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AsianScientist (Jun. 8, 2016) – For a country that’s half a century old and with scarce natural resources, Singapore has come a long way. Within less than three decades, the nation has transformed itself into a science and technology research hub that is punching above its weight.

Since 1991, this growth was meticulously charted out in five-year plans, with the latest Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE2020) budget promising a hefty S$19.1 billion from 2016-20120 to boost research capabilities and nurture talents in the city state.

Here, we profile seven scientists, from both academia and industry, who have contributed to Singapore’s thriving research and development landscape in their respective fields, and who are laying the groundwork for future breakthroughs and innovations.

1. Kenneth Lee



Currently the scientific director of the Low Energy Electronic Systems Interdisciplinary Research Group at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), Lee is driving an effort to create hybrid platforms that integrate electronic and photonic systems.

(Photo: Kenneth Lee/SMART)



2. Lim Chwee Teck

   

   Lim, a Provost’s Chair Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS), is the third Singaporean to be elected to the prestigious American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows.

   (Photo: MechanoBioEngineering Laboratory, NUS)




3. Lok Shee-Mei

   

   Lok, an associate professor at the Emerging Infectious Diseases Program at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, recently published the structure of Zika virus and identified potential sites on the virus that can be targeted with therapeutic drugs.

   (Photo: Duke-NUS Medical School)




4. Olivia Lum

   

   Lum founded Hyflux as a one-woman startup; it is now a global water desalination behemoth. In 2014, the company won Frost & Sullivan’s Asia Pacific Water Technology Company of the Year Award and Global Water Intelligence UK’s Desalination Plant of the Year for its Tuaspring seawater reverse osmosis plant.

   (Photo: Yale-NUS College)




5. Andrew Nee

   

   Nee, an expert on the use of computer-aided design in precision engineering, was awarded the US Society of Manufacturing Engineers Gold Medal, becoming the first Asian outside of Japan to hold this position.

   (Photo: NUS)




6. Ng Huck Hui

   

   Ng, executive director of the Genome Institute of Singapore, led a team that conducted the first genome-wide functional genomics study in human embryonic stem cells. This year, he was elected as an associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, and is currently the only Singaporean with that honor.

   (Photo: Ng Huck Hui)




7. Tan Gee Paw

   

   Tan, chairman of the Public Utilities Board, Singapore’s national water agency, won the 2015 President’s Science and Technology Medal, Singapore’s highest science and technology honor. He was recognized for his central role in developing a sustainable water supply for Singapore and for building Singapore into a water and environmental R&D hub.

   (Photo: Bryan van der Beek/Asian Scientist)

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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Shutterstock.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.