Photosynth – from Microsoft Live Labs

Power of social networking, combining large collection of photos from say Flickr and re-construct a 3-D space!

Fish & Chip! – World’s First RFID Oceanarium

While we would address our pets through personalized names, visitors to Underwater World Singapore (UWS) will now be able to do just that, with some members of the aquatic family! UWS has catalyzed the integration of aquatic science and technology to introduce the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) System making us the world’s first oceanarium to do so.

Similarly, all the seven species of fishes in our Living Fossils tank such as the Arapaima (Arapaima gigas), Alligator Gar (Lepisosteus spatula), Pacu (Piaractus brachypomum), Redtail Catfish (Phractocephalus hemiliopterus), Flower Ray (Potamotrygon sp.) and the Shovelnose Catfish (Pseudoplatystoma sp.) and Walking Catfish (Clarias bartruchus) are embedded with RFID tags.

The RFID tag implanted in each fish will enable it to be sensed by antennas that are fitted on the front of the exhibition tank. When the fish swims within detectable range, the RFID tag sends a signal to the antenna, which then relays a signal to a touch screen computer. Visitors will also be able to navigate through all the detailed information about the fish including its name, diet and characteristics by clicking on the appropriate icons on the computer screen.

Want better research? Get cheekier, says Dr Brenner

Business Times – 15 Mar 2007

S’pore researchers ‘too quiet, should be more forward’: Nobel laureate

By CHEN HUIFEN  

(SINGAPORE) Singapore’s scientific researchers aren’t cheeky enough, says Biomedical Research Council chairman Sydney Brenner.‘I think if I were to say one disadvantage about Singapore – something I think you need to do research – is you need to be a little bit more cheeky,’ the 80-year-old Nobel laureate told BT. ‘People (here) are too quiet. I don’t mean they should be wild – but they need to be a little bit more forward.’ Researchers must be willing to question and bold enough to challenge conventional wisdom, Dr Brenner said. ‘Science is cheek all the time. Science requires one to be able to look at things in a new way and to follow that – that’s science. Technology is about finding a solution to a well-posed problem. Science is a way to find problems, and then solve them.’

But ‘cheekiness’ is not something that can be taught in school. Even if it could be, ‘it would be boring because then everybody would try and be cheeky in the same way’.

Dr Brenner, who is also a professor at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the US, hopes the 600-odd research students that Singapore is training can add to the cheek quotient here.

‘The big thing about young scientists is that they are ignorant,’ he said. ‘As soon as they lose that ignorance then they become like me (and say), ‘I know everything and, oh, I know it won’t work’. But, of course, if you have someone who says, ‘Well, I think it might’, then try – you just might get the answer.’

Still, Dr Brenner lauds the progress Singapore has made in biomedical sciences since it launched its research drive in 2000 after the government identified the sector as a key engine of future economic growth. He is among the group of pioneers tasked with helping to chart the direction of this initiative, having served as chairman of the Biomedical Sciences International Advisory Council between 2000 and 2004. He also helped set up the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology.

Singapore lost some precious time in the 1990s, says Dr Brenner. But he is encouraged by the bold steps taken to accelerate the initiative, including the $500 million Biopolis complex, attracting top scientific talent and global pharmaceutical firms and training local research talent through scholarships.

The strategy was recently criticised by the World Bank and National Neuroscience Institute head Lee Wei Ling for – among other things – the broad approach, heavy dependence on foreigners and lack of entrepreneurial spirit. But Dr Brenner says Singapore should not dwell on its weaknesses. As evident from biotechnology clusters such as San Diego and Boston in the US, results can take decades, he said. ‘It’s like having a defence force. Most soldiers sit around and do nothing. But sometimes they will be needed and you had better have clever generals. I think it’s the same concept. We need to be poised to take action whenever we can.’

As for calls to focus research on diseases that are relevant to Asians, Dr Brenner is not averse to the suggestion, provided there are good ideas to support such research. ‘Some people ask why we are working on cancer when nobody else has been able to solve it,’ he said, referring to the numerous cancer research projects at A*Star institutes.

‘Well, that’s just the challenge. Someone is going to have some good ideas and it might as well be people from Singapore. You can’t say, ‘Well, I’ve got 10,000 scientists, I’ve got a better chance of having a good idea’. It doesn’t matter – because 9,000 of those could be third-rate. It’s not numbers alone. We must have the quality and the environment.’

