Jovan Tan

Biography

Dr Jovan Tan is the Director of the Sustainability Action and Innovation Lab (SAIL) at NUS and a Lecturer at the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre (EDIC). A globally recognised authority on Innovation for Sustainability, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategies, he translates rigorous academic research into commercial impact with verifiable sustainability outcomes.

His technical expertise spans waste valorisation, the circular economy, and energy innovations. He directs high-impact projects that transform food and plastic waste into value-added materials, develop advanced composites to enhance the recyclability of single-use packaging, and deploy advanced technologies for waste sorting at source.

Bridging technical expertise with strategy, Dr Tan has consulted for and collaborated with organisations such as the World Economic Forum, Cora Environment (formerly SembWaste), LoveEarth Water, TRIA Sustainable Packaging, and NUS’s Sustainability Strategy Unit. He leverages his background as a Certified ISO 14064 Greenhouse Gases (GHG) Accounting and Reporting Lead Verifier to help companies de-risk and commercialise sustainable ventures.

An award-winning educator, Dr Tan teaches value creation and go-to-market strategies to a diverse cohort—from undergraduates to post-doctoral scientists—at NUS and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). He actively supervises interdisciplinary student projects, with a focus on commercialising sustainable innovations.

He is also a Resident Fellow at Residential College 4 (RC4) and the creator and host of an NUS podcast entitled “Intrigued to Innovate.” The series showcases the journey of young innovators tackling complex challenges and features in-depth conversations with global thought leaders on innovation, design, and entrepreneurship.

Teaching and Research Interests

• Innovation for Sustainability
• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategies

Fellowships and Affiliations

• Fellow, World Economic Forum
• Adjunct Faculty, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)
• Adjunct Faculty, NUS Distinguished Senior Fellowship Programme (DSFP)
• Creator & Host, Intrigued to Innovate (an NUS Podcast)
• Resident Fellow, Residential College 4
• Editorial Board Member, Materials Circular Economy (Springer Nature)
• Advisor, TRIA
• Advisor, Resavour by the Moonbeam Co.
• Committee Member, Zero Waste Taskforce, National University of Singapore
• Immediate Past Chairman & Advisor, SAFRA Entrepreneurs’ Club

Education Background

• Doctor of Philosophy, National University of Singapore, 2023
• Specialist Diploma in Data Science (Data Analytics), Singapore Polytechnic, 2022
• Master of Science in Management, National University of Singapore, 2019
• Bachelor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Adelaide, 2016
• Diploma in Engineering with Business, Singapore Polytechnic, 2014

Selected Research Papers

• J. Tan and V. Cha, ‘Innovation for Circular Economy’, in An Introduction to Circular Economy, L. Liu and S. Ramakrishna, Eds., Singapore: Springer, 2021, pp. 369–395. doi: 10.1007/978-981-15-8510-4_19.
• J. Tan, S. K. Tiwari, and S. Ramakrishna, ‘Single-Use Plastics in the Food Services Industry: Can It Be Sustainable?’, Mater Circ Econ, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 7, Apr. 2021, doi: 10.1007/s42824-021-00019-1.
• J. Tan, F. J. Tan, and S. Ramakrishna, ‘Transitioning to a Circular Economy: A Systematic Review of Its Drivers and Barriers’, Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 3, p. 1757, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.3390/su14031757.
• J. Tan, S. Jia, and S. Ramakrishna, ‘End-of-Life Photovoltaic Modules’, Energies, vol. 15, no. 14, p. 5113, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.3390/en15145113.
• J. Tan, S. Jia, and S. Ramakrishna, ‘Accelerating Plastic Circularity: A Critical Assessment of the Pathways and Processes to Circular Plastics’, Processes, vol. 11, no. 5, p. 1457, May 2023, doi: 10.3390/pr11051457.