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From bench to market

Posted on by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Many have wondered if eating a local delicacy – frog porridge – sparked the development of a wound-healing collagen product made from bullfrog skin in Singapore.

“But the leap from porridge to science wasn’t how it happened,” says Assoc Prof Dalton Tay, one of the developers of the innovation from NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.

Instead, the researchers had been looking for an eco-friendly source of collagen from Singapore when their search led them to discarded bullfrog skins from farms near their laboratories.

Together with Assoc Prof Tan Nguan Soon from the University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Assoc Prof Tay is upcycling the skins to create clinical-grade collagen patches that can accelerate the healing of chronic wounds.

NTU’s innovation and enterprise company, NTUitive, exclusively licensed the patented technology to local medtech firm Cuprina Wound Care Solutions in 2022. NTUitive comes under the NTU Innovation and Enterprise (NTU I&E) initiative, which seeks to nurture entrepreneurs by mentoring and supporting students, faculty and alumni looking to turn their ideas into market-ready products.

After setting up a lab to scale up its commercial production, Cuprina is now planning clinical trials at local hospitals.

“Licensing allows us to focus on innovation and scientific advancement while leveraging the business acumen and market presence of established companies like Cuprina,” says Assoc Prof Tay.

Developing wound healing patches made of amphibian skin is one example of how NTU scientists are creating game-changing solutions to real-world problems.

In fact, the United Kingdom-based global information services provider Clarivate listed NTU as the No. 7 research organisation globally for the greatest number of research papers referenced by the inventions of Clarivate’s top 100 global innovators.

Says Prof Louis Phee, Vice President (Innovation and Entrepreneurship): “We’ve set up an ecosystem where NTU students, graduates and faculty members with guts and ideas can create an innovation and spin off a company from it, while being supported by the University.”

Leap, license, launch

While Assoc Prof Tay and Assoc Prof Tan chose to license their technology, other NTU scientists have dived into entrepreneurship.

Dr Shi Xu, former Associate Professor at NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), is a pioneer in Singapore’s deep-tech startup ecosystem. In 1999, he founded Nanofilm Technologies International (NTI), which provides advanced nanomaterial solutions using vacuum coating technologies and processes that Dr Shi invented and patented during his tenure at NTU.

Since spinning off from NTU, Nanofilm has become the first local deep-tech unicorn to be listed on the Singapore Exchange. It continues to expand into growing areas in nanotechnology to keep up with market demand.

The company has presence in Europe, China, Vietnam and Japan, and is constructing a 44,000-sqm mega plant in Vietnam.

In 2023, Nanofilm and NTU launched the NTI-NTU Corporate Lab, a multimillion-dollar facility supported by Singapore’s public sector that brings industry together with academia to develop next-generation nanotechnology solutions.

Reflecting on his technopreneurial journey, Dr Shi explains that scientists face common challenges when turning their research into a business: “Scientists often dive too deeply into research and may miss the sweet spot for commercialisation.”

Dr Shi emphasises the importance of being commercially savvy and having skills in areas such as effective business structuring and people management.

Finding harmony between science and business is not a one-person job, as seen in the partnership between Assoc Prof Darren Sun from NTU’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mr Wong Ann Chai, formerly an adjunct professor at NTU’s Nanyang Business School.

Assoc Prof Sun has decades of research expertise in nanomaterials and, as an esteemed International Water Association Fellow, he was interested in using advanced additive manufacturing to produce membranes. Meanwhile, Mr Wong has prior experience as a banker helping companies raise capital and go public.

In 2013, this meeting of minds birthed Nanosun, a spinoff that uses 3D-printed nanomaterials to manufacture cutting-edge membranes for water treatment and renewable energy applications.

“NTUitive was instrumental in our growth in the early years by providing an incubator and competencies as well as helping us access grants,” says Mr Wong, Nanosun’s Managing Director.

“We’ve learnt a lot from NTU and it’s time for us to see how we can do more.”

Starting with microfiltration and ultrafiltration flat sheet membranes, Nanosun has deployed water treatment solutions in Singapore, Indonesia, China and Taiwan, particularly for industrial wastewater treatment. The spinoff has secured million-dollar contracts, bagged awards and established its presence in the Asia Pacific.

Innovating with industry

Speed is key to staying competitive in translational research, and leveraging the expertise of an industry partner could be helpful. NTU’s industry partnerships with major corporations, such as Continental, Schaeffler and HP, seamlessly bridge this bench-to-industry gap.

“We assess the complementary resources and capabilities each party brings to the table to ensure a collaboration that can eventually bring about impact to the research and development ecosystem,” says Prof Lam Khin Yong, NTU’s Vice President (Industry).

By working with industry, NTU researchers are attuned to real-world pain points. Applying their findings back in the lab, they enhance the impact and relevance of their research by crafting solutions that address market needs.

For instance, technology company Continental and NTU formed a corporate lab in 2019 that receives support through the National Research Foundation, an agency that sets Singapore’s direction for research and development.

“The lab’s research contributes to Continental’s strategy in developing new products and services in artificial intelligence (AI), future mobility, cyber security, wireless technologies and more,” says Dr David Woon, Director (Academic Liaison) at Continental and Co-Director of the Continental-NTU Corporate Lab.