Apart from Singapore, life science hubs are sprouting up in developing economies, many armed with generous government support and ambitious plans to grow the industry. But Dr Brenner reckons Singapore is in the lead – at least in the region.

‘I think the quality of science we are doing here outstrips that in South Korea and in Taiwan, which you’ll probably compare Singapore with,’ he said, based on published research and his personal observations on laboratory work there.

‘China is still far behind in terms of R&D but I have to say it’s gathering speed because of big investments and the people who are coming back from America.’

But Dr Brenner believes China will be hindered by two things: scarcity of clean water and energy. Less-than-comfortable living conditions could deter research talent from wanting to relocate there.

‘The rapid development has been done at the expense of really terrible living standards for ordinary workers in the cities, that China is now trying to send back to the countryside. The Industrial Revolution in England was like that. The people lived under terrible conditions. The same is true in India.’

Philip Yeo’s Farewell Speech – Two decades of stirring success

Business Times – 15 Mar 2007

We reproduce below the speech given by Philip Yeo, A*STAR chairman, at his farewell lunch hosted by the Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang yesterday  

In early August 1985, the then minister for trade and industry asked me to be chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB). At the time, the Singapore economy was in its first recession. I consulted Dr Goh Keng Swee, then chairman, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and formerly deputy prime minister, minister of defence and minister of education. I had worked with Dr Goh in Mindef since July 1970.

Dr Goh told me that EDB was not an outfit that I should go to! Instead, he advised me to take charge of Singapore Airlines (SIA). He personally went to speak to then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who advised me to go to EDB as I was needed there. PM Lee also said that I could go to SIA at a later date. I wonder if the offer had an expiry date.

The EDB years (1986-2000)

On 2nd January 1986, I left the Ministry of Defence (having served there from 1970 to 1985) to start work at EDB housed at the PSA World Trade Centre. I then relocated EDB to Raffles City, which has the convenience of an MRT station. More significantly, I refocused EDB on upgrading and diversifying the manufacturing sector and pioneered the promotion of the services sector.

The 550-person EDB manpower division and its several training centres/institutes were transferred to the Ministry of Education (MOE) to establish Nanyang Polytechnic.

With a slimmer EDB of 250 senior officers, we focused on, promoted and developed the disk drive, semiconductor, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries.

Manufacturing output grew from S$38 billion in 1986 to S$164 billion in 2000. Fixed asset investments (FAI) grew from S$1.45 billion in 1986 to S$8.5 billion in 1997, dropped to S$7.8 billion during the 1998 financial crisis but quickly recovered in 1999. Our goal was to reach a high FAI target of S$10 billion by 2000. In the event, we were able to attain a sustained high figure of S$9.2 billion for each of the two years, 2000 and 2001. In 2006, the best year since 2002, manufacturing FAI has rebounded to only S$8.8 billion.

The same lean EDB team that I worked with laid the foundation for the operational headquarters, logistics, education, ICM (IT, communications and media) services that we have today. The creative services leg alone contributed 1.9 per cent to the Singapore GDP with value added of S$3 billion and 47,000 jobs or 2.2 per cent of total employment in 2000.

I was concurrently appointed chairman of the Skills Development Fund (SDF) in September 1985 and, with the help of SDF, supported the setting up of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) in 1987.

Over 300 EDB-Glaxo overseas scholarships were awarded for science, engineering and economics studies at BSc/MSc levels from 1990 to 2000. Today, these scholars man EDB and other MTI family agencies, and have spilled over to other sectors including NTUC and also into national politics.

During my tenure at EDB, I was greatly aided by a succession of first and second deputy chairmen:

Chan Chin Bock (based in EDB New York, 1st May 1989 to 31st January 1992)
Prof Lim Pin (1st February 1995 to 31st January 2000)
Ho Ching (1st February 1996 to 31st January 1999)
Lim Neo Chian (1st February 1999 to 21st January 2002)
Teo Ming Kian (1st February 2000 to 31st July 2000)
and managing directors:
Tan Chin Nam (1st September 1986 to 30th August 1994)
Lim Swee Say (1st September 1994 to 7th August 1996)
Ho Meng Kit (8th August 1996 to 7th August 1998)
Liew Heng San (8th August 1998 to 31st December 2000)

The second wing

I actively participated in the growing of Singapore’s ‘second wing’. In February 1990, the Batam Industrial Park that we masterplanned was launched. That was followed by the Bintan Industrial Estate, the Karimun Marine Industrial Estate and my favourite, the Bintan Beach International Resorts. The Wuxi-Singapore Industrial Park was launched in 1994. These projects were executed successfully by Wong Kok Siew, who was my St Joseph’s Institution classmate in Singapore and fellow Colombo Plan scholar in Canada in the late 1960s. His sudden death in February 2005 still pains me.

