections like usable furniture, household junk, used electrical items etc. You just need to give them a call and make an appointment for pick up. Even on Weekends!

Here is the contact info:

PERTUBUHAN AMAL SERI SINAR
No. 1, Jalan Bukit Permai Utama,
Taman Industrial Bukit Permai,
56100 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia.
Tel: 03-4297 7022, 4297 5022
H/P: 012-686 1633
Fax: 03-4297 9926
E-mail: ching_bob@yahoo.com
Website: http://pass.my.diip.net/

I hope this info helps.

Keep the country clean. Fight global warming. Think of recycling, reuse and reduce..!

Best wishes,
Bugs Tan
16th Jan 2012

Samsung Window to the Future

2012-01-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hi,

If you want to know what's lies ahead of us, pls take a look at what Samsung has come-up with. A window to the future...!!

Take a look

For those having difficulty getting a glimpse of the future, pls click here to go to You tube

Isn't this a cool piece of glass...?!!

Best rdgs,
Bugs Tan
13th Jan 2012

Polaroid Smart Camera

2012-01-13T02:29:00.000-08:00

Hi,

With most people happy to make do with camera phones for their digital image snapping needs in the majority of situations and the quality of such devices improving markedly in recent years, makers of dedicated consumer-level cameras face an increasingly tough row to hoe. At CES 2012, Polaroid has announced its SC1630 Smart Camera that attempts to blur the lines between a camera phone and dedicated camera with its smartphone-like form factor and being one of the first dedicated cameras to run on Android.

The Polaroid SC1630 packs a 16-megapixel 1/2.33-inch CCD sensor, 3x optical zoom (5x digital) and 6.5 - 19.5 mm lens to provide a 35 - 108 mm equivalent lens range. Around back is a 3.2-inch touchscreen for displaying images and accessing apps and the Android Market. The device stores captured images on microSD cards of up to 32 GB capacity and has a Smart Album feature that automatically organizes photos by date, location and people. There's also geotagging and face and smile detection. Onboard image editing features include cropping, red-eye removal, resizing and color correction - with the Android Market also providing access to a range of image editing apps.

Designed to allow users to upload images and videos to social networks and share with friends at the touch of a button, the SC1630 boasts Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as offering an optional cellular data connection. So even though you won't be able to make phone calls directly on the device, since the unit does include a microphone and speaker, you'll presumably be able to use it to make VOIP calls.

The Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera weighs 5 oz (142 g) and its fully charged battery should give a full day of snapping. It will be available some time later this year for a price yet to be announced.

This article is taken from Gizmag, you can read the original posting here

See you next time
Bugs Tan
13th Jan 2012

Understanding how a new Invention came about

2012-01-10T03:09:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I have been conducting training to a group of staff in a company continuously for a few days last week. I realized that there is one point I needed to stress. Because I can see people generally do not have confidence in themselves when they are asked to generate ideas. Most people feared that they lack of such abilities.

Therefore to give them some supports, I applied a theory which helps them to understand the mechanic of creating an invention. I rewind and brought them back to school. I said we all have learned the law of energy in school. The law says that energy cannot be created nor destroy. But changes from one form to another.

I then bring this theory to stress my point. I told them that, similarly an invention cannot come from nothing. It came from one form and changed into another to become a new invention

With this simple explanation, I could see people in the class room felt a sense of relief. This simile is just logical and they could easily see the connection and understood how inventions came about.

By the way, here is a scientific explanation on the law of conservation of energy from Wikipedia.

The nineteenth century law of conservation of energy is a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The total energy is said to be conserved over time. For an isolated system, this law means that energy can change its location within the system, and that it can change form within the system, for instance chemical energy can become kinetic energy, but that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. In the nineteenth century, mass and energy were considered as being of quite different natures.

See you again in my next posting.

Warm rdgs,
Bugs Tan
10th Jan 2012

My Mission

2012-01-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Thanks to News Straits Times press for carrying my story on center fold yesterday (9th Jan 2012). That was really a big article and lucky me. Thanks to the writer of the Life and Tech page Rozana Sani who have captured the essence of my story. I hope this article will inspire readers out there who are thinking of walking this journey. I hope my work will bear fruits and bring benefit to the nation, especially nurturing young children to be creative and becoming the next generation of tecnopreneurs.

For many years I've been carrying my mission to promote creativity and innovation in this country all by myself. I've been a one man army fighting the battle alone. But now, things are are slowly changing. More and more people are aware of what I'm doing. They have started to lend me a hand or two. Thank you. I appreciate your assistant.

Here's the article...

Meet Master Inventor

TAN Yeow Kiang, fondly known as Bugs Tan, looks nothing like how one would imagine an award-winning inventor to look. With his closely cropped hair and wide smile, clad in shirt and jeans, the 50-year-old looks like the stereotypical favourite uncle, someone who would be entertaining the kids with stories and magic tricks.

That’s not too far off the mark, really. It’s not magic tricks Tan pulls out of his sleeves but a series of inventions that has won him recognition across the world.

He has picked up 14 awards, local and international, since his first win, a Silver Medal from Geneva, Switzerland, in 2001. That invention was the Multi-locking Pulley, a lightweight pulley/coupling that uses extruded aluminium technology which makes it lighter than the conventional cast iron pulley/coupling.

In 2007, he received the National Innovation Award. Two years later, India honoured him with an International Excellence Award For Innovation for his contribution to the field of creativity and innovation.

In 2010, he was awarded the Gold Medal at the Cyber International Genius Inventor Fair in Korea for his Litewalk Grating System, which are steel grating panels used on oil platforms.

Among his inventions sold in department stores and specialty outlets are the Fanfilta, which makes cleaning of ceilings easy, and the Outdoor Air Cooler, which offers fresh, cooled air during outdoor functions.

You may deduce his success is due to extensive research and lab work, and he would be the first to acknowledge this. But it didn’t come through conventional means.
“I was a typical schoolboy growing up in Klang in the 1960s. The name ’Bugs’ came from friends. I had a simple childhood in Pulau Ketam, where I would invent a variety of games from things as simple as two sticks,” recalls Tan.

“After Form Five, I worked at my father’s company, which dealt in the trading of engine and machinery for the agriculture and construction industries. In 1994, I decided to strike out on my own in the same business.”

But competition was tough and profit margins were too narrow for a trading business. “It was then that I decided to design and develop my own products to sell,” says the keen observer and voracious reader of a wide range of subjects.

Together with his team, he developed the Multi-locking Pulley for clients. It is light and easy to maintain. Most importantly, it was well-received.
“I invent products based on market problems. You have to observe where the problem lies and create a solution,” he points out.

“The Multi-locking Pulley kicked off my career as an inventor and I began to obtain grants from the government. To date, I have created 15 products, patented locally and abroad, and some have been commercialised.”

Challenges were aplenty in his journey to become a respected inventor, but he wanted to continue contributing towards the country’s goal of becoming a developed nation.

Read more: Meet Master Inventor - Tech - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/life-times/tech/meet-master-inventor-1.29522#ixzz1j0mbbIG4

You can also download the full article here on Scrib. To have a look at some of the inventions I've created, pls click here

Thanks for reading. Wishing you all the best too.

Bugs Tan
10th Jan 2012

JCI PJ Chapter Celebrating Success of the CYE Competition 2011

2012-01-07T03:12:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Here the photos taken during the JCI Award night. Three out standing winners were picked for the JCI Creative Entrepreneur Award competition 2011

Prime Minister Najib could not make it to the award night and his place was filled by the energetic Minister Idris Jala. Who gave a very inspiring speech.

Minister in Prime Minister Office – Dato’ Sri Idris Jala

Standing from Left

Top 10 Finalist - Mr. Dexter Chia, Top 10 Finalist - Ms. Emilia Tan, Top 10 Finalist - Ms. Saliza Abdullah, Top 10 Finalist - Ms. Fione Tan, 2011 JCI CYEA Advisor - Mr. Bugs Tan, 2011 JCI CYEA Judge -Mr. Nimal Manuel, 2011 JCI CYEA Judge and Advisor - Dato’ Irmohizam, 2011 JCI CYEA World Finalist- Mr.Joseph Lim, 2011 JCI CYEA Winners from Malaysia -Dato’ Dr. Tony Looi, Top 10 Finalist -Mr. Adnan Lee Chong Fatt bin Abdullah, 2011 JCI CYEA Winners from Malaysia -Mr. Kenny Yap Kian Wee, Top 10 Finalist - Dr. James Yong Chau Leong, Top 10 Finalist -Mr. Mahair Goh Son Huat, JCI Petaling Jaya Charter President Felix Gong, President of Majlis Belia Malaysia -Encik Mohamed Maliki bin Mohamed Rapiee,

Sitting from Left

JCI Petaling Jaya Past President-JCI Senator Richard Ooi, 2011 JCI CYEA Judge-Thillai Raj Ramanathan, 2011 JCI CYEA Judge-Mr. Kwan Foh Kwai JMN, JCIM Protem Chairman - V.T. Nathan, JCI Petaling Jaya President-JCI Member Lim Hooi Hooi, JCI Malaysia President-JCI Senator Joseph Cheang, Minister in Prime Minister Office –Dato’ Sri Idris Jala, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport – YB. DATO' RAZALI HAJI IBRAHIM, Chief Judge ProfessorDatin Paduka Dr. Khatijah Yussof, Dato Hafsah Hashim, 2011 JCI CYEA Judge-Mr. Goh Hin San, Puan Sri Datin Sri Dr. Susan Cheah, JCI Malaysia National Past President -JCI Senator Ngui Ing Ing

More related stories here, here, here and here

I had a great time being the Advisor. I wished JCI PJ the winners all the best in this year 2012.

