convergence - College of Engineering

CONVERGENCE
PIONEERING
SMARTER
TECHNOLOGY IN A
CONNECTED WORLD
A better world through creativity and technology
ADVANCING SOCIETY
THROUGH SUSTAINABLE MOBILISING
RESOURCES TO
AND BIOMEDICAL
BUILD BETTER
TECHNOLOGIES
ENVIRONMENTS
School of Chemical and
Biomedical Engineering (SCBE)
School of Computer Engineering (SCE)
School of Civil and
Environmental Engineering (CEE)
ENVISIONING,
ENABLING AND
EMPOWERING
THE FUTURE
INNOVATING
MATERIALS FOR
CUTTING-EDGE
TECHNOLOGIES
School of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering (EEE)
School of Materials Science
and Engineering (MSE)
DRIVING THE
MECHANICS
OF INNOVATION
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering (MAE)
NTU Venture Cars Wow
Crowds at the Shell
Eco-Marathon Asia 2015
NTU College
of Engineering
Issue 03, 2015
What’s Inside?
Science and Engineering
• NTU Venture Cars Wow Crowds at
the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2015
• Groundbreaking Inventions at
NTU CoE
Life at College of Engineering
(CoE) • President’s Technology Awards
2014
Science and
Engineering
• Congratulations Professor
Nripan Mathews
• Keep Them E-Live
• Cultivating Young Budding
Engineers
People and Events
• Glorious Victory at the ACM-ICPC
2014 Asia Bangkok
Regional Contest
• Innovation Challenge 2014
• Welcome back, NS Men!
• Inspiring the Young:
Learning Journey for Yishun
Junior College Year 1 Students
(Left) NTU Venture 8 and (Right) NTU Venture 9
NTU wowed crowds with its two innovative
and attention grabbing cars, NTU Venture 8
and 9, in the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2015
held at Luneta Park in Manila, Philippines
from 26 February to 1 March 2015.
CoE:
College of Engineering
CEE:
School of Civil and
Environmental Engineering
EEE:
School of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering
MAE:
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering
MSE:
School of Materials Science
and Engineering
SCBE: School of Chemical and
Biomedical Engineering
Continued on page 02
01 Convergence Issue 03, 2015
SCE:
School of Computer Engineering
NTU Venture 8 (NV 8) is Singapore’s first urban solar electric car with
an innovative 3D-printed body shell that has 150 parts. Mounted on a
carbon fibre single shell chassis, the parts were produced separately
by various 3D printers at NTU and other sponsor companies, and took
the team three months to print and assemble. The team 3D-printed the
parts from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, a lightweight plastic and also
integrated a honeycomb structure and a unique joint design to hold the
parts together, in order to achieve a lightweight, thin and strong shell.
This innovative vehicle attracted a lot of attention and praise from other
participating teams, judges, officials and visitors.
The other entrant is NTU Venture 9 (NV 9), a sleek three-wheeled
racer that is powered partially by solar cells and lithium battery. Inspired
by motorcycle racing, it is equipped with a unique tilting mechanism
President’s Technology
Awards 2014
that allows the vehicle to take on sharp corners with little loss in speed.
The team also opted for a teardrop shaped body shell to minimise
aerodynamic drag. Another highlight of the NV 9 is the hand-made
contoured silicon solar cells, which allows maximum harvesting of
solar energy at every angle.
NV 9 beat more than 124 other teams from 16 countries to seize top
spots in the Technical Innovation and Safety categories. This makes
NTU’s second Technical Innovation award and fifth Safety award at the
Shell Eco-Marathon competitions.
The two NTU teams consist of 16 students from various engineering
schools mentored by Professor Ng Heong Wah from MAE.
Congratulations to the two NTU Venture teams for their success in the
Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2015.
Life at CoE
Congratulations to Professor Freddy Boey, Professor
Subbu Venkatraman and Adjunct Professor Tina Wong
for receiving the 2014 President’s Technology Award. The
President’s Science and Technology Awards (PSTA) are
the highest honours bestowed on exceptional research
scientists and engineers in Singapore for their excellent
achievements in science and technology.
The team was awarded for their innovative application of nanostructures
and novel drug delivery approach to combat blindness from glaucoma.
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness globally, with
Asians accounting for almost half of the world’s patient population. It
is caused by high intra-ocular pressure in the eye which then leads
to damage to the optic nerve. Usually, the first line of treatment for
glaucoma patients is the daily application of eye drops to lower the high
pressure in their eyes. The team’s invention is capable of providing up
to 6 months of relief to glaucoma patients with a single application,
compared to just hours with today’s conventional eye drops. This
effectively prevents blindness caused by patient’s non-compliance to
the regimen of daily eye-drop treatment.
