TECH EXPERTS

Dr Alex Ong has been engaged in the education sector for more than 25 years. He is presently the principal lecturer in the School of Sports, Health and Leisure at Republic Polytechnic (Singapore). His research interest is in sports and health related to data science, computer vision, pattern recognition, and education technology in physical activities. He mentors principal investigators and oversees applied industry projects that have been successfully commissioned and are competitively funded by national agencies such as the National Research Foundation, Ministry of Education, Tote Board and National Additive Manufacturing – Innovation Cluster. His projects include: Markerless-tracking for gait analysis & multidisciplinary learning in physical activities 3D printed evidence-based orthopedic seat Algorithms for wearables for non-invasive monitoring of blood glucose, wrist-based SPO2/blood pressure continuous monitoring Dr Ong obtained his PhD in Education (Physical Education) from Deakins University (Australia) and has a Masters in Education from Durham University (UK) as well as a Masters of Science (Biomechanics) from the Faculty of Medicine at National University of Singapore.

Dr Shubha Vij is a plant and animal geneticist with over 20 years of experience in genomics (comparative genomics, phylogenetics and gene family analyses), evolution, developmental biology, species barcoding, transgenics and functional characterisation of genes responsive to abiotic stress. Currently, one of her key research interests is in the identification of green leafy vegetable varieties suited for indoor farming conditions, including the determination of seed batches / seed varieties that could perform better under indoor farming conditions, and selection of seed sources that could achieve high yield and maintain quality of the vegetables. Prior to joining Republic Polytechnic, Shubha was Research Fellow at Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, and Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR. Some of her key achievements in the field of genomics include involvement in sequencing and assembling the gold standard version of the rice genome; and transgenics of rice and tobacco species using biolistics and agrobacterium mediated approach. In addition, Shubha played a key role in assembling and publishing one of the first, chromosomal-level assembly of a fish genome. She was also involved in a project that helps in characterisation of few genes implicated in ciliopathies using zebrafish as a model organism. She has published more than 30 research papers (citations: 3290; h-index: 20) and has 2 patents covering the use of novel zinc-finger transcription factor genes in conferring abiotic stress tolerance in rice. Shubha holds a PhD in Plant Genomics from University of Delhi, India.

Dr. Yeo Boon Sain obtained his Bachelors of Engineering and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Glasgow and Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, respectively. Some research interests are in technologies relating to wireless systems and network, and operational approaches to optimize telecommunication systems. He is an expert in high frequency (HF) and low frequency (LF) Radio-frequency identification (RFID) system. He is trained by NXP and Texas Instruments for their respective high-power HF RFID reader design. Prior to founding Trilogy Technologies, Boon Sain spent 10 years with the Institute for Infocomm Research, an institute under Agency for Science, Technology and Research. He was previously appointed as the laboratory head of Wireless Sensor Networks Laboratory and was the Technology and Development Director of Wavex Technologies and Wavex Innovations. He was also seconded as the R&D director of SensiMesh Pte Ltd and focused on mesh technologies, wireless and wired sensor networks, Real-Time Locating System, as well as monitoring and control systems. He was also an adjunct Assistant Professor in NUS. In 2010, he started Trilogy Technologies Pte Ltd, a one-stop turnkey engineering solutions provider, and certified for ISO 13485, 9001 and 14001 Quality Management Systems. With his skillful and knowledgeable R&D background and production knowledge acquired over the years, he provides ingenious designs that are highly producible and conform to various industry standards such as MIL-STD 461, 810 and 1275, as well as IPC-600, 610, 620, J-STD-001 and 7711/7721, for which he is a certified trainer.

Hong Ling Tim is currently a Principal Lecturer under Industry track at Republic Polytechnic. He has held various positions within Republic Polytechnic such as the Senior Conexus Manager for the SMART Engineering Technology Centre and also Manager for the industry joint laboratory with Texas Instruments specialising in low power wireless applications. Ling Tim was also involved in numerous grants or funding for research and development in the areas of biomedical electronics and has engaged in consultancies project with the industry. Some of his recent projects include Gamified Fine Motor Skill Rehabilitation Device for Children with Developmental Disorders, Wireless Monitoring of the Muscle Blood Flow in Low Back Pain Population, and Smart Sanitizer System for Hand Infection Prevention.   Prior to joining Republic Polytechnic, he held a senior position as a project manager at Willowglen Services Pte Ltd, and was project engineer at Defence Science and Technology Agency. He graduated with a Master of Science in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the National University of Singapore, a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from the Nanyang Technological University and a Diploma from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. He was recently awarded the Crescendas Medal and Prize for Outstanding Applied Physics Researcher (Polytechnics) 2019.

