Immune cell activation and expansion for cell therapy is a strictly regulated process. It demands costly and labour-intensive optimization of cell culture conditions. Major limitations of these processes are cell quality and results consistency. Large amounts of expenses were spent on culture conditions, cell characterizations and quality control (QC) with differing culture protocols and recipes in growing CAR-T cells. This technology has established a standardized platform through its feeder-cell mimicking feature that could screen culture conditions for diverse cell types and patient source more rapidly at lower costs. Both feeder-cell based system and feeder-free system poses respective challenges of contamination or insufficient growth signals. To address this gap, a modular, all-signals-in-one microbead-based platform has been developed for the next-generation cell therapy R&D and translation. In this delivery platform design, the modular feature allows rapid ‘plug-and-use’ of multiple surface and soluble signals to grow T-cells ex vivo without the need for extensive setup and integration of culture protocols. This platform aims to provide a seamless and straightforward cell culture experience for the industrial and academic research users to discover new types and applications of immune cell therapy. Additionally, the all-signals-in-one synthetic platform mimics the natural antigen presenting cells to activate and expand T-cells on dish, allowing cell manufacturers to ‘mix-and-grow’ immune cells with reduced effort or technical expertise. This aims to improve the cost-effectiveness and scalability of cell therapy manufacturing. The technology provider is seeking collaborations with cell therapy CDMOs/CMOs in licensing and various R&D developments.

This technology portfolio covers wearable sensing and haptics for Virtual Reality (VR). The wearable sensors can provide gesture-based control in VR without the need for cameras, providing interactive control for VR for lower end headset. The sensor use electronic textiles and a patented sensing scheme that requires no additional electronics except a microcontroller. They present ultralow latency (<1ms), can distinguish between wearer and non-wearer and have exceptional noise rejection. The haptics technology allows for simulation of resistance and micro sensations on the fingers and palm. This is crucial for applications like surgical training, as surgeons routinely rely on their sense of touch in real world scenarios. The jamming technology uses textile-based actuators and pneumatics, making it the lightest wearable technology for haptics.

Systemic drug administration has conventionally been prescribed to alleviate persistent local inflammation which is prevalent in chronic diseases. However, this approach is associated with drug-induced toxicity, particularly when the dosage exceeds what is necessitated from the pathological conditions of the diseased tissues. This technology developed is a novel drug delivery technology that is activated to enable the release of appropriate drug payload according to the patient’s condition on the level of disease severity. The drug delivery system is a modular hybrid hydrogel carrier encapsulating the required anti-inflammatory drug which is triggered to release upon exposure to elevated markers of inflammation such as increased protease activity which is commonly upregulated in inflammatory diseases.   The technology has been validated for its material, safety, and toxicity studies on ex vivo exudates of clinical samples, in vivo wound model, and arthritis diseased mouse model. The primary targeted indication is Rheumatoid arthritis based on its significant disease unmet need and market size. It aims to become a platform technology as an effective therapy against chronic inflammatory diseases such as inflammation bowel diseases, chronic wounds and topical application. The convenience of the technology offers significant societal benefits, particularly for ageing populations where the incidence of pain and inflammation arising from diseases becomes prevalent with age while potentially eliminating adverse side effects from traditional delivery of drug administration.  The technology owner is seeking for collaborations with clinicians, biopharma, biotech companies looking for novel drug delivery systems.

With the recent surge in the risk of pathogens and viruses, there has been a strong demand for hygiene-focused products globally. In public health, there is an increasing need to obtain more sterilised water and to create a hygienic environment with sterilised water. Ozone dissolved in water, commonly known as ozonated water, has been used to produce safe drinking water at water purification plants because of ozone's sanitising properties. However, conventional gas dissolution methods have limited their applications because it is difficult to incorporate both safe ozone production and ozone dissolution into water in the same small product. This technology is a modular sanitary device that is able to electro-produce ozonated water for sanitisation. This device can, on-demand, instantly generate ozonated water via electrolysis. The ability for on-demand generation circumvents the problem where ozonated water loses its sanitising properties over time. Furthermore, this modular device can be easily designed to have variable performance depending on the number of devices connected and the control of current and flow rate. Therefore, the device can be easily designed to be integrated into existing products (e.g., household water purifiers, etc.). Lastly, this compact device that can efficiently generate sterilising ozone water is expected to address dissolution problems in various systems such as public health, medical treatment, etc.

In an era where environmental challenges are escalating, the need for precise and timely flood monitoring has never been more critical. Addressing this pressing issue is a state-of-the-art flood detection system that offers unparalleled accuracy in water level detection, down to the centimetre, and in real-time. Designed to resist environmental disturbances, this technology ensures consistent and reliable performance. Its self-sufficiency is highlighted by its connectivity via mobile networks and an ultra-efficient power system, which includes a solar panel ensuring sustained operation even in less-than-ideal sunlight conditions. The primary beneficiaries of this technology are government agencies and enterprises involved in environmental infrastructure projects. Additionally, businesses facing environmental challenges and seeking robust solutions will find this invention invaluable. By providing instant alerts on potential flood threats and integrating seamlessly with third-party management systems, this technology addresses a significant gap in the marketplace, ensuring safety, reducing potential damages, and saving lives.

