TECH OFFERS

Reducing heat transfer across surfaces within built environments and transportation units is critical for optimising energy efficiency in thermal comfort systems and mitigating associated costs and carbon emissions. Implementing measures to minimise heat transfer help maintain liveable thermal conditions and promote environmental sustainability. Some of the efficient methods for reducing heat transfer from the surrounding environment include reflecting solar radiation and providing thermal insulation to minimise heat conduction through surfaces. The technology offered here is a nano-engineered aerogel paint designed to reduce heat transfer across surfaces in the built environment. Unlike traditional solar reflectance paint that merely reflects sunlight, this paint actively minimises solar heat absorption, reducing the reliance on cooling and air conditioning systems and resulting in significant energy savings. Additionally, the paint provides excellent weather resistance and reduces maintenance costs by shielding against ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) emissions, moisture, algae, and fungal growth. Its superior coverage capabilities of up to 3 square meter per liter per coat further contribute to cost savings and ensure long-lasting protection for various surfaces. With a proven track record in increasing energy efficiency for containerised offices and refrigeration trucks, the technology owner is now seeking to expand into other applications through on-site testbedding and performance trials. These include warehouses and building rooftop insulation, enhancing data center energy efficiency, and numerous other potential applications.

Bioprocessing technologies used in scaling manufacturing production typically uses scale-up and scale-out approaches through microcarrier-based stirred tank bioreactors, wave bags or cell stackers and multi-layered flasks. However, during the research and development process of cell and gene therapies, there is a significant technical gap between basic research methods and these manufacturing process development, which causes problems such as increase in time and cost of the development process. Cell and Gene Therapy manufacturing is an emerging area in the biopharmaceutical industry that must overcome high barriers of resource, capacity, and cost constraints. Therefore, it is extremely important to consistently consider and design a culture process from R&D to commercialization as a closed system with a certain size of scale-up and automation.  This technology introduces a robust and economically viable culture process in a closed culture system which comprises of an automated cell culture medium change device that can be installed in commercial CO2 incubators, where the device is coupled with a patented microwell bag and V-shaped adhesion cell culture bag, capable of both spheroid culture (3D) and adhesion culture (2D). This novel technology has established a culture method that meets the requirements of clinical use by improving sterility, reproducibility, and operability, and produces a large number of uniform-sized clusters. The technology owner is seeking partnerships and collaborations with institutions, hospitals, biotechnology and biopharmaceutical firms. 

The technology comprises fluorogenic dyes based on Water Soluble Conjugated Oligoelectrolytes (COEs), a class of organic molecules designed for improved detection of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and lipid nanoparticles. EVs are naturally occurring lipid nanoparticles released by cells and crucial in cell-to-cell communication. Once thought as a way for cells to clear trash, EVs are of increasing interest in medical research. However, traditional methods for EV detection can be plagued by background noise and difficulty in specifically targeting EVs. COEs offer a solution by functioning as biocompatible and water-soluble probes that specifically bind to EVs. This enables sensitive and accurate detection of EVs using techniques like flow cytometry. The dyes are not just cosmetic improvements—they are fundamentally new intelligent materials. Their novel design permits them to span the full depth of the lipid bilayer, a feat that no other dye has achieved. In comparison to classic dyes used in life science, this dye does not give fasle positives. They are intelligent molecules that only light up when the dye finds an exosome. This novel technology has immense utility in bioimaging applications, thanks to their tunable optical properties and affinity for lipid bilayers in the academic as well as industry settings where exosome detection is involved. 

Only 20% of actual coffee is extracted from beans to produce coffee in its beverage form, leaving the remaining 80% (six million tons annually) deemed as spent coffee grounds (SCG) to be disposed or used in landfills or as non-food product components to make fertilisers, furniture, deodorisers or skin care products. A technology was created to counteract SCG wastage and valorise it for human consumption. This particular invention comprises of methodologies to create two types of ingredients using leftover SCG - oil-grind and water-grind processed SCG. A simple, reproducible method of conching is employed to convert leftover SCG into smooth pastes, where specific conching parameters help refine the SCG to an acceptable particle size, eliminating grittiness in numerous valorised products similar to SCG. The product utilises common ingredients like oil and water to conche SCG with improved taste and textural properties. The shelf stability and nutritional composition (including caffeine) of the ingredients were also validated to ensure the food possessed good sensorial properties and are scale up ready. This technology increases SCG’s potential use as a versatile ingredient in different food applications. The technology provider is seeking off-takers from food manufacturers, food services industry, companies interested to valorise side streams to turn SCG into edible compounds.

