Singapore investing in the next big discoveries

Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 8 Dec 07;

Six research teams here have each won up to $10 million for work which could make waves in electronics, medicine and environmental technology.

SHOBANA KESAVA speaks to the recipients of the National Research Foundation's Competitive Research Programme

Cheap fuels from gas
Straits Times 8 Dec 07;

TACKLING high fuel costs drives the feverish research at Professor Neal Chung's laboratory at the National University of Singapore's chemical and biomolecular engineering department.

His team is developing new membrane materials: fine filters that will better purify the gases that can be cheap alternatives to fossil fuels.

These gases - hydrogen, synthesis gas (a combination of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen) and natural gas (methane) - are all available now.

Polymers that go into making cellophane and ceramics that mould teacups are the same basic materials the team is using to make the membranes.

'The challenge is to develop fine-enough materials that do not warp or change their properties when these gases pass through them,' said Prof Chung, 56.

The polymer membrane expert, who has provided consultancy services for water treatment company Hyflux and other multinational companies, has been in the industry for 13 years, working in the United States.

Clean fresh water? Just follow the sun
Straits Times 8 Dec 07;

PRODUCING fresh water without harming the environment is the goal of Professor Choo Fook Hoong, from Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Prof Choo, 53, is from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at NTU.

His team wants to tap into solar energy to purify contaminated water or sea water.

It hopes to do this by developing a system that will harness the sun's rays consistently enough to do away with the traditional fuel sources current purification plants rely on.

Water vapour produced by this heat will be cooled as it passes through membranes to produce pure water.

No system in the world has been able to do this yet, said Prof Choo.

'We want to develop a water production plant that imitates nature as much as possible,' he said.

Plants, for example, use organic membranes and the sun to recycle clean water, without polluting the environment.

'The challenge for us is to have this commercialised in five years,' said Prof Choo.