The 2024 Microscopy and Microanalysis (M&M) Conference took place in Cleveland, Ohio during the last week of July. The Microscopy Society of America (MSA) invited Foldscope to be a part of this event. Holly Stuart, Education Specialist, and Ken Ta, Director of Sales, represented Foldscope at MSA’s Megabooth. The Megabooth was in the center of the Exhibit Hall and housed the MSA and its affiliate groups. After looking at the other exhibitors at the conference, Ken jokingly commented that Foldscope had the only microscope that could be dropped on the floor or thrown across the room and suffer no damages!

The M&M Conference introduced high school students and teachers, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students, university professors, and industry professionals to the world of Foldscope microscopes! Conference attendees came to the Foldscope table and explored the original Foldscope, Foldscope 2.0, and Foldscope Mini. The MicroRealms Explorer Cards also received a lot of positive attention and many people asked about getting more cards! (Don’t worry, they are in the works!)

Foldscope’s role at the M&M Conference began before the opening of the Exhibit Hall on Monday morning. Holly and Ken led three student workshops where students learned about the Foldscope company and how to use a Foldscope 2.0. It was great to see their faces light up when they looked at the fern rhizome slide! Each workshop ended with a Q&A session. The student questions were incredibly insightful and showed that the future of science and microscopy is in good hands!

After the workshops, the exhibit floor opened up to the conference attendees. It was wonderful watching the Foldscope paper microscope stop these industry leaders in their tracks! Throughout the week, we saw serious microscopists accustomed to working with multi million dollar pieces of equipment break into huge smiles while exclaiming “WOW!”, “No way!”, and “That is so cool!” each time they looked into a Foldscope. They even excitedly brought their colleagues to our booth telling them, “You HAVE to see this!”

The purpose of participating in the M&M Conference was to introduce our company and products to an industry that relies on many different types of microscopes for their research and product development. Everyone who engaged with Foldscope saw the importance of our mission to democratize access to science education and tools. Microscopists saw that a Foldscope could increase the number of people interested in science, specifically microscopy, at a young age from all around the world.

This is the real value of a Foldscope. The ability to light a spark in someone who didn’t even know that there was a flame waiting to be lit. This is the way to engage and excite the next generation of scientists. Want to learn more about how you can evoke a sense of awe and wonder from the microscopic world? Visit the Foldscope website or reach out to us at info@foldscope.com. Happy Foldscoping!



P.S. Yes, Holly did a little tardigrade hunting while she was in Cleveland and found this guy in the moss under the giant FREE stamp!