A Real Lightsaber! See Student Olin’s Fully Retractable Invention – NBC New York

Get out of my way, Peter Parker: Boston has its own super-engineer to turn science fiction into reality.

Jacob Uy just graduated from Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts, where he spent the last four years inventing countless gadgets to fulfill his mission to “become a hero.”

That’s the slogan of Herotech, a company founded by Uy, whose designs include Spiderman’s web-shooting device, Iron Man’s JARVIS display, and, most recently, a real, retractable lightsaber.

“Anything is possible if you put your mind to it,” Uy told NBC10 Boston. “These things we see on screen are possible through technology and engineering.”

Uy posted his first YouTube video, Herotech, during his senior year of high school. He “set himself the goal” of creating a working web-shooter using the school’s 3D printer, and his video documenting the process quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

“I was sitting there (realizing) that people really like this stuff and really like science fiction come to life,” he said. “It’s something I love doing, and I’ve never looked back since.”

Olin’s cutting-edge engineering programs and project-based curriculum were the “world-class” opportunity Uy was looking for. At Needham, he developed his Herotech projects and used them to pass classes, with the support of his peers and mentors.

“By the end of my life, I had become a much better designer, engineer and inventor,” he said.

His real-life lightsaber began as a final project in school, not for Herotech. As part of a group project with other Star Wars fanatics, Uy built a prototype fully retractable LED lightsaber and recruited a research team, dubbed “Project Jedi,” to create the final product.

Uy’s design is distinguished by a retractable and extendable blade that emerges from a 1:1 scale hilt designed by his team. Instead of a laser illuminating the fake sword blade, the team opted for safer LED strips that wrap around the magician’s staff.

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The 12-volt LED strip, retractable staff, and motor and batteries are all mounted in a heat-resistant, 3D-printed hilt, creating a movie-accurate lightsaber. Olin says he’s not done with the project yet—he’s working on speeding up the extension and retraction times and building a new metal hilt with a variety of customizable casings.

Now an Olin graduate, Uy plans to work full-time at Herotech in his home country of Singapore. He hopes to inspire future engineers to continue their education and “become heroes.”

“Engineering is as simple as putting things together,” he said. “The more you look at it as something that’s really accessible… the more people will realize they can do a lot and they can create a lot.”

“Really, anything is possible,” Uy added.