Best rdgs,

Bugs Tan

7th Jan 2012

Should you quit school to become an Inventor

2012-01-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Young people,

I received an email for a young student in Jordan whom I have not met. He is in his 3rd year doing medicine. He wants to follow his conscience and quit school to become an inventor. He seek my advice whether he should drop-out.

I gave my advice to him and I also thought it is good to share it here with you. Because, some of you out there may have the same thoughts too.

This is his email to me.

Hi Uncle Bugs,

I'm Hamzah (not his real name), 3rd year medical student in Jordan under government scholarship. But, I personally believe that to study Medicine is the biggest mistake I've ever done in my life so far. Because since I was a kid, I want to be an inventor. I believe that I'm going to be a good inventor, I'll try y very best to be one. But for some reason, I'm studying medicine. I've been thinking of dropping out, payback all the money, and go study engineering and prepare myself to be a good inventor. But, it seems almost impossible because that's a lot of money to pay - though it's not the main issue. And I dont want to give my parents headache and heart attacks, though we've gone through the discussion couple of times.

So, as the most prolific Malaysian inventor, I would love to get your advice on this matter. What do you think I should do and plan from now on because I'm going to be 21 years old tomorrow and I'm anxious about my future. Any words from you, I highly appreciate. :)

Regards,

Hamzah

Here's my reply.

Dear Hamzah,

Sorry for my late respond. I've been travelling and buzy with work

Thanks for writing to me and the piece of advice I would like to give you is to stick to your study for now. There is no reason why you cannot be an inventor or an engineer after you've finished your study on Medicine.

It like that Hamzah, people normally don't get to do what they wished for. Most people hated their job. They feel disgusted doing something they don't like. But that's how it is Hamzah. Like it or not life is not so smooth sailing for most of us.

I have a few good friends who have become good medical doctors and yet invent new gadgets. In fact I've currently involved in a project where my doctor friend is trying to invent a new Biopsy to remove censor cells without having to stitch the wounds. I've another medical surgeon who have just won the National Innovation Award last month. Also have a dentist friend who is also an inventor. He invented a new teeth fillings without mercury content.

Take care mate. Go easy on yourself. Take each day as it come without having to throw away you life.

Bye,

Bugs Tan

Innovation Advisor

MALAYSIA

=====

Good luck to you too.
Bugs Tan
7th Jan 2012

Malaysian Innovative People on ASTRO

2012-01-06T19:20:00.000-08:00

Hi,

You may want to switch on your TV to see some of the past winners of the National Design Council competition. Learn how they have successfully put their new products into the market place.

Every Sat on ASTRO TVi channel 180 11.30am starting today.

Rdgs,
Bugs Tan
7th Jan 2012

We Are Never Short of Talents

2012-01-03T05:14:00.000-08:00

Hi,

We had a few innovation camps for children recently. One was held at plug & Play. You can read an article here. One was held at the National Science Center. You can read the article here. And one more up north in Penang. You can read the article here.

I'm pleased to share 2 videos taken in Penang and one at the National Science Center.

I'm a Technopreneur inno camp in Penang Part 1

Pls click here to go to You tube

and part 2

Pls click here to go to You tube

This clip was taken at the National Science Center by Sabirah Sulaiman

For those who have difficulty watching the video, pls click here to go to You tube

We leave for Sibu Sarawak in next month. We will conduct 2 more camps there. I was informed 300 children have already signed-up!!

Bes wishes,

Uncle Bugs

3rd Jan 2012

Michael Teoh a World Citizen

2011-12-31T15:52:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Here is what Michael Teoh wrote on his Facebook wall

My 2011in a blast: Set off in a life-changing 1 year global expedition with Your BigYear - Visited 22 countries in total - Widen my comfort zones by living in theColombian jungles with little to no electricity for 3 weeks, to building housesfor the poor, to camping out along the Canadian Rockies, to walking the LionCubs in Zimbabwe, to waking up to discover elephants next to my tent in Kenya, to nearly being arrested (Twice) in Zimbabwe and Liberia,to diving with the Great White Shark and seeing the Whales visit the coastalshores of South Africa and more - Meeting really awesome people and befriendingmany during my trips - Ultimately, measuring my 1 year trip to have impacted200,000 lives from the projects that i laboured hard in and also the speecheswhich i have gave - 2011 will never be forgotten as the Year I Became a GlobalCitizen! I wonder what 2012 holds? :) Happy New Year everyone! Thank you allfor your continued support and lessons that you all share with me.

I thought this is a wonder experience many people would dream to have.

Well done Michael

Best rdgs,
Bugs Tan
1st Jan 2012

Happy New Year 2012

2011-12-31T06:16:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

Uncle Bugs

Touchless Technology

2011-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

Hi,

We have seen the wave and craze of touch screen phone and tables when Steven Jobs brought them into our lives. We thanked the people who have developed this technology which is so user friendly.

But wait a minute, what if I tell you now you do not even need to touch the screen at all to get things done. Some geeks in Israel has came -up with this touchless technology which I think is mind boggling.

Here's the full story from BBC

So you've lost your TV remote control. Again.

Not to worry, says a tiny Israeli start-up company called XTR3D - soon you'll be able to flick through channels and adjust the volume using only... your hand.

You'll just have to turn your palm towards the screen, and zap away without ever getting off the couch.

And no need for under-the-skin electronics or fancy microchips.

Instead, the TV - or rather gesture recognition software installed inside - will "read" your moves and execute appropriate commands, without any need for physically pressing any buttons.

Based in Tel Aviv, XTR3D is one of the developers of such motion capture technology, and it has just received $8m (£5m) investment bound to give "touchless" tech another push - and according to the firm, bring the first motion control smartphone into the market as early as next year.

US electronics giant Texas Instruments is among the investors.

Although the Israeli firm follows in the footsteps of Microsoft's Kinect, the multi-directional gesture control gaming console that was launched last year and has since been selling like hot cakes despite the average $200 price tag, its technology is quite different.

The Kinect has depth sensors, multi-array microphones and RGB cameras that provide the software with the information it needs to track both voice and gestures.

XTR3D, on the other hand, uses ordinary 2D cameras - such as a webcam of a computer or the one in your smartphone - to extract 3D out of a 2D image.

This creates the same three-dimensional effect as on the Kinect.

According to the Tel Aviv start-up's spokesman Roy Ramati, XTR3D's technology has all the advantages of a 3D camera without any of the disadvantages - it can work in broad daylight, is much cheaper and uses a lot less power.

"And it can be installed into any consumer electronics device," adds Mr Ramati.

Dor Givon, XTR3D's founder and chief technical officer, adds that it is even possible to play a proper Kinect game on a regular laptop that has the software, touchlessly controlling the device from a distance of a few centimetres to up to 5m away.

Controlling the TV without a remote would eliminate the need to look for it

And, he says, anyone will be able to afford it.

Pls continue reading the article here on BBC

Wishing you A Happy New Year 2012

Bugs Tan

29th Dec 2011

Uncle Bugs on RTM 1

2011-12-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Here is a short clip taken from a TV program called Inovasi. This program was shown sometime in Oct 2011 on RTM channel 1. It's in Bahasa Malaysia. I hope you do understand though.

Enjoy the clips

For those who have difficulty watching this video, pls click here to go to Youtube.

I hope my story is able to inspire you to become creative and innovative too. Wishing you all the best

May I also take this opportunity to wish you a happy and creative New Year 2012. May this coming year bring you plenty new fresh and bright ideas.

