17 November 2009: Winner of "Best Trip in the World" Competition MSE undergraduate Ng Boon Ming and his team won the “Best Trip in the World” competition organized by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. It was no easy feat for Boon Ming and his team as they competed with 1,123 teams from 44 countries to win the top prize of NT$1,000,000.
Boon Ming and his team will use the NT$1 million cash prize when they visit Taiwan in February-March 2010 for their one-month trip during which they will once again document their travels through online blogging, articles and video.
30 October: Winner of Individual (R&D) Award at Defence Technology Prize 2009
A/P (Adj) Geoffrey Tan won the prestigious Individual (R&D) Award at the Defence Technology Prize (DTP) 2009.
The Defence Technology Prize is MINDEF's most prestigious award to recognise outstanding contributions in defence science and technology to enhance Singapore's defence capability. The awards serve to motivate excellence in defence science and technology and are given out annually by the Minister for Defence.
10 September 2009: Centre for
Biomimetic Sensor Science
NTU and Linköping University, Sweden are setting up a
new research centre to develop cutting-edge bio-sensing
technology that will aid in the diagnostics and
identification of diseases and toxic agents in the
environment.
The new research centre known as the Centre for
Biomimetic Sensor Science, will be led by MSE Profs
Subodh Mhaisalkar, Zhang Hua and Chen Xiaodong as well
as Prof Bo Liedberg from Linköping University and Prof
Wolfgang Knoll from Austria Research Centre.
Professors Liedberg and Knoll are renowned for their
work in the interface of nanomaterials and biomolecular
science and its application as biosensors.
31 August 2009: NTU professor wins inaugural national fellowship for women in science
Dr Lam Yeng Ming, an NTU alumna and associate professor with NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, was awarded one of the three inaugural L’Oréal Singapore for Women in Science National Fellowships 2009. Dr Lam received the S$20,000 award from Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, at a ceremony on 28 August 2009.
Presented for the first time in Singapore, the Fellowships seek to recognise the contributions of women scientists to the advancement of science and research in Singapore. The Fellowships are supported by the Singapore National Commission for UNESCO, and in partnership with the A*STAR. Dr Lam aims to further her research in nanosensors.
We congratulate Assoc Prof Lam on her achievement!
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Channel NewsAsia, 10:00pm, 28 August 2009
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The Straits Times, Pg B7, 29 August 2009
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Weekend TODAY, Pg 8, 29-30 August 2009
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Lianhe Zaobao, Pg 6, 29 August 2009
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The New Paper, Pg 16, 30 August 2009
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News Release
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My Paper, Pg A13, 7 Sep 2009
21 August 2009: A/P Alfred Tok awarded the National Day Honours 2009 – Commendation Medal
Congratulations to A/P Alfred Tok on being awarded the Commendation Medal at the National Day Honours 2009.
The award is bestowed in recognition of A/P Alfred Tok’s contribution towards the revamping of the laboratory infrastructure for the School, resulting in more space for the undergraduate and research programs. His relentless effort in optimizing the technical manpower resources and elevating the overall technical competencies and service standards is truly commendable.
18 August 2009: Recipients of SPRING
Executive Development Scholarship 2009
MSE Year 3 undergraduates, Mr Kang Aik Meng and Mr Chan
Wai Kheong are the proud recipients of SPRING Executive
Development Scholarship 2009.
The SPRING Executive Development Scholarship (EDS)
program is designed to nurture and develop young talents
who aspire to be the business leaders of tomorrow.
Scholars are given the opportunity to tap on SPRING’s
resources and learn from successful business leaders in
the community. The Executive Development Scholarship
covers full tuition fees and offers a monthly allowance,
above and on top of approved overseas exchange programme
and internship opportunities.
7 July 2009: MSE research on Nanonets
gets S$10m boost
Prof Subodh Mhaisalkar and his team won the
Competitive Research Programme (CRP) grant of $10
million from the National Research Foundation
(NRF).
The multi-disciplinary programme on
“Nanonets: New Materials, Devices for Integrated
Energy Harnessing & Storage” will focus on the
development of new materials and devices for
sustainable energy applications by exploiting two
key emerging technologies, namely, solution
processable electronic devices and nanotechnology.
