TECH OFFERS

The presence of heavy metals in food or feed powders involves contamination of the food chain and potential harm to public health, as such, rapid detection is a time-critical issue. The uncertainty about food safety caused by the possible presence of heavy metals is of concern to consumers and regulatory authorities and this is typically addressed by increasing the testing frequency of food or feed samples. However, existing testing methods are often time-consuming and require highly skilled laboratory personnel to perform the testing. This technology employs spectroscopic imaging methods and machine learning techiniques to rapidly detect heavy metals in food or feed samples. The machine learning model can perform a multi-class differentiation of the various heavy metals based on spectroscopic measurements. It is also able to predict the concentration of heavy metals present in food or feed powders using spectroscopic measurements. Minimal sample preparation is required for this method, allowing for the rapid screening of food or feed powder samples. The technology owner is interested in collaboration with companies working with food powders, with an interest in heavy metal content within food powders.   

Raman spectroscopy is a highly sensitive optical technology which enables the non-destructive measurements of internal biochemical constituents of an object. When objects are illuminated with a laser, the light reflected from the sample forms a characteristic spectrum or ‘fingerprint’ of the material. In the clinic, skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis or eczema are commonly examined via visual inspection, typically at higher magnification via dermoscopy. This technique is simple, non-invasive and real-time, but is subjective to the dermatologist’s judgment. On the other hand, skin biopsy is more accurate and currently serves as the gold standard, but is invasive and time-consuming in nature. In this context, a handheld CRS device which can provide non-invasive, real-time and accurate skin diagnosis has been specifically developed to fulfil this clinical need. Due to the increasing convergence of clinical dermatology and dermocosmetics, this technology can be used for consumer skin health assessment too. In addition, the convergence of food and skin health (nutricosmetics) with food ingredients being used in cosmetic products also allows this technology to be used for product characterization at any point along the entire supply chain. The technology provider is seeking collaboration and IP licensing opportunities with partners who are interested to leverage on this portable technology for dermatological applications. 

This technology offer is a Ultrahigh Frequency (UHF) Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag antenna for use on metal structures. 2 versions are available: A compact dual-band version with folded strip structure, with a total size of only 20 mm × 30 mm × 1.5 mm. This tag can be well used in different RFID systems, which work at different UHF bands, such as European and American frequencies. The reading patterns of this tag are with different directions in two bands. A single band version with a total size of only 10 mm × 30 mm × 1.5 mm. This tag can be well used in planar as well as conformal platforms, such as metallic cylinders and bearings. Automated factories should be interested in these tags, and they can use the miniaturized tags with RFID technology to intelligently detect whether the machinery and equipment are running normally.

Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) is the state-of-the-art technology to transform the inexhaustible supply of seawater into freshwater to alleviate water stress worldwide. Nevertheless, the least energy-intensive seawater desalination plant still consumes around 3 kWh per m3 water produced, which is three to four times higher than surface water treatment. Thus, the biomimetic membrane is explored to improve the energy efficiency to maintain the sustainability of seawater desalination. A unique aquaporin-based biomimetic membrane (ABM) is formulated by incorporating the water channel proteins, aquaporins, into a polyamide membrane matrix to fabricate ultra-permeable SWRO membrane for clean water production. This robust ABM can be operated at the harsh condition of the desalination plant, i.e., high salinity, high operating pressure and extreme chemical cleaning process for the membrane. In addition, the ABM exhibits excellent performance stability and antifouling propensity. Most importantly, it is scalable to the industrial production level. The technology owner is interested in seeking technology licensing collaborators or manufacturing partners.

Reclaimed water is a critical source of water in Singapore and globally. Common practical limit of existing technology based on microfiltration/ultrafiltration-membrane bioreactor (MF/UF-MBR) and reverse osmosis (RO) for water reclamation has 75-85% recovery due to RO membrane fouling. This technology presents a hybrid system consisting of a high retention nanofiltration-membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR) and RO developed to achieve ≥90% of water recovery. NF-MBR produces superior quality effluent because the NF membrane can retain low molecular weight organics and scale forming divalent ions. Thus, membrane fouling in downstream RO process can be alleviated significantly, which allows higher recovery.

Syngas is a valuable feedstock for energy generation and chemical synthesis. Currently, it can be produced by the gasification of locally available materials such as municipal solid waste and biomass. However, the prominent issue that arises during syngas utilisation is the high level of impurities that can damage the electricity generator and chemical reactors. In addition, current conventional syngas purification processes require quenching and wet-scrubbing stages, resulting in heat loss and increasing the costs for treating liquid waste before disposal. The proposed technology is an innovative hot purification process that can effectively remove syngas impurities to acceptable levels for downstream applications. This solution is a technology process starting with a catalytic reforming apparatus that can remove tar in high particle-loading syngas from the gasifier at high temperatures. The upgraded syngas is then treated in a desulfurisation system with regenerative sorbents for high-temperature and continuous sulfur removal. This process allows energy conservation and no liquid waste is generated. The technology owner is seeking collaboration with industry partners for research collaboration or technology licensing.

Conventional soil remediation methods, such as thermal desorption involve physical or chemical reactions to alter the physical properties of the soil for control of contaminant. These methods are costly and require the disposal of the resource, taking up space in landfills. This technology relates to a microbial formulation that has proven efficacy to treat petroleum polluted soil in the tropics. The bioaugmentation technology developed involves the addition of chemical-degrading microorganisms to the contaminated sites (e.g., oil spills) to remove the pollutant, allowing repurpose of the land, soil, and water. The process is environmentally friendly, highly portable and does not require deployment of large machinery on-site. The soil after treatment is compliant to the current United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) and Australian standards (below 1,000 ppm Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH)) with proven efficacy to work in tropical climates. The technology provider is looking for collaboration for large-scale testing and deployment, or partners to test the feasibility of the treated soil for farming purposes and develop formulation for soil rehabilitation for farming and food production.

Microbial detection is the key in public health protection. Faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) such as E. coli and Bacillus spp. are used as indicators of water quality as a proxy for pathogenic faecal contamination of water, along with risk assessment techniques that correlate the frequency of a specific health hazard with a given level of FIB exposure. Chromogenic and fluorogenic enzymatic techniques are mainstays of water quality monitoring for both public health agencies and regulated utilities. However, together with traditional culture techniques, enzymatic enumeration of FIB is favoured for evaluating microbial water quality under most regulated jurisdictions. This technology utilises bioelectroanalytical approaches to FIB enumeration as it is a near universal property of microbes to indirectly reduce an electrode via soluble redox mediators. This bioelectrochemical sensor detects E. coli in the range 5.0 x 102 to 5.0 x 105 CFU/mL and provides a 22–54% faster detection than commercially available FIB detectors to detect, quantify, and track contamination of water to ensure water quality meets sanitary guidelines. The technology provider is looking for licensing partners to commercialise this technology.

This technology offers a new concept to manage wastewater and mitigate secondary contamination of wastewater treatment process through a non-chemical approach, which has been developed and translated to an integrated pilot scale water line. The current pilot line combines an electrochemical advance oxidation process (EAOP), and commercial nanobubble generation and ceramic membranes. This technology is suitable for removing particulate, organic and microbial pollutants in wastewaters, and enables a sustainable close-loop solution to support emerging urban manufacturing. Moving forward, the technology owner is looking to create a platform solution where various functional modules can be developed to be incorporated or retrofitted into current infrastructure to address emerging needs in water circularity. The technology owner is currently seeking co-development and licensing partners to commercialize this technology.