When Sin Chansousdey was 12-years-old, he started building things by himself. Instead of getting toys bought by his parents, Chansousdey enjoyed designing ones like this miniature robotic excavator.

Today, the 20-year-old designs and builds stuff on his own.

“I like DIY (Do It Yourself). I love tinkering with mechanical things.”

Unlike most students who passed their high school diploma last year and still have to figure out which major to pursue at university, Chansousdey is going to National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia (NPIC) to major in mechanical engineering.

Cambodian Girl Dreams of Starting a Vehicle Manufacturing Company

dynamic_detail_1

From Finance to Pioneering Cambodia’s Animation Sector

Introducing Cambodia’s Universities

Sin Chansousdey talking about his passion at home. Kiripost/Siv Channa

He told Kiripost that his passion for DIY started when he was a 12-year-old boy.

“My father is a house construction manager. He has all the toolkits like screwdrivers and electrical motors that I could make use of. First, I started to experiment with making a water pump motor.”

He later continued with an oil pump motor before this excavator among others that scattered his bedroom.

dynamic_detail_2

Using savings from his pocket money, the aspiring mechanical engineer said he also builds and sells, so he can earn some money to build more interesting things.

Some of the basic knowledge he has gained from high school classes and watching how-to videos on YouTube has helped fuel his passionate project, which usually takes from a few months to a couple of years to finish.

Mathematics and biology are Chansousdey’s favorite subjects. Last year, he was one of 72.33 percent of students nationwide who passed the high school diploma with a grade D.

While spending much of his time on the design and building of each component for the 20 kilogram mini remote-controlled electrical excavator, the 20-year-old said he has not found any friends who share his passion. However, he has online customers on social media who are willing to pay for his end products.

Living with his parents and younger sister in a small home in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Trabek district, the young lad is ready to commute 20km from home to NPIC to study in the subject he is so passionate about.

“I don’t know yet about my future job. I’ll have to see the mechanical engineering that I will learn at the university and expect to have more toolkits, equipment, and components to build stuff,” he said.