Yay!!!! On 17th january 2022, Fabacademy kick started with 5 days student boot camp which gave insight to the whole fabacademy journey.

I am Sonam Paldon Dorji, participating in FabAcademy2022 from Bhutan. I did my bachelors degree in Electrical Engineer and below is the picture of me with my parents during the graduation ceremony.

I am working as an Asst. Lecturer in Jigme Wangchuck Power Training Institute and teach Transmission and distribution lineman. Below picture shows my students erecting a pole for practical class.

I am also serving as FABLAB Engineer for the fablab in JPWTI, because of which I got the scholarship and this great opportunity to attend the Fabacademy2022 for which I would like to bow down in utmost gratefulness to His majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. My heart is filled with gratitude for His Majesty. His Majesty has always focussed on the importance of education and the youth of Bhutan and particularly on the STEM education in the country and I am very honored to work and contribute towards his majesty's goal.

Below is the kupar (picture) of His Majesty The King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck and Their Royal Highnesses Gyalsey Jigme Namgyel and Gyalsey Ugyen Wangchuck (our dragon princes)

I have been very interested in renewable energy and in college I got the opportunity to attend the JENESYS2015 program in Japan organized by JICA focussed on energy. The event even let us experience home-stay with a japanese family where I found my extended family, the Makino family.

Since we are setting 4 new fablabs in our country, I attended fab-zero as well. For the FabZero, the mentors are Francisco and Sibu Saman. We went around the country to set up the labs: SFL in thimphu, Standard fablab in Gelephu and paro and Bio-Fablab in Punakha. We even visited the tiger's nest camp like setting the fablab in Paro. It was my first time as well

My interview with cst-jica fablab project in Bhutan

Since college, I’ve been interested in technology and renewable energy. When a solar power project was commissioned on our campus, I along with a few students wrote a letter to the management and volunteered to assist the project. Initially, the project didn’t have any major activity but we got to learn a lot and the experience shaped my passion in renewable energy. Along with data collection and studying the workings of the solar power plant, our group was also sent on a study tour to Japan where the exposure further enriched our knowledge

Full link to the interview: