NTU Vice President (Research) Professor Lam Khin Yong was presented with this year’s President’s Science and Technology Medal by Singapore President Halimah Yacob for his significant contributions in fostering closer collaboration between academia and industry.
One of Singapore’s highest honours for scientists, the award also recognises Prof Lam’s leadership in nurturing the next generation of scientific talents and for spearheading the development of high-performance computing capabilities and shaping Singapore’s research landscape.
Early in his career, Prof Lam led the formation of the Institute of High Performance Computing as its Founding Executive Director, and was also the Founding Director of the A*STAR Graduate Academy. As NTU’s Associate Provost for Graduate Education & Special Projects, he developed longstanding partnerships with top international institutions including the University of Cambridge and Technical University of Munich, and a series of joint PhD degree programmes. Over the last five years, his strong push for deeper industry engagement has led to the creation of six joint Corporate Labs at NTU, set up with Rolls-Royce, ST Engineering, SMRT, Delta Electronics, Singtel and Surbana Jurong, as well as bilateral research partnerships between NTU and Alibaba, BMW and SAAB, among others. Two other NTU professors also received President Science and Technology Awards.
Professor Loh Teck Peng from the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, was presented the President’s Science Award by President Halimah Yacob for his contributions in the field of green chemistry, where he developed novel synthesis processes and contributed to Singapore’s position as a leader in the field of chemistry. Over the last 20 years, Prof Loh has created dozens of innovative and green methods which have disruptive impact on the biomedical and pharmaceutical industry, placing him at the forefront of organic chemistry. His push for green chemistry was inspired by nature, such as the human body’s ability to synthesis chemical compounds in pH neutral environment, without the need for harsh solvents and metals.
Associate Professor Liu Zheng from the School of Materials Science and Engineering received the Young Scientist Award from Minister for Finance Mr Heng Swee Keat, for his pioneering research on the synthesis of two-dimensional materials – films that are only one atom thick. His scientific discoveries include a universal method for the synthesis of transitional metal dichalcogenides, which could be useful for future energy and electronic applications.
