Keynote Abstract

Opening Address 

PROFESSOR YEO KIAT SENG
Associate Provost, Research and International Relations, SUTD

Professor Yeo received his BEng (1993) and PhD (1996) degrees in EE from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Chairman of the University Research Board and Associate Provost at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, he is a widely known authority in low-power RF/mm-wave IC design and a recognised expert in CMOS technology. He was Associate Chair (Research), Head of Circuits and Systems and Founding Director of Virtus (IC Design Centre of Excellence) of the School of EEE at NTU. He has published 10 books, 7 book chapters, over 600 journal and conference papers and holds 38 patents. Prof Yeo was a Member of Board of Advisors of the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association and holds/held key positions in several international conferences as Advisor, General Chair and Technical Chair. He is a Fellow of the Singapore Academy of Engineering, an AAIA Fellow, IEEE Fellow and was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) on National Day by the President of the Republic of Singapore and the Nanyang Alumni Achievement Award both in 2009. He is the principal author of World University Research Rankings (WURR) 2020 and ranked among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in 2020.

Bits and Bytes of a Sustainable Future

Digital technologies have advanced more rapidly than any innovation in our history, with new applications and solutions disrupting industries faster than ever before. In the new digital economy, we see business models, enterprises and careers emerging that didn’t exist even just a few years ago. The pace of change will only get faster, bringing with it quantum advances in technology, improvements in lives and livelihoods, but also, challenges, risks and even ethical considerations that have to be balanced and managed. How do we continue charting pathways towards a shared digital future that is inclusive and sustainable for everyone?

Join Mr Chia Song Hwee, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Temasek, as he discusses the investment company’s views on:

• Macro trends being driven by technology and digitisation
• Opportunities and challenges in the digital world
• Navigating the risks and challenges arising from the changes

MR CHIA SONG HWEE
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Temasek International

Chia Song Hwee is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Temasek. In February 2021, he was appointed to the board of A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research). Song Hwee also serves as a member of Singapore’s Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data, established by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) since 2018. Prior to joining Temasek in 2011, Song Hwee was the Chief Operating Officer at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. Before the integration of GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (Chartered), he served as Director of the Board, and President and CEO of Chartered from 2002 to 2009. Song Hwee also held various management positions at Chartered, including Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer.

Prior to Chartered, Song Hwee was Regional Controller for Asia, Australia, and the Middle East for the drilling group of Schlumberger, a global oilfield services group. Song Hwee holds a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) degree with distinction, from Edith Cowan University, Australia, and is a member of CPA Australia. He was honoured with the EE Times Annual Creativity in Electronics Award for Executive of the Year in 2007.

Accelerating the Sustainable Cities of the Future

As of 2020, it is estimated that our world is warmer by 1.2^oC as compared to pre-industrial levels. As countries around the world prepare their sustainability agendas to meet the Paris agreement goals of restricting the global warming to 1.5 degree celsius, it is becoming evident that cities have a very critical role to play. With 55% of global population living on 1% of Earth’s surface, expected to increase to 68% by 2050, cities already constitute 78% of the global energy consumption and account for 70% of the GHG emissions. Cities are not just the cause of the problem, but also present the solution. How can cities drive the right sustainability agenda for the future, how are they leveraging modern day technologies to accelerate towards these outcomes and what are the critical success factors in this journey? This session presents our point of view on this topic as well as discuss a few real-life examples of how cities are driving towards their sustainability visions for the future.


MR AMIT MIDHA
President, Asia Pacific & Japan, Global Digital Cities, Dell Technologies
Board of Trustee and Academic & Research Committee Member, SUTD

Amit is a global strategic business leader with significant Asia experience. Amit has built and transformed businesses in various roles in China, US, India, and Singapore. He is well versed in multiple cultures and has established strong global relationships. He is a technologist at heart with deep expertise in Datacenter, Enterprise Software, Edge, and Data Science. Amit Midha is responsible for Dell’s growth in the Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) region, overseeing a multi-billion-dollar business spanning 40+ countries with a multi-cultural workforce. Amit is passionately focused on developing strong talent and technology leadership to support the digital transformation journey for Dell’s customers and partners. Amit also leads Dell Technologies’ Digital Cities business globally, driving the transformation of cities and engagement with governments and corporations.

Material Designs for Distributed Carbon Capture

CO2 direct air capture (DAC) is rapidly emerging as a complimentary solution to existing climate change mitigation strategies. Compared to traditional point source CO2 capture, the cost of DAC is considerably high primarily due to the dilute concentration of CO2 in ambient air; proponents of DAC have postulated that mass implementation of DAC may drive down the capture cost. Despite this optimism, state-of-art DAC requires large land space for installation, which is prohibitive in land scarce or expensive cities/urban areas. Mass implementation of DAC is potentially achievable through distributed capture solutions that can be implemented in mass number and in as many places as possible. State-of-art carbon capture materials are based on either corrosive liquids or solid sorbent in the forms of granules. To achieve distributed carbon capture, recent advancement by our team at SUTD has shown a novel form of carbon capture material that is light-weight and easily integrated into urban spaces. Through a polymer composite filled with nano-fillers, thin mechanically flexible form factor of free-standing film enables a high degree of design freedoms in film architectures and device/product design. A synergy between film architectural design and device design collectively demonstrate the potential of passive and distributed carbon capture from ambient air.


ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LOW HONG YEE
Director, SUTD Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre
Associate Head of Pillar, Engineering Product Development, SUTD

Hong Yee Low received her PhD from the Macromolecular Science and Engineering department of Case Western Reserve University in 1998. After 2 years at Motorola Semiconductor Sector, she joined the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Agency for Science Technology and Research, Singapore for 13 years. In IMRE she spearheaded nanoimprinting research, was the founding group head of Patterning and Fabrication Capability Group and served as the Director of Research and Innovation. She is currently an associate professor in the Engineering Product Development (EPD) pillar at SUTD and she holds two appointments as the associate pillar head and the director for the Digital Manufacturing and Design Centre. DManD’s research profile spans the breadth of digital design and manufacturing resources and capabilities that integrate across design, materials, and manufacturing processes. Hong Yee has co-authored >150 peer reviewed publications and is a co-inventor of ~30 granted patents.