Learn to Solder - Maker Fest 2015

The makers were here again in Penang at sPICE arena on 14-15th Nov 2015 for the Penang Maker Fest after we had the Penang Mini Maker Faire last year.  More stuffs, more things, more excitement and more crowds. How can I run away from organizing the Learn to Solder workshop after we had good response last year. However this year, I made it simpler while making it more fun and exciting for everyone to solder. Luckily this year I had more volunteers also to help me out in coaching the enthusiastic visitors to solder. The volunteers were great and tirelessly helping from 10am to 7pm on both days until we ran out of boards. Thanks to Motorola Solutions Penang and Penang Science Cluster for sponsoring the parts and PCB. I will let the picture below speaks to you.

Learn to Solder Workshop commence on the first day

One of the volunteer trying to pin the blinky LED on our
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng

Certificate of Appreciation as PMMF14 Committee

Certificate of appreciation from Penang Science Cluster as part of the organizing committee for Penang Mini Maker Faire 2014 (conjunction with Penang International Science Fair). First certificate received with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng signature. Looking forward for 2015!

"Learn to Solder" at Penang Mini Maker Faire 2014

Preparing and ready for tomorrow

The first in Malaysia, Penang Mini Maker Faire 2014 is over two weeks ago. The feelings from the fair are still fresh as if it all just happened yesterday. All the preparation and efforts made it a rewarding and unforgettable experience.

For my first Maker Faire I decided to throw in "Learn to Solder" workshop during the two days exhibition. Prior to the event, I had a little expectation from the visitors to participate in this workshop. The initial responses from my colleagues when I told them that I was going to do this were.. "Are you sure?", "I wouldn't want my kids to go near these things" and "Don't expect the response is good". At first I was skeptical about it too. Nevertheless, I wanted to prove them wrong. 

To my surprise when we started at 9.30AM on the first day, people came streaming in non stop until we closed at 6.00PM. There wasn't a moment a soldering station was left empty. Luckily I have friends to assist me in the workshop, they were Hasrol, Derrick Teoh, Bernard Arokiasamy and YT Lee. We didn't have time for proper meals and our energy drained drastically in matter of hours. However, we splurged our energy to help the enthusiastic crowd. We were tired but exhilarated.

The sad part is when we ran out of the boards and components by noon on the second day. People who came later were disappointed especially the kids. We didn't expect the response to be so good. The first day has already used up two thirds of the total boards. So, we ended early and had some time to visit the other makers and exhibition booths.