Yours faithfully
Uncle Bugs
28th Dec 2011

2012 Story Writing Competition by SCBWI

2011-12-25T18:36:00.000-08:00

CALISTRO PRIZE FOR CHILDREN/YA FICTION 2012
RM10,000 prize to be won

SCBWI MALAYSIA is pleased to announce The Calistro Prize for Children/YA fiction 2012. The Prize is aimed at promoting children’s books in Malaysia, written in any of the country’s languages and illustrated by local artists.

The panel of judges, to be announced in October 2012, will be looking for original works that best describes life in Malaysia. Entries may be for picture books, story books, chapter books or YA.

The best entry will be awarded the Calistro Prize and win a prize of RM10,000 and will be published by the Calistro Prize. SCBWI Malaysia will be working with the winner to prepare the manuscript for publication. The winning entry will be published in Bahasa Malaysia and the original language of submission.

The first and second runners-up will be awarded a plaque each and will be offered advice by SCBWI Malaysia on editing their manuscripts to submit for publication.

The Sponsor

Calistro Consultants Ltd, first registered in the UK in 1979, is a small management consultancy specialising in strategy and has worked in more than 40 countries (including Malaysia) in five continents in both the public and private sectors.

Calistro has worked in a wide range of commercial sectors including agro-chemicals, biotechnology, chemicals, mining, motor vehicles, nuclear, oil & gas, printing, steel, and tobacco, as well as the service sector, including airports, banking, education, insurance, fire protection, financial services, ports, postal, power generation, transport, water. In the public sector clients our work has encompassed courts, city councils, fire brigades, national governments, national libraries, state governments and universities.

The company specialises in risk and crisis management, communications, corporate strategy and developing high performance teams.

Calistro is committed to education and the arts, central to which are skills in language and the visual arts. The company therefore wishes to promote children’s books in Malaysia, written in any of the country’s languages and illustrated by local artists. The prize will initially run for five years and will be managed by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Malaysia as the secretariat.

Competition Rules and Requirements:

Entries may be sent by email to imalaysia.scbwi@gmail.com or by post to The President, SCBWI Malaysia, c/o The Bookshop, Bangsar Puteri, Jalan Medang Serai, Bukit Bandaraya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.
Competition is open to Malaysian citizens residing in Malaysia, age 18 and above.
Entries may be in any language in use in Malaysia and a synopsis of not more than 300 words in English must be provided.
There is no limit to the number of words for each entry.
All submissions must be unpublished. Submissions must be received by: 31 Sept 2012. Winners will be announced by 15 Dec 15 2012.
The author’s name and address must not appear on the manuscript.
There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit
Each entry must include the following: One cover sheet per entry with your name, NRIC No, address, telephone number, email, word count and the title of the work.

For further information, email malaysia.scbwi@gmail.com. No phone calls, please.

Winners for the Inno Camp in Penang

2011-12-24T22:55:00.000-08:00

Hi,

The innovation camp in Penang last week was filled with so much fun. The children became instant Technopreneurs. 46 young entrepreneurs paid attention to what I've to teach them,. But when it comes to doing activities, they become so active and produced a lot of energies and noise. It gives me immense pleasure and joy to see them picking-up new knowledge so quickly.

You can see some pixs here

We played many games and here’s the name list of the winners.

Most Promising Technopreneur – MARCUS ONG

Most Promising Inventor - VINCENT ALEXANDER RANGEL

Most Promising Entrepreneur – TAN HONG WEI

CHAMPION : FUTURE INNOVATORS

2^nd PRIZE : REXATRON

3^rd PRIZE : I 4 U

4^th PRIZE : KEEP IT GREEN

5^th PRIZE : EPICTEC

Most Creative Company Name : I 4 U

Most Creative Innomart Stall : KEEPIT GREEN

Most CreativeSignature : CHERAIN HOR

Most Sociable Technopreneur : KANG JIA YANG

Next camp will be in Sibu Sarawak in Feb 2012. We had 2 other previous camp at Plug & Play and national Science Center. You can read the article here and here.

With best rdgs,

Bugs Tan

25th Dec 2011

Thanks to Some Parents

2011-12-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Lily (not her real name)

Good evening. Trust you are well and fine.

Thanks for forwarding the product leaflet to us. Yes, you are right,that clip lights was one of the kids idea.

I've always believe Malaysia is never lack of talent. This country isblessed with talented people. Just that we do not have a method to harnessthese talents. Majority of Malaysian children are not properly nurtured. Thepotential are not realised. More wasteful is that a big number oftalented kids are not discovered at all.

Lee Ching, after running the inno camp at Plug& Play and later at the National Science Center, we went to Penang lastweekend. But the one in Penang was very successful. There were 45 kids and thiscamp has alot more activities. The kids were buzy all day long with plentyof things to learn from me and plenty of assignment to do. We had thecamp at KDU College on Anson Road and this time it was alot more noisy. Thistime the kid participated with alot more energy.

I've learned so much from the feedback from the first two camp atPlug & Play and National Science Center. I took the feedback from theparents and made some improvement. I've added the following things :-

1. I've divided the camp into 3 sessions. I've created the slidesand did the presentation accordingly. The slides stress on the points that Iwant the kids to learn. It was very effective. Attached is the print screen ofthe 3 set of slides

2. I've added an event called iSkecth. Where we asked the kids todraw their ideas a A3 size form. Here points are given for good idea, and ideadescription. This exercise trains children how to express theirimagination into drawings (sketches).

3. To add excitement into the camp, I've also shown the results ofthe each session live on the wall. That way each team know their standing andtries to work harder to beat one another.

4. I've also included many small competitions topromote entrepreneurship. I give away prize for children with the biggestcontact list. This is to encourage children to start a circle a friend in thebusiness community. I also give prize to a team who have the best stall duringInnoMart. I give prize for the best company logo. And a few more smallcompetition within the camp

5. I also stressed on elevator pitch. I put more emphasis onteaching the children what is an elevator pitch and how it is done. I alsotaught them how to raise "seed money". I explain very clearly what is“seed money” and its purpose.

I've 2 more inno camp to do in Sibu. We are supposed to conduct themthis week but unfortunately the children are buzy with Christmas program. Hencethe inno camp is postponed to Feb 2012.

I thought I share my joy with you. We really had a good time in Penang.A few parents and children approached me after the camp to thank me for awonderful time. Thanks to you and other parents who have send your children tous at Plug & Play. The children in Penang have benefited. Thank you all

Here are some photos taken in Penang

Wishing you all the best. Merry Christmas everyone. Happy holidays anddrive carefully.

Best rdgs,

Bugs Tan

Innovation Advisor

Horseshoe Crab

2011-12-24T05:40:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I'm very fortunate to have met Dr. Anil Chatterji when we were working together to look into some problems faced by a hatchery in Kota Baru recently. At this aquaculture complex I learnt that there is also a horseshoe crab sanctuary. This project is a joint effort research collaboration between University Malaysia Terenganu and Ain Aquaculture.

Dr. Anil Chatterji from the National Institute of Oceanography INDIA is an expert in this dinosaur aged marine creature. He has found a way to extract blood from the horseshoe crab. The blood is then used in the medical field as a diagnostic media to trace certain disease. This video explain more.

For some of you who have trouble watching this magnificent animal, pls click here to go to Youtube

I was informed by Dr. Anil that there are only type of 2 creatures that have white blood. Horseshoe crab is one, can you guess the other one.

Here is an article written by Dr. Anil Chetterji which I have up loaded on Scribd. Pls click here to read.

Wish you all the best
Bugs Tan
Innovation Advisor

Penang International Science Fair

2011-12-12T03:32:00.000-08:00

Hi,

The Penang InternationalScience Fair held recently at the Penang International Sports Arena (PISA)attracted more than 5,000 visitors comprising mainly of students and parents.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the one-day fair was acollaborative effort between the state and the Penang Science Council (PSC).

It was also a unique opportunity because the companies generallyonly showcased what goes on on the inside during industrial fairs. This hasallowed the public to take a peek into the technologies the companies areworking with.

This article was taken from C.J.MY. Pls click here to read the original article

Video by Jimmy Leow

Pls click here to watch from You tube.

Well done Penang. We are proud of you

Best wishes,
Bugs Tan
12th Dec 2011

The Fighting Spirit in You

2011-12-10T20:16:00.001-08:00

Hi,

Being an inventor, I'm constantly faced with hindrances, failures and dead ends. I've no choice but to proceed on and find ways to go around it to make it successful. That's what I've been trained to do. I've learned it through sport. You can read about it here, here, here, here, here, and here. I'm glad Jim White has came into my life.

Today, I found a video that reflected what I've been through. So I thought it would be nice to share with you here. Unfortunately I can't embed it here, but you can click here to go to You tube to watch it.

I hope this video have brought you inspiration. Wishing you all the best.

