Alumni Rising Star Award
Ms. Ong Shiu Jern blends built-environment engineering expertise with public-sector programme and policy impact. Early in her career at Arup and CPG as a Structural Engineer, she contributed to the design and delivery of building projects while strengthening productivity using digital tools like Computational BIM to improve modelling consistency and coordination. She now works at the World Bank Group, supporting governments in East Asia and the Pacific in transportation reforms and infrastructure lending. She works closely with government agencies, transport operators, and technical teams to improve connectivity, strengthen service delivery, and build institutional capacity. Her achievements include the Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship (2023) and a first place finish for the Arvella ESG Investment Challenge (2024).
Beyond professional work, Ms. Ong contributes through public advocacy and service, including sustainability thought leadership, volunteering as a structural engineer with The Shelter Company to support maker-pod housing in developing contexts, and NGOs supporting migrant workers in the construction sector. She remains an active NUS CEE alumna, supporting student outreach and mentoring, participating in engagement sessions with prospective students, contributing an alumni perspective.
Ms. Pun Wan Yi Clarabelle is an emerging architectural professional currently with studioshen, building upon her experience across architecture, urban design and master planning, and climate responsive urbanism. Prior to joining studioshen, she was an Architectural Associate at CPG Consultants, where she worked on major projects across Asia and the Middle East, including contributions to Singapore’s first large scale coastal adaptation masterplan. Her work integrates water sensitive urban design, ecological systems, and public life, translating complex resilience requirements into meaningful civic spaces that protect communities from climate risk.
During her time at CPG Consultants, Ms. Pun demonstrated strong early leadership by coordinating multidisciplinary teams of up to 16 consultants to achieve integrated outcomes across design, engineering, sustainability, and cost. Her potential has been recognised through accolades and nominations including the ARCASIA Thesis of the Year and Mies van der Rohe Young Talent Open.
A BCA iBuildSG Scholar, Ms. Pun also contributes actively to the NUS and wider Built Environment community. She served as Architecture Class Ambassador for the Class of 2024 and is 2nd Vice President of the Architecture Alumni Association. In 2024, she represented the NUS Department of Architecture as a speaker at Archicrits @ Archifest 2024, organised by the Singapore Institute of Architects, and as a representative speaker at the NUS Department of Architecture Open House 2024. She was also featured by BCA under iBuildSG (Built Environment Careers: Architect) as one of Singapore’s emerging architectural talents, representing the next generation of Built Environment professionals. Through a nationally showcased career video and public outreach initiatives, she contributes to broadening public understanding of the architectural profession, inspiring the next generation of Built Environment talent, and raising the visibility of the sector in Singapore.
Mr. Rishab Patwari is recognised for outstanding technopreneurial leadership in co-founding HiveBotics and translating a student robotics project into a commercialisation-ready venture. As an NUS Computer Engineering student (2nd Major in iDP), he originated Abluo—an autonomous toilet-cleaning robot designed to address manpower shortages and significantly reduce cleaning time. Starting as an iDP project in 2020, he drove it through prototype development, early site trials, and the incorporation of HiveBotics in July 2022, leveraging NUS innovation support such as GRIP and guidance from the NUS Advanced Robotics Centre.
Mr. Rishab combines deep technical capability (robotics integration across sensing, manipulation, and automated cleaning subsystems) with strong founder execution, including business model development, trial planning, and fundraising. His NUS Overseas Colleges experience in Silicon Valley further strengthened his product and startup leadership. He has also contributed back to NUS through outreach and student engagement, including ECE Admissions sharing (2023) and speaking at the TurtleBot YOLO Workshop (2025), and representing NUS deep-tech entrepreneurship through GRIP and related showcases.
Dr. Vishnu is a healthcare innovator and entrepreneur whose work sits at the intersection of engineering, clinical translation, and impact. As Co-Founder and CEO of EmerStat, he leads the development of a first-in-class haemostatic platform to address uncontrolled bleeding, progressing from early research to advanced preclinical validation with strong reductions in blood loss. He has secured significant competitive non-dilutive funding, built a multidisciplinary team spanning biomaterials, regulatory, and commercialisation, and established collaborations with stakeholders including the Singapore Civil Defence Force and NHS-affiliated clinicians to support both hospital and pre-hospital use. His contributions have been recognised through honours including Forbes 30 Under 30 (Healthcare), the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors Award, and the UK Royal Academy of Engineering’s Leaders in Innovation Fellowship.
Beyond venture leadership, Dr. Vishnu has contributed to healthcare system-building through early Asia-Pacific regulatory guidance on AI in healthcare and reimbursement/HTA considerations for digital health. He is also committed to developing future talent, having served as Founding Vice President of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) NUS and continuing to mentor students and early-stage innovators. As a NUS researcher, he earned the Controlled Release Society (CRS) Best PhD Thesis Award for his doctoral work, enhancing NUS’ visibility in translational engineering and global health innovation.