The Competitive Research Programme (CRP)
Funding Scheme complements NRF’s Strategic
Research Programmes by funding a broad base of
research ideas through a competitive bottom-up
approach.
4 June 2009: Award Winners of TECS by SPRING
Singapore
SPRING Singapore announced the award winners for the
highly competitive TECS grants ($250K to $500K over
1 year) and 4 of the 21 winners involved projects
done in MSE. Their winning projects (listed below)
were selected from 220 submissions:
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Novel Peptide-Eluting
Coronary Stent (CardioRev, founders: Freddy Boey
& Subbu Venkatraman)
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Printed Power enabled Active
RFID Tags (Printed Power, founders: Subodh
Mhaisalkar, Madhavi Srinivasan, Martti Kaempgen,
Andreas Kiebele)
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Nanopowder Biomarkers (ROAR
Singapore, PI: Ma Jan)
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Semiconductor Cooling MicroPump
(Pipeline Micro Asia, founders: Ma Jan and
Freddy Boey)
The TECS serves to provide vital
support and resources for companies to convert
innovative ideas into promising business.
2 June 2009: Launch of the Energy Research
Institute@NTU (ERI@N)
NTU has set up a broad-based multi-disciplinary
energy research centre to explore complex
energy-related issues. The Energy Research Institute
@ NTU (ERI@N) will act as a think-tank for
scientists to assemble and exchange ideas across
scientific disciplines. Up to six research centres
will be set up under the institute. The first centre
to be launched is the Centre for Sustainable Energy
Research, which focuses on the study of fuel cells,
wind and tidal energy, as well as energy efficiency
and smart buildings.
30 May 2009: MSE students : Winner (Youth Category) of
Start-Up@Singapore
MSE students, Brendan Goh, Tsang You
Jun, Fan Shufen and Chen Yijun competed with 281
teams from all over the world at the nation-wide
business plan competition, Start-Up@Singapore to
emerge as the Winner for the Youth Category on 30
May 2009.
Their winning business plan to formulate an
innovative solution for baby care using a series of
non-toxic, light-weight and durable baby milk
bottles with several special features to aid
caregivers and parents has won the MSE team a
whopping S$10,000 cash.
Congratulations to the winning team on their
brilliant achievement!
6 October 2008: National Science
Challenge 2008 (Season Finale)
Catch Profs Subodh Mhaisalkar, Lam Yeng Ming & MSE
staff/students in action on the National Science
Challenge 2008 (Season Finale) as the students from
Raffles Girls’ School, Raffles Institution and River
Valley High battled it out for the coveted National
Science Challenge 2008 trophy.
24 September 2008: Insightra Medical
expands Ree-Trakt Product Line
Following on from the successful launch of the
innovative surgical retraction system, Ree-Trakt,
Insightra Medical announced the latest expansion of
its range of novel surgical retractors which are
designed to offer ultra low profile, unobtrusive
retraction to improve surgical access.
20 September 2008: MSE final year
student, Nufrizal Abu Bakar helms his own programmes
at Rediffusion's new radio station, Redistar
Rediffusion launched a new radio station, Redistar,
which plays only songs by home-grown talent. The
station's part-time DJ, Nufrizal Abu Bakar, a final
year student at MSE, helms his own programmes on
Fridays and Sundays.
17 September 2008: UCLA & 12 collaborating
institutions with MSE, NTU as the only university in
Asia, establish new center on environmental effects
of nanotechnology
The School of Materials Science and Engineering
(MSE), NTU is one of 12 collaborating
institutions with UCLA to establish the
University of California Center for
Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC
CEIN), funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
The UC CEIN, located at the California
NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) on the UCLA campus,
aims to further research on environmental,
health and safety implications of nanomaterials.
It will bring together a highly integrated,
multidisciplinary, synergistic team with the
skills set to address the complexities of
environmental science, ecotoxicity, materials
science, nanotechnology, the biological
mechanisms of injury, and the fate and transport
of nanomaterials.
MSE’s expertise in materials science – nano-synthesis
and nano-characterization, is a critical
component in this research. Some of the
pre-determined nanomaterials will be carefully
synthesized in MSE through controlled
experimental design and those that are
synthesized to precision will be used to
establish a library of reference nanomaterials.