The lab is working with public transport operator Go-Ahead Singapore to enhance the driving safety management systems of Go-Ahead’s buses. In the tie-up, NTU researchers built an AI model that predicts potential accidents and alerts fleet operators to abnormal driving patterns that indicate a heightened chance of accidents.

In 2023, the lab started piloting the system on 10 Go-Ahead buses and collected driving data to refine their AI model and enable more accurate predictions.

Partnerships with industry also lead to research that enhances the quality of education, resulting in training that can benefit industry, says NTU’s Prof Lam Kwok Yan, Associate Vice President (Strategy and Partnerships).

For instance, a joint lab between Mastercard and NTU not only conducts cyber security research, but also offers relevant skills training and education programmes to better equip students for future careers in cyber security and digital trust and further research in these areas.

“This builds a talent pipeline with critical research and operational skills that are in short supply in industry,” adds Prof Lam, who co-leads the Mastercard-NTU joint lab.

At a joint lab between automotive and industrial components supplier Schaeffler and NTU, scientists and students work with Schaeffler employees to develop insights from application-driven research projects that flow directly into the development of new products and technological solutions.

“The company-on-campus concept enables intensive exchange and close cooperation between our employees and doctoral candidates and students from NTU on future-oriented research projects,” says Dr Alvin Wong, Head of Digital Transformation Asia/Pacific at Schaeffler and Deputy Director of the joint lab called the Schaeffler Hub for Advanced Research (SHARE) at NTU.

The lab focuses on expanding the state of advanced innovation and technology in areas like robotics and Industry 4.0. It also plans to venture into professional service robotics. To date, it has over 40 invention disclosures, with 17 patents awarded.

One success story is the Dual EXtendable (DEX) autonomous mobile robot designed to work with shopfloor employees to boost productivity in industrial settings.

DEX can communicate with different robots, recognise speech and gestures, and avoid obstacles, including moving ones.

Building tools for societal good

Multi-institutional collaborations involving academics, policymakers and industry players bring together diverse expertise and perspectives. Through this, research findings can be translated to benefit industry and the broader community.

Prof Theng Yin Leng and Dr Vered Seidmann from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information gained these insights from working with the Workplace Safety and Health Institute at Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower and the Republic’s Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC).

Together with Dr Seidmann and six co-investigators from the School, Prof Theng spearheaded the creation of a digital tool that measures a company’s level of workplace safety and provides recommendations for improvement.

The tool has now been launched by WSHC as a free online company administered assessment platform called iOwnWSH, as part of Singapore’s goal to foster a no-blame culture and a mindset that workplace accidents are preventable.

“The tool is particularly useful for high-risk industries such as construction, logistics and transportation, marine, services and manufacturing. Being a free tool, it would also benefit small- and medium-sized enterprises that often have limited budgets for their safety department,” says Dr Seidmann.

Gamified solutions, such as pictorial card games featuring common workplace hazards and good practices, were also created. The researchers are working to advance these solutions further and intend to partner companies from high-risk industries to test them.

“We realised that it’s important to use pictures when communicating workplace safety and health ownership. With our gamified solutions, we want to turn routine safety briefings into something fun and easy to understand,” adds Prof Theng.

Another assessment tool resulting from a multi-institutional tie-up is the Singapore Ability Scales (SAS). A collaboration between NTU, the National Institute of Education (NIE) at the University, Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE) and test publisher GL Assessments, SAS is a commercially available psychometric tool administered to students to comprehensively evaluate the cognitive abilities important for learning and educational development.

NIE’s Prof Kenneth Poon explains that tests developed in other countries are not tailored to Singapore’s context and norms, impeding the accurate assessment of children’s cognitive abilities.

Together with MOE’s Adjunct Assoc Prof Mariam Aljunied, Prof Poon and his NIE team adapted the British Ability Scales by modifying the item instructions, stimuli and scoring rules for Singapore’s context. They also conducted the test with 2,000 local children and youths to create an appropriate benchmarking sample for performance comparison.

SAS provides key information to facilitate school placement decisions for children with special educational needs in Singapore. “We now have a test that gives results we are confident in, which is very important when we advise parents on how best to support their children,” says Prof Poon. “At least a quarter of psychologists in Singapore have also been trained to administer this test.”

Movers and shakers

Translational research is driven by passionate people who bring innovative ideas to life. To groom forward-thinking talent, NTU seeds the entrepreneurship spirit in students.

“My co-founders and I were students of a Minor in Entrepreneurship course offered at the NTU Entrepreneurship Academy (NTUpreneur) during our undergraduate studies,” recounts Dr Rex Tan, Chief Technology Officer of Aevice Health, an NTU spinoff that develops medical devices to monitor patients with respiratory diseases. “That experience certainly helped us appreciate entrepreneurship in a structured way.”

The company invented AeviceMD, a smart wearable stethoscope that continuously analyses chest sounds to monitor vital signs and detect early signs of worsening respiratory disease.

During his PhD studies at NTU’s EEE, Dr Tan witnessed NTUitive helping research groups spin off technologies. Both he and Aevice Health co-founder Mr Adrian Ang later experienced this when NTUitive provided advice and linked them up with industry stakeholders from the start of their entrepreneurial journey.

