TECH OFFERS

Traditional traceability technologies often rely on barcodes, QR codes, and holograms on external packaging. These methods are always more susceptible to both intentional and unintentional removal or tampering. This technology offer is a patented innovation that uses natural food ingredients as a unique bio barcode tag for identification. Tags can be added directly as a powder or liquid to products for batch tagging. The technology helps to prove compliance by offering tamper-proof assurance from raw material and hence improves the supply chain integrity by preventing counterfeiting, product dilution, and cross-contamination; at the same time, the tags protect brand value, and transparency as well as establish brand recognition. The technology provider is interested to do test-bedding with food ingredients companies, FMCG companies, agri-food growers, and trading companies who are concerning traceability in their value chain. The technology covers life science, food technology, and bioinformatics sciences. The properties of the tags are as follows: natural, food-grade and patented DNA-based unique identifier safe-to-eat, tasteless and invisible highly resistant to temperature and chemical conditions in the food processing as lasting as the shelf life of the product to which they are added can be detected through PCR, and obtain the individual traceability reports in 2hours can be integrated into the existing barcode labelling, RFID and blockchain system It ensures forensic traceability resulting in higher standards of food safety, quality control, responding to customer complaints and protecting the company’s reputation. Potential applications of this technology offer include (but are not limited to): -             Food and beverage products (plant-based meat, alcohol, coffee, palm oil, etc.) -             Cosmetics -             Fragrance -             Personal Care -             Pharmaceuticals Compared with existing technology, this patented technology is a food-grade ingredient, applied in minute parts-per-million quantity and can be added to the product without affecting the taste or texture. This gives a tamper-proof solution that could potentially solve the traceability issues and protect the brand reputation as well as the product integrity at the same time. While the ingredient is food-grade and applied in minute parts-per-million quantity; the technology provider continues extensive work with food regulatory experts familiar with Australian, US, Europe, UK and Singapore food regulations ensure the compliance of their products.   The technology provider is interested to do test-bedding with food ingredients companies, FMCG companies, agri-food growers, and trading companies who are concerning traceability in their value chain. Personal Care, Fragrances, Nutrition & Health Supplements, Foods, Ingredients, Quality & Safety, Processes

There is a proliferation of health-tech wearables in recent years as the healthcare paradigm shifts from discrete monitoring in a hospital to continuous monitoring at one’s convenience. However, regular change of batteries and power outlet charging are often the pain points of using these wearables. Moreover, electrical charging points may not be readily available, especially when the user is in an outdoor environment for prolonged periods e.g. field trips that stretch for a few days. For these wearable devices to be powered for uninterrupted usage, there is a need for a constant source of external energy supply. Ambient energy can be harvested from the body's activities and serve as a reliable external energy source for wearables and portable electronic devices. As this energy source is readily available, energy sustainability can be achieved for the electronics and sensors in wearables and portable devices. However, it remains a technological challenge to develop such energy-harvesting devices.  This technology offer is a 2-D non-resonant energy harvesting method using hybrid energy harvesting mechanisms that can harvest energy from body movements. It can also be customised to harvest wave or wind energy, etc.  The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration, technology licensing and test-bedding with application developers intending to use motion energy harvesting solution to power devices.  The technology offer is a hybrid energy harvester that has a unique design configuration. It can overcome the following challenges of existing technology: Low, irregular frequency and amplitude generated by body movement, together with the limitation of parasitic damping and harvesting mechanism, often restrict the average output power of an energy harvester to a few microwatts, which is only sufficient to power up devices/wearables with ultra-low power applications. Kinetic motion harvesters are typically designed to harvest energy generated by motion in a specific plane of movement. However, human body movements are not constrained to any fixed planes. Thus, the energy harvested may not have reached optimal levels. The energy harvester, which is of 6cm (L) x 6cm (B) x 4.5 cm (H), is able to generate a power density of 4.8µW/cm3 at acceleration of 1g and frequency of 4Hz. It can be resized and scaled-up according to the application with customisable component selection.  Besides harnessing energy from human body motion to power wearables and portable electronics, the energy harvester could also be customised for the following applications to harness:  Blue energy by placing the energy harvester on a mass of water body to power offshore sensors used for monitoring environmental pollution and natural disaster etc. Ambient energy e.g. wind, to power wireless IoT sensor networks in remote areas, removing the need for regular battery replacement. Kinetic energy from the movement of non-living objects e.g. vehicle or roped elevator This technology offer has the following advantages compared to existing energy harvesters in the market: A hybrid combination of electromagnetic and triboelectric energy harvesting mechanisms allows for more energy to be harvested simultaneously from the same body movements. Increased dimensions of mass movements allow more energy to be tapped from different types of body movements. The design functions at a low-frequency regime (<10Hz) in non-resonant mode to fully harness the energy from human motion. Integrated energy storage and power management circuit allow energy harvested to be stored and managed, thus providing a complete package for product commercialisation. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration, technology licensing and test-bedding with application developers intending to use motion energy harvesting solutions to power devices.  alternative energy, battery alternative, green energy, sustainable energy, renewable energy, blue energy, energy source, energy harvester, energy generator Energy, Battery & SuperCapacitor, Sensor, Network, Power Conversion, Power Quality & Energy Management, Electronics, Power Management, Sustainability, Sustainable Living