Warmest rdgs
Bugs Tan
11th Dec 2011

A Day Made of Glass

2011-12-08T15:17:00.001-08:00

Watch "A Day Made of Glass" and take a look at Corning's vision for the future with specialty glass at the heart of it.

Learn more about Corning at corning.com. Search for career opportunities at corning.com/careers.

wow stop complaining... this looks so COOL. Obviously, we're still a bit far from some things, both in technology and infra-structure to support such invents, but this will be awesome... - Comment made by general public

Rdgs,
Bugs Tan
8th Nov 2011

12 Things You Were Not Taught in School

2011-12-06T20:57:00.001-08:00

1. Youare creative. The artist is not a special person, each one ofus is a special kind of artist. Every one of us is born a creative, spontaneousthinker. The only difference between people who are creative and people who arenot is a simple belief. Creative people believe they are creative. People whobelieve they are not creative, are not. Once you have a particular identity andset of beliefs about yourself, you become interested in seeking out the skillsneeded to express your identity and beliefs. This is why people who believethey are creative become creative. If you believe you are not creative, thenthere is no need to learn how to become creative and you don't. The reality isthat believing you are not creative excuses you from trying or attemptinganything new. When someone tells you that they are not creative, you aretalking to someone who has no interest and will make no effort to be a creativethinker.

2. Creative thinking is work. You must have passion and the determination toimmerse yourself in the process of creating new and different ideas. Then youmust have patience to persevere against all adversity. All creative geniuseswork passionately hard and produce incredible numbers of ideas, most of whichare bad. In fact, more bad poems were written by the major poets than by minorpoets. Thomas Edison created 3000 different ideas for lighting systems beforehe evaluated them for practicality and profitability. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartproduced more than six hundred pieces of music, including forty-one symphoniesand some forty-odd operas and masses, during his short creative life. Rembrandtproduced around 650 paintings and 2,000 drawings and Picasso executed more than20,000 works. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. Some were masterpieces, whileothers were no better than his contemporaries could have written, and some weresimply bad.

3. Youmust go through the motions of being creative. When you are producing ideas, you arereplenishing neurotransmitters linked to genes that are being turned on and offin response to what your brain is doing, which in turn is responding tochallenges. When you go through the motions of trying to come up with newideas, you are energizing your brain by increasing the number of contactsbetween neurons. The more times you try to get ideas, the more active yourbrain becomes and the more creative you become. If you want to become an artistand all you did was paint a picture every day, you will become an artist. Youmay not become another Vincent Van Gogh, but you will become more of an artistthan someone who has never tried.

4. Yourbrain is not a computer. Yourbrain is a dynamic system that evolves its patterns of activity rather thancomputes them like a computer. It thrives on the creative energy of feedbackfrom experiences real or fictional. You can synthesize experience; literallycreate it in your own imagination. The human brain cannot tell the differencebetween an "actual" experience and an experience imagined vividly andin detail. This discovery is what enabled Albert Einstein to create his thoughtexperiments with imaginary scenarios that led to his revolutionary ideas aboutspace and time. One day, for example, he imagined falling in love. Then heimagined meeting the woman he fell in love with two weeks after he fell inlove. This led to his theory of acausality. The same process of synthesizingexperience allowed Walt Disney to bring his fantasies to life.

5. Thereis no one right answer. Realityis ambiguous. Aristotle said it is either A or not-A. It cannot be both. Thesky is either blue or not blue. This is black and white thinking as the sky isa billion different shades of blue. A beam of light is either a wave or not awave (A or not-A). Physicists discovered that light can be either a wave orparticle depending on the viewpoint of the observer. The only certainty in lifeis uncertainty. When trying to get ideas, do not censor or evaluate themas they occur. Nothing kills creativity faster than self-censorship of ideaswhile generating them. Think of all your ideas as possibilities and generate asmany as you can before you decide which ones to select. The world is not blackor white. It is grey.

6. Neverstop with your first good idea. Always strive to find a better one andcontinue until you have one that is still better. In 1862, Phillip Reisdemonstrated his invention which could transmit music over the wires. He wasdays away from improving it into a telephone that could transmit speech. Everycommunication expert in Germany dissuaded him from making improvements, as they said the telegraph is good enough. No one would buy or use atelephone. Ten years later, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. SpencerSilver developed a new adhesive for 3M that stuck to objects but could easilybe lifted off. It was first marketed as a bulletin board adhesive so the boardscould be moved easily from place to place. There was no market for it. Silverdidn't discard it. One day Arthur Fry, another 3M employee, was singing in thechurch's choir when his page marker fell out of his hymnal. Fry coated his pagemarkers with Silver's adhesive and discovered the markers stayed in place, yetlifted off without damaging the page. Hence the Post-it Notes were born. ThomasEdison was always trying to spring board from one idea to another in his work.He spring boarded his work from the telephone (sounds transmitted) to thephonograph (sounds recorded) and, finally, to motion pictures (imagesrecorded).

7. Expectthe experts to be negative. Themore expert and specialized a person becomes, the more their mindsetbecomes narrowed and the more fixated they become on confirming what theybelieve to be absolute. Consequently, when confronted with new and differentideas, their focus will be on conformity. Does it conform with what Iknow is right? If not, experts will spend all their time showing and explainingwhy it can't be done and why it can't work. They will not look for ways to makeit work or get it done because this might demonstrate that what they regardedas absolute is not absolute at all. This is why when Fred Smith created FederalExpress, every delivery expert in the U.S. predicted its certain doom. Afterall, they said, if this delivery concept was doable, the Post Office or UPSwould have done it long ago.

8. Trustyour instincts. Don'tallow yourself to get discouraged. Albert Einstein was expelled from schoolbecause his attitude had a negative effect on serious students; he failed hisuniversity entrance exam and had to attend a trade school for one year beforefinally being admitted; and was the only one in his graduating class who didnot get a teaching position because no professor would recommend him. One professorsaid Einstein was "the laziest dog" the university ever had.Beethoven's parents were told he was too stupid to be a music composer. CharlesDarwin's colleagues called him a fool and what he was doing "fool'sexperiments" when he worked on his theory of biological evolution. WaltDisney was fired from his first job on a newspaper because "he lackedimagination." Thomas Edison had only two years of formal schooling, wastotally deaf in one ear and was hard of hearing in the other, was fired fromhis first job as a newsboy and later fired from his job as a telegrapher; andstill he became the most famous inventor in the history of the U.S.

9. Thereis no such thing as failure. Whenever you try to do something and donot succeed, you do not fail. You have learned something that does not work.Always ask "What have I learned about what doesn't work?", "Canthis explain something that I didn't set out to explain?", and "Whathave I discovered that I didn't set out to discover?" Whenever someonetells you that they have never made a mistake, you are talking to someonewho has never tried anything new.

10. You do not see things as they are; you see them as you are. Interpret your own experiences. Allexperiences are neutral. They have no meaning. You give them meaning by the wayyou choose to interpret them. If you are a priest, you see evidence of Godeverywhere. If you are an atheist, you see the absence of God everywhere. IBMobserved that no one in the world had a personal computer. IBM interpreted thisto mean there was no market. College dropouts, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs,looked at the same absence of personal computers and saw a massive opportunity.Once Thomas Edison was approached by an assistant while working on the filamentfor the light bulb. The assistant asked Edison why he didn't give up."After all," he said, "you have failed 5000 times." Edisonlooked at him and told him that he didn't understand what the assistant meantby failure, because, Edison said, "I have discovered 5000 things thatdon't work." You construct your own reality by how you choose to interpretyour experiences.

11. Always approach a problem on its own terms. Do not trust your first perspective ofa problem as it will be too biased toward your usual way of thinking. Alwayslook at your problem from multiple perspectives. Always remember that genius isfinding a perspective no one else has taken. Look for different ways to look atthe problem. Write the problem statement several times using different words.Take another role, for example, how would someone else see it, how would JayLeno, Pablo Picasso, George Patton see it? Draw a picture of the problem, makea model, or mold a sculpture. Take a walk and look for things thatmetaphorically represent the problem and force connections between those thingsand the problem (How is a broken store window like my communications problemwith my students?) Ask your friends and strangers how they see the problem. Aska child. How would a ten year old solve it? Ask a grandparent. Imagine you arethe problem. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look atchange.

12. Learn to think unconventionally. Creative geniuses do not thinkanalytically and logically. Conventional, logical, analytical thinkers areexclusive thinkers which means they exclude all information that is not relatedto the problem. They look for ways to eliminate possibilities. Creativegeniuses are inclusive thinkers which mean they look for ways to includeeverything, including things that are dissimilar and totally unrelated.Generating associations and connections between unrelated or dissimilarsubjects is how they provoke different thinking patterns in their brain. These new patterns lead to new connections which give them a differentway to focus on the information and different ways to interpret what they arefocusing on. This is how original and truly novel ideas are created. AlbertEinstein once famously remarked "Imagination is more important thanknowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, whileimagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know andunderstand."