Aevice Health has secured regulatory approval for AeviceMD in Singapore and the United States, and continues to grow its pipeline of commercial and pilot partners locally and internationally.

Looking ahead, Dr Tan sees NTU as a launchpad for projecting Singapore medtech innovation globally.

Another pair of NTU graduates who spun off a company from the University are VFlowTech co-founders Dr Avishek Kumar and Dr Arjun Bhattarai. Their spinoff develops vanadium flow batteries for large-scale and long-term storage of renewable energy like solar energy.

Since its 2018 inception, VFlowTech has raised US$13 million (S$17.3 million). Its PowerCube technology was deployed to provide sustainable electricity to Singapore’s Pulau Ubin island. PowerCube has also been deployed in several Asia-Pacific countries and Africa.

NTU I&E is also working to encourage more students, graduates and faculty members to dare to dream the startup dream. It does this through NTUpreneur, which aims to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset in the NTU community.

Says Prof Phee, who leads NTU I&E: “Unlike other places where you’re short of ideas or technology, we are full of them at NTU. We’re trying to nudge people to try out entrepreneurship and translate these ideas to the next level as an enterprise.”

Living in a plastic world: Tackling plastic pollution

Posted on by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Plastic pollution has emerged as one of our most pressing environmental issues with the increasing use of disposable plastics. As they are non-biodegradable, plastics accumulate in the environment, altering habitats and natural processes. Millions of wildlife are also trapped by plastic waste every year.

When plastics break down, they release toxic compounds that contaminate the environment. They also disintegrate into small pieces of plastic called microplastics. Microplastics are now found all over the globe and are linked to severe health effects such as metabolic disorders and organ damage.

Recycling plastics reduces the amount of plastic waste that would otherwise be discarded and conserves natural resources. However, only about 10 per cent of plastic is currently recycled around the world. The figure is low in part because recycling some types of plastic, such as e-waste and marine plastic litter, is difficult. Chemical reactions that break down plastics into simpler components to be reused are also energy intensive.

From using e-waste plastics to culture cells to developing a greener method that breaks down plastics, researchers at NTU Singapore are solving some of the biggest challenges that stand in the way of recycling plastics and making strides in reducing plastic pollution.

Repurposing e-waste plastics to grow “mini tumours” for laboratory testing

Plastics comprise a large portion of electronic waste (e-waste), and rapid technological advances, and high consumer demand drives its growing use in electronics. According to a UN report, the generation of e-waste is rising five times faster than the official recycling rate figures show. In 2022, e-waste generated 17 million tonnes of plastic globally.

Single-use plastics are also widely used in research and healthcare applications such as cell culture.

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is an e-plastic commonly used in the housings of devices such as keyboards and laptops. Repurposing plastics such as ABS for high value biomedical applications could be an attractive waste-to-resource strategy for effectively reducing plastic waste.

NTU scientists have developed a synthetic matrix to culture cells using ABS from discarded keyboards. The matrix is porous like a sponge and functions as a support structure, providing a framework for cells to attach and grow.

The matrix can culture spherical clusters of cells, called cancer spheroids, that resemble actual tumours. Due to their 3D shape, these “mini tumours” more accurately represent tumours than conventional cell cultures.

To fabricate the matrix, the scientists dissolved plastic scraps from discarded keyboards in an organic solvent, acetone and poured the solution into a mould.

The matrix supported the growth of breast, colorectal and bone cancer spheroids. The cancer spheroids had properties similar to those grown using commercially available matrices and may be used for biomedical applications such as drug testing.

“Our innovation not only offers a practical means to reuse e-waste plastics but could also reduce the use of new plastics in the biomedical industry,” said Assoc Prof Dalton Tay of NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, who led the research.

The research was reported in Resources, Conservation & Recycling in 2024.

Converting hard-to-recycle plastic waste into hydrogen and carbon additives for polymer foams

While some types of plastics can be repurposed into new products, it is not as easy to recycle other kinds of plastics. Household plastics, packaging waste and marine plastic litter recovered from the environment are all examples of plastic waste that are difficult to recycle. There are also limited economic benefits to treating mixed and contaminated plastics.

Researchers from NTU explored using difficult-to-recycle plastics as a source of solid carbon material for application in polymer foams. The researchers first obtained gas and oil by heating different types of plastic waste at high temperatures (600 degrees Celsius) in the absence of oxygen. Then the gas and oil were heated at over 1000 degrees Celsius to break down the molecules into solid carbon and hydrogen. The solid carbon can be added to polymer foam to increase its strength and resistance to abrasion for cushioning applications. The foam containing the synthesised solid carbon derived from plastic waste exhibited properties comparable to other carbon-based and conventional reinforcing materials available on the market.

At the same time, the hydrogen produced could be collected and used as fuel.

Published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials in 2024, the research is a milestone in finding a use for plastic waste that previously could not be recycled. “We have developed a feasible approach to repurpose hard-to-recycle plastics, which is an important aspect of the circular economy,” said lead investigator Assoc Prof Grzegorz Lisak of NTU’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

A bright way to break down plastics into valuable compounds

Although plastics can be broken down by heating them at high temperatures, such processes are energy intensive and generate greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming.

