"Honestly, there were unlimited learning opportunities during my internship. I've learnt how to troubleshoot, repair and improved on my critical thinking skills," said Chee Rui Lin from Temasek Polytechnic, now a student studying Electrical & Electronics Engineering in NUS.
(Photo taken while dining in at Sum Kee Restaurant after a successful customer deployment. Thanks to the owner, Cynthia, for the nice meal. From left to right; Rui Lin, Chi Hen and Asuka.)
Founded in 2018, Ourglass Robotics is a small yet nurturing team in an innovative industry focused on automation and robotics, revolutionising how diners are being served and helping businesses resolve the manpower crunch in Singapore. As of now, around 40% of the manpower in Ourglass Robotics is made up of interns.
A large number of interns in a company actually creates a unique company culture, one that is Young, Dynamic and Creative.
CEO of Ourglass Robotics, William Dai, is having lunch with interns Ray Sheng (left) and Daniel middle) for Mala Xiang Guo at Da La (Big Spicy).
Not many people know that Ourglass Robotics started our venture with building a robot. Thanks to Daniel and Kenneth for leading the project followed by Hasyir, Ju Heng and Cheng Jian that continued to develop it.
Our talented interns worked meticulously and came up with some designs and prototypes below, they were simply amazing!
Ju Heng, Hasyir and Willaim at Hai Di Lao for a deployment.
The first Ourglass Robotics’s office was located at HubQuarters @SCAPE, it was a pretty cool place surrounded by different start-up companies. From there, we built a close-knit workplace with an open working concept where everyone can discuss ideas openly. This culture is brought into our new office where we get to work freely without the restraints of a work cubicle.
(Photo taken in SCAPE office, during our regular sharing sessions, everyone will take turns to share one thing in his/her life. It could be anything from passion, knowledge to even personal struggles. These sharing sessions help to improve our collaborative nature and encourage support for one another).
"Our company has a collaborative culture; we think of ways to help each other if we face any challenges. People in the company are very friendly, and William (our boss) is willing to listen to new ideas and accept them," said Lim Zhan Feng, an intern at Ourglass Robotics who developed an efficient inventory system for the company.
(Photo of William with Zhan Feng at the Sky Garden of our office building)
Of course, not everything in Ourglass Robotics is “good” - one such limitation would be the language barrier.
Because our manufacturers are from China, a bulk of our conversations with the supplier is in Mandarin and we have to translate to our English-speaking customers in Singapore. This is a good chance for you to improve your written Chinese and speaking abilities, lol!
“Ourglass Robotics is a good place for interns to pick up a skill set. There were many opportunities for me to perform as the management is willing to accept differing opinions. However, one limitation is the communication between myself and our supplier in China as they require someone with strong Mandarin-speaking ability,” said Toh Cheng Jian, an intern from Temasek Polytechnic.
(Can you understand all these? Our interns can!)
However, you don’t have to be too concerned over the language barrier - we do mainly speak English! And so do our counterparts.
The work here may be tiring and busy, but it also means that you’ll be learning a lot too!
William sets high expectations for us in a working environment so that we can improve ourselves. This ensures that we are learning something valuable during our internship instead of doing mundane work like photocopying for a senior.
Despite the high expectations, our work can be fun too!
Tony from Singapore Polytechnic is seen providing training to our customers.Tony transformed from someone who is of little words to someone who leads and guides.
One of the best memories is getting rewarded by our boss with delicacies.
We make friends here. Each intern is trained by the last batch, and subsequently will be teaching the next batch – providing opportunities for leadership.
Ourglass Robotics thrives on innovation, there's no such thing as an idea that's ridiculous or impossible to do, and our founder encourages us to learn from our mistakes. After all, there is no creativity without failure.
“Our company is very open to ideas and feedback. I enjoy working here as I am able to travel around, meet clients from different industries and get to know how they integrate our products into their restaurant to improve their work productivity” said Caley, an intern from the National University of Singapore.
We welcome creativity with open arms; in fact, many of the great ideas came from our interns.
Poster, Signage Sticker Graphic Design by Ryan
Batman Eye Cover designed by Chi Hen for Holabot
Special Card Holder designed and 3D printed by Asuka
And many more! Our training manuals are actually updated regularly by every batch, with new inventory systems and innovative ideas that improve our work process.
The company constantly evolves as we welcome new batches of interns every quarter. During early 2021, we hit a new milestone and shifted our office to Vision Exchange – where we call home now.
We now have the capacity to empower our team with more senior full-time staff.
But the core of our young and open-minded spirit will never change.
What will your experience be at Ourglass Robotics? Come and find it out for yourself!
Summing up this post, here's a great video from our star intern - Asuka from Singapore Polytechnic - covering his journey with Ourglass Robotics. Enjoy!