You can find the original article at The Creative Post. Pls click here

Good luck

Bugs Tan

7th Dec 2011

How do you reassemble shredded documents

2011-12-06T20:20:00.001-08:00

Governmentsand businesses have long used shredders to destroy sensitive documents. Howeasy is it to reassemble the pieces?

Almostevery office has one - a document shredder and a bin filled with strips ofpaper fit for the bottom of a birdcage.

But in wartime, the shredded pages found in a captured bunker or command post couldcontain intelligence, if the thousands of pieces could be reassembled.

AfterIranian students seized the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, they spent yearspainstakingly reassembling the intelligence reports and operational accountsshredded by the CIA officers who were the last workers captured.

Mr Good says his softwareforesees how computers can unshred pages

Now, ateam of computer programmers from California have developed software they sayshows that computers can, in theory, do most of the hard work.

It worksby matching up individual shreds based on minuscule clues in each shred - thecontour of the tears, a barely-visible watermark, and traces of writing, forinstance - and can work incalculably faster than a human undertaking the sametask.

Itwas the successful entry in a document shredder competition launched thisautumn by the US military, in an attempt to encourage research on what isessentially a maths problem - how to assemble a puzzle efficiently.

In October,the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the Pentagon's researcharm, offered $50,000 (£31,961) to the first team to reassemble five shreddedhand-written documents and answer the puzzles contained in each of them.

"Any timeyou're in conflict or in war and you were to take over a building or acompound, it wouldn't be terribly surprising to have the enemy try to destroyor shred their documents," says Dan Kaufman, director of Darpa'sinformation innovation office.

"How canwe quickly put them together and get some value and try to save somelives?"

Adecent commercial shredder can reduce a sheet of paper to more than 400 pieces.That yields a total of 1,276,800 possible two-piece combinations - for onesingle-sided sheet.

Most officedocuments are a lot longer, many are printed on both sides, and the bincontaining the shreddings could hold the remnants of hundreds of pages.

The lastembassy workers captured by the Iranian students on 4 November 1979 included ateam of CIA officers who had locked themselves in a vault in order to burn andshred sensitive embassy documents, says Malcolm Byrne, deputy director of theNational Security Archive, a research organisation at George WashingtonUniversity.

"Whenthose guys gave themselves up, they left all the stuff in there thinking,'okay, we've done our job,'" he says.

Pls click here to read the rest of the article from bbc.co.uk

Warm rdgs,

Bugs Tan

7th Dec 2011

2011 I'm a Technopreneur Innovation Camp at PSN

2011-12-04T20:00:00.001-08:00

Hi,

We had our 2nd "I'm a Technopreneur" innovation camp at the National Science Center last Saturday. In this event we have the participation of 32 young creative entrepreneurs. This time around the competition was so tough. During the 1st round of the elevator pitch GNA Corp led comfortably with 82.5 points with Pear at 2nd place with 77.5 points.

GNA Corp is managed by 3 able technopreneurs, Nur Nabila, Nisah Nor and Nur Azimah. They have created a "Smart Maker Pen". This gadget has the ability to store data in a pen-drive placed inside this Smart Marker Pen when you use it write.

But during the 2ns session of the camp where each companies goes on a fund raising exercise. They placed their project at the InnoMart to raise "seed money" for their project from investors. Pear, a company which have invented a "self watering flower pot" raised a whopping investment of RM32,000. Every RM100 is equivalent to 1 point and with that Pear over took GNA Corp for the first prize.

1st round	Results of Elevator pitch	Judging	Investm fr	Total	Final
ranking		Points	InnoMart	Points	Ranking
1	GNA Corp	82.50	205.00	287.50	2
2	Pear	77.50	320.00	397.50	1
3	Designatic Specticle	76.00	128.00	204.00	3
4	Jr Creative	73.50	125.00	198.50	6
5	Hakim Corporation	73.00	131.00	204.00	3
6	Trio Company	70.00	133.00	203.00	5
7	Rain Shirt Company	60.00	69.00	129.00	10
8	Smart Company	63.00	34.50	97.50	14
9	Brothers Sdn Bhd	55.00	47.50	102.50	12
10	Junior Scientits	54.00	60.00	114.00	11
11	Tango	51.00	111.00	162.00	8
11	Transporter	51.00	137.50	188.50	7
13	Smart Future	47.00	90.60	137.60	9
14	Creative Inventor	45.00	57.00	102.00	13

But the competition brought more headache for the Judges. It was so tough that we had 2 companies having the same points on 3rd placing. Designatic Specticle and Hakim Corp were tide with 204 points each.

Designatic Specticle is oprerated by 2 capable technopreneurs, Ainur and Qistina, whom have created a pair of spectacles that have many functions. Accordingly to the CEO, you can change the glasses as you like. It has 3D abilities. and more importantly, it has a "event reminder" to inform the person it's time to go for the next meeting.

While Halim Corporation is managed by En. Amir Hakim and Amir Haziq. This company has invented a iRobot that have a brain to that could gives new ideas on demand. According to CEO En. Amir Hakim this iRobot could also do your homework.

These 2 companies were then given another round of 1 minute of elevator pitch to the floor. The entire floor voted and to force a result. Designatic Speticle coming out as winner with a more powerful sales pitch.

The winners of the day are as follows :-

Most Promising Technopreneur
Quah Ming Sheng
Who took home with him a I-Pod Shuffle, Extradiction Board Game and Avira Anti Virus

Most Promising Inventor
Nur Nabilah Bt Mohd Shafian
Who took home a Trophy and Avira Anti Virus

Most Promising Entrepreneur
Maya Bt Muhamad
Who took home a Trophy and Avira Anti Virus

Champion
Company : PEAR
CEO : Amirul Aiman
CTO : Quah Ming Sheng

2nd Place
Company : GNA Corp
CEO : Nur Nabila Bt Mohd Shafian
COO : Nisah Nor Natasha
CTO : Nur Azimah bt Mohd Shafian

3rd Place
Company : Designatic Specticle
CEO : Ainur Amal Alya Azrai
COO : Nur Qistina Ahmad

Consolation Prize
Company : Hakim Coporation
CEO : Amir Hakim Bin Ahmad Faisal
COO : Amir haziq Bin Ahmad Faisal

Most Creative Company Name
Designatic Specticle

Most Creative Business Card
Nisah Nor Natasha

Most Creative Signature
Sarah Nur Jannah Bt Ahmad Fuad

It was a day fun filled day. I was burnt out when I reached home. But I'm fully satisfied with what the kids have displayed today. It has been a very competitive day and the children has shown their potential. They have excel in both creativity and entrepreneurship.

The next inno camp will be up north in Penang on the 17th Dec. Click here to see some details.

There are more photos on Photobucket. Pls click here to view them. We would also like to thank Technology Park Malaysia for co-organizing this wonderful event. Also like to thank the National Science Center for allowing us to use the venue. Not forgetting Avira Anti Virus and Soh Wee Hock for sponsoring some of the prizes.

Article for the previous event held a couple weeks ago at the Play & Play incubation center is here.

See you soon.

Bugs Tan

2011 Malaysia Art Book Fair

2011-12-04T18:56:00.001-08:00

The first ever Malaysia Art Book Fair 2011 will takeplace at the National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG) on the 1st until the 15th ofDecember 2011, presenting a selection of local and international artpublications. The fair aims to bring a broader understanding and awareness ofthe arts, showcasing new developments and emerging practices in the art scenethrough a selection of publications as well as activities.

This must attend annual event is open to art andliterary enthusiasts, and the entire family looking for some weekend fun. Therewill exciting activities and performances by artists, competitions andattractive prizes, book launches and book signings from your beloved authors.This 15-day fair will also feature conferences and talks hosted by localauthors and artists.

To further fulfill your visit, you will also get achance to explore the artworks and exhibitions at the Gallery which will beopen throughout the fair.

Entrance to the Malaysia Art Book Fair 2011 and theNVAG is always free and open to the public.

For more inform pls click here to go to their website.

Wishing you many hours of fun with your children

Best rdgs,

Bugs Tan

5th Dec 2011

88yo man's invention is being used by meth labs

2011-11-27T20:11:00.001-08:00

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Eighty-eight-year-oldretired metallurgist Bob Wallace is a self-described tinkerer, but he hardlythinks of himself as the Thomas Edison of the illegal drug world.

He has nothing to hide. His product ispackaged by hand in a cluttered Saratoga garage. It's stored in a garden shedin the backyard. The whole operation is guarded by an aged, congenial dog namedBuddy.