Feed cost generally accounts for 60% to 70% of the total production costs in an intensive shrimp aquaculture system. Fishmeal, which is often the main ingredient of shrimp feed, is one of the reasons for the high cost. It is also unsustainable to use fishmeal as it is derived from fish, contributing to the depletion of other fish species on a global scale. The technology offer is an alternative protein source in shrimp feed that uses okara, a nutrient-dense side stream from soy milk and bean curd production. Direct application of unprocessed okara into shrimp feed may work, however, due to the presence of anti-nutrients, the absorption of protein and amino acids from the okara may be limited. The technology developer has formulated a shrimp feed with an optimum amount of processing to increase the digestibility and enhance the nutritional properties and at the same time lowering the cost of shrimp feed by up to 50%. Currently, the developer has developed shrimp feed suitable for L. vannamei shrimp species with complete or partial replacement of animal protein which is fish meal. The technology is available for IP licensing and IP acquisition as well as R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are keen to adopt the solution.  Okara are high in insoluble fiber, proteins, unsaturated fats and isoflavones The okara-based formulation is optimised with minimum processing to increase the protein digestibility and enhance the bioavailability of nutrients Lower cost feeds using nutrient-dense side stream Shrimp fed with okara-based feed showed comparable growth rate as the group fed with commercial diet. There is an increase in the length and weight growth of the shrimp The shrimp feed uses okara, which is rich in proteins, may help the local and Southeast Asian shrimp farmers to reduce the cost of shrimp farming as well as contribute to circular economy by using agro-industrial side stream. The developed formulation is done based on L. vannamei shrimp, a high demand commonly consumed shrimp species in Singapore. The nutritional composition can be tailored for different species, and maybe be applied to mollusks and fish as a feed ingredient. An alternative nutrient source for shrimp feed allows for the sustainability of food supply and the reduction of food production side streams. Furthermore, it also reduces the fishmeal dependency on finite marine resources. The processed okara serves as a cost-effective plant-based functional ingredient that helps to increase the growth rates and maintain the survivability of shrimps. At the same time, lowering the costs of feed for aquaculture farms without comprising shrimp health. The technology is available for IP licensing and IP acquisition as well as R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are keen to adopt the solution.   shrimp feed, okara feed, upcycle food, food waste, aquatic feed Life Sciences, Agriculture & Aquaculture, Waste Management & Recycling, Food & Agriculture Waste Management, Sustainability, Food Security