Fundamental toxicity studies on these
nanomaterials will be conducted in MSE. Results
arising from these toxicity tests will
ultimately be used to develop a predictive
scientific model to study the impact of
nanotechnology on health and the environment.
3 September 2008: NTU Collaborates with Bosch in Organic
Photovoltaics Research
Bosch Research and Technology Centre Asia
Pacific was officially opened on 3 September
2008 at NTU. On its inaugural project, NTU is
collaborating with Bosch in organic
photovoltaics (OPV) research, which aims to
decrease the cost of electrical energy gained
from solar light, and reduce the impact on the
environment.
30 August 2008: Professor Freddy Boey reveals
his secrets of success
Professor Freddy Boey shares how he attained
business success for his company, Amaranth
Medical, which he founded Professor Subbu
Venkatraman. Besides having the knack in knowing
who to work with and not taking things
personally, Professor Boey also credits his
success to the solid science developed at the
School of Materials Science and Engineering,
where his group was recently awarded a
prestigious $10-million research grant from the
National Research Foundation.
20 June 2008: MSE research on soluble heart stents gets S$10m boost
The School of Materials Science and Engineering has been awarded S$10 million grant from the Competitive Research Programme (CRP) Funding Scheme offered by the National Research Foundation.
This multi-disciplinary programme on ‘Biodegradable Cardiovascular Implants’, led by Professors Freddy Boey and Subbu Venkatraman, will focus on the development of therapeutic devices for the treatment of heart disease using soluble stents. These soluble stents are considered the holy grail of stents as they dissolve completely over time and release drugs/proteins to prevent side effects such as blood clots. The research team also aims to test the soluble stents on heart patients here within two years.
13 March 2008: Research and development of
defence science in aircraft
Under the guidance of Prof Ma Jan, Colin Ng from
Dunman High School explored the properties and
chemical compositions of syntactic foam and
tweaked them to achieve a strong but lightweight
material. His research findings may prove to be
of great interest to a number of industries, in
particular the aviation industry, as weight and
strength are key considerations in the
manufacturing of aircraft.
A/P Alfred Tok’s team of students from
Victoria Junior College developed a nanomaterial,
which can effectively detect low concentrations
of toxic gases. This could be useful in early
warning of chemical and biological attacks.
17 October 2007: NTU and Insightra Medical Inc
release their first joint venture medical device
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and
Insightra® Medical of Irvine California first
joint venture medical device, Ree-Trakt, is
released for sale in the United States. This is
the first medical device by NTU that has been
developed and patented in accordance with design
controls.
Ree-Trakt is the new
generation of disposable soft-tissue surgical
retractor systems that provides complete retraction
flexibility and optimal exposure of view in a
variety of surgical procedures. It has been designed
for surgeons to gently retract and secure the
delicate soft tissue away from the operative site.
Apart from making access to surgery easier and
efficient, Ree-Trakt is also designed to minimise
tissue trauma, optimise retraction force and lower
the risk of infection. Ree-Trakt allows the surgeon
to perform the procedure with less assistance, in
some cases facilitating procedures can even be
performed single-handedly.
9
June 2007:
NanoFrontier signs multi-million dollar R&D
agreements with UK companies
NTU spin-off NanoFrontier Pte Ltd has signed two
R&D collaboration agreements with UK companies,
Analytical NanoTechnologies plc and ROAR
Particles Ltd. The agreements are worth S$4
million over a period of two years. The research
collaborations will include using nanoparticles
to mine information from trace materials left on
fingerprints, and using nanoparticles to detect
traces of toxins or other harmful substances in
places such as chemical plants, or in the
environment. NTU will provide facilities and
manpower, and will share ownership of any new
intellectual property developed as a result of
this collaboration.
30 March
2007: Chemistry whizz laps it up at NTU lab
NTU's Professor Freddy Boey hosted
seven-year-old whizz kid, Ainan Celeste Cawley,
at the NTU laboratory. This was the first time
Ainan had stepped into a real-life laboratory.
The Primary 2 pupil made headlines recently when
he scored a C grade for an O-level chemistry
paper.