But federal and state drug enforcementagents are coming down hard on Wallace's humble homemade solution he concoctedto help backpackers purify water.

Wallace says federal and state agentshave effectively put him out of business, because authorities won't clear theway for him to buy or sell the iodine he needs for his purification bottles.Rejected for a state permit by the Department of Justice, he is scheduled toappeal his case before an administrative judge in Sacramento next month.

Meanwhile, the exasperatedStanford-educated engineer and his 85-year-old girlfriend said the government -in its zeal to clamp down on meth labs - has instead stopped hikers, floodvictims and others from protecting themselves against getting a really bad caseof the runs.

"This old couple, barelysurviving, old farts, and we're supposed to be meth dealers? This is just plainstupid," Wallace said, as he sat in the nerve center of hisnot-so-clandestine compound surrounded by contoured hiking maps, periodictables and the prototypes of some metal snow shoes he invented a few years ago."These are the same knotheads that make you take your shoes off in theairport."

When asked about Wallace, the DEA(which in fairness does not provide security in airports) responded in an emailthat some investigations discovered clandestine labs were using Polar Pure.

"Methamphetamine is an insidiousdrug that causes enormous collateral damage," wrote Barbara Carreno, a DEAspokeswoman. "If Mr. Wallace is no longer in business he has perhapsbecome part of that collateral damage, for it was not a result of DEAregulations, but rather the selfish actions of criminal opportunists.Individuals that readily sacrifice human lives for money."

Wallace and his partner, MarjorieOttenberg, came up with the idea about 30 years ago as they planned to scalethe Popocatapetl volcano in Mexico.

"We knew the water wasquestionable down there, so we stole their idea," Wallace said with anunapologetic grin.

Read the rest of the story Wire Lifestyle here

Warm rdgs,

Bugs Tan

28th Nov 2011

Are You Getting a Tablet Soon

2011-11-24T06:29:00.001-08:00

Laptop and desktop computers offer lots of great features,but they're so last decade. If you want the hottest new device in the techworld, consider upgrading to a tablet

Tablet computers boast better compactness, battery life, andarguably, more style than their laptop counterparts. These thin, touch screen based computers have been around inone form or another for more than 20 years, but the tablet game really startedto heat up after Apple released the iPad in 2010. Now, a wide variety ofcompetitors have shown up, expanding the tablet market into new territories andmaking them more prominent than ever.

Benefits to tablets include their ease of use, speed, theirability to display books and notes, and gaming potential. However, they alsohave their shortcomings, including the difficulty typing on them and limitedhardware.

For this reason, investing in accessories is a great way to getthe maximum potential out of your tablet PC. From cases to battery boosters andexternal hard drives, there are many ways you can turn your tablet into theultimate computer on the go.

In this article we'll look at some of the most popular tabletaccessories and learn about how they can make your computing life a littleeasier.

Read the original article at How Stuff Works here

So are you getting a tablet?

Warmest rdgs

Bugs Tan

24th Nov 2011

2011 3rd Dec Inno Camp "I'm a Technopreneur" at PSN

2011-11-23T21:22:00.001-08:00

Calling all parents!

The next Inno camp for children is on the 3rd Dec 2011 Saturday at the National Science Center (Pusat Sains Negara) at Bukit Kiara Kuala Lumpur.

This coming event is co-organized with the Technology Park Malaysia (TPM). Pls click here to see the leaflet and registration form. You can call Ms. Jaclyn Wong at 012- 206 6392 for further information. Or register your child online here at www.unclebugs.com.my

We had a great time last week. Pls have a look here.

I look forward to seeing you and your children soon. Pls share this with your friends.

warm rdgs,
Unclc Bugs
24th Nov 2011

2011 Inno Camp at Plug & Play

2011-11-21T04:37:00.001-08:00

This company is called Epic Aqua Tech. It's headed by Foo Hooi Ting (15yo girl) CEO and her partner Foo Chun Wei (11yo boy). They have invented a self cleaning aquarium technology. They scored pretty well during the pitch to the Judges and raised RM14,700 (Uncle Bugs currency). There were 9 teams in the competition and this team won First Prize

Parents had a private session with me too

It's obvious why they called their company TWIN. These twin are the youngest technopreneurs in this camp. Caitlin and Samantha Tan have created 2 gadgets. One is a Robot that could do house work while the other is a plate warmer / cooler. The plate stirred quite alot of interest among the investors. I hope we will get to see this unique plate in the market one day.

On the left is CTO Aisyah Alias Ali (8yo) getting ready to meet investor to raise fund for their project to build a multi function hospital bed. Wearing pink shirt is CEO Mok Siao Chi also ever ready to greet investors with a smile.

Davien Lim Wei Jie and Regina Lim Xian Yi are CEO and CTO of Sporty. They have invented a Table soccer for 2 players. It is powered by solar energy. It is equipped with speaker. It blared out "GOAL" each time a goal is made. The handle is a function to tell how much energy has been spent by the player.

Lee Boon Hau and Lee Boon Wei explaining their project of a "Wateral" to potential investors.

Ng Sze Chie and Ng Sze Hui have invented a eco-friendly "smart hanger"

Khor Min Hui (8yo) sketching out his idea of a multi function Glass.

See here Hanis Adriana and Hazirah Adlina buzy creating a walking stick for the elderly. It seemed they have came up with this idea because of their grand mother at home who walks around with such a tongkat. This new walking stick has many function like GPS direction help. Pepper spray ward off intruder. An umbrella. A flexible touch screen and a sharper pointer to pick-up trash.

Hi,

Last weekend I had the pleasure to be associated with 17 young technopreneurs. They were young boys and girls age 9 to 15yo. We had a fun time together at the technology incubation center - Plug and Play at the Mid Valley down town Kuala Lumpur. Of course the parent also joined in the fun.

In the morning session, I parted some of my knowledge on the subject on creativity. I shared some views of mine on how creativity comes about and how it can be harnessed and turned into a product. The technopreneurs were paired in a team or twos to build a start-up company. They select among themselves a a role of a CEO and a CTO. Each team them gives themselves a company name and I gave them RM2,000 (Uncle Bugs currency) as start-up money.

The companies then buys whatever hardware that is required to build a prototype. Here you can see the technopreneurs only spent what is necessary. Some companies so prudent in their spending that they borrowed things from other team instead of buying from the hardware store.

The CEOs and CTOs get down into heavy discussion on the prototype they wished to build. You can see ideas were written down and concept being sketched on mahjong paper. Just before lunch time you can see the construction of a prototype taking shape. I must admit, these group of children are a clever lot. They certainly can invent stuff.

After lunch, the judging took place and we were very fortunate to have Mr. Koh Wing Yew and Kal Joffers to be the Judge for the day. One by one the CEOs and CTOs of each company pitched to the Judges, They gave their best and presented their new invention

The inventions present by these technopreneurs were excellent. It's exceed the expectation of the Judges.

Soon after the Judging session, the companies set-up booth at various corners of the hall. They now focused on raising fund (seed money) to bring their invention into the next stage. Each parents were given another stack of money to become inventors for the day. And the technopreenurs' job was to pitch to these potential investors to part their money into their project.

Some technopreneurs were aggressive. Instead of waiting for investors to come to their booth. They go up to the investor and invited them to their stall instead

Each dollar earned is then converted into points. Add these points to the points they earn during the judging session earlier. The team with the highest points won. The competition were tough and the same time it was exciting and fun. What surprised me was a pair of strangers Mok Siao Chi (13yo girl) and Aisyah Alias Ali (9 yo girl). They only meet that morning but they teamed up so well and won 2nd prize. I am very proud of their team work. Aisyah also took home the Most Potential Entrepreneur Award

The first prize went to a pair of sister and brother Foo Hooi Ting (15yo girl) and Foo Chun Wei (11yo boy) for the invention of a self cleaning aquarium. They have built a prototype and have explained how the fishes in the main aquarium can be transferred into an adjacent tank via an intelligent sensor. An automatic self brush is also installed in the main aquarium tank to scrub the inside of the aquarium when the fishes has been transferred away. I think this clever idea have helped this company to raise the most seed money amongst the companies in the hall on that day.

There is one talkative technopreneur in this camp, Khor Min Jia (8yo boy). Ideas kept coming out of him and he never seemed to stop talking. He also gave many comments on other people's idea. He is a live wire and is full of energy through out the day. He has conceptualized a pair of sun glasses that have many features which won himself the Most Promising Inventor Award.

I hope the children have gained new knowledge and made new friends in this camp. I've told them to stay in touch with me as well as the friends they've just met. It was a tiring day for me but it's all worth it!

