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N e w s l e t t e r o f E n g i n e e r i n g S c i e n c e P r o g r a m m e
V o l . 7 , N o . 4
D e c 2 0 1 2
ESP Associate Ernest Chua Receives Coveted NRF CRP Grant
NUS GREEN ENERGY researcher
Dr Chua Kian Jon Ernest and his team
won the recent 9th NRF CRP grant call
for their project entitled: “Air
Conditioning Systems: A novel hybrid
co-generation-based district cooling to
achieve 0.65 ±0.5 kW/Rton”. Professor
Ng Kim Choon, from the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, is the overall
programme PI for this project.
This project aims to realize a quantum
improvement in the energy efficiency of
air conditioning systems. It calls for the
implementation of a hybrid cogeneration
strict cooling system with the decoupling
of sensible and latent cooling for an innovative approach to providing air conditioning. The generated cooling is
distributed to all buildings in Singapore via a centralized district network – a practical cooling system for a small city
state Singapore.
One key part of this proposal focuses on the moisture removal (hence the latent load) of the air supplied to buildings
using a state-of-the-art vacuum-assisted membrane-based dehumidifier. Membranes are developed to sieve out
water molecules after a threshold air flux. The membranes allow water vapour permeation at high fluxes and at the
same time block air penetration resulting in efficient air dehumidification. This novel approach enables the
chilled-water temperatures to be raised from the conventional 5oC to a higher supply temperature 12oC; translating to
a marked reduction in energy consumed. In addition, the synthesized membranes will provide added functionalities
including pollutant sensing and air disinfection.
This project meets the NRF’s Energy National Innovation Challenge to develop a cost-competitive solution for
deployment within 20 years to help Singapore improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and increase
energy option.
The proposal, if deployed island-wide, can potentially yield an estimated energy savings amounting to S$600 million
annually at today’s electricity prices and cooling needs. Another tangible benefit is the corresponding reduction in
Singapore’s carbon emissions of about 4% below the business-as-usual (BAU) levels, which is highly significant given
Singapore’s commitment to reduce its emissions by 7% to 11% below the 2020 BAU levels.
Dr Ernest Chua and his team, comprising ESP & ME students and a research engineer, are working on air membrane-dehumidifier which will eventually
be tested on large-scale air-conditioning systems.
P a g e 2
V o l . 7 , N o . 4 , D e c 2 0 1 2
Dr. Ho Ghim Wei’s Research Team Discovers New Transparent Conductors, Paving the Way for Cheaper and ‘Greener’ Electronics
A research team led by Dr Ho Ghim Wei from the NUS
Engineering Science Programme and NUS Department of
Electrical & Computer Engineering, has come out with a
novel water-based method of fabricating “transparent
conductors” – a world’s first, paving the way for much
cheaper and energy efficient electronics.
Transparent conductors (TCs) play a critical role in many
electronics, for example, glass touch-control panels, “smart”
windows (or electro-chromic windows), flat panel display and
solar panel. As the name suggests, they are optically
transparent and electrically conductive which act as a window
for light to pass through to the active material beneath. In
order for them to be effective, such TCs are fabricated
currently from doped indium based metal oxides.
A primary metal used in TC films, indium is a soft, silvery-white metal occurring
naturally in association with zinc and some other metals and it is extremely rare -
less than 6,000 metric tonnes are available in the world. Other compounds such as
aluminium-doped zinc oxide are being used as alternative materials which help to
lessen the amount of indium needed. There are still drawbacks - for example, such
compounds are highly dependent on the environment they operate in.
The research team PhD student Kevin Moe’s synthesized a compound consisting
of zinc oxide (ZnO) with a small amount of gallium on glass panels to make a novel
kind of TCs. He discovered that his TCs perform just as well as commercial ones -
and come with a host of advantages to boot. A significant advantage is that the
process involves ‘green’ chemistry and does not pose any significant process
hazard or environmental concern. He uses a method known as “low temperature
aqueous synthesis” which is water-based.
Said Dr Ho, “For starters, this process, as its name suggests, does not require high
heat and so this helps to lower the cost of the product. We use ZnO which is
abundantly found compared to other oxides currently use in the production of TCs
to further reduce the cost. The process also allows great scalability as we can
produce numerous TC films simultaneously. Another added novelty is the ability
to grow the TC in a three-dimensional fashion for enhanced performance.”
Patterned three-dimensional TC electrodes were fabricated to produce films of optimised surface areas and
roughness for an increased charge collector density and directed charge transport, as well as enhanced light
scattering capabilities which are especially well-suited for photovoltaic applications.
The team has filed a U.S. patent for their invention and recently published one of their research results in the
journal, Energy & Environmental Science in March 2012. Also, the news was covered by TODAY newspaper on the
28th Sep 2012. This is the first time that such a method is reported for TCs used in solar cells. They are also cur-
rently exploring new applications such as flat panel display, “smart” windows and thin film transistor for their novel
method.
