Okay, so this is going to come across as somewhat embarrassing but you know how there are some events that you go with a specific purpose, and there are some events that you go with an attitude to simply play it by ear.
This one- at 43 Science Park Road- was the latter.
It was one of those events where not only did I not have an agenda, I wasn't even familiar with the location.
Not the location's fault- there are those who are familiar with Science Park I, Science Park II, NUS, and NACLI.
Unfortunately, not I.
Let's just say that I'm very lost around the West Coast Highway a rea, and I've not come to the South Buona Vista Road area in at least twenty years.
If it sounds like I'm complaining- let me first say: I'm not.
I'm just embarrassed.
It became apparent very quick just why this event had made their choice of location there.
See, it's one thing to be at an event where companies make presentations with the hope of speaking to investors to raise capital.
It's another thing, however, to find yourself perched on a bench platform amongst a group of listeners who look like they are engineers, or who have been engineers before.
I'm telling you, I was genuinely surprised.
Of course, I should have done research on the presenting companies the same way I should have done research on what they were raising capital for.
But I didn't, and so the event became for me something that I really had to play by ear.
If there was a common denominator amongst the companies whose presentations I heard, it would be, I think, Sustainability.
I heard the word mentioned a couple of times.
Out of the three whom I heard, two were focused on water sustainability, and the third, a waste management company.
I wish I could say I got a good grasp of what it was they were saying, or that I have a better inkling of what they were doing and how everything works.
But I can't.
So I'll simply say that I've gotten (at least a little bit)( intrigued..
Anyone who has ever heard of wafer fab and semicon manufacturing will know just how specific the clean room is, and just how critical the clean water must be.
It isn't merely about clean water.
It's also about recycling it.
Because, yes, they use a lot of water.
Tonnes, every day.
Same thing too, for waste management, especially now, in a post-Covid world, where we can no longer turn a blind eye to the importance of waste management anymore.
You know, a long time ago I used to wonder how these processes were like.
This event at 43 Science Park Road gave me a clue.
So I did feel a little bit like a fish out of water from time to time.
But there were thoughts too.
Like, what if their presentations were translated from an investor-ready Canvas/Powerpoint styled deck to a documentary ready for streaming TV and broadcasting?
What if their presentations were done in such a way that they were entertaining (to the layman) and edutaining (to the student) at the same time?
Would it be possible to do a VR thing with them, or better yet, an AR, if it were doable?
Would their clients in food manufacturing, for instance, mind?
Of course I might be getting a little ahead of myself.
But in life, never say never.
After all, who is to say that it will never be done?
If there're already short form videos on Facebook showing how human labor work with machines in general manufacturing, who is it to say that XR for such processes won't ever see the light of day?
Perhaps one day I might find myself in a place where clients themselves express interest in featuring their processes through VR, AR or XR.
Perhaps one day I might find myself speaking to someone whose investors won't give them time of day if they don't have their investor decks ready in VR.
That day might not be far away.
But in the meantime, casual, get-together events like these certainly do hold a great deal of charm.
It might have been that the presenters didn't get chance to speak to an audience ready to write a cheque.
But their work, and their communication was not completely lost on the audience either.
Not, at least, to those who looked like they had been familiar with pipes, valves, spanners, machinery, and processes for a very long time.
I thought that pretty cool.