The Bangalore IT Park in India was launched in 1995; in 1998, Lim Neo Chian, then CEO, Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), played a crucial role in making it Singapore’s first successful investment in India with our partner Ratan Tata. The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park followed in 1996 with David Lim, then CEO of JTC Corporation leading the charge.

In 1998, I had to put aside the Wuxi-Singapore Industrial Park project to assist in turning around the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, working firstly with David Lim followed by Lim Neo Chian.

Retirement and richer green grass

I retired from the Singapore Administrative Service (SAS) after nearly 29 years of public service but stayed on at EDB on a five-year contract from 1st April 1999.

A Hong Kong friend, hearing of my retirement, flew to meet me in Boston on 29th August 1999. He invited me to be chairman of his Singapore-based holding company which owned his Hong Kong-listed company. His terms were attractive: S$20 million and share options at the issue price for three years work.

On 10th February 2000, I was in Hong Kong to finalise the contract accompanied by Wong Kok Siew, then deputy chairman and CEO of SembCorp who planned to join me too. Business Times leaked the news in Singapore on 13th February 2000, blowing the whistle that I would be leaving.

Pursuit of biomedical sciences

Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew asked me to stay and carry on with my life sciences pursuits. More importantly to me, by staying, I did not have to ‘abandon’ the EDB life sciences team and the three NUS musketeers, Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, then dean of medicine and now provost & deputy president at NUS and deputy chairman at A*STAR, Dr John Wong, oncologist and presently NUS dean of medicine, and Dr Kong Hwai Loong, former executive director, Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), now a successful oncologist in private practice. Our gang of four (three doctors and a misemployed engineer) formulated the Life Sciences Initiative. Dr Sydney Brenner, now a Nobel laureate, was the guru here.

In March 2000, Teo Ming Kian, chairman of the National Science and Technology Board (NSTB) came to discuss with me his career prospects in the Singapore Administrative Service. I suggested that he should succeed me at EDB so that I could be freed to focus my energy on developing the life sciences industry. On 16th August 2000, MTI appointed him co-chairman, EDB, and I in turn became co-chairman, NSTB.

Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo launched the Singapore Life Sciences Initiative on 26th June 2000, the same day that the US and UK governments announced the results of the first draft of the 15-year, US$3 billion human genome sequencing project.

The A*STAR years
(1st February 2001 – 31st March 2007)

I took on the appointment of chairman of NSTB on 1st February 2001, and remained co-chairman of EDB to push the Biomedical Sciences Initiative. The name change from ‘life sciences’ to ‘biomedical sciences (BMS)’ followed the closure of the Institute of Molecular Agrobiology (IMA). That institute was set up by NSTB in 1994 to pursue rice and cotton research with the hope of selling intellectual property to countries that have been growing these crops from time immemorial. The decision to close IMA was based on the strategic importance of biomedical sciences to Singapore, unlike plant sciences. Many of the senior IMA scientists were redeployed into biomedical research at Biopolis.

We dropped the NSTB name and called ourselves A*STAR, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. We focused on building up public-sector R&D and the development of Singaporean R&D human capital (our ‘guppies’). We are doing that with the help of senior foreign human capital imports (‘whales’). And we encouraged R&D collaboration between the public and private sectors. Direct promotion and development of private-sector R&D was rightly transferred from NSTB to EDB.

On 6th December 2001, Minister George Yeo broke ground for the construction of the two million square feet, seven-building integrated complex of Biopolis Phase One which is owned, developed and maintained by JTC Corporation. The Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) moved into the Genome building at Biopolis in October 2003.

David Lim, then acting minister for information, communications and the arts, broke ground on 20th February 2003 for the construction of the 1,200,000 sq ft 23/22-storey twin towers of Fusionopolis Phase One.