22
January 2007: NTU, US-based Insightra Medical to
set up joint company
NTU's School of Materials Science and
Engineering and a US-based medical device
incubator, Insightra Medical, have teamed up to
form a new start-up company called Ree-Trakt.
The new company will develop disposable surgical
retraction systems to help surgeons better
visualise a wound, making access to surgery
easier. Such devices will also be less bulky and
lighter than conventional ones. Ree-Trakt plans
to launch its first commercial product in the
second quarter of 2007. Its market potential is
estimated to exceed US$200m.
28
September 2006: Biomedical start-up attracts US
investors
A Singapore biomedical company started by two
NTU professors, Prof Freddy Boey and Prof
Subbu Venkatraman, has attracted the attention
of a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, who is
co-investing US$7.5 million in the company. The
other co-investor is EDB's Bio*One Capital. The
start-up company, Amaranth Medical, develops
biodegradable stents. The new funds will be used
to advance the stents to human clinical trials.
26
September 2006:
Amaranth Medical closes US$7.5 Million Series A
Financing to Advance the Development of
Bio-Absorbable Stents
8 August
2006: NTU collaborates with CNSI in nanoscience
and nanotechnology research
NTU is collaborating with the California NanoSystems
Institute (CNSI) in the USA in the field of
nanoscience, nanotechnology and nanosystems
research. The two institutions aim to conduct joint
research with the possibility of future product
commercialisation and industrial start-ups. The
collaboration will see NTU's Nanoscience &
Nanotechnology Cluster (NACL) and CNSI embarking on
future joint projects in Nanoelectronics,
Nano-biotechnology and Nanocharacterization. As part
of the collaboration, researchers from NTU and CNSI
will also participate in an exchange visit
fellowship programme. These researchers will be
known as "NACL/CNSI Fellows". A Memorandum of
Understanding was signed on 8 August 2006 between
NTU and CNSI to formalise the collaboration.
9 June 2006: NTU research
for safer cataract operations
NTU's School of Materials Science and Engineering
worked with Tan Tock Seng Hospital to devise a
two-in-one probe using nanotechnology to make
cataract operations safer. The new technique taps
nanotechnology to minimize the risks of current
cataract surgery. It involves the use of a specially
developed device called piezoelectric micro-actuator
and uses mechanical forces as well as ultrasonic
energies to break down cataracts. The surgeon is
able to have more control and can remove a
relatively dense cataract with just a small
incision. A provisional patent from the USA has been
obtained.
2 June 2006: NTU to
collaborate with Mayo Clinic on cancer therapy
NTU has scored a first in Singapore in collaborating
with world-famous Mayo Clinic on biomedical
research. NTU's School of Materials Science and
Engineering and Mayo Clinic's College of Medicine
are already working on a project to develop
nanoparticles to transport drugs or genes to cancer
sites in the body. The two institutions will aim to
derive joint patents and go into product
commercialisation and industrial start-ups.
13 March 2006: NTU student
develops new electronic book concept
First year MSE student Vincent Lau has developed a
new conceptual electronic book which consumes less
energy and made use of e-paper technology. The
e-book could also remember reading habits of users
and was equipped with bluetooth capability. Vincent
hoped that his concept could be useful in the
education scene to benefit students in the future.
This concept recently won the Storage Unlimited
Design Competition 2006.
02 December 2005: NTU
innovation - high strength nanopowder for wide
applications
NTU researchers have developed a high quality
nanopowder with a strength below that of diamonds.
The research team behind this innovation also
emerged among the top 10 in the first 'Nanochallenge
– International Business Plan Competition held in
Italy in November 2005.
19 September 2005: NTU,
National Heart Centre in tie-up to develop heart
devices
NTU's School of
Materials Science and Engineering has partnered
National Heart Centre to take biomedical research to
the next level. Under the agreement, NTU will
develop biomedical technology and its devices on
which NHC will conduct trials on. The partnership
plans not to just save lives but to expand the
industry here as well.
16 April 2004: NTU
innovations look set to revolutionize biomedical
treatment
20 December 2004:
Experimenting with business
15 January 2004: NTU researchers top
invention list
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