The first ever Asian Make-a-thon was held in Singapore last Friday and Saturday. Organised by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Ideo, a design and innovation consultancy, the event saw professionals from different walks of life — ranging from architects and entrepreneurs to civil servants and students — come together to brainstorm and create prototypes based on six different briefs that would improve the way of life in Singapore. Participant Sharon Lourde Paul, [SMU alumnus and] Managing Director of events and meeting space booking website wearespaces.com, said that she found an NEA video posted on the OpenIdeo website which piqued her interest in the project. “It’s nice that we’re coming up with ideas from ground-up, which could be implemented.”