After Christmas 2003, I relocated from EDB Raffles City to the 9th floor of Centros building at Biopolis with the EDB BMS group and Bio*One staff. Centros is the home of the Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) led by Dr Miranda Yap.

On 1st April 2004, I extended my contract with A*STAR for another three years to 31st March 2007, to push the BMS Initiative further and also to strengthen science & engineering research.

Biopolis Phase Two with 400,000 square feet, owned, developed and maintained by Ascendas Corporation, was opened on 30th October 2006.

Minister Lim Hng Kiang broke ground for Fusionopolis Phase Two on 6th December 2006. When fully ready by 2009, Fusionopolis One and Two, owned, developed and maintained by JTC Corporation, will provide 2,200,000 square feet of research space for public and private R&D in the physical sciences and engineering. The combined creativity of A*STAR’s science and engineering researchers from six research institutes will be brought together at Fusionopolis.

We can expect good opportunities to flow from that clustering. Science and engineering, activities that are core to sustaining the Singapore economy, will be better placed to reach new levels of innovation and competitiveness. Fusionopolis will become an engineering icon, just as Biopolis is a biomedical icon, to attract some of Singapore’s best and brightest students to pursue engineering studies and research and development careers.

BMS 2000-2006 stocktaking

When we launched the Biomedical Sciences Initiative on 26th June 2000, our efforts were directed on three fronts with different timelines:

Development of BMS industrial capital over 5 to 10 years;

Development of BMS human capital over 10 years;

Development of BMS intellectual capital over 10 to 15 years.Let me recount the progress that we have made as at the end of 2006. BMS industrial output almost quadrupled from S$6 billion in 2000 to S$23 billion by end 2006. The BMS industry now accounts for over 5 per cent of Singapore’s GDP and 10,600 high-value-added jobs.The biopharmaceuticals cluster has diversified from chemistry-based bulk actives production to formulation, tabletting, pilot facilities, and process research and, most recently, to biologics and vaccines. The medical technology cluster now includes new, high-value products such as complex instrumentation systems, diagnostics, contact lenses, tissue heart valves and stents.

We now have over 25 companies with research centres in Singapore, including three corporate R&D laboratories run by Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. The growth rate of private-sector research spending has overtaken that of the public sector. Private research now accounts for close to 40 per cent of total biomedical sciences R&D expenditure. Our long-term target for private BMS research is to exceed 60 per cent.

Bio*One Capital was established by EDB in 2001 to make direct investments in companies in Singapore and abroad, with the objective of strengthening the BMS industrial base in Singapore. A good example is in biologics manufacturing. Bio*One first seeded the formation of A-Bio Pharma in 2003 as a spin-off from A*STAR’s Bioprocessing Technology Institute. Within three years, A-Bio attracted project deals from global biopharmaceutical companies like GSK Bio and Novo Nordisk.

Last year, Lonza of Switzerland formed a joint venture with Bio*One to set up Singapore’s first commercial-scale bulk biologics contract manufacturing facility. Soon after its formation, this partnership with Lonza successfully contracted 100 per cent of its capacity to Genentech, one of the world’s most successful biotech companies. In view of the strong demand, Bio*One and Lonza partnered to start a second biologics facility. The ground-breaking ceremony will take place in two weeks’ time.

Bio*One also plays an active role in commercialising indigenous research and nurturing portfolio companies. So S*Bio and MerLion came into being, the first drug discovery companies in Singapore. S*Bio will be advancing the first ‘Developed in Singapore’ anti-cancer drug into the clinic next month, and MerLion will be following with its anti-infective candidate soon after. Fluidigm, a US company in which Bio*One has investments, has made Singapore its development and global manufacturing site for its micro fluidic chips.

To nurture R&D human capital, A*STAR’s National Science Scholarships (NSS) for biomedical sciences, physical sciences and engineering studies were launched by Minister George Yeo on 13th July 2001 with the first batch of 35 scholars. Today, over 600 A*STAR scholars are pursuing studies leading to PhDs both locally and abroad.

The first EDB-A*STAR scholar with Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemical Engineering), Bachelor of Science in Economics (Finance) and Master in Biotechnology, from the University of Pennsylvania, USA worked in our EDB BMS group for 2 1/2 years. She then went to Cambridge University in 2003 and returned home in 2006 with a PhD in Protein Engineering. She was with me in Cuba two weeks ago checking out their protein engineering and drug development capabilities.