A new kind of transparent conductor
Professors from Osaka University visit ESP
Prof Masaaki Ashida and Prof Tadao Nagatsuma from the School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, visited
ESP Office on the 14th December 2012. As the two professors are experts in photonics and optics, they were taken
on a tour of the microscopy laboratories of ESP. They also had a lunch meeting with Prof Wang, A/Prof Khursheed,
Dr Daniel Pickard and Dr Andrew Bettiol to discuss collaborative research relating to Photonics and Optics.
Osaka University is spearheading the formation of an International Engineering Science Consortium with NUS, KTH
(Sweden), University of California Berkeley (USA) and University of Toronto (Canada) as its members.
Top: Transparent conductor on glass.
Bottom: Magnified image of the three-dimensional transparent conductors on glass.
P a g e 3
V o l . 7 , N o . 4 , D e c 2 0 1 2
ESP Competition: Construction and Testing of Earthquake-Resistant Towers By Koh Soo Jin Adrian (ESP Associate)
This was the first of many design projects that ESP students have to undertake as part of the curriculum. The
students are required to fulfil two objectives: to determine Young’s Modulus of two types of wooden sticks with
different stiffnesses using a beam-bending experiment, and to construct a tower with a restricted number of wooden
sticks to resist horizontal base acceleration.
Prof Wang Chien Ming delivered a lecture on beam theory, which spurred the students to think deeply into designing
their beam experiments and collection of data to determine the Young’s modulus. The competitors displayed great
resourcefulness, including sourcing for product information of the wooden sticks. Ultimately, they found the
properties of Balsa and Bass wood.
Armed with the properties of both types of wood, the
students proceeded to design, analyse and construct the
model tower. Lectures on the fundamentals of structural
dynamics and the Finite Element Method were presented
to the students. All the teams were aware that their
structure should have a fundamental frequency in excess of
the maximum prescribed base excitation frequency of 5.0
Hertz. They are also aware that their towers should be
designed for good shear resistance near the base, and
minimize deflection at the upper floors. Most teams are
conscious of imperfect workmanship, which may result in a
less-than-perfect structure compared to the one analyzed
by the software. Some teams identified the possibility of
columns buckling under compressive load and dynamic
excitation. The eventual winner was a tower designed by
the team comprising Siah Kien Wei, Ang Zhen Yang, Ho
Shuyuan, Tan Si Jie Elain and Loh Chee Liang, which
sustained a peak horizontal acceleration of 1250 gals
(equivalent to a scale of 10 on the Richter scale).
On behalf of my students, I wish to thank IStructE Singapore Regional Group for sponsoring the prizes for the top
three winning teams.
First prize winners; Tan Si Jie Elain, Loh Chee Liang, Ang Zhen Yang, Ho Shuyuan & Siah Kien Wei posing proudly
with ESP Director, Prof Wang (second from right) and ESP Associate/Supervisor, Dr Adrian Koh (extreme right)
1st
2nd
3rd
P a g e 4
V o l . 7 , N o . 4 , D e c 2 0 1 2
ESP Staff Win Awards
Ms Angela Loke and Ms Flora Wang were two of the three Faculty of
Engineering staff who were awarded the Quality Service Awards for
their exemplary service for the year 2012. They will receive the Cash
Prize and the Service Achiever Award Certificates from the OQM
Director in a function arranged for them on 6th February 2013.
ESP is proud that four of its office staff have received this coveted
award in consecutive years since 2010.
A/Prof Anjam Khursheed, Mrs Anna Robinson, Mr Tay Peng Yeow and Mr Chew Yew Lin of ESP received the Long
Service Awards from the FoE Dean in a ceremony held in recognition of dedicated and committed service in NUS on
19th November 2012 at the Engineering Auditorium.
Prof Ernst Rank Visits ESP
Prof Ernst Rank, Chair for Computation in Engineering, Technical
University of Munich, Germany gave a talk on “Isogeometric Analysis &
The Finite Cell Method: Two Approaches to Better Integrate CAD and
Numerical Analysis”.
In his talk to the ESP community on 14 Nov 2012, Prof Rank emphasized
that in recent years, isogeometric analysis (IGA) had gained huge
attention in the computational science and engineering community,
based on geometric models described by spline functions, as they have
been used very successfully in the world of Computer Aided Design. IGA
takes the very same functions to approximate e.g. structural
displacements by a finite-element-like approach.
He said that the big advantage compared to the classical FEM is the
excellent integration of design and analysis, and the high accuracy
obtainable by this new approach. IGA is especially well suited to
geometric models of thin structures, described by the shape of their
surfaces, so-called BRep-models.