From left to right: Adj Prof Tina Wong, Prof Subbu Venkatraman, President
Dr Tony Tan, and Prof Freddy Boey
02
08 Convergence Issue 03, 2015
The use of their innovative technology has been successfully tested
through first-in-man clinical trials. This is the first successful use of
nanomedicine in ocular therapy. In addition, the team’s work has also
attracted interest from major pharmaceutical companies.
Groundbreaking Inventions
at NTU CoE
Science and
Engineering
Novel 2-in-1 Biomarker to Detect
and Treat Cancer
Professors Zhang Qichun and Joachim Loo from MSE have invented a
unique biomarker made from a nanophosphor particle that allows detection
and treatment of the tumour cells simultaneously. The biomarker lights
up upon detection of tumour cells, and releases anti-cancer drugs to the
specific cells simultaneously.
(Left) Profs Zhang Qichun and (Right) Joachim Loo
This breakthrough has several other advantages. It has a greater contrast
as compared to conventional dyes and is able to emit up to three different
colours of light. It is also non-toxic. The team will be looking to load multiple
layers of drugs into their biomarker in the next phase. If successful, doctors
will be able to release sequentially two or more drugs through the biomarker.
From Flat to Full in just Minutes
Imagine the amount of time and money you will save with the ultra-fast
charge battery that is developed by Professor Chen Xiaodong and his
team from MSE. This new generation lithium-ion battery with its anode
made of a new gel material from titanium dioxide can be charged up to 70
per cent in just two minutes and has a long lifespan of over 20 years, more
than 10 times compared to existing lithium-ion batteries.
This breakthrough has a wide-ranging impact on all industries, especially
for electric vehicles and is recognised as the next big thing by Professor
Rachid Yazami, a co-inventor of today’s lithium-ion battery.
Prof Chen Xiaodong with the ultrafast rechargeable batteries
Low-cost Technology to Print Flexible
Electronic Circuits
Professor Joseph Chang and his team from EEE have developed a lowcost technology to print complex electronic circuits on flexible materials such
as plastic, aluminium foil and paper.
This new technology has several advantages over other types of printed
electronics. In addition to being low cost, it is also fully additive, making it
very eco-friendly and scalable.
The team has successfully printed complex circuits such as a 4-bit digitalto-analog converter – a component commonly used in turning digital signals
into sound for speakers and headphones; and radio-frequency identification
(RFID) tags, commonly used for tracking of goods.
Moving forward, the team will look into the development of both digital
and analog printable circuits for biomedical applications in sensing and
processing, and for smart lighting systems.
Prof Joseph Chang and his team
03 Convergence Issue 03, 2015
Glorious Victory at the
ACM-ICPC 2014 Asia Bangkok
Regional Contest
People
and Events
Congratulations to team AAA from SCE for
winning the ACM-ICPC 2014 Asia Bangkok
Regional Contest! The International Collegiate
Programming Contest is a premiere
undergraduate programming contest, and is
sponsored by the Association for Computing
Machinery and IBM.
The Bangkok regional contest was held on November
14-15, 2014 at Chulalongkorn University, and included
105 teams from 35 Asian universities. In addition to
AAA, three other teams from NTU also participated.
AAA’s first place finish earns them a spot at the ACMICPC World Finals in Morocco in May 2015.
The 5 hour Bangkok contest consisted of 12
challenging problems on a variety of computer science
topics, testing both creative problem-solving abilities
and programming skills. AAA solved 10 problems with
the best time score.
Members of the winning team, AAA (from left to right): Tran Dang Tuan Anh, Nguyen Tuan
Anh, and Ho Sy Viet Anh.
Congratulations
Professor Nripan Mathews
NTU’s teams were coached by Professor Rui Fan and
Research Scientist Kevin Jones from SCE. Each team
was also coached by a Ph.D. student.
Life at CoE
Professor Nripan Mathews from MSE has been
selected as a TR35 finalist for 2014, together with 9
others from the region, which includes Southeast
Asia, Australia and New Zealand. These selected
TR35 finalists are young innovators who are
trailblazers in their fields and are leading the next
generation of technological breakthroughs.
Prof Mathews was presented this prestigious award for his work on
perovskite solar materials. He is also a candidate for the global TR35
list, in MIT Boston.