By 2010, over 1,000 scholarships will have been awarded. Those scholars will be Singapore’s future leaders in the public and private R&D domains, in our universities and also in our hospitals.

Our first whale was Dr Edison Liu, then director for clinical sciences at the US National Cancer Institute, to whom I made an offer by e-mail on 26th December 2000. Ed Liu accepted and asked for a building for the new Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS). Like Jackie Ying of MIT Chemical Engineering who came in 2003 and is now leading our Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Ed Liu has recently become a Singapore permanent resident.

The next whales were Sir David Lane and his wife Professor Birgitte Lane from the University of Dundee, Scotland; now they respectively head the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB). More whales followed and I was soon labelled a ‘serial kidnapper’ by Time magazine. David Lane was ‘deputised’ to recruit whales of the likes of Dr Neal Copeland and Dr Nancy Copeland from the US National Institutes of Health’s Mouse Genomics Center.

These whales are research role models who help guide the younger generation of Singapore scientists and also nurture the interest of our students in research. They have enabled A*STAR to quickly build up our research institutes from scratch. Today, we have established seven research institutes for each of the core scientific capabilities that are required to support the development of the BMS industry. With their contacts, networks and projects, the whales gave us a headstart so that we could leapfrog straight into areas of biomedical science that matter, that have a nexus with industry. It helped Singapore to catch up with established centres elsewhere, and also to develop a solid reputation for stem cell and cancer research.

We will build on this and focus on other disease areas that are important not only to Singapore, but also to the rest of the world. That will open economic opportunities for Singapore.

For Phase 2 of the BMS Initiative, from 2006 to 2010, we have added an emphasis on translational and clinical research to bring the discoveries from the bench to industry and to the bedside. Dr Ed Holmes and Dr Judy Swain of University of California, San Diego joined us in October 2006 to lead these efforts as, respectively, chairman of the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) of the Ministry of Health and executive director of the Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences (SICS).

Since October 2000, the Biomedical Sciences International Advisory Council (BMS IAC) has been coming to Singapore bi-annually and then annually from 2005 to review our BMS Initiative. They are 18 of the world’s top physicians and biomedical scientists. They include Nobel laureates Dr Sydney Brenner, chairman of A*STAR’s Biomedical Research Council, Dr David Baltimore, former president of Caltech, and Dr Lee Hartwell, president of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, USA, and leaders of other top clinical and biomedical research institutes. The BMS IAC is co-chaired by Sir Richard Sykes, former chairman & CEO of Glaxo and now Rector of the Imperial College, UK, and Dr John Mendelsohn, president of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA.

These eminent doctors and scientists have soundly endorsed Singapore’s research direction every step of the way. They have praised our surprising achievements in just five short years. These senior advisers believe that Singapore can lead in biomedical sciences research and not just be a follower. They would not waste their time advising and guiding Singapore if they did not believe that we are on the right track. The rapid rise of Singapore as a biomedical sciences research centre of excellence has become an international phenomenon that other countries would like to emulate.

No ground-breaking activity is without its critics. The recent storm over our BMS focus, stirred up in the local media and then picked up internationally, has attacked Singapore’s aim of pursuing R&D for long-term competitiveness and, worse, Singapore’s policy of welcoming foreign talent. Our whales and even our guppies are understandably shocked. But Singapore is not that easily swayed. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has asked me to reassure all of them. Let me quote MM Lee:

‘This issue has been deliberated over a period of several months in cabinet and decided by PM Goh and cabinet. The policy has been continued by PM Lee and his cabinet. We have made significant investments in time and resources. We have to get the most out of what we have put in.’

The Dog and Pig Years

2006, the Year of the Dog, has been a lot more eventful for me than all the years before. On 31st January 2006, after 20 years with EDB, I became full-time chairman, A*STAR, but still supervising the EDB BMS group. For free, I should add!

The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden awarded me an honorary doctorate of medicine on 12th May 2006. I received the three million yen Nikkei Prize for Science and Technology on 24th May 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. The Singapore government honoured me with the Order of Nila Utama (First Class) on National Day 2006. Harvard Business School gave me the Alumni Achievement Award in Boston on 28th September 2006.

I hit 60 on 29th October 2006 and celebrated with close friends in Singapore and Shanghai.

