Syrian refugee in Jordan invents laser microscope

A Syrian refugee living in Jordan has invented a laser microscope using materials from a scrap market, Syrian news agency Zaman Al-Wasl reports.

20 year-old Abbas Al-Faouri created the model having spent less than one and a half Jordanian dinars on the microscope’s parts, using scrapped materials instead. Though the initial model is basic in its design, it can be used to study microbes in a pre-prepared sample.

Al-Faouri was unable to complete his further education in Syria, when his family fled to Jordan in 2013. Two years later, he enrolled at Al-Quds College through a British diploma scholarship in the field of civil engineering. During his studies, he presented a simplified explanation of the general theory of relativity and his own proof using mechanic experimentations, gaining him much notoriety among his teachers.

Following the completion of his studies, he continued to pursue his interest in scientific experimentation and developed the microscope while studying the physical properties of light. A laser is used on a lens to break down the light, revealing microscopic organisms on a sample.

Whilst Al-Faouri could not construct a more sophisticated model of the microscope due to costs, if developed in the future, it may replace the expensive electronic microscope and could be comparable in terms of accuracy and the appearance of viruses and microbes.

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