Addressing the need for greener methods of breaking down plastics, NTU scientists have developed a process that can upcycle most plastics into chemical compounds useful for energy storage. The reaction uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a commercially available catalyst and occurs at room temperature. It can break down a wide range of plastics, including polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene, all commonly used in packaging and discarded as plastic waste.

Compared to conventional plastic recycling methods, the process requires much less energy.

First, the plastics are dissolved in the organic solvent called dichloromethane, making the plastic polymer chains more accessible to the photocatalyst. The solution is then mixed with the catalyst and flowed through transparent tubes where LED light shines on it.

The light provides the initial energy to break the carbon-carbon bonds in a two-step process with the help of the vanadium catalyst. The plastics’ carbon-hydrogen bonds are oxidised, which makes them less stable and more reactive. After that, the carbon-carbon bonds are broken down.

The resulting end products are compounds such as formic acid and benzoic acid, which can be used to make other chemicals employed in fuel cells and liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) – organic compounds that can absorb and release hydrogen through chemical reactions. LOHCs are being explored by the energy sector as a storage media for hydrogen.

According to Assoc Prof Han Soo Sen of NTU’s School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, who led the study, the breakthrough not only provides a potential answer to the growing plastic waste problem but also reuses the carbon trapped in these plastics instead of releasing it into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases through incineration.

The method was reported in the journal Chem in 2023.

SMU faculty member David Lo is the fourth academic in Singapore, first from the University to achieve prestigious ACM Fellow recognition in 2023

Posted on by Singapore Management University

At 40, Prof David Lo has been inducted into the 2023 class of ACM Fellows, along with the inventor of the World Wide Web

Singapore Management University (SMU) is proud to announce that one of its faculty members from the School of Computing and Information Systems (SCIS) has been honoured as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). David Lo is OUB Chair Professor of Computer Science, and the Director of the Information Systems & Technology Cluster at SMU’s SCIS.

ACM, the largest professional organisation for computing, is also renowned for issuing the Turing Award, the ’Nobel Prize in Computing’. Founded in 1947 and boasting a global membership of nearly 110,000, ACM is recognised for advancing computing as a science and profession, and ACM Fellows represent the most prestigious member grade, with new Fellows inducted annually.

Professor Lo, 40, is among the 68 new Fellows worldwide recently named by ACM for their transformative contributions to computing science and technology, and is the fourth academic in Singapore to receive this recognition. The 2023 class of ACM Fellows includes four past winners of the Turing Award (also known as Turing laureates), namely Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web (who won the Turing Award in 2016); and Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun, pioneers of deep learning (who won the Turing Award in 2018).

Prof Lo said of this prestigious achievement, “I am deeply humbled by this recognition and sincerely grateful for the support of SMU SCIS, as well as my advisors, mentors, colleagues, students, trainees, and collaborators. I am excited to continue contributing to computing research, especially in the fields of software engineering, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, as a member of a vibrant group of researchers at SCIS and SMU.”

Dean of SCIS, Professor of Computer Science Pang Hwee Hwa, remarked, “The School is very proud of Prof Lo’s research leadership and his ground-breaking work in synergising artificial intelligence and software engineering. With his induction as an ACM Fellow, we look forward to him continuing to inspire his peers and his students towards more exciting innovations that put SMU on the world map.”

“The announcement each year that a new class of ACM Fellows has been selected is met with great excitement,” said ACM President Yannis Ioannidis in its press release. “ACM is proud to include nearly 110,000 computing professionals in our ranks and ACM Fellows represent just 1% of our entire global membership. This year’s inductees include the inventor of the World Wide Web, the ‘godfathers of AI’, and other colleagues whose contributions have all been important building blocks in forming the digital society that shapes our modern world.”

In the latest list of inductees for 2023, Prof Lo is one of four researchers from institutions and a tech giant in Asia to achieve this recognition – two of whom are from China while the third is from India.

The other 2023 ACM Fellows hail from global tech giants such as Meta, government agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States, and institutions including Harvard University, Columbia University and Princeton University. Their contributions span the computing field, including algorithm design, computer graphics, cybersecurity, energy-efficient computing, mobile computing, software analytics, and web search, to name a few.

Prof Lo is focused on designing and implementing effective human-centred solutions for the intelligent systems-enabled future of work. “My goal is to enable humans and intelligent agents to collaborate effectively, safely, inclusively, and responsibly,” he said, “thereby contributing to societal betterment. My research delves into specific areas related to this overarching theme.”

Public Toilets in Singapore as Dirty as in 2020: Survey

Posted on by Rosie Ching

Singapore may be one of the cleanest cities in the world, but the opposite applies to public toilets in her coffeeshops and hawker centres. The third national survey in seven years, and the first post-pandemic, the whimsically-named “Waterloo” was created and run by SMU Principal Lecturer of Statistics Rosie Ching and her 170 SMU undergraduates. Together, they carried out comprehensive on-site surveys of more than 2,200 public toilets at an excess of 100 hawker centres and 950 coffeeshops around Singapore, evaluating them on more than 100 variables including toilet bowl cleanliness, floor dryness, ventilation.

