Episode notes
In this hilarious yet hard-hitting episode of Intrigued to Innovate, host Dr Jovan Tan uncorks the story of Eclat, a fully automated wine glass washer and polisher built by James Wang and Chong Jay-En, the duo behind Crystal Clear and winners of the Best Prototype Award at the 2024 EDIC Project Showcase.
What starts as a casual "why not?" project with friends quickly escalates to flooding labs, leaky pipes, disasters with applying silicones, and a dual-stream air nozzle that somehow manages to leave wine glasses spotless in minutes.
James and Jay-en reveal their journey from simple cardboard prototypes and overconfidence to building a working machine that cleans, dries, and polishes high-end crystal wine glasses, all of which finally work just two hours before their final presentation.
They discuss how friendship, side quests with LEDs, spray paints and gold handles, and a lot of "gwenchana, it'll be okay" helped them persevere when pumps, valves, and other components failed at the worst moments.
In this episode, you'll hear:
· Why cleaning, drying, and polishing luxury crystal wine glasses is more complicated than you imagine.
· How a simple decision to use air led to the development of a dual-stream nozzle that effectively targets water stains that traditional machines overlook.
· The hard lessons learned from last-minute leaks, blown sockets, and the mindset of assuming "it'll just work".
· The personal takeaways on friendship, burnout, and learning when to stop overthinking and start building the first version.
Whether you're an engineering student, a design enthusiast, or simply someone who enjoys witnessing or transforming chaos into brilliance, this episode highlights how messy, humorous, and fundamentally human real innovation truly is.
Guests: James Wang and Chong Jay-En, Y3 Innovation & Design Programme (iDP) Students, National University of Singapore
Hosted by: Dr Jovan Tan
Produced by: Low Tse Han & Dr Jovan Tan
Presented by: NUS Innovation & Design Programme (iDP) at the NUS Engineering Design and Innovation Centre (EDIC)