The Finite Cell Method (FCM), on the other hand, can be integrated easily with the second class of frequently used
geometric models, the Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG). FCM is a fictitious domain approach with high order
shape functions, embedding a physical body into a larger, simply shaped domain. FCM relieves completely from the
necessity to generate a finite element mesh and thus reduces the engineering effort for a numerical analysis
drastically. Prof Rank shared recent results on the FCM, demonstrating its efficiency on complex examples from civil
and automotive engineering. Finally, he pointed out that a synthesis of the central concepts of IGA and FCM
combines the advantages of both methods in a seamless design-through-analysis methodology.
Assoc Prof Anjam Khursheed presenting the ESP Souvenir to Prof Ernst Rank
after the talk on 14 November 2012
FoE Dean Prof Chan Eng Soon presented the Long Service Awards to A/Prof Anjam Khursheed, Mrs Anna Robinson & Mr Tay Peng Yeow for 15, 10 and 30 years of service respectively.
Ms Angela Loke Service Achiever
Ms Flora Wang Service Achiever
P a g e 5
V o l . 7 , N o . 4 , D e c 2 0 1 2
Recent Achievements of ESP Staff
Dr. Palani Balaya has been appointed a Topical Editor of the Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry for the topic on
"Batteries, Capacitors, Fuel Cells" for the period 2013-2015. The Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry which
published by Springer, Germany receives an increasing number of manuscripts in various fields of solid state is
electrochemistry, with an enormous growth rate especially in the fields of batteries, capacitors and fuel cells.
Besides, the scientific growth in Asia is at an incredible pace and indeed Asia is producing the largest number of
submissions on these topics.
Prof Wang Chien Ming was successful in obtaining the Australian Research Council – Discovery Project grant
amounting to AUD360,000 to develop microplane material models for graphene-oxide-reinforced concretes. The
project duration is 3 years (from 2013-2015). The principal investigator is Dr Duan Wenhui of the Department of
Civil Engineering, Monash University, Australia and the other collaborators are Prof Jay G Sanjayan and Prof
Zdenek Bazant.
Prof Wang Chien Ming delivered a special
lecture on “The Status of Very Large Floating
Structures” at the 2nd International
Conference on Computational Design in
Engineering, held in Jeju, Korea from 13-16
November 2012. He also gave a keynote
lecture on “Molecular dynamics simulation
results for buckling of carbon nanotubes
with small aspect ratios” at the International
Congress on Computational Mechanics and
Simulations, IIT Hyderabad from 9-12
December 2012.
and Students...
ESP Year 4 students; NgoYun Fun, Benjamin Kho & Chiam Fusong recently published a paper in the proceedings of
the International Conference on Engineering and Applied Science 2012 which was held in Hong Kong. The title of
the paper is "Maximising Incident Diffuse and Direct Solar Irradiance on Photovoltaic Panels Through the Use of
Fixed Tilt and Limited Azimuth Tracking". The paper presents the energy simulation methods and results of a PV
array designed for the Team NUS Solar Decathlon.
ESP Year 2 student Manickamalar Jothimani Pillay has to added to his credit two
achievements; Team Rookie of the Year (Judo) and NUS Half Colours. He received both
awards at a function held in the University Cultural Centre.
ESP Year 3 student Ding Zhiwei clinched the best student prize
for Mechanical Engineering ME4211 Module in Applied
Mechanics for this semester. He will receive the cash prize and
certificate from the Head of the Department of Mechanical
Engineering.
Ding Zhiwei is currently the top student in his cohort and aspires
to be a SCIENTIST!
Prof Wang presenting his lecture on Status of VLFS in CODE 2012, Jeju, Korea
Manickamalar Jothimani Pillay
Ding Zhiwei posing in front of the Hollywood Theatre, USA
P a g e 6
V o l . 7 , N o . 4 , D e c 2 0 1 2
EG2604 Innovation Programme Project on Autonomous Lego Robot Navigation with Perception Capability
21 ESP students participated in EG2604 Innovation Programme to design and program Lego robots with perception
capability as well as to navigate around a circuit. In the construction of the robot, students have to consider the
dynamics of mounted sensors that include a webcam acting as its perception. While navigating along a prescribed
path, the robot has to correctly classify the objects seen through the webcam. Students need to investigate and study,
firstly, the mechanical form of the robot to carry the webcam, and secondly, the training and testing phases of the
object classification algorithm in order to achieve high accuracy of identification.
In order to make the project interesting and to draw out innovative talents of the students, a mini-competition was
organized. Students were divided into 7 teams, each comprising 3 students. The fun competition takes place on 12
Oct 2012 outside the ESP office (see pictures). Two independent judges from DSO National Laboratories with a
strong background in computer vision and robotics were invited to judge the competition. The students were
assessed based on several factors such as camera fixation, scene completion, timing, classification accuracy, program
flow, navigation program, robustness, mechanical stability and image quality. The score from the competition
together with the continuous assessment of the assignments handled out during the class were tabulated to
determine the overall winners. Attractive prizes were given out to the top three winning teams and also for the most
innovative team and best teamwork. This is the third successful run of the project on building Lego robots under the
Innovation Programme.