Caregivers often need to monitor the whereabouts of People with Intellectual Disabilities (PwIDs), who tend to wander off their usual route because of distractions or stress. Current measures to locate them are manual and time-consuming. Caregivers have to retrace the daily journey taken by the PwIDs and rely on the public to assist them.  This technology offer is a low-cost, reliable tracking and monitoring device, developed to enable caregivers to easily track the current location of the PwIDs. The tracking device uses Global Positioning System (GPS) to obtain location data, whereas the corresponding timestamp (date, time) is obtained from the Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network. The resultant timestamped GPS data can be sent to any cloud servers or IoT dashboards via NB-IoT communication. An existing issue with some current NB-IoT tracking system is, the timestamp may not be accurately tagged to the corresponding GPS location data, due to mis-synchronisation. This system is able to overcome such a problem, hence ensuring accuracy of tracking. The tracking device is encased in an access card form factor that can be worn around the neck, making it suitable for PwIDs as it is a familiar form factor to them. The technology owner is able to customise the tracking device; data can be streamed to a 3rd party application server for post-processing and dashboarding. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration with tracking device design companies, and/or end application users such as PwID institutions, including those with existing tracking platforms. Location tracking using GPS technology is common. However, the communication link between the hardware and the internet or cloud servers has been more reliant on WiFi or mobile networks (4G/LTE). Usage of WiFi is not possible outdoors and subscription to mobile networks is not practical as it will cost more just to send a few bytes of data. Thus, leveraging NB-IoT network which is mainly utilised by IoT devices to send a small amount of data is a cheaper option compared to mobile networks such as 4G/LTE. In some NB-IoT dashboards, the platform requires position data and timestamp to be sent as an separate packets to servers, i.e., the position data and corresponding timestamp are sent sequentially rather than in a collective packet. This can result in pointing to an incorrect association of location with corresponding time, due to data loss or data corruption. In this technology offer, the tracking device is able to effectively synchronise time data to position data, thus ensuring the time data and corresponding position data is always reflected accurately. The device developed is specially designed to be encased within an access card holder that can be worn around the neck, hence reducing the number of possessions that needed to be carried by the PwIDs. In certain PwIDs, such as those with autism spectrum disorder, having a familiar form factor also reduces the risk of it being rejected.  •    Logistics -  Outdoor asset tracking (Mobile Assets) •    Healthcare - Tracking of patients with dementia, people with intellectual disabilities  The device also comes with an android mobile application to locate the current position of the tracking device. Caregivers can use this to check on the live location of the PwID, and view the historical route taken by the tracker within a specified interval. Alerts can be sent to caregivers when the tracker exits/enters a preset perimeter (factory warehouse, school, homes, etc.). With NB-IoT communication, there can be other features such as fall detection alert, vital signs alert, etc.   In this technology offer, an effective method is used to synchronise time and location data for GPS/NB-IoT based tracking. This ensures the accuracy of the location tracking, which is critical in applications such as tracking PwIDs. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration with tracking device design companies, and/or end application users such as PwID institutions, including those with existing tracking platforms.   NBIOT, GPS, tracking, tracking system, narrow band Internet of Things Infocomm, Networks & Communications, Internet of Things, Wireless Technology

Indoor farming presents a range of different challenges to crop yields compared to outdoor farming activities. Traditional outdoor farmers intuitively know what environmental factors affect the growth of the crop. Indoor farming, on the other hand, requires the farmer to simulate the optimal climate conditions for expected crop yields. The indoor climate can either contribute to the yields or, in unfortunate circumstances, lead to the loss of the crop. However, it is not always easy to create an ideal environment for the crop.  This technology offer is a control system that allows the facility manager to align optimal crop conditions with the equipment settings in their facility, minimising the drift between settings and site-level crop conditions. The control system can also be used to compute the correlation between data across crop production, environment, and business performance. The control system can be customised further by adding other sensors for better accuracy of control.  The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration and licensing with innovative industrial automation companies specialising in product development of sensor networks and high-data throughput IoT gateways.    The technology offer is a control system that has the following features: can be integrated into existing building management system (BMS) dashboard for real-time data and reporting analysis machine learning techniques to identify the optimal environment  Using this technology,  the indoor farming community can expect energy savings of 25% to 35%, improved crop yields by 25% to 75%, and 25% reduction in man-hours. The control system can take in the climate data, such as air temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide and volatile organic compound readings (VOC) from the building management system (BMS); as well as farming data, such as soil temperature, soil moisture, pH level and electrical conductivity. The computational output is then used to control the temperature, ventilation, lights, fogging machines and balance the irrigation and humidity levels where the crops are cultivated.  This technology offer can be deployed in the following applications: Urban agriculture – farming and gardening Hydroponic/aquaponic facilities Rooftop farms/Community gardens Green houses The technology can also be integrated into soil conditions monitoring and plant video analysis. Customisable inputs and outputs Energy savings of 25% to 35% Enhanced crop performance by 25% to 75% Resource (man-hour) optimisation by 25% Cost-effective data analysis The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration and licensing with innovative industrial automation companies specializing in product development of sensor networks and high-data throughput IoT gateways.    vertical farming, indoor farming, climate optimisation, environmental optimisation, computing method Electronics, Sensors & Instrumentation, Energy, Sensor, Network, Power Conversion, Power Quality & Energy Management, Green Building, Sensor, Network, Building Control & Optimisation, Infocomm, Ambient Intelligence & Context-Aware Computing

