Photo credits: National Research Foundation, Singapore
RESEARCH IMPACT & COLLABORATIONS
CDE at World Engineers Summit 2025
CDE faculty joined engineers, policymakers, and industry leaders at the World Engineers Summit 2025 to discuss innovations and solutions for building smart, sustainable cities of the future.
Held from 22–24 October 2025 and organised by the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES), the summit brought together experts from across academia and industry to exchange ideas on advancing engineering for climate resilience, digitalisation, and sustainable development.
Our faculty shared insights on sustainable cooling, renewable energy systems, and the integration of data-driven technologies in infrastructure planning. The discussions also touched on the evolving role of engineering education — and how interdisciplinary learning and collaboration are essential for preparing future-ready engineers.
CDE’s strong presence at this year’s summit reflects the College’s continued leadership in driving research, innovation, and education that address global challenges through engineering and design.
Read the full story: https://cde.nus.edu.sg/news-detail/shaping-tomorrow-cde-at-world-engineers-summit-2025/
Atomic precision and the future of chips
How small can small go?
In a public lecture at CDE, Professor Erwin Kessels, from the Eindhoven University of Technology and the current Applied Materials Visiting Chair Professor at NUS, explored how innovation at the atomic scale is reshaping the semiconductor industry and beyond.
Prof Kessels described how chipmakers are now engineering materials one atomic layer at a time using advanced processes such as extreme ultraviolet lithography, atomic layer deposition, and atomic layer etching.
He also explored the growing importance of area-selective atomic layer deposition and AI-driven materials discovery, which promise greater efficiency, precision, and sustainability in future technologies.
“We are running out of physical room at the bottom,” he said, but “there is still plenty of room at the intelligent scale, as we keep developing ingenious ways of making things.”
Prof Kessels’ lecture was part of the Applied Materials (AMAT) Visiting Chair Professorship, which brings global experts to the AMAT-NUS Advanced Materials Corporate Lab to connect with experts across Singapore's semiconductor ecosystem.
Read more here: https://cde.nus.edu.sg/news-detail/atomic-precision-and-the-future-of-chips/
ChBE and P&G strengthen collaboration to nurture practice-ready engineers
How can we better prepare students for real-world innovation?
The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) has taken a step forward in bridging academia and industry through a new partnership with Procter & Gamble (P&G).
The two institutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen collaboration in education, innovation, and industry engagement. The agreement was signed by Prof Saif Khan, Head of ChBE, and Ms Yuko Nakamura, Vice President of R&D and Singapore Innovation Center (SGIC) Leader at P&G, in the presence of faculty colleagues, senior P&G leaders, and NUS alumni representatives.
Through this partnership, ChBE and P&G will bring industry insights into the classroom, from real-world case studies and project-based learning to internships that help students apply chemical and biomolecular engineering principles, to drive innovation in the consumer products industry.
“This collaboration with P&G represents an exciting step forward in connecting classroom learning with real-world applications,” said Prof Khan. “It also reflects our ongoing commitment to nurture practice-ready graduates and to strengthen our partnerships with industry leaders.”
Ms Nakamura added, “This partnership is a true win-win, allowing us to drive innovation while shaping the talented individuals who will lead the future of our industry.”
This partnership marks an important milestone in ChBE’s ongoing efforts to integrate industry experience into engineering education — building stronger connections between research, innovation, and real-world impact.
Ice mixed with amino acids stores methane in minutes
Professor Praveen Linga and his research team, Yunhan Ma and Dr Ye Zhang, have discovered that adding simple amino acids to ice makes it capture methane gas with remarkable speed.
The modified ice turns into a solid “gas hydrate” material that can hold 30 times more methane and form nearly 80 times faster than conventional methods, all under near-freezing conditions. Unlike surfactants, the amino acids are biodegradable and avoid messy foaming during gas release.
The material also works in a reusable cycle, where methane can be released on demand with gentle heating, and the leftover solution can be frozen again for the next round of storage, offering a sustainable way to store natural gas and biomethane, and has the potential to be adapted to store other molecules such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Read more here: https://cde.nus.edu.sg/news-detail/ice-mixed-with-amino-acids-stores-methane-in-minutes/
Major Grants Awarded
The major grants (start date in October 2025) with total project value > $1M.
| Hosting Unit | Project Title | Funding Programme (Source of Funding) |
Principal Investigator | Co-Investigator |
| ARC | Development of safety system to detect harmful low emission fuel leaks | Australia-Singapore initiative on low-emissions technologies for maritime and port operations – 2024/SMI | Yeow Chen Hua | |
| CEE | A new multidimensional approach for the monitoring of nearshore suspended sediments in Singapore’s coastal waters | Coastal protection and flood management research programme (CFRP) – applied research – 2024/NRF | Law Wing Keung, Adrian | Li Yuzhu, Pearl |
| CEE | Pegasus – An integrated robotic fit-out system | Cities of tomorrow R&D programme: advanced construction – 2023/MND | Yeoh Ker-wei | Poh Leong Hien; Ang Marcelo Jr. H |
| ECE;MSE | Structured atomic materials for symmetry fusion topological photonics | MOE ACRF tier 3 programme – 2024/MOE | Qiu Chengwei; Silvija Gradecak-garaj; Ang Kah Wee; Lu Jiong (Chemistry) | |
| MSE | Logic and memory devices beyond CMOS based on spin and electric polarisation | NRF Investigatorship – 2024/NRF | Chen Jingsheng |