On 30th October 2006, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew asked me to help out with international projects as special adviser for economic development at the Prime Minister’s Office. I have described this endeavour as the growing of Singapore’s ‘third wing’ in countries farther away. I signed a three-year contract with PMO for this new pursuit from 1st April 2007.

As senior adviser for science and technology at MTI, I will be ready to give Lim Chuan Poh at A*STAR whatever help he may need from me.

Though no longer a spring chicken, I do see that I can be of service to Singapore as chairman, Spring. I see my mission there as bringing help and hope to growing Singapore’s local enterprises. I know it will not be mission impossible.

I have had 20 enjoyable years working with colleagues at EDB, A*STAR and MTI. Spring will possibly be the last member of the MTI family with which I will be involved.

Time for my family

My son Gene in sunny La Jolla gave me the following summing-up of 2006:

‘Daughter’s doing great at Brandeis.

Son’s slogging at Salk.

Both missing dad.

Did not spend as much time with family.’

The last sentence sounds like a rebuke, albeit a respectful one.

So in this Year of the Pig, I intend to reserve some time for my family.

Thank you.

When Team S’pore counted for more than money

Business Times – 15 Mar 2007

Philip Yeo declined lucrative MNC job to help shape life sciences industry

By CHEN HUIFEN 

(SINGAPORE) Dynamic civil servant Philip Yeo passed up the chance to run a multinational company and earn millions of dollars – because he loves Singapore more than money.

Back in February 2000, a Business Times exclusive reported that Mr Yeo had been approached to join Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li’s Pacific Century Regional Developments.

Mr Yeo himself made no comment – until yesterday at a lunch at Raffles Hotel to mark his departure from A*Star. ‘A Hong Kong friend, hearing of my retirement (from the Singapore Administrative Service in 1999), flew to meet me in Boston,’ he said. ‘He invited me to be chairman of his Singapore-based holding company which owned his Hong Kong-listed company. His terms were attractive – $20 million and share options at the issue price for three years’ work.’

But after news of Mr Yeo’s possible move broke, then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew persuaded him to stay in Singapore to continue shaping the growth of the country’s life sciences industry. Mr Yeo, a staunch patriot, agreed. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Ever ready to spring a surprise, he asked in jest yesterday whether an offer to lead Singapore Airlines was still valid. Towards the end of his career at the Ministry of Defence, he consulted Goh Keng Swee – then chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore – on his future career. The latter suggested Mr Yeo move to take charge of SIA.

‘He personally went to speak to then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who advised me to go to the Economic Development Board as I was needed there,’ said Mr Yeo. ‘PM Lee also said that I could go to SIA at a later date. I wonder if the offer had an expiry date.’

Mr Yeo, a Colombo Plan scholar who went on to serve as EDB chairman from 1986 to 2000, played a key role in milestone programmes including the Jurong Island project – the integration of seven small islands to build a cluster of petrochem firms. In 2001, he was appointed chairman of the NSTB, which later became A*Star.

S’pore to push ahead in biomed

Business Times – 15 Mar 2007

Quoting MM Lee, outgoing A*Star chief reassures research community of government’s commitment

By CHEN HUIFEN (SINGAPORE)

Singapore has to get the most out of its biomedical sciences sector (BMS) after pumping in so much money and effort to build it up, outgoing A*Star chairman Philip Yeo said yesterday. The research community was shocked when questions were raised recently over whether resources were being used in the right way, Mr Yeo said.

‘Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has asked me to reassure all of them,’ he said. ‘Let me quote MM Lee: ‘This issue has been deliberated over a period of several months in Cabinet and decided by PM Goh and Cabinet. The policy has been continued by PM Lee and his Cabinet. We have made significant investments in time and resources. We have to get the most out of what we have put in.’ ‘

Mr Yeo, who has spearheaded the development of the BMS, was speaking at a lunch yesterday to mark his contributions and his departure from A*Star. The closed-door event, hosted by Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang, was held at Raffles Hotel.

At the event, Mr Yeo reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to making biomedical sciences an economic engine.

‘No ground-breaking activity is without its critics,’ he said in his speech, published on A*Star’s website. ‘The recent storm over our BMS focus, stirred up in the local media and then picked up internationally, has attacked Singapore’s aim of pursuing R&D for long-term competitiveness and, worse, Singapore’s policy of welcoming foreign talent. Our ‘whales’ and even our ‘guppies’ are understandably shocked. But Singapore is not that easily swayed.’