They found that post-pandemic coffeeshop toilets have stayed dirty and unchanged over the past seven years, staying significantly below the 50-mark of reasonably clean on the zero-to-100 Toilet Cleanliness Index (TCI), with the only bright spot showing hawker centre toilets cleaner than in 2020. Unisex toilets are the dirtiest at 36.14, a sharp decline from 42.89 in 2020. From 2016 to 2020 till now, these shared toilets remain the filthiest, suffering their lowest levels now, with a large majority located in coffeeshops.

Public perception of these toilets was measured using the Human Perception of Toilet Cleanliness (HPTCI) Index, where respondents rated their perception of public toilets on a scale of zero to 100: 100 being the most positive perception of toilet cleanliness, and zero the most negative.

Overall public perception of these toilets is that they are much dirtier than they should be, and no different from they were in 2020 and 2016. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, 66.74% of Singaporeans think that public toilets in coffeeshops and hawker centres have “stayed just as dirty” to “are much dirtier now”, with only 22.18% saying they have improved. Additionally, 63% of citizens rate toilet-cleaning efforts from “mostly ineffective” to “completely ineffective”, with only 6% optimistic about the efficacy of national clean toilet campaigns.

Droves of photographic evidence show wet or oily floors, dirty or clogged sinks, overflowing bins and choked urinals. The in-depth investigation by Ms Ching revealed that the closer cooking facilities are to toilets in these hawker centres and coffee shops, the significantly dirtier the toilets. This was also observed in 2016 and 2020 and remains very strong in 2023, a major public health concern given the huge majority of workers in these premises use these toilets while handling food.
More than nine in ten of customers declared public toilets in need of major overhauling, rating them as “dirty”. More than 75% only use the toilets in these areas for small calls of nature, unchanged from 2020, but a much lower figure than in 2016. As for the big call of nature, almost 70% avoid using these toilets, a significantly higher avoidance rate than in 2020 and 2016.

Waterloo was done to educate students on applying statistics with social impact, helping the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), Public Hygiene Council (PHC), Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) and Restroom Association Singapore (RAS) in their national efforts to combat the decades-long problem of dirty toilets. Said student Nicole Beh, “I have had the privilege of being a student in Ms Rosie Ching’s Statistics class. We embarked on Waterloo, surveying over 90% of Singapore’s hawker centers and coffee shop toilets to raise awareness about public toilet hygiene. While we continue to make waves in improving the cleanliness of public toilets in Singapore, we hope for even greater improvements in the years to come through nationwide efforts. Ms. Ching has been our strongest pillar of support in achieving the impeccable success of Waterloo and has made learning Statistics more fun than ever.”

Said Ms Ching: “Having a clean toilet to use is a fundamental human right. Yet my treasured Waterloo student comrades and I have exposed yet again thousands of abysmal toilets, many in close proximity with kitchens and food-handling areas. We hope our findings will spur decisive and collective action to improve the state of public toilet hygiene, and protect food handlers and toilet cleaners who face the daily grim spectre of filthy toilets.”

For their commitment to Waterloo, Ms. Ching’s students won Singapore’s national LOO (Let’s Observe Ourselves) Award for public sanitation in the community category. Ms Ching was given the Individual LOO Award for eight years of study of dirty public toilets, and was bestowed the World Toilet Organization Hall of Fame Award for her contributions to improving sanitation. In December 2023, Ms Ching was also awarded QS Reimagine Education’s global Gold Award for Blended and Presence Learning for the effects of creating and teaching Statistics For Social Impact.

Singapore Management University launches new Urban Institute focused on multi, interdisciplinary study of growing Asian cities

Posted on by Singapore Management University

As Asian cities urbanise at an unprecedented rate in history, young people are moving from rural areas to cities, seeking fairer access to education, jobs, housing, transportation and amenities of liveable city life. As demands on resources intensify, policy-makers are grappling with more complex infrastructural and socio-economic challenges.

Against this backdrop, Singapore Management University (SMU) recently launched the SMU Urban Institute (UI), a new research institute dedicated to the study of human-centred aspects of urbanisation, with a focus on balancing urban growth and sustainability.

Helming the new institute as its Director is SMU Associate Professor of Geography Orlando Woods. He says, “Whilst many urban planning and design models might draw on the examples of Western cities, it has become increasingly important to learn from the Asian urban experience to better understand how to address the challenges faced by our fast-growing cities.”

UI will address the sensory, socio-cultural and economic experiences of living in a city, the inequalities arising from wealth accumulation, and how infrastructure in terms of buildings, policy and regulation might limit or enable the growth of cities. Through a multi-and inter-disciplinary lens focused on Asian cities, the institute will engage with scholars, policymakers, communities and industry as a platform for cities to learn from one another, and explore collaborative solutions for sustainable urban development.

Commitment to collaboration

Underlying its commitment to sharing expertise, SMU inked a partnership with Thammasat University’s Design School at the launch of the institute. This will facilitate the exchange of research materials; students and researchers; and the joint organisation of seminars and symposiums.

SMU UI is also in talks with the University of Melbourne (UniMelb) and the University of Toronto (UOT) on a variety of urban research collaborations. SMU and the Melbourne Centre for Cities are planning to partner in a joint event for regional city leaders at the upcoming World Cities Summit in Singapore; while SMU and UOT have hosted a joint grant call to foster collaborative urban-related research on the theme of “Migration, Thriving and Belonging”.

