Inventor Jeremy De Leon created the Make-roscope because he noticed a declining interest in science during the pandemic, when students couldn't get into schools to use microscopes and other tools for hands-on learning. He realized that while millions of children never have access to laboratories, smartphones are near-ubiquitous.
De Leon plans on using the James Dyson Award to roll out Make-roscope globally: "We will expand our goal of teaching not just Filipino students but every student in the world so they will be engaged in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, so we'll have more researchers, scientists, engineers, innovators and especially change makers."
The cheap and highly portable microscope could be valuable beyond the classroom, too: checking for agricultural pests, ensuring the safety of drinking water, performing citizen science projects — the potential uses are vast. One to help partner with? Or could your organization democratize access to other (scientific) tools?