Regarded as one of Singapore’s most accomplished civil servants, Mr Yeo played a major role in helping attract top foreign scientific talent to Singapore. These ‘whales’, as he calls them, are role models who can guide younger Singapore scientists – the ‘guppies’ – and nurture their interest in research.

‘With their contacts, networks and projects, the whales gave us a head start so that we could leapfrog straight into areas of biomedical science that matter, that have a nexus with industry,’ Mr Yeo explained. ‘It helped Singapore catch up with established centres elsewhere and also develop a solid reputation for stem cell and cancer research. We will build on this and focus on other disease areas that are important not only to Singapore, but also to the rest of the world. That will open economic opportunities for Singapore.’

Mr Yeo’s ability to persuade international research stars to move here gained the attention of those on the circuit – so much so that Time magazine once labelled him a ‘serial kidnapper’. Whales he has lured include Edison Liu from the US National Cancer Institute, now head of Genome Institute of Singapore, and MIT’s Jackie Ying, who is now executive director of Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.

In his speech, Mr Yeo recounted how Singapore’s biomedical science drive was launched in 2000 with three broad targets: build industrial capital over 5-10 years, grow human capital over 10 years, and develop intellectual capital over 10-15 years. The sector has since attracted numerous global pharmaceutical companies, contributing to manufacturing output of $23 billion last year – up from just $6 billion in 2000. And it now accounts for more than 5 per cent of Singapore’s GDP and 10,600 high value-add jobs.

‘Private research now accounts for close to 40 per cent of total biomedical sciences R&D expenditure,’ Mr Yeo said. ‘Our long-term target for private BMS research is to exceed 60 per cent.’

Mr Yeo steps down from his post at A*Star at the end of this month to head Spring Singapore and act as a senior adviser on science and technology to the Minister for Trade and Industry. Starting next month, he will also become a special adviser for economic development in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Having devoted much of his career to public service, he was recently reminded by his son Gene, a fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, that he is not spending as much time with his family as they would like.

‘So in this Year of the Pig, I intend to reserve some time for my family,’ Mr Yeo said.

Students get taste of nano technology

March 10, 2007 

BRINGING SCIENCE INTO THE CLASSROOM: Dr Edwin Chow with National Junior College students (from left) Li Tuonan, 17, Lee Kai Xin, 16, Vuong Nhat Linh, 17, Andre Sutanto, 18, Long Jiaxi, 17, and the three nano-bio kits launched yesterday. — CAROLINE CHUA

THESE reusable pocket-size biological fuel cells run on glucose – and can power anything from lightbulbs to model car wheels.They are part of a series of three nano-bio kits for the classroom, launched by the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) yesterday.

The others are a thermo-responsive hydrogel kit and a di-electrophoresis chip kit. The idea is to bring scientific techniques out of laboratories and into the classroom.

The biological fuel cell kit (which costs $120) uses enzymes to convert glucose into energy. The thermo-responsive hydrogel kit ($60 but only one-time use) teaches students about the controlled release of nanoparticles from hydrogel.

The third kit, the di-electrophoresis chip kit ($100), is an example of how nanotechnology can be used to make microchips.

‘We tried to make everything simple and easy for students to set up by themselves,’ said Dr Edwin Chow, part of the three-man IBN team which developed the kits over the course of a year.

Schools like the hands-on kits.

‘Students can see how developments in new fields like alternative fuels are applied,’ said National Junior College (NJC) teacher Valerie Yeo. NJC was among the first to buy and use the fuel cell kit.

NJC Integrated Programme Year 3 student Vuong Nhat Linh underwent a 10-week course conducted by Dr Chow for 15 NJC students on the biological fuel cell kit, and now wants to take up an IBN research attachment.

More than 100 kits have been sold to schools like Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Raffles Institution and Nanyang Polytechnic. IBN hopes to license the kits and market them to schools overseas as well.

Source: The Straits Times

UNSW Picks Research Chief for Key Post

THE University of New South Wales (UNSW) Asia’s first deputy president of research starts work on April 2.

The Australian university, which is Singapore’s first comprehensive foreign university, announced this week that Dr Lim Khiang Wee will take up this position. He will relinquish his current position as deputy executive director of Singapore’s Science and Engineering Research Council.

