The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India and the Prakash Lab at Stanford University, USA signed an agreement a few months ago to bring the Foldscope to India to encourage curiosity in science. As part of this was a series of Foldscope workshops and talks in India between 16 – 21 December 2015. Manu Prakash, his team (Marie Bas, Tom Hata, Jim Cybulski and Lakshminarayan Iyer) from Stanford and volunteers from TIFR-Hyderabad worked together with DBT and local organisers to teach students and enthusiasts the workings of the Foldscope.
A Foldscope workshop at Sri Venketeshwara College, Delhi University was the first in the series. Students from all over Delhi and India attended this workshop, and a list of attendees can be found here. The day ended with a long talk by Manu Prakash at Gargi College, Delhi, where he spoke to assembled students about how uninhibited inquiry and learning from mistakes are important components of science.
The workshop proceeded in stages. Stage 1: Assembling the origami microscope.
Stage 2: Getting the biological sample in place
Stage 3: Capturing what you see through a Foldscope
The day ended on a high note, and new explorers left the event equipped with a powerful pocket-sized tool.
If you attended the India workshops, post your posts and images on https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/
More on the Delhi workshop:
https://sumangovil.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/first-…
https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/?p=11010
If you are interested in knowing more about Foldscopes, visit https://microcosmos.foldscope.com/
Stay tuned to the IndiaBioscience website for more on the DBT-Prakash Lab Foldscope initiative and leave your comments here.