Entering Worldwide Markets

The real-world application of NUS research has seen the University’s innovations and technological developments realise their commercial potential. The momentum has stepped up with the strong support given by the University to nurture and promote an entrepreneurial outlook and culture amongst students, faculty and alumni. Below are some of the many research breakthroughs whose market potential were tapped in the year to make a difference to the lives of the global community in a multitude of ways.

BRINGING MAGIC TO LEARNING is what graduate student Steven Zhou Zhiying (Faculty of Engineering) and Associate Professor Adrian David Cheok have done with their new interactive-cum-tactile story blocks based on mixed reality technology. The magic story cubes which clinched the second prize at the 2004 International Idea to Product Competition have spun off a start-up, MXR Cubes Pte Ltd, to bring a new learning dimension to school-going children.

RELIEVING PAIN WITH COBRA’S VENOM is no longer a laboratory hypothesis now that NUS has set up Pro-Therapeutics with the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Pro-Therapeutics holds the rights to a technique developed by Professor Manjunatha Kini (Faculty of Science) and Dr Herbert Evans (Medical College of Virginia) to swiftly locate the protein segment of the cobra’s venom from the toxic part. Pro-Therapeutics will re-engineer the proteins to generate small peptides which can be taken orally, are non-addictive and several thousand times more potent than morphine.

TACKLING BACTERIA THE ECO-FRIENDLY WAY will soon be realised with the University awarding to an American biotech company an exclusive worldwide licence to use and further develop a technology on how to genetically engineer the protein sequence in the enzyme that initiates the blood clotting reaction in the horseshoe crab. BioDech Inc will use the technology developed by Professor Ding Jeak Ling (Faculty of Science) and Associate Professor Ho Bow (Faculty of Medicine) to market a quick, userfriendly sterility test for medical equipment.

MAKING AVAILABLE MOBILE SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPES (SEM) that are affordable is the combined effort of Associate Professor Anjam Khursheed (Faculty of Engineering), research engineer Nelliyan Karuppiah and Czech firm, Delong Instruments. Together, they have created a new market for SEMs by developing a new model that is more compact, cheaper and can be installed on trolleys to make them highly portable. Distributors from Taiwan, South Korea and the US have shown a healthy interest in the product.

PLUGGING RIGHT holes in the skull left by surgery is something patients can look forward to thanks to a multidisciplinary collaboration of researchers from NUS, National University Hospital (NUH) and Temasek Polytechnic. Made from biodegradable plastic, the new plug integrates biomaterials, medical imaging and advanced manufacturing to produce an innovative porous material that promotes healthy host tissue growth. The innovation which took the gold at the 7th Asian Innovation Awards has spun-off a company, Osteopore International Pte Ltd, to bring it to the market place.

BREATHING BETTER QUALITY AIR can be enjoyed in air-conditioned buildings now that Associate Professors Chandra Sekhar, Tham Kwok Wai and David Cheong (School of Design & Environment) have set up Enhanced Air Quality Pte Ltd to make commercially viable NUS’ patented technology, the Single-Coil Twin Fan System. This is an air-conditioning and air distribution system that responds dynamically to varying needs in the occupied zones of a building. The system won The Enterprise Challenge (TEC) Innovator 2004 Award.