The Annual College of Design and Engineering Alumni Awards recognise the accomplishments and contributions of exemplary CDE alumni. This year, 10 of our alumni have been recognised for their outstanding achievements.
The Awards Ceremony was held on the evening of November 16 at the NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House to celebrate their achievements.
The ceremony was the first to be held under the auspices of CDE, celebrating the achievements of the combined alumni communities of the former Faculty of Engineering and School of Design and Environment.
Professor Aaron Thean, Dean of CDE, said: The most valuable contribution of any school is its students. Congratulations to this evening's alumni achievers, I hope you will continue to connect with us, add to our CDE legacy and, most importantly, inspire the generations to follow."
The awardees span fields including civil and environmental engineering, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, industrial and systems engineering, and industrial design.
Our heartiest congratulations to the award recipients. See below for the full list of 2022 recipients.
2022 CDE Alumni Award recipients: Top row, left to right: Mr Dalson Chung; Dr Uma Maheswaran Cheyyar Ramanathan; Mr Teo Swee Ann; Er Cong Zhengxia; Mr Tiong Jee Hui Jeffrey.
Second row, left to right: Dr Tay Kah Ping Andy; Dr Aishwarya Bandla; Mr Soh Wei Zhi Andy; Mr Ong Kok Chung; Ms Poh Yun Ru
Full award list:
Distinguished Alumni Award
Instituted in 1989, the award is conferred on alumni who have distinguished themselves nationally or internationally through excellent and sustained contributions and achievements in public and community service, entrepreneurship, and in a professional or scholarly field.
Mr Dalson Chung
MSc Civil Engineering, 1989; Master of Business Administration, 1996
Senior Specialist, National Environment Agency
Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment
Mr Chung spearheads NEA's efforts in developing the environmental industry in Singapore to meet local needs and help environmental companies globalise, especially in the waste management and cleaning industry sectors. He has been an active member of the NUS Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering's Department Consultative Committee since Jan 2019, whilst his team at the NEA have supported the department in engaging members from the waste industry to offer internship and career opportunities to our students.
Dr Uma Maheswaran Cheyyar Ramanathan
Doctor of Philosophy (SDE), 2006
Chief Operating Officer (South Asia and Central Asia)
Surbana Jurong Infrastructure Pte Ltd
Dr Uma has been a pioneer and ambassador for Sustainable Design and he was nominated by BCA to help promote Green Mark Certification internationally. He is a champion for Sustainable Smart Cities, Dynamic Planning and a parametric approach to developing Sustainable Urban Solutions.
Mr Teo Swee Ann
BE, class of 2000
MSc Eng, 2002
CEO and President
Espressif Systems
Mr Teo is founder, Chief Executive and President of Espressif Systems, a China-based firm that manufactures the flagship ESP32 series of chips and software, as well as other cutting-edge WiFi-BLE-Bluetooth integrated devices and solutions. He is passionate about educating the next generation of engineers and is dedicated to exploring opportunities for CDE's outreach efforts.
Alumni Excellence Award
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Er Cong Zhengxia
Master of Science (Geotechnical Engineering), 2009
Senior Director (Engineering - Building)
Woh Hup (Private) Limited
Er Cong is a Senior Director for Engineering (Building) at Woh Hup Pte Ltd., one of the largest and oldest players in the built environment in Singapore, As an enthusiastic NUS alumni, she has helped to connect our students to the industry through the regular seminars, brown bag talks, and site visits to iconic projects through her capacity as the Chairman of the Institution of Engineers Singapore.
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Mr Tiong Jee Hui Jeffrey
Bachelor of Engineering (Biomedical Engineering), 2008
Founder and CEO
Patsnap
Mr Tiong is the founder and CEO of Patsnap, a globally recognised competitive intelligence innovation platform. Under his leadership, the company has grown from a small four-person operation to international prominence in the highly competitive field of patent analytics. He has a long-standing relationship with NUS, particularly with NUS Overseas Colleges through which Patsnap provides internship opportunities for NUS students, helping them to gain valuable applied experience and establish their first connections in professional fields.
Dr Tay Kah Ping Andy
Bachelor of Engineering (Biomedical Engineering), 2014
Presidential Young Professor (Assistant Professor)
NUS Department of Biomedical Engineering
Dr Tay is a Presidential Young Professor in the NUS Department of Biomedical Engineering where he has to date secured more than SGD $3 million in direct research cost grant funding as the lead-PI focused on multi-scale immuno-engineering. He is active in promoting science communication and promoting STEM to young students, particularly students from less privileged backgrounds like himself. Â
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Dr Aishwarya Bandla
Doctor of Philosophy (FoE), 2017
Regional R&D Manager
Paxman Coolers Ltd
Dr. Bandla is a bioengineering researcher in the field of digital health and supportive cancer care, using patient centric wearable devices to advance healthcare outcomes in cancer patients. She has mentored over 20 students from NUS BME, ECE, YLL school of medicine and other local institutions, several of whom have won student research awards and gone on to pursue MD and PhD degrees.
Alumni Rising Star Award
Mr Soh Wei Zhi Andy
Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial & Systems Engineering), 2018
Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance), 2018
Consultant
Accenture
In the past 4.5 years, Mr Soh has worked with financial institutions on a variety of engagements, helping them to transform their businesses and enabling them to deliver their services more efficiently. Since 2020, he has been a mentor with NUS Graduate Students' Society Alumni-Mentorship Programme and The Mentoring Community (NUS Business School), working with undergraduates and graduates on navigating career-related decisions.
Mr Ong Kok Chung
Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental Engineering), 2022
COO & Co-founder
Ferticlay Pte. Ltd
Mr Ong's company, Ferticlay, makes alternative clay out of waste from the food and manufacturing industries, such as coffee grounds, eggshells and paper waste. An active player in community service and contributor to CDE, he is also the Sustainability Champion and Innovation Lead at West Coast Youth Network under grassroots and the People's Association.
Ms Poh Yun Ru
Bachelor of Arts (Industrial Design) with Honours (Distinction), 2018
Designer
NUS Design Incubation Centre
Since graduating in 2018, Ms Poh has successfully developed numerous research projects, where her empathetic design approach using advanced technology for impactful outcomes has been recognised at the international level. At CDE she is an active mentor for young graduates at the Design Incubation Centre, as well as helping to guide DID students with the production of their design projects, from art direction to rendering and photography.
