Five multidisciplinary teams of students from the College of Design and Engineering, the School of Business, and Duke-NUS Medical School participated in the third annual "Shark Tank" event at the Duke-NUS Health Innovator Programme (DHIP) event on March 19, 2025. Each team began with a validated critical unmet clinical need. Leveraging their diverse expertise, the teams worked to create a prototype that closely resembles a real product, all under the guidance of experienced industry and clinical mentors.
Over the last nine months, the teams collaborated with experienced clinical and industry mentors to create healthcare solutions with the potential for commercialisation and real-world implementation. The judges assessed each invention based on clinical needs, market potential, and feasibility. Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS President, was the Guest of Honour at the event.
Team ReVision won the S$50,000 top prize for their innovative contact lens management system designed for children. The winning project includes a practical aid that makes it easier and safer for children and their caregivers to insert and remove myopia-control contact lenses. This system eliminates fear among children, simplifies the insertion and removal process, and ensures seamless cleaning for improved lens care and management.
Lakshmi Sujeesh from Team ReVision, a Year 4 Biomedical Engineering student with a second major in Innovation and Design Programme, reflected, “As an engineering student, this experience has reinforced the importance of iterative prototyping and real-world testing to create a device that is not only functional but also user-friendly for children. Developing mechanisms for soft and hard lenses and a dedicated cleaning system required countless material trials and ergonomic adjustments to ensure comfort and ease of use.”
With this funding, the team now focuses on finalising the patent and pushing their innovation forward, exploring collaborations with top lens manufacturers to bring this solution to market. “Seeing an engineering concept evolve from an idea to a tangible, patentable product has been rewarding, and I’m excited for the next development phase,” Lakshmi adds.
Julian Tan, a Year 4 Biomedical Engineering student with a second major in the Innovation and Design Programme, won the “Outstanding Technical Fellow Award.” This award recognises an individual for academic excellence, creativity, and commitment to peers within the DHIP Programme, selected through a faculty and peer voting process.
Julian’s team pitched a device that allows doctors to instantly and easily remove small stomach lesions during an endoscopy, avoiding costly and lengthy monitoring. As an engineering fellow on the team, Julian defines the technical requirements and manages the project development. This includes conducting experiments and user testing to confirm the solution's effectiveness.
Julian reflected on how the Biomedical Engineering programme has prepared him for this work by equipping him with Computer-Aided Design skills and a solid understanding of electrical, mechanical, and biological systems through the core modules. He shared, “These skills allowed us to bridge the gap between engineering and the clinical side when designing a medical product.”
Meet the teams
Team DAJJLE: Ergonomic Support Lightweight Radiation Protection
An innovative wearable support system engineered to alleviate strain and enhance mobility for orthopaedic surgeons by redistributing the weight of lead aprons, reducing fatigue and optimising performance in the operating room.
Team Members:
Clinical Fellow: Danielle Yap
Business Fellow: Amy Lee
Engineering Fellow: Jaynielle Claire
Mentors: Dr Woo Yew Lok and Ms Cecelia Zhou
Team ReVision: Revolutionising Contact Lenses Handling for Improved User Experience
A device that makes contact lens use effortless for kids—eliminating fear, simplifying insertion and removal, and ensuring seamless cleaning for improved lens care and management.
Team Members:
Clinical Fellow: Charles Yau
Business Fellow: Melody Kwok
Engineering Fellow: Lakshmi Sujeesh
Mentors: Dr Li Lian Foo and Ms Ashley Wittorf
Team CONEXUS: Endoscopic Grasper for Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery
An endoscopic grasper tool that enables bariatric and other abdominal surgeries to be performed endoscopically, providing a minimally invasive surgical approach to reduce pain and improve patient perception. This project garnered the most votes from the panel and won the “Popular Project Award”.
Team Members:
Clinical Fellow: Jasper Chua
Business Fellow: Qiao Jin
Engineering Fellow: Chan Syn-I
Mentors: Dr Lim Chin Hong and Mr Peh Ruey Feng
Team E-RAZE: A Safe and Effective Way to Completely Excise Gastrointestinal Lesions Endoscopically
This project aims to empower endoscopists with an instant treatment option for small gastric subepithelial lesions by enabling the immediate removal of the lesion using our simple integrated device, SafeCut™, which slips over the endoscope and effortlessly resects with a single action, eliminating the need for long-term monitoring, which is expensive and arduous.
Team Members:
Clinical Fellow: Low Xi Zhi
Business Fellow: Nicole Nilar Hoong
Engineering Fellow: Tan Yi Hong Julian
Mentors: Dr Ravishankar Asokkumar and Mr Peter Tim Kum Cheng
Team LUMOS
A screen overlay that tracks the user’s gaze and blurs peripheral regions of the screen in real-time as a clinically validated passive method to lower myopia progression.
Team Members:
Clinical Fellow: Faye Ng and Mirdhini Shri Rajaram
Business Fellow: Teo Zhe Han
Mentors: Dr Ng Wei Yan and A/Prof Alok Mishra