Anti-corrosion coatings have attracted tremendous attention due to their significant safety, financial, and environmental impacts. However, the protective coatings are highly susceptible to damage during transport, installation, and service. The detection of initial micro-cracks is very difficult, but the propagation of corrosion can be quite fast. Therefore, smart coating with self-healing function is a promising route to address the above challenges. The technology owner has developed a polymer-based hollow microcapsule that can release the active ingredients in response to external stimuli. Microcapsules encapsulated with corrosion inhibitors can be added as anti-corrosion additives in coating primer. In the presence of damage, microcapsules get activated and release corrosion inhibitors directly onto the corroding site to prevent the corrosion. This self-healing anti-corrosion coating can effectively extend materials’ lifetimes, reduce maintenance expenses, and enhance public safety. The advanced microcapsule technology can also largely reduce the content of toxic corrosion inhibitors by 90%, enabling an environmentally friendly coating solution. The technology owner is interested in IP licensing and R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are seeking self-healing smart coatings for corrosion protection. The microcapsule technology is also available for co-innovation in other applications, such as anti-fouling and agricultural pest control. The self-healing smart coating using microcapsule technology has the following features: Prevent corrosion even in case of pinhole damage, cracking, and scratching Preserve corrosion inhibitors in the coating to prolong the functional life Pre-synthesized microcapsules can be encapsulated with various corrosion inhibitors Cost-effective coating formulation with less corrosion inhibitor Environmentally friendly coating without heavy metals Adaptable to existing coating process without additional equipment This technology can be applied to metallic structures that require heavy duty corrosion protection. The potential applications include but are not limited to: Buildings and infrastructure (bridges and towers) Underground storage tanks and buried pipelines Offshore and submarine (ship hulls and underwater pipelines) Chemical and power plants (refining and processing equipment) Overhead distribution systems (electricity and telecommunication) Hot water and wastewater treatment facilities Customised formulations for different applications Reduce the content of corrosion inhibitors (~20% cost reduction) Increase the coating's functional life (2x life) Reduce maintenance costs Environmentally friendly The technology owner is interested in IP licensing and R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are seeking self-healing smart coatings for corrosion protection. The microcapsule technology is also available for co-innovation in other applications, such as anti-fouling and agricultural pest control. Anti-Corrosion Coating, Self-Healing, Microcapsule Technology, Smart Coating Materials, Nano Materials, Chemicals, Coatings & Paints, Manufacturing, Surface Finishing & Modification

Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) is widely used for blast protection and structural reinforcement of concrete elements in buildings and infrastructure. However, conventional FRP solutions have limitations due to labour-intensive applications such as on-site preparation and resin mixing, inconsistent quality, long curing time, and low productivity. The technology is a glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) roll pre-saturated with a tacky resin system that can be easily applied to structural elements like “double-sided tape”. The resin-infused GFRP can fully cure in natural light within a few hours, strengthening the structure with only a marginal increase in wall thickness. A fire-retarding version of GFRP is also available. The GFRP solution is fast and efficient with minimal on-site tools and less dependent on workmanship skills. The technology is available for IP licensing and collaboration with industrial partners who are interested in adopting the fast-curing GFRP technology in their products and applications. The GFRP is a composite material made of glass fibres and a proprietary polymer resin that hardens only when exposed to light. The unique feature of polymer resin enables GFRP to be packed into a ready-to-use roll of sticky wrap. The technical features and specifications are listed as follows: GFRP can be easily applied like “double-sided tape” without additional equipment GFRP can fully cure in natural light within a few hours, forming a reinforcing shell of 1.2mm per layer Additional layers can be applied to meet the overall strength requirement Factory-controlled quality ensures consistent application compared to conventional methods GFRP has an ultimate tensile strength of 750MPa, a tensile modulus of 35GPa, and a pull-off strength of 5-5.8MPa This technology can be deployed in the building and construction industries. The potential applications are as follows:   Blast protection for critical infrastructure Roof reinforcement of ageing buildings Reinforcement of concrete columns and walls Strengthening of pre-cast members Repair of cracked concrete walls Repair of structures damaged by fire Repair of leaking pipes Fast curing system achieves full strength in 3 hours under suitable conditions Easy application without on-site mixing allows for a cleaner and tidier work site Up to 30% cost savings in time and manpower Factory-controlled quality ensures consistent application The technology is available for IP licensing and collaboration with industrial partners who are interested in adopting the fast-curing GFRP technology in their products and applications. Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer, Structural Strengthening, Blast Protection, Advanced Materials Materials, Composites, Chemicals, Polymers, Sustainability, Sustainable Living