The research pillars of the new institute

Spanning the disciplines of urban geography, urban and behavioural economics, public policy, operations management and geospatial data analytics, UI will consolidate SMU’s existing urban-related research and generate new research directions. It will focus its research on three pillars.

Urban Life, the first, seeks to explore what makes cities liveable, while Urban Growth studies inequalities and challenges of urban development. The third, Urban Infrastructure, looks at how hard infrastructure (materials) and soft infrastructures (such as social, legal or regulatory constraints) affect how cities evolve.

“Our investment in establishing UI cannot be overstated,” observes SMU President, Professor Lily Kong. She adds: “It is about undertaking deep, rigorous research to enhance our understanding of cities. But more than that, it is about laying the groundwork for liveable, resilient, and inclusive cities in Asia. As Asian cities grow at an unprecedented pace, the transformative potential of the UI becomes even more pronounced.”

Singapore Management University Expands Regional Presence with Overseas Centre in Bangkok

Posted on by corinnekang

Singapore Management University (SMU) is taking a significant step in its mission to foster knowledge-sharing and regional collaboration with the opening of its second Overseas Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. SMU Overseas Centre Bangkok (OCB) will serve to catalyse, facilitate and coordinate for SMU in Thailand by leveraging the university’s expertise and offerings, cultivating its local network and creating opportunities for new collaborations and partnerships between SMU and Thai institutions. It will also connect interested parties such as businesses, academia and potential students with the various programmes SMU has to offer.

This strategic move is part of SMU’s Vision 2025, through which it has committed to furthering growth in Asia by offering a deep understanding of Asia’s economy, polity and society that will contribute to the region’s social and economic development. It follows the successful launch of SMU’s first overseas centre in Jakarta in 2022. SMU plans to further strengthen its presence in the region with the opening of another overseas centre in Ho Chi Minh City next, advancing its “Growth in Asia” strategic priority.

“The selection of Thailand as the location for our second Overseas Centre is the result of both strategic intent and strong relationships with our Thai partners,” SMU President Professor Lily Kong said. “Thailand is a major economy in Southeast Asia and a rising player in shaping the future of Asia as a whole. We believe our presence in Thailand will allow us to contribute research and expertise in vital fields such as sustainability and digital transformation and our vision is aligned with Thailand’s aspirations for a sustainable and knowledge-driven future. SMU is committed to making a meaningful impact on local communities and economies in Asia through education, research, and innovation, and OCB is a testament to our dedication to knowledge-sharing and positive community impact in this dynamic region.”

To fulfil this role, SMU via OCB will collaborate with local partners in education and industry to bolster human capital development in Thailand and promote the exchange of knowledge and expertise. OCB will primarily focus on student exchanges, experiential learning, thought leadership events, executive development courses, post-graduate programmes and adult learning courses. These areas will facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration between both countries, with OCB acting as SMU’s “embassy” in Thailand, promoting the university’s values, knowledge base, culture, and interests in the region.

OCB will be led by Centre Director Ms Celine Kuok. Residing in Thailand since 2017, Ms Kuok brings a wealth of experience and a robust network within the higher education sector. Her extensive background in developing leadership programmes and a strong business acumen place her in a good position for OCB to make a positive impact on the local community and the region at large.

60% of people with dementia in Singapore feel treated as less competent: Survey

Posted on by Rosie Ching

Of people with dementia in Singapore, 6 in 10 say they are treated as less competent than usual, with one in two feeling incompetent and embarrassed about their condition, citing stigma as the main reason.

Singapore’s new national survey on dementia also revealed that more than 75 per cent think the country is markedly less than dementia-friendly and that stigma around dementia is as prevalent as it was in 2019, with more than half still rating their inclusion level in everyday life at less than 30%. This is even as the rejection, loneliness and shame they face have dropped significantly from 72 per cent to 31 per cent across these four years.

SMU’s Principal Lecturer of Statistics Rosie Ching created and carried out the 2019 and 2023 running nationwide study she named “Remember.For.Me.” which revealed these perceptions of dementia, a burgeoning health problem in the fast-ageing country where more than 1 in 10 over the age of 60 has dementia.

Overall, an excess of 80 per cent, almost 30 per cent higher than in 2019, are confident that more needs to be done to improve the quality of life of people with dementia, citing their frustration at their lack of knowledge about dementia support, demonstrating the need for more education and outreach. The average knowledge level about dementia among the citizens surveyed remains below 50 per cent.

With Dementia Singapore as her supporting partner, Ms. Ching and her students interviewed 3,226 people across Singapore, probing into changes in knowledge levels, beliefs, attitudes, awareness of support available and their efficacy.

“Remember.For.Me.” has drawn media attention for the national need for even greater dementia awareness, support and dementia-friendliness.

Parks and green spaces increase the social well-being of older adults

Posted on by Valerie Won

A new study by SMU Centre for Research on Successful Ageing (ROSA) unveils a higher social well-being score among seniors who have access to neighbourhood amenities

The availability of neighbourhood amenities, including parks, greenspaces, or exercise spaces within a 10-minute walk from home, is found to be associated with higher social well-being scores among Singapore’s older adults, according to a new study by the SMU Centre for Research on Successful Ageing (ROSA).

