“In a world where technology and ideas evolve at breakneck speed, innovation isn’t just a buzzword – it's essential,” said Professor Teo Kie Leong, Dean of CDE. In his welcome speech at CDE Innovation Day 2024, Prof Teo highlighted how students are at the core of this creative problem-solving culture and the College’s commitment to “empowering them with the skills, mindset and resources to tackle the world’s most complex challenges.”
On 25 October 2024, CDE Innovation Day 2024 saw the conclusion of Innovus@CDE, a six-month initiative dedicated to nurturing budding entrepreneurs. As part of Innovus, students participated in a series of workshops designed to prepare them for the final pitch competition on Innovation Day, where the finalists of the Eureka and Impact Accelerator Challenges got to pitch their startup ideas to a judging panel ‘Shark Tank’ style.
The variety of projects ranged from socially impactful designs that enhance lives to initiatives that encouraged students to push the limits of research.
One of these projects sought to improve the lives of infants with cleft lips. After noting the lack of methods available to improve the ability of such infants to latch and suckle, the team Safelatch was determined to provide a solution suitable for all infants.
Safelatch, which won the Grand Prize for the Eureka Challenge (winner of $10,000), developed their solution in collaboration with KK Women’s and Children's Hospital. They came up with the idea of customisable pacifier attachments that could fit every infant’s unique facial structure.
Beyond problem-solving, the team also took away valuable lessons. “It was my first time participating in such a challenge. We learned how to be brave in exploring our options and trying out new things,” said Biomedical Engineering student Roopashini Sivananthan. The team was initially concerned with the small market size and about moving their product across different regions. “But throughout this programme, we realised it really is about the impact and value you create more than how many people use the product,” she added.
For IncyTech, the programme provided opportunities for the team to connect with industry partners and use the grant money to develop their product further. The Grand Prize winner of the Impact Accelerator Challenge (winner of $100,000) had worked hard on their prototype for the past four years, going through countless rounds of reiteration to refine their solar-thermal energy harvester prototype.
“We plan to use the money for research and development to build multiple prototypes for the pilot as well as getting more experienced individuals on board our team,” said Computer Engineering student Sparsh. “We plan to patent this by the next month and will have two research papers out by the end of next year.”
CDE Innovation Day 2024 also featured alumni who returned to share their stories with our students and encourage them in their entrepreneurship journey. The day's keynote speaker was Mr Teo Swee Ann, Founder & CEO of Espressif Systems and an Electrical Engineering graduate from NUS. Similar to what he asked of his designers, Mr Teo encouraged students to set their goals higher than they thought achievable. Conversely, he added that as a CEO or a leader, a big part of the job also involves motivating and supporting the team to help them achieve the stretch targets they set.
Dr Viknish Krishnan-Kutty, Founder & CEO of Cellivate Technologies, which had received support under NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme (GRIP), was frank in sharing that although all the early attention and support had painted a rosy picture, in reality, the start-up had struggled. He cautioned that there would be challenges at every step, and the road for any start-up would be long and difficult, but real entrepreneurship happens when things seem impossible.
The message from both speakers was clear: it would require a lot of grit and motivation, but the rewards would not only be in terms of the start-up itself but also personal development.
The speeches and pitch competition were complemented by an exhibition featuring CDE start-ups and offerings from NUS Enterprise and CDE that students could tap into to bring their start-up ideas to fruition. They offered students a glimpse of the opportunities within their grasp should they stretch out to reach for them.
For more details on Innovation Day see: https://cde.nus.edu.sg/industry-enterprise/innovus/
