Prof Seeram Ramakrishna Director
NUSNNI and Dean, NUS Faculty of Engineering

NUS Council Members

Members of the International Advisory Panel

Congress Participants and Speakers

Distinguished Guests

Good morning.

         It is a pleasure to be here this morning, to officially launch the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI), in conjunction with the 1st Nano-Engineering and Nano-Science Congress.

2.      It has been almost two years since this university research institute was first conceived.  I had the benefit of visiting the institute recently.  It has made excellent progress, both in developing the human capital required for sustained research capabilities in nanoscience and nanotechnology, and in galvanising and co-ordinating research efforts that cut across university departments and faculties and our research institutes.

WHY NANOTECHNOLOGY?
3.      The 21st century belongs to cities and nations which bring people together to catch each new wave of ideas, and which spur enterprise to create new value around these ideas.  The nano area is one of the next big waves in science.  It is a revolution built on the most basic building blocks of nature, atoms, but with promise of immense proportions.  Nanoscience recognizes that materials can exhibit very different properties, and sometimes extraordinary properties, when they are whittled down to small clusters of atoms.  Nanotechnology enables us to put together these building blocks of nature easily and inexpensively, to create a whole new generation of products which are cleaner, stronger, lighter and more precise.  And, potentially, to do things that were previously inconceivable.

4.       Like replicating diamonds.  And attacking and reconstituting the molecular structure of cancer cells and viruses to make them harmless.  Indeed the impact of nanotechnology may be greatest in the medical field.  It could be used to deliver drugs selectively and effectively, and to slow or reverse the aging process.  Nanotechnology could also be used to perform delicate surgeries more precisely than with the sharpest scalpel.

5.      This life-saving potential of nanotechnology is being researched in the leading hubs of research around the world.  So too, however, are the health and environmental consequences of nano materials themselves, of which extremely little is known at this point.

6.      In the last two years, nano research has picked up momentum dramatically.  Last year, US$3 billion was invested by governments worldwide in nano-based R&D  -  a seven fold increase over the last 7 years.  In the US alone, more than US$2 billion in government funding had been appropriated for nanotechnology since 2000.  The European Union (EU) set aside 17.5 billion Euros for R&D investment last year.  Of this, a sizable proportion of the fund has been earmarked for nanotechnologies and nanosciences, knowledge-based functional materials and new production processes and devices.

7.      Japan has invested about US$880 million.  Its National Institute for Materials Science is involved in cutting edge research on nano materials.  China and India are entering the fray, and offering exciting employment opportunities for young scientists and researchers.

8.      On the whole, according to US government estimates, the nanotech economy will be worth US$1000 billion by 2012.  The nanotech economy is in fact already here.  Venture capital funding in the nano field now accounts for over 5% of all VC funds in the US.  A large volume of electronic chips is already being produced with circuitry patterned down to the nanoscale.  Computer hard drives, LED-based traffic signals, and low friction coatings are other huge commercial applications already being generated.

NANOTECHNOLOGY IN SINGAPORE
9.      Singapore aspires to be at the forefront of nanoscience.  We have some competitive advantages.  Despite being a resource-scarce nation of just 4 million, we are a centre for high value manufacturing and research.  We also rank highly in intellectual property protection, transparency, and economic and physical security.  And at the most basic level, standards of scholastic achievement in mathematics and science remain high in Singapore schools – by most international assessments among the highest in the world.

10.     Investment in nanotechnology is therefore an extension of the solid human capital and technological infrastructure we have built up over the years.

11.     Enterprises in Singapore are already engaged in this new field.  EDB-invested NanoMaterials Technology Pte Ltd is an example.  It produces nanopowders for the pharmaceutical, chemicals, electronics and opto-electronics industries, and is also successful in selling nano-sized calcium carbonate as an additive for paint and rubber.  Its headquarters and R&D Centre are in Singapore, while it also has operations in China where research is carried out in connection with the Beijing University of Chemical Technology.

