Our latest ‘I’ve got an idea’ Fund award is to Freddy Sarathchandra, a mechanical engineer and public health scientist.

During his PhD research and subsequent start up company Enstic’s work on acoustic ID devices for automated insect detection, Freddy has developed a strong interest in developing a low cost, rugged microscope for collection of high quality images that allow simple, fast insect ID in the field without needing to take specimens away from where they were found.

Most confocal microscopes are designed for bench use and stability so are heavy, fragile to transport in a backpack and the imaging area where specimens are placed is not shielded from the elements. This means that light breezes can blow the insect being imaged away, making imaging hard to do in the field. Also, high powered lighting is essential for high quality macro insect images and this is tricky to get in the field.

Freddy is keen to experiment with several technically innovative ideas to address these issues. These include: keeping insects still during imaging in a non-lethal way, incorporating high powered multi directional lighting with minimal insect-lens-lighting distances and overcoming depth of field limits with stepped height images.

Freddy hopes that developing a small portable microscope for field entomologists could also help engage the wider public, scientific & citizen science community in the important task of identifying and understanding insects.