Moving forward, Prof Mathews will be looking into further uses of the
perovskite solar cells, such as the scaling up to make larger solar cells
and panels, and utilising them as the media for lasers. Other areas
of research include new materials development in the solar area and
other solution processed electronic material sets for applications in
printed flexible electronics.
About TR35
Prof Mathews (right) receiving the award
04
08 Convergence Issue 03, 2015
Since 1999, MIT Technology Review has identified top young
innovators under the age of 35 and published a list named TR35.
Those enlisted in TR35 annually are recognised for their contribution
in transforming the nature of technology in industries such as
biotechnology, energy, medicine, computing, transportation and
the web.
Innovation Challenge 2014
EEE organised a 3-day Innovation Challenge camp
for prospective students from junior colleges and
polytechnics in December 2014.
The EEE Innovation Challenge camp aims to expose participants
to various aspects of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the
innovation processes that go into the technologies of today, through
different exciting and interactive games and challenges. In addition
People
and Events
to the myriad of hands-on projects, participants are also given the
exclusive opportunity to interact with distinguished guest speakers,
faculty and industry leaders.
One of the highlights of the Innovation Challenge was the Hackathon
competition, which was held in collaboration with Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT). Through this Hackathon competition,
participants learnt to appreciate the importance of using data patterns
and visualisation tools. They also gained a meaningful understanding
of the data through the innovative visual representations of
data statistics.
In another segment of the camp, participants had the opportunity
to experience what it takes to build a miniature earth-based
satellite (CanSAT) within a time frame. This is a rare opportunity for
participants to have a practical experience of a real space project.
Participants were required to incorporate all the major subsystems
(such as power, sensors, communication) found in a satellite into an
aluminium can and launch their own CanSAT via a launch vehicle
such as a rocket or balloon at an altitude of a few hundred metres.
Apart from hands-on activities, participants also visited some stateof-the-art research centres and joint research centres such as RollsRoyce@NTU, LUMINOUS! Centre of Excellence for Semiconductor
Lighting and Displays, and the Satellite Research Centre (SaRC).
They also had the rare and exclusive opportunity to interact and
network with faculty members, industry leaders and 2 renowned
visiting professors: Professor Gehan Amaratunga (University of
Cambridge) and Professor Eugene Fitzgerald (Massachusetts
Institute of Technology), who shared with the participants the
innovation, advancements and prospects in the various EEE fields,
and their impact on our daily lives.
Keen to participate in future Innovation Challenges? Sign up for
the Innovation Challenge 2015 when it is open for registration!
05 Convergence Issue 03, 2015
Welcome Back, NS Men!
People
and Events
Following the success of the first outreach event for Returning National Service (RNS) Men in 2014, CoE
organised the second run of the event in NTU on 7 February 2015. Attended by more than 200 young men,
the event aimed to address the concerns and worries of their transition from army life to student life.
The Dean kicked off the session with an engaging speech to welcome the attendees. Thereafter, Professor Wong Chee How from MAE
shared with the participants, the vibrant campus life and pointers for a successful transition to student life, after having been away from books
for 2 years.
From top left (clockwise direction): The lively panel discussion with alumni and students, Exploring the new residential halls, Attendees in deep discussions
with faculty and current students, Let the feast begin!
One of the highlights of the event was the panel discussion with our alumni and current students, where the panellists spoke candidly about
their experiences at CoE. The attendees were all ears and eager to learn about the seniors’ real-life experiences and exclusive tips on
adapting to student life.
The attendees then embarked on a round-campus tour of NTU and visited facilities such as the Lee Wee Nam Library, Student Activities
Centre (SAC), Global Lounge and the newly constructed residential halls. The event concluded with a sumptuous lunch and a networking
session with faculty, staff, alumni and current students.
We are positive that our attendees have become much more relieved and at ease to begin a brand new chapter in life with us at the end of
the event.
on
back n
d
e
e
F
essio
the S
“The panel discussion with
the alumni and current students
was my favourite as it provided
insights to life in NTU which we
will not be able to know of. This
was a great help in allowing us to
understand what life will be like in
the future when we are studying.”
06
08 Convergence Issue 03, 2015
“Campus tour was the most
useful and engaging. During
the tour, not only did we walk
around to view the facilities,
we also got to talk in detail
with the facilitators about their
school life.”
“The networking session
with the faculty members
and students was useful as
it provided a glimpse of
what to expect in university
education. I also managed to
clear some doubts on course
module exemptions during
the session.”
