NUS researchers honoured at inaugural President's Science and Technology Awards

29 Sep 2009

President S R Nathan conferred the inaugural President's Science and Technology Awards (PSTA) on 11 outstanding research scientists at the Istana on 28 September 2009. Previously known as the National Science and Technology Awards, the PSTA had been elevated to the status of Presidential Award this year so as to recognise outstanding research scientists and engineers for their excellent achievements in science and technology. The Awards also honour exceptional contributions to the development of the research and development landscape in Singapore.

At the PSTA dinner, Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Lim Hng Kiang said: "Nurturing scientific talent is and will be the way forward in R&D. In that regard, Singapore is constantly on the look-out for capable and committed individuals who have a passion for innovation - a key ingredient required for successful R&D."

On the award recipients, Chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Mr Lim Chuan Poh said: "They have collectively raised the bar for research excellence in Singapore. At the same time, their efforts have also created visible impact in the biologics, healthcare and semiconductor sectors in Singapore." He added: "Their contributions speak eloquently of the potential benefits brought about by mission-oriented R&D. This is especially important as Singapore continues its transformation into a knowledge based, innovation driven economy."

The winners were announced following a rigorous selection process. The judging panel consist of key representatives from the academia, industry, defence sector and research institutes which included Second Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr Ravi Menon, who is Chairman of the PSTA Main Selection Committee.

Speaking on his team's win of the President's Technology Award, Prof Jacob Phang from the NUS Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Chairman of SEMICAPS Pte Ltd, highlighted the importance of collaboration between NUS and SEMICAPS. Prof Phang said that both parties played an important role in achieving success. NUS conducted the research and development aspect with SEMICAPS, the spin-off company which dealt with the development and commercialisation of the scanning optical microscope systems, as well as establishing ties with industry partners. In 1988, Prof Phang was a winner of the National Young Scientist and Engineer Award.

Dr Yu Haifeng, the winner of the Young Scientist Award, said that he was interested in conducting research on sybil attacks as this was considered an important and challenging problem by the research community. Sybil attacks involve an attacker pretending to have many identities and launching their attack on computer systems.

NUS recipients of the President's Science and Technology Awards are:

President's Science Award
Prof Donald Tan
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
Medical Director and Senior Consultant and Head, Corneal Service, Singapore National Eye Centre
Chairman, Singapore Eye Research Institute
Medical Director, Singapore Eye Bank

Prof Roger Beuerman
Adjunct Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
Professor, SRP in Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
Senior Scientific Director, Singapore Eye Research Institute
Adjunct Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University

Assoc Prof Tin Aung
Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
Senior Consultant and Head, Glaucoma Service, Singapore National Eye Centre
Head of Research, Singapore National Eye Centre
Deputy Director, Singapore Eye Research Institute

The team won for their innovative breakthroughs in 'bench-to-bedside' medical research in blinding corneal diseases, leading to major advancements in scientific knowledge and the treatment of corneal blindness.

President's Technology Award
Prof Jacob C H Phang
Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NUS
Chairman, SEMICAPS Pte Ltd, Singapore

Mr Alfred C T Quah and Mr Goh Szu Huat
Both graduates from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NUS

Mr Chua Choon Meng
Chief Executive Officer, SEMICAPS Pte Ltd, Singapore.

The group won for their outstanding contributions to the research, development and commercialisation of scanning optical microscope systems for design debug and failure analysis of advanced integrated circuits which have been adopted by some of the world's top semiconductor manufacturers.

Young Scientist Award
Dr Yu Haifeng, Department of Computer Science, NUS

Dr Yu received the Young Scientist Award for his research on defending against sybil attacks and on distributed systems security.