 Source: The Straits Times

Singapore Among Top 5 in Biotech World

SINGAPORE is among the world’s top five biotech regions, reported FierceBiotech, a United States biotech newsletter. This is the second time the Republic has been honoured, since the newsletter created its list last year. The other hot spots were Florida, California, Scotland and Washington state.

FierceBiotech created this list by reading daily headlines, and said the main criteria were ‘a significant amount of attention combined with a lot of potential’.

Singapore was lauded for its efforts in attracting and developing talent, as well as its continued provision of financial incentives for research and development despite warnings from World Bank economists about its high-stakes approach.

Source: The Straits Times

The sun shines for solar energy innovator

March 9, 2007
Breakthrough plastic solar cell strips win Konarka Technologies financing from White House 

POWER WITH A TWIST: Konarka president Rick Hess shows how flexible the Power Plastic solar cell strip is. The White House is backing the product which can be woven into power-producing clothes. — AP 

BOSTON – A COMPANY trying to harness energy from sunlight and interior light to power appliances wirelessly now has financial backing from the White House.

US President George W. Bush’s programme to help solar energy compete with conventional electricity sources will help fund Konarka Technologies’ development of flexible plastic solar cell strips.

The strips can be embedded into the casings of laptop computers and even woven into power-producing clothing to energise digital media players or other electronics – offering a lightweight, flexible alternative to conventional rigid photovoltaic cells on glass panels.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman was scheduled yesterday to tour Konarka’s headquarters in Lowell near here where he is expected to announce funding from Mr Bush’s Solar America Initiative.

The award amount and other details were to be announced in a news conference at Konarka, a six-year-old private company that has attracted nearly US$60 million (S$91.6 million) in venture capital funding.

Konarka’s nearly US$10 million in grant money to date from US and European governments includes funding from the Pentagon to supply lightweight portable battery chargers and material for tents to draw power from sunlight.

Chief executive Howard Berke said the White House support is a milestone for Konarka.

The first commercial product using Konarka’s technology is not expected to hit the market until next year, and the company is not saying what that product will be.

Konarka’s approach ‘is potentially a great breakthrough technology’, Mr Berke said in a phone interview.

Observers say Konarka has a good chance of becoming a leader in solar power, an industry enjoying a recent surge in initial public stock offerings by startup companies and growing investments from traditional energy companies.

For example, one of Konarka’s financial backers is Chevron Corp.

Konarka’s development of plastic solar cell strips that can be manufactured like rolls of photographic film ‘has the promise of becoming a low-cost manufacturing technique’, said Mr Jeffrey Bencik, a Jefferies & Co analyst who follows the solar industry.

The big question is whether Konarka can mass produce cell strips that work.

Mr Dan Nocera, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemistry professor, said the question is whether Konarka’s so-called ‘Power Plastic’ is stable enough to convert energy efficiently under different light conditions.

Konarka, named after an ancient temple in India dedicated to the sun god Surya, was founded by Mr Berke and Mr Alan Heeger, who shared the 2000 Nobel chemistry prize for showing that certain plastics can be made to conduct electricity.

The discovery about polymers – long considered to be useful only as electrical insulators – led to the development of new types of plastics to create flexible and lightweight alternatives to traditional solar cells on heavy glass panels. These low-cost plastics can be used in a photovoltaic cell.

The 50-employee company has 280 patents and patent applications for materials, manufacturing and other processes and devices.

Mr Berke foresees wide use of such technology in the developing world, such as for powering laptops where electricity is unavailable or unreliable.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

What it is

A light-activated, flexible ‘power plastic’ that is likely to be cheap and more versatile than traditional solar cells.

How it works

The key technology is a light-reactive material made from semi-conducting polymers and materials engineered at the atomic level. The energy travels through the materials and a series of electrodes and is converted into electrical energy.

How it is made

It can be printed or coated inexpensively onto flexible substrates.

What it can be used for

Konarka’s Power Plastic can charge an appliance as quickly as a wall outlet.

It can also be used in portable gadgets like cellphones, laptops and PDAs; in architectural materials like awnings, rooftops, window panes and blinds; and on fabrics like bags and clothing to charge portable devices.

SOURCE: KONARKA TECHNOLOGIES