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To Provide the Right Platform
In Academic Year (AY) 2011/2012, we spearheaded a host of initiatives and programmes that sought to spark new ideas and develop new businesses.

A cornerstone of these efforts is our incubation programme. One component of the programme is N-House, which was launched in August 2011. Located within the Prince George's Park Residences, N-House is the University's first entrepreneurial-themed residence for students with enterprising mindset and aspirations. Throughout the year, N-House residents organise a range of activities, including sharing sessions by local or international entrepreneurs, pitching sessions and networking events.

Joining N-House is Plug-In@Blk71 which was launched in September 2011 at Block 71 Ayer Rajah Crescent. Managed by NUS Enterprise and supported by the Media Development Authority (MDA) and SingTel Innov8, Plug-In@Blk71 provides start-ups and entrepreneurs with a one-stop access to the resources they need to effectively develop and market solutions for their customers as well as networking opportunities with partners and investors.

The community is given space to conduct events, and workstations for entrepreneurs to test bed and work on their ideas. It also has access to the four vital ingredients needed to transform a bright idea into a commercial reality: institutions, industry experts, funding and government support.

Through N-House and Plug-In@Blk 71, NUS has added further buzz and verve to the already vibrant entrepreneurial university environment in the Kent Ridge vicinity.

To boost the interactive digital media space in Singapore, NUS Enterprise, supported by MDA, launched the NUS Tourism Accelerator Workshop Programme in April 2012. The first initiative under the Accelerator Workshop Series strategically matches local start-ups and technology providers with leading corporations in various business sectors to catalyse the adoption of homegrown interactive digital media. The workshop attracted six industry players and over 60 proposals from international research centres and the start-up community.

In April 2012, NUS' two-day annual festival of innovation and entrepreneurship InnovFest 2012 incorporated the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Asia event for the first time. AUTM Asia was held in conjunction with the Technology Commercialisation Forum, providing a platform for academic research institutions, industry, technology transfer professionals and entrepreneurs to meet and examine the latest issues in commercialising technology.
 
To Groom Budding Entrepreneurs
NUS has tailored a comprehensive range of programmes and initiatives to help students develop the entrepreneurial mindset and relevant skills needed to transform their ideas into commercial successes. We provide them with extensive exposure to both the local and global business scenes so that they can be equipped with the perspective necessary to successfully start and run entrepreneurial ventures.

The innovative Local Enterprise Achiever Development (iLEAD) and the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programmes are our two key entrepreneur-grooming initiatives. A total of 165 students took part in these programmes in AY2011/2012.

In addition to Silicon Valley, Israel, Germany and Beijing, the iLEAD overseas study mission was expanded to include Taiwan in December 2011, and Chile in July 2012.

In the year of review, NOC students and alumni continued to make significant inroads in the business world. In March 2012, for example, eBay's StubHub acquired Peekspy, a start-up co-founded by NOC alumnus Oliver Oxenham, together with his brother Wesley and their friend Paymon Rasekhy. Peekspy's 3D modelling solutions were conceptualised by Wesley during his stay at the NUS Enterprise Incubator in 2008.

Charmain Tan, who participated in NOC in Stockholm, conceived the idea of eco-friendly ISGLOVES™, which allows wearers to use touch screen devices during winter. Together with a fellow undergraduate and two other NOC alumni, the group set up Singapore-based FiETT (Fun in Ecological Tech Textile) in August 2011 to develop and manufacture the patent-pending product.

Stockholm NOC alumnus Ariff Munshi launched Referoll.com in November 2011, a site which recruits people to participate in its clients' market research. The project has received a S$25,000 grant from SPRING Singapore.

The annual national-level Start-Up@ Singapore (S@S) Business Plan Competition is another programme designed to groom aspiring entrepreneurs. S@S 2012 introduced a new Social Enterprise/Co-Cooperative category which made up a quarter of all project submissions. The competition attracted 275 teams and over 1,140 participants from some 18 countries.

Social Business Week 2012, organised by the Grameen Creative Lab@NUS, brought together over 1,000 social entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, social venture investors, academics and youths. The February 2012 event included a specially-designed Social Business Boot Camp, which provided social entrepreneurs with hands-on training to refine and develop their existing social ventures or business ideas to create more sustainable and scalable businesses.

To rev up the formation of technology start-ups, the Institute for Engineering Leadership spearheaded the LaunchPad programme. Bringing together cross-disciplinary teams of students from various faculties including Engineering and Business, the programme aims to teach students to maximise value creation as start-ups do in the real world. Students spend 80 per cent of their time talking to customers to validate the value of their technologies and revenue-making potential. In April 2012, the programme held its first TakeOff! with LaunchPad event. Eight teams comprising 45 NUS engineering and business students pitched their innovative start-up concepts to over 30 potential investors and representatives of funding agencies.
 
To Find the Best Match
Besides cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit among students, NUS provides both the hard and soft infrastructure needed to nurture start-ups into viable companies. Beyond the physical space, we offer mentoring, matchmaking with angel investors and venture capitalists, start-up funding schemes, access to various local and international networks, and intellectual property advisory services.

Several technologies developed in NUS laboratories have also successfully translated into useful solutions in AY2011/2012 that would benefit the community. The University expedited the further development of these technologies through various licensing agreements and research collaborations.

In August 2011, NUS licensed an Integrated On-Board Ballast water treatment and purification technology to Envirotech and Consultancy Pte Ltd for further development and commercialisation. We also licensed Membrane Technology to TriTech Water Technologies Pte Ltd in September 2011. Under the deal, TriTech has licensed this technology for scaling and production in China. The first commercial sale is expected to be completed by end 2012.

Another licensing agreement was sealed in December 2011 with AyoxxA GmbH, which will further enhance and commercialise the Beads-Based Microarray Technologies. AyoxxA started out as an NUS research project and has grown into a venture-funded start-up company with facilities in Europe and Asia.

In terms of research collaboration, NAFIGATE, a firm based in Czech Republic developing international markets for nanofibres, and the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI) teamed up in March 2012 to leverage on NUS' advancements in polymer chemistry, electrospinning and bioanalytical methodologies. The joint research projects include the development of a cost-effective green packaging film, among others.

In June 2012, the University entered into a Research Collaboration Agreement with Toyota Tsusho (Singapore) Pte Ltd to study the viability of using micro electric vehicles (EVs) for short distance travel in Singapore.

The trial project will see some 10 EVs being deployed on Kent Ridge Campus and University Town as part of the year-long study. It will evaluate the performance, cost-effectiveness as well as the environmental impact of the micro EVs in Singapore's context, determining if such one-seater vehicles can be a sustainable solution to ease personal mobility in our city.

In AY2011/2012, our incubators hosted 17 new companies, bringing the total portfolio to over 90. In the same period, our Industry Liaison Office handled 223 industry and research collaborations, totalling S$148 million. In all, 363 patents were filed, 38 patents were granted and 247 invention disclosures were received.