12.     NanoScience Innovation Pte Ltd is another example of a Singapore start-up, set up to commercialise nanopowder production technology.  It manufactures and supplies high-quality nanopowders and engineering materials.  (By 2010, the global nanopowder industry is estimated to exceed US$5 billion in value.)

13.     One of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, ST Microelectronics, which has a large and longstanding presence in Singapore, is in the process of starting a nanotechnology research centre here.  ST Microelectronics intends to leverage on the technology and capabilities of the local research institutes.

NANOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAMMES IN
SINGAPORE UNIVERSITIES
14.     Whether we develop a self-sustaining advantage in the nano field, as in other areas of science and technology, will depend on whether we develop a knack for experimentation and passion for discovery amongst Singapore youth.  Our schools aim to do this.  They will be crucibles for passion and inquiry amongst our young.  We are also offering more opportunities for them to take their interests to higher levels.  The first batch of scholarships for graduate studies in nanotechnology was approved in August 2002.  In February 2004, the Economic Development Board (EDB) – National University of Singapore – Nanyang Technological University scholarships were inaugurated.  A total funding of more than $3 million in scholarships has been committed.

Masters Programme in Nanoengineering
15.     I am glad to announce that NUS is launching, this August, a Masters’ Programme in Nanoengineering.  It will meet the growing need for postgraduate expertise in the nano area.  The programme will be administered by the Faculty of Engineering and NUSNNI, and will exemplify the commitment by NUS to train research manpower to support and spur the growth of nanotechnology industries in Singapore.  It is more research-based than coursework-based.  Students will work on industry-related projects and attend courses across faculties.

16.     In addition, there will be many opportunities for students to work with project supervisors of international repute.  The Co-directors of NUSNNI, Engineering Dean Professor Seeram Ramakrishna and Professor Andrew Wee of the Science Faculty themselves have excellent international standing.  Other distinguished professors will also be assisted by promising young faculty such as Assistant Professor Adekunle Adeyeye who won the MIT Review’s TR100 Awards for the world’s top 100 young Innovators for his work in Spintronics.

17.     Apart from work at NUS, cutting-edge nanotechnology projects will be guided by top international researchers such as Temasek Professors Dim-Lee Kwong of the University of Texas in Austin in silicon wafer technology, C S Bhatia from IBM San Jose in information storage materials, and Daniel Wang from MIT for protemics in bioprocessing.  While these illustrious researchers are attached to the Faculty of Engineering, there are others who are attached to the Faculty of Science, such as Professor Wolfgang Knoll from the Max-Planck-Institut in Germany, who is involved in self assembly and advanced polymeric nanomaterials, and Professor Arthur Ekert of Cambridge University, whose research is in quantum computation.  They each bring distinct expertise and approaches to bear.  Nanotechnology is a unifying science.  Like much else that is new in science today, it cuts across what were once distinct and separate disciplines.

NUS NANO-PROGRAMME BEARS FRUIT
18.     So far, six patents have been filed under the NUS Nano programme.  One such patent is the Electrochemical Sensor Array Integrated Biochip, as well as the method of its manufacture.  (Biochips are small, portable sensors which detect chemicals.)  NUSNNI has filed a patent for a very small biochip, which has a superior performance to that of the current generation of biochips.

19.     A patent has also been filed for the process and apparatus for manufacturing aligned nanofibres and other structures.  It involves the production of nanofibres for growing cells for tissue engineering of blood vessels and the nervous system, and for making molecular filters to separate harmful bacteria and viruses from biological fluids.

20.     Also in the field of medicine, a NUSNNI research group is very close to commercialising the use of nanoparticle technology for biomedical applications, for example, in the treatment of cancer as I mentioned earlier.

21.     It is early days, but we look forward in Singapore to being amongst the forerunners in nano research, this whole new revolution in science and technology.

22.     In closing, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our overseas guests and participants of the on-going Nano Congress, and a special welcome and thanks to all the keynote and invited speakers.  Your deliberations will I am sure make a contribution to nanotechnology, and to Singapore.

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