As a student, I am actively involved in many activities such as CCA, sports and scientific research. Hence, it is very important to arrange my hectic schedule to ensure I do not miss any of these activities. However, I am quite absent-minded. Hence, I have been using the post-it notes to remind myself of school events and jot down details. Hence, I am quite familiar with the brand 3M and have a rough idea of 3M’s products before the research (though not very accurate).
3M’s culture of innovation wows me. As can be seen from this article (http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663137/how-3m-gave-everyone-days-off-and-created-an-innovation-dynamo), 3M’s program, “15 percent time”, allows everyone in the company to use a portion of their paid time to chase rainbows and hatch their own ideas. Furthermore, 3M is willing to take risks and listen to the new ideas by fellow workers, allowing these gems to develop into a creative product. This culture of innovation is indeed unique to 3M. This culture of innovation is also what leads 3M to great success.miliar with the brand 3M and have a rough idea of 3M’s products before the research (though not very accurate).
3M produces a wide range of innovative products and dwell into many industries. Most of the times, many successful MNCs and local companies specialise in a specific industry. However, 3M promotes creativity and urges all their fellow workers to think out of the box across all fields. As such, 3M is able to produce a large variety of products which are futuristic and helpful to us. Below are just some examples of 3M products.
3M Privacy Screen
3M Clean Water
Their ability to produce such large number of distinct products is an important characteristic of 3M, leading to their success in many fields.
Before the research, I thought that 3M only produces adhesive tapes and post-it notes.3M is a company that specialises in producing new and creative stationery. These products by 3M, adhesive tapes and post-it notes, are very useful. I use them frequently in school and at home. However, after the research, I realise that 3M is a company which produces a wide range of products. 3M researches and develops cutting-edge technologies such as privacy computer screen filter and clean water filter. 3M also produces many other daily household appliances which are lying all around my house (I didn’t know these are 3M products back then).
Qioptiq designs and manufactures photonic products and solutions that serve a wide range of markets and applications in the area of medical and life sciences, industrial manufacturing, defense and aerospace and research and development.
As the name suggests, Qioptiq is related to optics. Photonic is a relatively new field. However, in Singapore, the development of optics technology is rapid. Many HDB estates have already been notified of installation of optical fibers in the household. Optical fibers are used in communication, medical field, defence and many other industries. Since photonic technology is evident in Singapore, I briefly know the progress and usage of photonic technology, which is related to what Qioptiq does.
Qioptiq produces a wide variety of products, ranging from night vision military weapon to Optical Solar Reflectors in satellites. Their involvement in aerospace really wows me because I never thought photonic technology, a relatively new field, has already been applied to a satellite which costs a bomb. The sheer number of products Qioptiq produced is already stunning.
Products: http://www.qioptiq.com/products.html
As can be seen from this video, it is evident that Qioptiq value customers' feedbacks and develop their products accordingly. Their willingness to take in customers' feedbacks is what makes them so successful in the field of photonics. Furthermore, this video showcases some cutting-edge technology which is invented by Qioptiq. They source for new materials and novel methods to produce more durable, more energy-saving military equipments to suit the demands of the customers. For example, Dragon Compact, part of Dragon series shown in the video, is fitted with Qioptiq LOGLINT™ Coating Technology to reduce sunlight glint and reflection. It has a Stand Alone Thermal Weapon Sight, Clip On Thermal Weapon Sight and Hand Held Observation and Surveillance Sight. These products in the video are definitely just the tip of the iceberg.
Before the research, I thought that Qioptiq was only concerned about developing better optical fibers for various purposes such as communication, surgery and defence. Optical fibers are the technologies I am more familiar with. Thus, I related Qioptiq to optical fibers almost immediately. However, after the research, I realise that optical fibers technology is only a small part of photonic. Photonic encompasses thermal imaging technology, night vision technology and space-based technology, just to name a few. These technologies Qioptiq are concerned with are very sophisticated and related to many other fields (defence, medical, aerospace).
After doing the research, I have several project ideas in mind. Firstly, it will be the investigation of different, novel design of optical fibres to reduce loss of light during transmission. Secondly, it is the investigation of different resources and new methods to make the photonics product (such as the Dragon series) more energy-saving, more light-weight.
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