Dr Heng Kiang Soon has 15 years of experience in the industry as a nutritionist and in the academia as researcher and lecturer. Currently, he is a lecturer at the School of Applied Science, Republic Polytechnic. His research interests are in nutraceutical and functional food development with emphasis on translating laboratory-based discoveries into novel products with effective health promoting and therapeutic effects. He has been collaborating with various companies in the research and development of food products. He is also experienced in diet and nutritional clinical studies, extraction and analysis of plant bioactive compounds, as well as shelf life studies of food products. He has published and presented more than 15 research papers and participated in book publication around human nutrition and health. As a nutrition educator, he is also passionate in promoting healthy diet and nutrition to the community.   Dr Heng holds a PhD in Nutritional Science and MSc in Community Nutrition from Universiti Putra Malaysia. 

Dr Leong Wen Shing is currently a lecturer in Republic Polytechnic, School of Applied Science. She has more than 10 years of academia and industrial R&D experience in materials characterization and development for tissue engineering and natural fiber composites. With a specialization in biomaterials and naturally derived materials, Dr Leong has manipulated stem cell behavior via controlling biophysical cues from scaffold material, including but not limited to scaffold topology, rigidity, dimensionality, and surface chemistry. Scaffold fabrication techniques, such as electrospinning, additive manufacturing, and porogen leaching, are her areas of expertise. Another area of expertise of Dr Leong is in developing high strength natural fiber composites, in particularly bamboo composites. She has more than 5 years of experience in improving strength, fire retardancy, sustainability, and water resistivity of natural fiber composites. She is dedicated to promoting awareness of sustainable materials adoption. A project under her lead has received the JEC Innovation Award in 2016, while student projects under her supervision and mentorship has received Polytechnic Student Research Programme (PSRP) awards in 2015, 2016 and 2018; and 2nd Prize in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2020 (Post-secondary level).

Dr Lily Ganda is currently a lecturer supporting various environmental science and management diploma programmes at Republic Polytechnic (RP) while she continues to be active in applied research for wastewater treatment and waste management. In a latest project, Lily led a sustainability project funded by Mandai Research Fund to search on a closed loop sustainable approach to manage wildlife waste. The project aimed to set up a feasible waste management solution to manage wildlife waste using black soldier fly, which is a first of its kind in the world. Her research findings were featured in various national media, such as The Strait Times, Today, Lianhe Zaobao, Channel NewsAsia, Berita Mediacorp, Channel 8 and CNA938. This project also clinched RP’s Most Innovative Project and Gold Award at the Ministry of Education (MOE) Innergy Award in 2020. Apart from the Mandai Research Fund, her research work is also supported by MOE Translational R&D and Innovation Fund for another eco-project on biofuel production. In addition, Lily has been actively collaborating with various industrial partners through consultancy projects. Lily attained her PhD in Environmental Engineering from Nanyang Technological University. She was a recipient of the National Research Foundation (Environmental and Water Technology) PhD Scholarship in 2009.

Dr Moshood Olawale Fadeyi is an Associate Professor of Building Services Engineering at the Singapore Institute of Technology. Dr Fadeyi holds four university degrees, including a PhD in Indoor Environment and Energy from the National University of Singapore and Technical University of Denmark. He is an architect, indoor air quality expert, chartered engineer (UK) – building services, chartered construction manager (UK), cartoonist, and specialist adult educator. Dr Fadeyi is a member of the Chartered Iinstitution of Building Services Engineers (UK), Chartered Institute of Building (UK), American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers, and the International Facility Management Association. His professional expertise and research interests focus on creating healthy and energy-efficient indoor environments and process enhancement for a sustainable built environment. He has engaged with more than 60 companies in Singapore to solve their problems through consultation, applied research, innovation and lean transformation projects, continuous education and training (CET) programmes, as well as case study development activities. He has also developed Indoor Air Cartoon Journal (IACJ), an innovative applied learning journal with global readership that provides CET contributions to students, industry, community, and academics. Before joining SIT, Dr Fadeyi was an assistant professor at the British University in Dubai, UAE. He was concurrently an honorary lecturer at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, UK. He also had research work experience at the Pennsylvania State University, USA, and Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS).

Dr Malcolm H. Smith has more than 27 years of post-PhD industrial experience in a wide range of areas, including more than 3 years at Matsushita (renamed Panasonic) in Japan designing analogue circuits for sensors, more than 22 years in cellular and other radio experience in the US at Bell Labs, Intel, Amalfi Semiconductor and RFMD, and more than 6 years as an independent consultant working worldwide for clients including MediaTek, HiSilicon (Huawei) and Google. Malcolm has over 40 patents issued for circuit, system and architecture inventions. At AnalogueSmith, Malcolm also consults in following fields of RFIC, analogue, mix-signal circuit design, system and architectural design of mixed-signal RFICs, CMOS PA, transceiver system, architecture, and circuit design, and modelling (device, circuit, system, and architecture).