May I take this opportunity to thank a few people who have helped me directly or indirectly in making this event successful. En. Hazani of Kumpulan Modal Perdana for allowing us to use the place. TeAM for co-organizing this event. Ellynita, Koh Wing Yew and Kal Joffres for helping out and being Judges. Mr. Soh Wee Hock for donation eXtradiction board game. Hsien Foo for doing all the graphic work. GEW for sponsoring this event. Michael Tan for supporting this program. All parents for sending their children to this event and also for playing investors and camera men.

Lastly and most important I would like to thank Sister Jaclyn Wong for organizing this. She has worked tirelessly for many weeks to put this together. She deserve a big THANK YOU. I must admit without her this event would not have taken place.

Thank you all

I look forward to seeing you again in the next event on the 3rd Dec 2011 at the National Science Center at Bukit Kiara. Pls share this article with your friends. So that more parents will be aware that such program are available for their children.

With warmest rdgs,
Uncle Bugs

21st Nov 2011

metallic "micro-lattice" material is world's lightest

2011-11-18T03:25:00.001-08:00

Earlier this year we looked at a "multiwalled carbon nanotube (MCNT) aerogel" -also dubbed "frozen smoke" - that, with a density of 4 mg/cm3, became the world's lightest solid material. Now frozen smoke has been knocked off its perch by a new metallic material with a density of just 0.9 mg/cm3, making it around 100 times lighter than Styrofoam. Despite being 99.99 percent open volume, the new material boasts impressive strength and energy absorption, making it potentially useful for a range of applications.

The 0.01 percent of the material that isn't air consists of a micro-lattice of interconnected hollow nickel-phosphorous tubes with a wall thickness of 100 nanometers - or 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. These tubes are angled to connect at nodes to form repeating, three-dimensional asterisk-like cells.

The new material draws parallels with large structures, such as the Eiffel Tower, which is incredibly light and weight-efficient thanks to its hierarchical lattice design. As an illustration of just how efficient such a design is, if the 7,300 tonnes of metal used in the Eiffel Tower were melted down it would fill just six centimeters (2.4 in) of the structure's 125 m2 (1,345 square ft) base.

The ultralight micro-lattice material shows the same concept can also reap benefits on a much smaller scale. The wall thickness of the hollow tubes can be measured in nanometers, the diameter of each tube in microns, each tube length in millimeters, and the entire micro-lattice in centimeters - or even one day, meters, claim the researchers.

In addition to its ultra-low density, the researchers say the new material's micro-lattice architecture gives it extraordinarily high energy absorption with the ability to completely recover from compression exceeding 50 percent strain. This is due to the fact that the extremely small wall thickness-to-diameter ratio of the material makes the individual tubes flexible. Its impressive properties could see it used for battery electrodes, catalyst supports, and acoustic, vibration or shock energy damping.

The novel material was developed by a team of researchers from the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and California-based company, HRL Laboratories. for DARPA.

The research team's paper, "Ultralight Metallic Microlattices," appears in the November 18 issue of Science.

Pls read the original article at Gizmag here

I can think of a good use for this, the galah sawit. The sawit pole that are used to harvest fresh fruit bunch at oil palm plantation are currently made of aluminium. It's light but at times when extended to 40ft, it can be heavy.

What do you think? Pls share with us.

Rdgs,
Bugs Tan
18th Nov 2011

Contribution to the Nation

2011-11-17T16:49:00.001-08:00

Hi,

If you are about my age (born in the 50s & 60s) you would value the progress that was going on around the world after the 2nd world war. especially in America. Peace time prevailed and the American and people in the west were experiencing economic boom.

But, one speech that still rings loudly in my memory is the inaugural speech by President John F Kennedy. He said "Ask what not the country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country".

I thought that was a reasonably good advise. So I borrowed that and do it in Malaysia. Hence, my contribution to my nation are done in bits and pieces here and there. One way to help the nation is to build a knowledge economy.

Over the last few years I've started recoding the events that I've carried-out. And to my surprise I've delivered 66 public events over the last 5 years. This includes talks in universities and seminars, judging at invention competition and conducting invention workshops for kids. You can have a look at the list here.

I'm happy that I'm able to contribute to the nation in a small way. And I'll continue to do so as long as the people out there need my help.

With best rdgs,
Bugs Tan
18th Nov 2011

5 Innovations Camps for Children

2011-11-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

Hi,

The school holidays will begin soon and I've taken the opportunity to conduct 5 innovation camps for kids. It is my hope to build a next generation of technopreneur. I've planned to run 2 workshops in Kuala Lumpur, 1 in Penang and 2 more in Sarawak. The dates are as follows:-

19th Nov 2011 Sat at Plug & Play Mid Valley KL
Pls click here for more information

26th Nov 2011 Sat at the Malaysia Technology Park KL
Pls click here for information

17th Dec 2011 Sat at KDU College in Penang
Click here for information

21st Dec 2011 Wed at SMK Methodist Hall Sibu Sarawak
Click here for more information

23rd Dec 2011 Fri at SMK Methodist Hall Sibu Sarawak
Click here here for more information

Last week I've written an article on what I wished to do during such workshop. Pls have a look here and here.

I hope you will bring your children to one of these event near you. I'm sure your children will make new friends and gain new knowledge. Parent too have a role to play during the workshops. While your kids are learning to be a technopreneurs, you'll play a role of an investors where you'll invest into potential projects created by the kids during the workshop. Off course we'll fake money, Uncle Bugs currency.

I've also allocated an half hour session just for parents like yourself with me. Here I hope to share with you how I nurtured my 2 daughters into inventors. And we shall also discuss general matter on how to bring-up cheerful and bright kids.

Thanks and I look forward to seeing you and your children soon. I'll appreciate if you could also share this with your friends. Pls join hands with me in building the next generation of inventors, researchers, scientists entrepreneurs, businessmen and leaders.

Warm rdgs
Bugs Tan
10th Nov 2011

Qualities of a Creative Person

2011-11-09T04:14:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I believe there are many ways, a person can look at problem and solve it. But there are also some gurus out there who have done much thinking and thought that it is good if we follow some guide lines. You would have heard of Edward DeBono, Tony Buzan, Stephen Covey and a few others. These genius specialized in their own unique ways and thinking techniques to bring thinking skills made easy for you. If you have already learned how to use "lateral thinking" or mind mapping" or "7 thinking habits" you'll appreciate how easy it is for someone to look at a problem and solve it

Anyway when my good friend from Dubai Mr. Jabir Walji pointed me to www.creax.com I stood up to see what they have. And my instinct was right. There I've found a simple set of qualities one should work-on if you want to be more creative. They are:-

1 Abstraction

The ability to concept from ideas

2 Connections

The ability to make connections betweenthings that don’t initially have an apparent connection

3 Perspective

The ability to shift ones perspective on a situationin term of space and time, and other people

4 Curiosity

Thedesire to change or improve things that everyone else accepts as a norm

5 Boldness

The confidence to push boundaries beyondaccepted convention. Also the ability to eliminate fear or what other peoplethink of you

6 Paradox

The ability to simultaneously accept andwork with statements that are contradictory

7 Complexity

The ability of carry large quantity ofinformation and be able to manipulate the relationship between the information.

8 Persistence

The ability to derive to a strongersolution even though good are already generated.

The site is interesting and I took a self test to see my level of creativity. The average score is 62.48. To see my score, pls click here.

I hope the above infos are useful to you. Have a creative day

Best rdgs,
Bugs Tan
9th Nov 2011

There is a Technology to recover gas and increase oil production

2011-11-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

Aphoto of gas flaring says it all — in a time when energy is scarce, unused fuelis burning away. A new report by GE estimates that 5 percent of the world’snatural gas production is wasted by burning or “flaring” unused gas each year —an amount equivalent to 30 percent of consumption in the European Union and 23percent in the U.S. Gas flaring emits 400 million metric tons of CO2 annually —the same as 77 million cars. Worldwide, billions of cubic meters of natural gasare wasted annually, typically as a by-product of oil extraction.

Despite the gigantic numbers, there’s goodnews, as eliminating wasteful gas flaring could be the next big energy andenvironmental success story based on technologies that exist today. Forexample, among the tech solutions is capturing the gas and using it for powergeneration or re-injecting it into the ground to help with oil recoveryefforts. GE’s study finds that nearly $20 billion in wasted natural gas couldbe used to generate reliable, affordable electricity and yield billions ofdollars per year in increased global economic output.

In action: Inthe first large-scale application of its type, advanced compressor technologyfrom GE Oil & Gas will be minimizingliquefied natural gas (LNG) flaring in Qatar. The gas that usually boils offduring the loading of LNG carriers at port will now be collected andtransferred to a central compression area via pipelines and then used to fuelthe refrigeration plants that liquefy the gas for export.