ROSA researchers reached these conclusions after polling 6,689 Singaporeans between the ages of 58 to 78 (inclusive) in May 2022, with data drawn from the Singapore Life Panel® (SLP). The SLP is a nationally representative monthly panel survey of middle-aged and older adults in Singapore, which began with a sample of Singaporeans aged between 50 and 70 years of age in 2015.

Named “The social well-being of older adults in Singapore”, the study aimed to use the Keyes concept of social well-being to understand and improve the well-being of middle-aged and older adults in Singapore. According to Keyes, social well-being consists of 5 primary components: social coherence, social actualization, social integration, social contribution, and social acceptance.

“Aristotle famously said that Man is by nature a social animal. Social well-being is, and will remain, key to successful ageing. With this study, we’re seeing that as social well-being improves, mental well-being scores among older adults improve. As Singapore’s silver population comes of age, it’s more important than ever for us to step up efforts to help older adults feel like they are part of a community,” said Professor Paulin Straughan, Director, ROSA.

This study was made possible through the generosity of The Ngee Ann Kongsi and the support of the Ministry of Education. Full details of the report can be accessed here.

Key findings and practical implications for society:

  1. The availability of neighbourhood amenities is found to be positively associated with social well-being. In other words, our results suggest that when older adults have more amenities available to them within their neighbourhood, they feel more integrated within their communities and that they have more to contribute to their communities.

2. The greatest difference in social well-being score is found when comparing between respondents with and without parks, greenspaces, or exercise spaces within a 10-minute walk from their home. This suggests that parks and green spaces are especially important in ensuring for the social well-being of older adults. This could be due to the fact that such spaces afford older adults with opportunities to interact with other members of the community. Such interactions are vital in creating a sense of community among residents.

3. We also find that social activities are positively correlated with social well-being, with the frequency of digital contact having the strongest effect on the social well-being of respondents. This suggests that digital contact can be a viable point of intervention in increasing the social well-being of older adults in Singapore, and that current efforts to increase the digital literacy of older adults should be strengthened.

In terms of recommendations, ROSA suggests the following for consideration:

1.       Further research should be conducted to uncover the differential effects that the availability of specific neighborhood amenities can have on the social well-being of older adults. The current descriptive results preliminary suggest that different amenities shape social well-being to different extents. However, we note that the present data are correlational and that these trends will thus require further investigation. This further research will likely be valuable for policy formation as by identifying the types of amenities that are most likely to contribute to social well-being.

2.       Increasing middle-aged and older adult participation in social activities may be a key means by which social and mental well-being can be improved, and efforts to keep older adults engaged in such activities should be expanded.

SMU collaborates with Accenture and AWS to launch a new Work-Study Elective Programme

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The Singapore Management University’s (SMU) School of Computing and Information Systems (SCIS)  announced a collaboration with global professional services company, Accenture,
and cloud provider, Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch a new Work-Study Elective (WSE) Programme. The Programme is a six-month commitment from students to learn the latest AWS Cloud technologies and apply classroom knowledge to innovate cloud-based solutions that address real-world challenges.

The WSE Programme is open to all SCIS students annually, and comprises two key components – an Accenture internship qualification and a Cloud Solutions Development course supported by Accenture and AWS. Over six months, students will learn and apply AWS Cloud technologies via associate-level courses and certifications from AWS Academy, a free, ready-to-teach cloud computing curriculum for higher education institutions that prepares students to pursue industry-recognised credentials and in-demand technology jobs. Selected courses in SCIS are conducted using AWS Academy teaching and learning resources that prepare students to build industry-aligned capstone projects on AWS Cloud and achieve AWS certifications.

Students will also work on problem statements designed by Accenture and innovate on solutions built on AWS Cloud, addressing these challenges. Those who successfully complete the WSE Programme, along with SMU’s courses in IT solution architecture and enterprise solution development, will be eligible to apply for an internship opportunity with Accenture.

According to recently published Accenture research, there has been an increase in cloud investment over the last two years, with more than 86% of global companies reporting an increase in cloud initiatives. An AWS-commissioned industry report highlights Asia Pacific businesses that employ cloud engineers and software developers report annual revenues 150% higher than those that rely on workers with basic digital skills. As cloud becomes more prevalent in organisations, there is a growing need for skilled professionals who can manage and optimise cloud environments, and also a need for upskilling and reskilling programmes.

Professor Pang Hwee Hwa, Dean, School of Computing and Information Systems and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Computer Science, Singapore Management University says, “The momentum of digitalisation remains unabated and employers are seeking more highly skilled digital talent. As a key business and technology hub in Asia, Singapore needs to ensure a high quality, digitally-skilled talent pipeline. This is borne out by the strong performance of our graduates in the recent Graduate Employment Survey. Preparing our students does not stop at the curriculum, we want to equip our students with the right skills and be workforce-ready. SMU’s Education and Career Guidance brings together students and industry collaborators like Accenture and AWS to help students better understand the cloud job roles. The WSE Programme supported by Accenture and AWS is a great example of industry leaders coming together to deliver a learning and working environment that strengthens the industry relevance of our students, specifically in high-demand cloud skills.”

