TECH EXPERTS

Dr Harmeet Singh is currently Senior Lecturer at Republic Polytechnic. He has accumulated approximately 17 years of research experience in both academia and industry, working at established institutions such as NUS, A*STAR, the L’Oreal Advanced Research lab (Singapore). He also worked at the National Research Foundation as a Deputy Director (CREATE) and programme manager, managing the running of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) programme. A multi-disciplinary scientist with a diverse research background, Harmeet was trained as a mechanical engineer, and then went on to specialise in Tissue Engineering and Bioengineering. He was involved in the design and development of bioreactor systems for tissue engineering applications and skin cell biology studies. With 15 years of experience in culturing an array of cell types, ranging from stem cells (embryonic, mesenchymal, IPSc), osteoblasts, primary dermal fibroblasts and keratinocytes and various other cell lines, including suspension-based cell-lines, his current portfolio involves the early stages of developing methods of culturing and scaling up myoblasts for clean meat applications. 

Dr Tan Shi-Xiong is currently Senior Lecturer in Republic Polytechnic, School of Applied Science. He has more than 15 years of hands-on experience in biochemistry, cell culture and molecular biology techniques, including gene cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, gene expression detection and analysis, immuno-detection of proteins, protein expression and purification. His research interest revolves around factors that can affect the development of muscle and fat cells, as well as how these factors affect the insulin-signaling pathway for cellular glucose uptake. Dr Tan is also involved in consultancy projects that assist the industry in the detection of DNA contamination, presence of DNase/RNase, as well as detection of polymerase chain reaction inhibitors. He has also developed media formulations that assist in the cryopreservation of mammalian cells. Dr Tan performed his first postdoctoral research at the Diabetes and Obesity Research Program, The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia, where he worked on factors that affects the insulin-signaling pathway and glucose transport. He then continued his work on diabetes and metabolism at the Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR prior to joining Republic Polytechnic.

Dr Ian Harris Sujae is a human movement science specialist by training. With more than 10 years of experience in Biomechanics, Physiology and Motor Control Learning, Ian synergizes movement science to understand human movement in an array of applications ranging from sports performance to ergonomic and ergogenic human factor research, health rehabilitation and injury prevention as well as gait patterns. Ian has worked with various industries in providing consultation services on commissioned research projects leveraging on complex evidence-based and ecological validity approach as well as technology. Currently, Ian is senior manager at ERGO Technology Centre, School of Sports Health and Leisure, Republic Polytechnic. In addition to academic responsibilities as a senior lecturer and mentor for student-led activities, Ian oversees human factor research projects with the industry and has worked on several commissioned projects and grants.  Ian sits in the Football Association of Singapore, Medical Committee, and continues to present his research work at the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports (ISBS) conference, which is the highest arena for sports biomechanist to present applied research in sports. He has also published in several peer-reviewed journals including the Sports Biomechanics Journal, International Journal of Sports Science and Performance Analysis as well as the Journal of Sports and Exercise Sciences. Ian is also a current member of ISB, ISBS as well as a life member with the Singapore Physical Education Association (SPEA).

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 who is also an adjunct Associate Professor with James Cook University Singapore, is a geneticist with over 20 years of experience in genomics, evolution, developmental biology, barcoding, transgenics and functional characterization of gene expression. Some of her key achievements include being involved in producing the gold standard version of the rice genome and chromosomal level assembly of Asian seabass. Over the last ten years, Shubha has been actively involved in improving key food fish species such as Asian seabass and Red Snapper through applied breeding programs and focus on key aquaculture traits. Recently, Dr Shubha has also been involved in developing immune boosting and sustainable aquafeeds.

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).