Keep them E-Live!
Life at CoE
A few booths were set up at the pavilion, near the Tan Chin Tuan Lecture Theatre in NTU.
Participants were required to visit the booths and to get at least 5 stamps on their stamp
cards, which they could then redeem for a place in the lucky draw. Prizes included Starbucks
cards and tumblers as well as CapitaVouchers.
One booth featured informative posters about the benefits of recycling e-waste and other
relevant facts, as well as an exhibit showing the recycling process of components of some
electronic devices. The exhibit featured materials provided by Tes-AMM, a company which
provides e-waste management solutions.
‘Keep Them E-Live’ was an event
organised by Earthlink’s Recycling
Division, with the theme on recycling
of e-waste. The event held on 10th
and 11th February 2015 aimed
to raise awareness of recycling
e-waste and its benefits, as well as
to encourage the NTU community
to become supporters of recycling
e-waste and to practise it in their
daily lives.
At another booth, participants were shown how much resources could be saved by recycling
different types of e-waste. There were also two game booths, E-Tour and E-Toss. At E-Toss,
participants were made aware of the 4 RENEW e-waste bins located on the NTU campus, with
one on-site for display purposes. They were also asked to separate items into two different
“bins”, one for e-waste and the other non e-waste. As for the E-Tour booth, participants were
asked to match countries with statistics and policies fitting the event theme.
A booth was dedicated to Powerz, a mobile application supported by Earthlink, NTU and
French utility company GDF SUEZ, which undertook the app development. The app aims
to utilise the power of gamification and a significant community of users to promote energy
efficiency in NTU.
Considering the relative obscurity of e-waste recycling, ‘Keep Them E-Live’ was an eyeopener for all participants. Hopefully, participants of the event will remember and keep in mind
what they have learnt and become supporters and advocates of the recycling of e-waste.
Cultivating Young
Budding Engineers
lang
m Ru
o
r
f
ool
back
Feed mary Sch
i
Pr
MSE
organised
science
appreciation workshops for 140
Primary 6 students of Rulang
Primary School on-site on 27 and
28 October 2014.
“Everything is fun (obviously)!”
The workshops exposed the participants
to basic theories and simple hands-on
experiments on fabricating a simple motor,
an AC generator and a dye-sensitised solar
cell. Other experiments included observing
and understanding the effects of radiation,
conduction and convection in their daily life.
The activity that fascinated the students
most, was the Crime Scene Investigation
where students became investigators for
a day - unveiling secret messages written
using an invisible ink, dusting for fingerprints
found on evidence, and more.
The workshops were a great success and the
teachers and students were full of praises.
07 Convergence Issue 03, 2015
Life at CoE
-Bridget Tan, 6L
“The crime scene investigation
workshop lets me have some
experiences in investigating
real crimes instead of just
watching TV. Doing it hands-on
is really fun!!”
-Rosie Zhong, 6L
(Top) Students having fun at the workshop;
(Bottom) Investigators hard at work
Inspiring the Young: Learning
Journey for Yishun Junior
College Year 1 Students
People
and Events
A group photo at the Satellite Research Centre
SCE and EEE hosted about 100 Yishun Junior College
(YJC) Year 1 students and accompanying teachers on 9
February 2015.
This learning journey is part of YJC’s annual Global Perspective
Symposium to expand the horizons of students so that they will
appreciate Singapore’s development in relation to developments in
the world today.
At EEE, the students visited the Satellite Research Centre (SaRC)
and Luminous! Centre of Excellence for Semiconductor Lighting
and Displays. The students were excited at the opportunity to view
the advanced facilities and learn more about the centres’ research
Catch
Us
Dean’s Office
College of Engineering
Nanyang Technological University
70 Nanyang Drive
Block N1.3-B1-01
Singapore 637457
08
08 Convergence Issue 03, 2015
in satellite technologies and high efficiency LED lightings. Over at
SCE, the students visited the joint NTU-UBC Research Centre of
Excellence in Active Living for the Elderly (LILY), where they learnt
about the design of computing technologies to help the elderly
enjoy an active and independent lifestyle. The students also had
the opportunity to find out more about the College and its various
engineering programmes through a presentation. The learning
journey ended with a networking session over light refreshment.
We hope that this learning journey will inspire these young students to
explore an Engineering education with NTU College of Engineering
in the near future.
Convergence Team
Tel: +65 6316 8896
Fax: +65 6896 8757
Email: [email protected]
www.coe.ntu.edu.sg
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