Asgas is often present when drilling for oil, gas flaring has been part of theoil industry since its inception. With much work having been done over the lastdecade, large scale flaring is rare at new drilling projects. However, some ofthe largest waste gas streams occur in remote areas where lack of a market,lack of pipeline access, and/or small volumes do not justify the expense of gasgathering.

“Withgreater global attention and concerted effort— including partnerships, soundpolicy and innovative technologies — large-scale gas flaring could be largelyeliminated in as little as five years. It’s a win-win outcome,” said MichaelFarina, program manager at GE Energy and author of the white paper.

Forexample, as The Financial Times noted in its story, “ifRussia could capture half its flared gas and sell it at domestic market prices,it would be worth an extra $2bn a year.” Farina told the paper that “there weremany countries, such as Norway, Indonesia and Angola, that provided goodexamples of how to cut flaring.”

Thenext step involves a coordinated effort from central and regional governments,oil and gas producers, technology providers and the international community.The goal is to highlight the financial benefits associated with reducing gasflaring; secure local government support for monitoring and enforcing flaringregulations; and build capacity that helps local investors and contractorsdevelop, operate and service distributed power generation.

The report provides aregion-by-region analysis of gas flaring trends. In the case of Nigeria, it hasreduced flare gas emissions by 28 percent from 2000 levels. Even so, thecountry’s oil industry still wastes 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas everyyear. While nearly half of the population has no access to electricity, thecountry spends nearly $13 billion per year on diesel-powered generation andperhaps 10GW of potential electricity is flared away.

This article was taken from GE Report. You can read the original posting here

On this note, may I inform you that there is a new technologythat turned this kind of gas into crude oil. This new technology will be ableto recover gas and increase production by 5 to 30%. I hope to share it withanyone who wished to know more. My email address isbugstan@gmail.com

Bes rdgs,

Bugs Tan

7th Nov 2011

House of Innovation

2011-11-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

Hi,

We all know Malaysian inventors have difficulty commercialising ourinventions. We have plenty of good inventions, good research findings but 99% failed to see the light of the day. I also know countries likeIndia, America, UK too have similar problem. I think this is a common problem faced around the world.

It is not easy tosolve this problem. I really don't know how to solve it for the world. But I'm determined to help others around me. With a compassionate heart, I hope to make a difference. I'm pleased to inform you that I've setted-up a smallservice center to help other inventors out there.

My lawyer friends,Mr Mohan K and I have joined hands to form this new consultancy service center called theHouse of Innovation. Here we will help an inventor intwo areas. One is to get funding for their ideas. And two is to match themwith industrial player to commercialize their invention when it's ready. Pls spend a couple ofminutes to browse our website.

http://www.hoi.my/index.html

House of Innovationis still very new. we have only just started recently. But apparently we are very successful in securing funding for inventor for their research work andcreating of a prototype. Most of our clients wears a smiling face.

However, we havenot attempt any matching activity yet. Let's see how it goes.

Pls do contact me if you want to know more of ourservice at bugstan@gmail.com

Warm rdgs,

BugsTan

5th Nov 2011

Kuala Lumpur Innovation Forum 2011

2011-11-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia (YIM – http://www.yim.my) with the cooperation of MOSTI is organizing the Kuala Lumpur Innovation Forum 2011 (KLIF 2011) on 15-16 November 2011 after the highly successful inaugural KLIF 2010 held last year. The Forum will be held in conjunction with the country’s National Innovation Conference & Exhibition (NICE) at the Putra World Trade Centre.

KLIF 2011 is the strategic platform for stakeholder representatives from public, private and civil society sector to share experiences, discuss and deliberate issues and strategies on Innovation for Development. The Forum aims to inspire and enhance creativity and innovation among Malaysians to think new thoughts and ideas to improve their lives and lifestyle. We are expecting more than 400 delegates to attend KLIF 2011.

Get more info here

I enjoyed being a speaker at the event last year. Though I was the last speaker of the last day of the 2 days event. There were still a good number of people staying back to listen to my talk. This goes to show that there is huge demand for knowledge in innovation in the market. People wants to know what is it all about and how innovation can help them in their business. see my article here

Have fun at this year's edition!

Bugs Tan
4th Nov 2011

Bugs Tan on Honey Bee Magazine INDIA

2011-10-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I'm really honoured when the Honey Bee magazine asked me for an interview recently. It is nice to be part of an article that promotes grass root innovation in India. The writer Somya Tyagi asked me many questions including how my name came about. She also wrote about my 2 daughters Amanda and Amelia.

Honey Bee is a magazine initiated by the National Innovation Foundation of India (NIF). NIF is under the department of Science and Technology. I had the privilege to meet the Vice President Prof Anil Gupta when he visited Kuala Lumpur in July this year. He is a man full of passion when it come to supporting grass root innovation. How I wished, we could have a person like Prof Anil Gupta in Malaysia.

To read the magazine, pls click here. Enjoy reading the article.

Rdgs,
Bugs Tan
31st Oct 2011

Innovation Camp for Kids

2011-10-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

I’m a Technopreneuer

This is anengaging one day workshop for children age 9 to 15yo. The aim ofthis workshop is to allow children to gain knowledge in two areas, which iscreativity and entrepreneurship. These are the 2 main skills thatputs together a person to become a good technopreneur.

The childrenare grouped into a team of 5s. They are taught about the responsibility of aCEO, COO, CFO, CTO and etc. In the morning the team is briefed about the thingthat is expected of them. That is to create a new idea that could be turnedinto a prototype. Such new invention is built hands-on during the workshop byusing recycle materials. Here, fake money is being used to simulate practice ofsmart spending. Children learn to purchase and rent goods for their project.

Each team isgiven some specific start-up fund to buy the required materials. Once thegadget are built, each team will be asked to do an elevator speech to a Judgewhere crucial points will be rewarded in accordance to the merits of theinvention. Points are scored based on commercial potential, novelty,presentation skills and cheers of the team.

The secondpart of the workshop is for each team to exhibit their invention at an InnoMart(Innovation Market.) The purpose is to catch the eye of a group of investors forseed money. Investors whom are made-up of parents shall then invest intoproject that gives good business proposition. Here, the children will put theirbest entrepreneurial skill into practice to tempt investors to invest intotheir project.

Each dollarcollected by the team is then converted into points. Add these points togetherwith the points they received earlier from the judges for their invention. Teamwith the highest point wins.

Workshoplike this encourages every kid to participate actively and worked as a team. Planning and budgeting is vital duringearly stage of creating a prototype. Children’s presentation and pitching skillis also developed. And equally important, creative talent will be discovered. And kids harness entrepreneurial skilled in such competitive environment.

The next workshop is on the 19th Nov in Kuala Lumpur. I look forward to having fun with your children. Pls click here to register. Or click here to make payment online.

Thank you

Uncle Bugs

29th Oct 2011

Creative and Innovative Practicing Company (CIPCO)

2011-10-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I've begun to look into helping SMIs and SMEs in Malaysia to become creative. In fact, I'm now at the verge of implementing this new management tool for 3 companies in Malaysia. This program is call CIPCO. The main aim of CIPCO is to change the mind set of the employee in a company. I hope to create a culture of creativity and let all employees know that every problem faced by the company and every problem faced by the customers are opportunity to create an invention. Including processes.

Pls click here to take a look at a brief description of this tool. Pls also take a look at the slides for a better understanding of this new management tool

2011 cipco rev 1.0

View more presentations from Uncle Bugs

Pls fwd an email to me if you wish to know more at bugstan@gmail.com

Best rdgs,
Bugs Tan
24th Oct 2011

China encourage innovation on campus

2011-10-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Watch out for China. Get ready to embrace a wave of innovation from this giant. Here's an article that gives us some signals.

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government will set up an award to encourage on-campus invention, a move believed to help boost the number of the country's international patent registrations.

In a bid to encourage universities and schools to put more resources toward encouraging invention, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) plans to display inventions by teachers and students at an annual conference on patents, which will run from Nov. 9 to 11, said Xu Fang, an official in charge of intellectual property rights (IPO) registration with SIPO, here Thursday.

The creators of these inventions will compete for the award.

The SIPO will recommend the top ten prize winners to take part in the Geneva International Invention Show in 2012, and sponsor them by providing free return-trip plane tickets and a booth for each invention at the show.

"Chinese universities should play a bigger role in invention and innovation," Xu said.

The number of China's international patents lags far behind that of the United States and Japan, Xu said.

The number of Chinese patents was only equal to 27.5 percent of that of the U.S., he said, adding that no Chinese university was listed in the world's top 50 universities holding the most international patents.

Read the original posting on Xin Hua here

Best rdgs,
Bugs Tan
21st Oct 2011