Students at Massachusetts college design lightsaber with engineering skills
NEEDHAM - A recent graduate of Olin College in Needham, Massachusetts has brought a film icon to life, designing his own lightsaber.
"Revenge of the Sith when it first started showing in theaters and I remember just like, oh my gosh, this is so cool. Because the fight choreography, it was obviously incredible. So ever since then, I've been hooked. Star Wars, lightsabers, becoming a Jedi, this is so cool," said Jacob Uy, a recent Olin College grad and founder of the YouTube channel Hero Tech.
Plenty of Star Wars laser swords have been made, but never quite like this. jacob-uy-lightsaber-olin-college-hero-tech
"So, it is really, really bright," said Uy. "This is a 12-volt LED strip but we are driving it at 15."
Recreating sci-fi gadgets
Uy founded Hero Tech as a high school student in Singapore. He had a vision to engineer gadgets from science fiction and make them function in the real world. He's also created a Spiderman web shooter and has plans for more.
"If you're familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender, like, kind of, the fire bending," said Uy.
During his time at Olin, Uy started a lightsaber project. But he knew, he could not do it alone.
"I sent out a schoolwide email," said Uy. "Does anyone want to build a lightsaber with me?"
Working together
That's when Madison Tong and Aaron Codrington came on board to transform Jacob's first version into a more elegant weapon.
"We saw just how much work and how much passion he had for the project," said Tong.
"None of this would have been possible without them," said Uy. "They also contributed so much."
And all three say the opportunities provided by Olin College have allowed them to use their creativity and work through a variety of hurdles.
"We basically sat down, problem by problem, with a bunch of sticky notes," said Uy.
"It's not only teaching you, specifically, how to learn in a specific way, it's teaching you how to work with other people," said Codrington.
And because of this friendship, collaboration and experience. The force will be with them, always.