Water-repellent materials have attracted a lot of attention due to their importance in various applications, such as oil-water separation for oil waste treatment, self-cleaning for corrosion prevention, and microfluidics for electronics and medical devices. Surface modification can be applied to existing materials to introduce water repellency. However, industrial applications of conventional methods are very limited due to low reaction efficiency, high costs of chemical reagents, and instability for recovery/reuse.  To overcome the limitations, the technology owner has developed a new photochemical coating technology using visible light as an excitation source and low-cost chemicals as raw material. The invented coating technology can transform a wide variety of materials into versatile functional materials with excellent water repellency and oil attraction, providing a cost-effective solution to fabricate water-repellent materials. The technology is available for IP licensing and R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are looking for a cost-effective solution for the development of water-repellent and oil-absorbing materials. The technology owner adopts a two-step photochemical coating method using low-cost chemicals and visible light. Surface pre-treatment has also been applied so the surface modification can be applied to a wide range of surfaces, such as paper, wood, glass, natural fibers, textiles, and cement-based materials.  The features of this technology are: Low-cost and readily accessible chemicals High effectiveness (less than 0.1 wt% of coating attached on the surface) Improved hydrophobic function compared to single-step thermal method Applicable to a wide range of natural and synthetic materials Produce patterned coating by using a suitable photomask This technology can be applied to the development of functional water-repellent materials with selective oil absorption. The potential applications include but are not limited to: Environmental sector: oil pollution treatment, remediation of marine oil spills Aquaculture industry: grease cleaning, oil waste treatment Food industry: aqueous/organic biphasic separation Construction industry: waterproof cement, exterior and interior decoration Water-repellent products: filter paper, cardboard, textile, plant-based and polymer-based sponge Cost-effective method using low-cost chemicals and visible light Applicable to a wide range of natural and synthetic materials Development of functional materials with water-repellency, selective oil-absorbing and self-cleaning properties  The technology is available for IP licensing and R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are looking for a cost-effective solution for the development of water-repellent and oil-absorbing materials. Chemicals, Coatings & Paints, Environment, Clean Air & Water, Filter Membrane & Absorption Material, Manufacturing, Surface Finishing & Modification

Keratins are naturally occurring proteins found in hair, feathers, wool and other external protective tissues of animals. They are highly abundant, naturally produced and generally underutilized. At the same time, keratins offer versatile chemical properties that allow interactions with themselves or with other materials to improve behaviour. The technology provider has developed sustainable, biodegradable plastic materials by upcycling keratins derived from hair and feathers. In the preliminary studies, the technology provider has found ways to produce films that have the potential to be used as packaging materials. These films do not disintegrate readily in water, yet they fully degrade in soil within a week. They can be made in combination with other waste-derived biopolymers to improve strength to meet the needs of specific use cases. This technology is available for R&D collaboration, IP licensing, or IP acquisition, with industrial partners who are looking for a green packaging solution and to explore specific-use-case products. The technology provider is also interested to collaborate with the OEM partners having the keratin extraction facility from feathers and hair for the deployment of this technology. Nature-derived material from waste streams (agricultural, livestock and human hair) Tunable strength, ~60% strength of PE film Stable in water over 3 weeks (hydrostability) Fully degraded in soil within 7 days at room temperature without the need for industrial facilities  Protein based film. Possibility to incorporate bioactive functionalities into the film Biodegradable packaging material- these films do not disintegrate readily in water, yet they fully degrade in soil within a week Biodegradable composites-  potential to be combined with existing biopolymers such as cellulose to make strong composites for food contacting packaging and utensils Sustainable upcycling of abundant waste streams Fully biodegradable in a short time within a natural environment Possibility to include bioactives This technology is available for R&D collaboration, IP licensing, or IP acquisition, with industrial partners who are looking for a green packaging solution and to explore specific-use-case products. The technology provider is also interested to collaborate with the OEM partners having the keratin extraction facility from feathers and hair for the deployment of this technology. Waste Management & Recycling, Food & Agriculture Waste Management, Sustainability, Circular Economy