Aquaculture is one of the most important sources of protein and nutrition for the rising global population. Water quality related issues and diseases caused by viruses and bacteria are the biggest challenges that the aquaculture industry faces today. Pathogen infestation can cause serious diseases and loss of fishes, shrimps, and mollusks. This impacts the overall yield, resulting in huge economic losses. Current pathogen detection methods are slow, imprecise and do not identify unknown pathogens. These methods neither diagnose mystery ailments nor provide any visibility into the very foundation of health in any aquatic environment: the marine microbiome. Effective management of waterborne diseases and water quality requires a holistic understanding of the microbial consortia in the aquatic setting. This technology provides next-generation metagenomic insights in the microbiome and further data-driven solutions provided with the company’s proprietary AI algorithms. The technology provider is seeking partnerships with aquaculture players who are interested in applying microbiome analytics to their current applications for decreasing operating expenses and increasing yield.

Facial recognition systems or tools identifying and measuring facial features in a video image have gained traction in recent years for applications such as smart surveillance. Such systems which may either be cloud or edge-based, often require real-time computations done in order to meet operational requirements. Edge-computing while providing benefits such as lower latencies and data privacy, are challenged by computational constraints of edge devices. Addressing this challenge, a Singapore company has developed a Neuromorphic AI-based solution that enables facial recognition by combining pre-processed real-time video data with recognition capabilities. The low-power edge AI solution allows computing to be carried out at the camera location with adaptive learning capabilities. Neuromorphic computing, which mimics the neural structure of the human brain, represents a novel approach in artificial intelligence and offers significant benefits for facial recognition technologies, including lower power consumption, faster processing speeds, and improved learning capabilities. The tech owner is seeking partners such as camera system manufacturers and system integrators to co-develop or testbed the technology for video surveillance applications.

The manufacturing of electronic devices often involves multiple steps, where metal wiring is a fundamental component providing electrical connections and resin resist stripping solution is used to remove photoresist layers after the patterning and etching processes. Both steps are critical in the production of various electronic components, including printed circuit boards (PCBs), semiconductors, and microelectronic devices. Advances in such processes continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in electronics manufacturing, enabling the production of devices with higher performance, smaller size, and lower cost. Research and development efforts to seek safer, more efficient, and environmentally friendly methods are ongoing challenges. The technology owner has developed a proprietary chemical solution for metal wiring, especially targeting copper (Cu) wiring, although metals such as aluminium and gold are also used due to their excellent electrical conductivity. This unique chemical solution can ensure high-quality and precious shape control of wiring formation. This is also complemented by an advanced resin resist stripping solution, which not only exfoliates the photoresist, but also preserves the base metal from scraping / damage. On top of this, this solution enables controlled roughing of metal surfaces to meet specific requirements. The effectiveness of both solutions has been validated in the mass production of liquid crystal panels. The technology owner is seeking R&D collaboration with industrial partners interested in adopting these solutions into their electronic device manufacturing lines.

The demand for thinner, lighter, and more durable glass in consumer electronics and other high-tech applications is constantly increasing. Thinner and lighter glass not only enables the design of sleeker devices but also enhances the tactile responsiveness of touchscreens, contributing to the overall performance and durability of the product. However, conventional glass thinning solutions face challenges, particularly in dealing with surface imperfections, which can impact the quality and efficiency of glass manufacturing. During the thinning process, surface imperfections like scratches and dimples become more pronounced, significantly affecting the optical clarity and overall quality of the glass, leading to increased product rejection rates and manufacturing costs. To address such challenges, the technology owner has developed a proprietary chemical solution specifically for glass slimming or thinning, aiming at effective dimple suppression while maintaining the desired thickness. This advanced solution enables the uniform melting or removal of material from the glass surface, preventing the spread of small scratches and the formation of dimples on the glass surface. This chemical solution ensures the production of super-thin and high-quality glass that aligns with the dynamic demands of the evolving industry. Its application proves beneficial in industries where the precision and quality of glass are paramount. The technology owner is seeking R&D collaboration with industrial partners interested in adopting this chemical solution in the processing or manufacturing of glass related components.

A new approach to a standards-based communications protocol for one-to-many Internet-of-Things devices. Being based on a standard, adopters are free from vendor lock-in. The protocol is particularly useful for IoT devices fitted with low-power displays (e.g., electronic labels). The technology is ideal for supermarkets (electronic price labels), pick-to-light systems, inventory management, and can easily be extended to any system where a one-to-many sensor network is critical.  Using a standards-based approach is also more environmentally friendly because users no longer need to dispose of their devices should they choose another communications service provider that uses the standard. An open-source software framework is also available that provides a cloud-based interface for devices using this communications protocol.