Seven NUS technology commercialisation projects receive proof-of-concept grant from the National Research Foundation

26 Aug 2009

The National Research Foundation (NRF) awarded the Proof-of-Concept (POC) grant to 16 projects from the institutes of higher learning (IHLs), of which, seven were from NUS. S$75million has been set aside for this purpose under the NRF's POC scheme and the 16 project teams will each receive up to S$250,000 to develop their inventions into prototypes, bringing them closer to commercialisation.

Of the 16 awarded projects, nine were in engineering, four in info-comm technologies and three in the life sciences. For the first time, the awarded projects also came from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, the Singapore Management University, Singapore Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic.

The following are the seven NUS research programmes awarded the POC grant:

• A Human Monoclonal Biotherapeutic to Target the Dengue NS3 Protein
  Dr Subhash Vasudevan
  Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
• Spin Wave Based Nondestructive Semiconductor Testing Tools
  Dr Yang Hyunsoo
  Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, NUS
• Single-coil Superconducting Miniundulator - The Next Step Towards High-Brilliance Synchrotron Radiation
  Prof Herbert O.Moser
  Director of the Singapore Synchrotron Light Source, NUS
• New Compact, Fast, Parallel-processing Fourier-transform Interferometer (FPP FTIR) Enabling Short-pulse Spectroscopy
  Prof Herbert O.Moser
  Director of the Singapore Synchrotron Light Source, NUS
• Development of a New and Precise Alignment System for Micromanipulation
  Prof Tan Kok Kiong
  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NUS
  
• A New Endoluminal Device for Duodenal Exclusion in Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitis and Obesity Dr Jimmy So Associate Professor of Surgery, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and Senior Consultant, University Surgical Cluster, National University Hospital
• Anti-inflammatory peptide loaded micro emulsion gel formulation as potential therapeutic for post-operative adhesion Prof Gopalakrishnakone Department of Anatomy, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

The POC grant provides the funding for researchers to carry out further development on their inventions or ideas that are technically feasible, with the aim of coming out with products or commercial applications. The resulting product or application could then be licensed to interested companies or be marketed by a new company. A successful POC demonstrates both technical viability and a high degree of commercial readiness, giving potential licensees of the technology confidence to take up licensing. It could also encourage the inventors to start-up a new company to commercialise the technology.

Dr Francis Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer of NRF, said: "The NRF has put in place a range of programmes and initiatives to advance research, innovation and enterprise in our institutes of higher learning. Besides POC, NRF has recently provided S$22million to the three universities to encourage academic entrepreneurship and another S$25million to fund translational research and development in the five polytechnics. We expect that the POC scheme will encourage many more researchers to take the step of developing their ideas beyond invention into useful applications for the market."

The POC scheme is part of the National Framework for Innovation and Enterprise announced by the Prime Minister at the 3rd Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) meeting in March 2008. Its objective is to facilitate the commercialisation of technologies developed in the IHLs. The NFIE is a comprehensive national programme to grow innovation and entrepreneurship in Singapore, especially through the formation of start-up companies to commercialise cutting-edge technologies developed out of R&D laboratories.