Ng Wee Wei, Southeast Asia Market Unit Lead and Singapore’s Country Managing Director, Accenture says, “Technology is transforming societies and economies, but to realise its potential, we need the right talent. Cloud, data, and AI skills are crucial for thriving in the digital economy. The WSE Programme with SMU and AWS expands on Accenture’s commitment to talent creation through retraining, skills prioritisation, and combining technology with human potential. Our ‘hire to train’ approach quickly upskills talents on emerging technologies. We are proud and excited about the potential of this collaboration which offers hands-on cloud technology experience and real-world project work for students to build a future-ready, resilient workforce for Singapore’s growing digital economy.”

Elsie Tan, Singapore Country Manager, Public Sector, Amazon Web Services says, “The WSE
Programme highlights the importance of academic and industry collaborations to co-design and co-deliver cloud skills training and development, directly addressing the Singapore Government’s call for action to skill, reskill, and upskill workers. AWS is honoured to support world-leading universities like SMU and trusted AWS Partners like Accenture to enable students to earn industry-recognised certifications, secure potential employment, and ramp up their career readiness to successfully transition from academia to the workforce. AWS has trained over 200,000 individuals in Singapore on cloud skills since 2017 and we look forward to deepening our commitment to support even more industry collaborations to digitally skill more learners.”

Does frequent smartphone usage lead to cognitive failures?

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Study by lead author Assistant Professor Andree Hartanto from SMU and his team examined the notion whether frequent use of smartphones may lead to daily cognitive failures

A new study by the Singapore Management University finds that more frequent smartphone checking behaviour is associated with greater incidences of daily cognitive failures. However, the findings also indicate that some forms of screen time are actually associated with reduced cognitive failures.

Titled “Smartphone use and daily cognitive failures: A critical examination using a daily diary approach with objective smartphone measures”, it was led by Assistant Professor of Psychology Andree Hartanto (Singapore Management University) and published in the British Journal of Psychology. The study team comprised co-authors Kristine Y.X. Lee, Chua Yi Jing, Frosch Y.X. Quek and Nadyanna M. Majeed.

Rationale/motivation for this study

While smartphones have brought many benefits and conveniences to users, there is continuing debate regarding their potential negative consequences on everyday cognition if used too frequently. Research has suggested that frequent smartphone use can lead to cognitive overload and decrease attentional control, which may contribute to cognitive failures such as forgetfulness, distraction, and mind wandering. Moreover, the use of smartphones can be interruptive, which may interfere with the one’s ability to focus and complete tasks.

A few cross-sectional studies have found positive associations between smartphone use and cognitive failures. However, several research gaps remain, such as the use of cross-sectional designs, confounds related to stable individual differences, the lack of validity in self-report measures of smartphone use, memory biases in retrospective self-reports, and the lack of differentiation between smartphone checking and smartphone screen time. To simultaneously address the aforementioned shortcomings, the team was thus motivated to conduct this study.

Methodology (N = 181)

A total of 181 youths based in Singapore were surveyed. The participants first completed a baseline survey that collected data such as age, sex, monthly household income, and socioeconomic status. They then completed a daily diary study for seven days. Screen time and smartphone checking for seven days were objectively tracked using the inbuilt iOS Screen Time Application Programming Interface.

The incidence of daily cognitive failures was assessed by the 13-item Cognitive Failures in Everyday Life Scale , where participants indicated whether they had experienced cognitive failures such as failing to remember the right word to use, leaving tasks unfinished due to distraction, or unintentionally allowing their mind to wander.

Participants also had to report each day whether they had experienced any of seven types of stressors – discrimination, work/education stressors, network stressors, arguments, avoided arguments, stressors at home, and others, as well as complete daily assessments of emotional states.

Key findings and practical impact/implications for society

The study revealed that smartphone checking, but not total smartphone screen time, predicted a greater occurrence of daily cognitive failures at the within-person level.

The team found that on days where individuals engaged in more smartphone checking, they were more likely to experience cognitive failures, as compared with days when they engaged in less smartphone checking. According to Asst Prof Andree Hartanto, “This suggests that excessive smartphone checking is a distracting behaviour that increases cognitive load and thus cognitive failures. This is something that we should be mindful especially when engaging in activities that require full attention such as driving and studying. Given the risk of cognitive failure, it important to turn off notification or put the phone on silent during these activities. Taking regular breaks from smartphone usage, avoiding multitasking, and setting intentions and goals for smartphone usage have been shown to be useful too.”

Surprisingly, the team also found that the incidence of daily cognitive failures was negatively related to smartphone screen time for social-related applications and tools-related applications. This suggests that some types of smartphone use may temporarily benefit one’s cognitive functioning. “For example, tools-related applications, such as calculator and navigation maps, may help in helping individuals momentarily offload cognitive resources, thereby freeing up mental capacity to work on the task at hand,” adds Asst Prof Andree Hartanto. “Nevertheless, moderation is still the key. Moderate use of smartphone and other technological devices has been shown to be safe and normal. That is why it is still important for parents with children who use their phone excessively to set boundaries and schedules for their children’s smartphone usage.”

This finding demonstrates the importance of studying the specific functions of smartphone use and their differential cognitive consequences, as well as highlights the complex relations between smartphone use and cognition.

“Ultimately a smartphone is a tool, and just like any other tool, it requires us to be mindful and smart in its usage. This way, we can optimise its benefits and minimise its potential drawback” says Asst Prof Andree Hartanto.