TECH EXPERTS

Dr Goh Chee Keong is a Conexus Senior Manager at Republic Polytechnic’s (RP) Environmental Technology Centre. Dr Goh has more than 14 years of experience in leading research groups with extensive works in materials, energy and environmental applications. He is also author of numerous research publications on catalytic materials and environmental technologies. Dr Goh specialises in research, development, formulation and characterisation of functional materials for waste management solutions, petrochemical processing, renewable energy applications, aquaculture, agriculture and water treatment. He has secured high impact projects funded by various agencies including Ministry of Education (MOE) Translational R&D and Innovation Fund (TIF), National Environment Agency’s (NEA) Environment Technology Research Programme (ETRP) and Closing The Waste Loop (CTWL) initiatives and Tote Board. He also leads academic staff to propose, execute and facilitate the participation in multi-disciplinary technology development projects across the schools within RP.  Dr Goh currently focus on building close collaborative relationships with enterprises, research institutes and institute of higher learning for joint development projects. He is also active in providing technology consultancy services for local companies. He has been awarded the Outstanding Innovator Award at the MOE Innergy Award 2019 and Exemplary Innovator Award at the Public Sector Transformation (PST) Awards 2020.

Dr Teng Yin Ting is a Lecturer in Republic Polytechnic since 2016. She has more than 10 years of research experience in chemical additives, nanomaterials, battery materials and energy harvesting materials. As a principal investigator and co-principal investigator, she has supported companies in carrying out multiple R&D and industry projects and is actively involved in prototype development. When co-creating solutions with the industry, she has been focusing on projects relating to materials development, particularly in the area of sustainability. Prior to joining Republic Polytechnic, she held various research positions at Nanyang Technological University, TUM Create and A*STAR SIMTech, working on energy research, fluorine chemistry, and surface technology. Dr Teng Yin Ting obtained her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Dr Chiradip Chatterjee is currently Senior Lecturer at Republic Polytechnic. He has more than 15 years of experience in analytical chemistry, spectroscopy, biopolymers, formulation science. His formulation related research covers new chemical synthesis, chemical formulation, feed formulation (animal, fish, invertebrate) using alternative protein source or agro by-product source, formulation of natural cosmetics and aromatherapy related products, as well as dietary supplements formulation to boost health and immunity. He has been collaborating with local and international companies in the research and development of formulation products in related fields. He is also winner of MOE Innergy award (Gold and Bronze) for his research work at Republic Polytechnic. Prior to this, Chiradip worked in University of California, Santa Barbara, USA for his postdoctoral research work, followed by National University of Singapore for his second postdoctoral research work. He holds a PhD in Chemistry.

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.