Root rot diseases in food crops are devastating diseases currently without solution. Examples of such diseases are the Basal Stem Rot in oil palms, Fusarium Wilt in bananas, and Phytophthora Root Rot in citrus.  While crop protection inputs (e.g. fungicides) have in vitro efficacy, most do not possess phloem mobility and therefore cannot reach the roots to effect treatment. Thus, despite widespread usage of such inputs, root rot diseases are still inadequately treated or are not treated at all. This Nano Delivery Technology imparts phloem mobility to crop protection inputs (e.g. fungicides), allowing them to reach the roots from the application site to treat and protect the crops. The technology has been translated into a “Two Component Product”. It includes a commercialised fungicide and an adjuvant which is the proprietary nano encapsulation material. The technique is easy enough for a plantation wto independently mix the fungicide with the adjuvant using basic mixing equipment and a simple one-step mixing process.  This technology is patent-pending and ready to go to market.

Singapore has a high consumption of fruits and vegetables, both locally produced and imported, and a significant portion of the total waste generated is derived from fruits and vegetables. These fruits and vegetables contain untapped nutritional and functional properties that can be upcycled into higher value products. This institute of higher learning has developed a technology with the know-how to cultivate microorganisms and a series of zero-waste extraction and purification methods to maximize the value of fruit peels into functional food ingredients.  This technology is designed for three types of industry players: i) fruit vending/processing industry with abundance of good quality fruit by-products; ii) waste management industry with technologies to value add to the by-products; and iii) start-ups with keen interest to upcycle by-products into novel food ingredients.

Population aging is a global phenomenon as most industrialized countries are experiencing growth in the size and proportion of elderly citizens in their population. The percentage of older adults is estimated to be double by 2050 than that in 2019, which will place new challenges on the social economy and healthcare. The increasing population of elderly people requires great attention to be paid to age-related problems. Especially, the decreased physical capacities cause elderly people to rely on others to perform daily activities such as showering, dressing, and eating. The lack of independence in activities of daily living (ADL) decreases their quality of life and exaggerate financial burden for family healthcare.   According to studies on affected daily activities of older adults, the showering activity needs more frequent assistance than any other ADL. Existing commercial products, such as Tutti Assisted Bath Tub and Sit & Shower, can provide automated bathing assistance for the elderly people. However, the available products are usually time-based passive cleaning that lacks active physical interactions with users, and thus they do not have some basic functionalities during showering such as scrubbing and wiping. Alternatively, robotic arms can provide active support in showering activity. Recent soft robotics technologies ensure safe and comfortable human-robot interactions. With different types of actuation (e.g. pneumatic, cable-driven), soft robotic manipulators can have dexterous motions and adaptable stiffness to achieve desired tasks.

The technology seeker is an established manufacturer of small electrical devices. The company is continually investing in NPD (new product development) and is currently focused on reducing the cost and environmental impact of their products. The electronics industry is investigating the use of conductive and/or resistive inks and materials to replace metallic materials typically used in printed electronics, sensors, heating elements and RFID-based smart packaging, etc. However, many current conductive inks contain silver, which is not acceptable from an environmental standpoint to the company. They therefore wish to identify alternative materials which can still maintain the technical performance required by the end-products. The company is actively searching for potential suppliers and technology companies that could support their product development efforts. They have an established customer base and global operations that provide routes to market for both new and established companies. The company is interested in potential collaboration with groups looking to commercialise relevant technologies and companies who will consider a variety of collaborations, ranging from trading partnerships, licensing through to joint venture and supply.

The technology seeker is a global food manufacturer looking for innovative approaches for introducing meaty texture into plant-based meat and fish. Consumers are interested in plant-based foods because of the health benefits of reducing their meat intake, concerns about farm animal welfare, and the high CO2 emissions linked to livestock farming. However, some consumers who have tried plant-based meat list texture as one of the reasons why they chose not to purchase the products again. The company is interested in ingredients and manufacturing processes that can create authentic (look and feel) meaty textures in plant-based meat or fish products. The company is a large and well-established business with production plants and excellent market access globally. The company is open to partnerships and collaborations with companies that have relevant technologies in the space to create future products, and so this represents an excellent opportunity for a new and ongoing business relationship.

A leading snack company is interested in novel leavening solutions (ingredient and/or process technologies) that enable effective sodium reduction for their baked goods portfolio (savory/salty crackers, sweet cookies). Sodium-based leavening agents (sodium bicarbonate, SAPP etc.) are commonly used in baked goods to deliver the desired product texture and appearance. Finding alternative solutions that can deliver the same great consumer experience without elevating the pH is of interest.