BBQ Night and Mooncake Festival @ PGP By Ryan Yang
After the midterm tests and quizzes, it was time for the
ESPian community to let down their hair. The Mooncake
festival cum BBQ night (6th October 2012) was just that.
A commemoration of the Mid-Autumn Festival served as a
great opportunity for the freshmen to interact with the senior
batches and enjoy a barbeque under the full moon.
The occasion started off in the afternoon with students
gathering at Prince George’s Park basketball and badminton
courts to play. To liven up the mood at the BBQ pit, Prof
Wang performed card tricks to a group of year 2 and year 3
students to engage their thinking minds. A few hours of
laughs and tiredness later, appetites were whetted.
Amazingly, the BBQ pit at Prince George’s Park was well
packed with ESPians despite the initial threat of rain. The fire
was started once the BBQ staples arrived and by 7pm the first
plate of satay hit the noisy benches.
The highlight of the night was when the ESP sub-club president, Li Bowen, brought out a mooncake the size of a
pizza and served everyone a piece. It was a lovely evening getting to know each other beyond the lectures and tutorials
that ended with a lightshow of sparklers. The ESPian community would like to thank Prof Wang and Dr Jeroen van
Kan for taking time out of their hectic schedule to grace the night with their presence.
Mrs & Dr Jeroen van Kan enjoyed the BBQ evening with the ESP students and Prof Wang (not in picture)
P a g e 7
V o l . 7 , N o . 4 , D e c 2 0 1 2
ESP Graduates at NUS Engineering Alumni Dinner
In the NUS Engineering Alumni Gala Dinner held
at the NUSS Guild House on 12 October 2012,
ESP was allocated its inaugural table of alumni.
Being the most recent engineering programme
rolled out by the Faculty of Engineering, the ESP
table has obviously the youngest alumni among
the huge crowd of engineers.
Prof Wang enjoyed the warm fellowship with the
ESP alumni. He updated the alumni on the
happenings in ESP and at the same time was
pleased to learn that ESP alumni are doing well
in all kinds of industries. Truly, ESP has
empowered graduates to do whatever they wish
to pursue in higher studies or work.
From right to left: Tan Jian Hao – Design Engineer with Halliburton, Eunice Koh – Engineer with NEA, Tan Wenyou – Investment
Manager with SPRING, Prof Wang, Melvin Fong – Engineer with LJ Energy, Edna Seah – Solution Application Engineer with Schneider
Electric, Lew Jen Sern – Research Engineer with SERIS, Aqdas Nida – Research Engineer with NUS Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Franco Lim – PhD student in NUS Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Benjamin Kho – Final Year ESP Student.
Winners for ESP 3902 Solar Powered Unmanned Rover Competition The solar powered unmanned land rover competition was held in Blk E3A on 9 Nov 2012. The following teams were
the winners:
1st Prize to Team 1 comprising James Russell, Chen Yu, Liu Yi, Wang Chen & Pol Van Der Pluijm
2nd Prize to Team 5 comprising Waqas Hassan Cheema, Yao Jialiang, Boo Choon Hung Aloysius & Seng Vibol.
3rd Prize to Team 2 comprising Hou Chenxi, Goh Wen Fang Dacia, Michelle Julius, Yang Zhenzhi & Jonathan McGowan
ESP Welcomes New Assistant Manager, Ms Violet Tay and Management Assistant Officer, Ms Shanmuga Priya
Ms Violet Tay joined the ESP family in the position of Assistant Manager in Dec 2012.
Violet has many years of working experience in the private higher learning industry.
Prior to joining NUS’ Engineering Science Programme, she was an executive in a private
institution and was involved in students administration, career services and program
management. Violet will be in charge of general administration in ESP. During her
leisure time, Violet enjoys keeping fish and plants. These activities help her to relax and
to recharge to face new challenges. She also enjoys watching Korean dramas.
Ms Shanmuga Priya will join the ESP family in the position of MAO in Jan 2013.
Priya graduated from SIM(UOL) with a BSc in Management. Previously, she was
with OCBC as a loans retention officer. Priya will be in charge of undergraduate
student matters in ESP. Priya loves to travel and enjoys experiencing new cul-
tures along the way.
ESP family wishes both Violet and Priya, a successful career and good times in the Engineering Science Programme.
Violet’s motto: To see the
strength in every person!
Priya’s motto: To live life as it comes!
P a g e 8
For any enquiry or feedback, please contact: Engineering Science Programme National University of Singapore 9 Engineering Drive 1, EA #06-10 Singapore 117576
Website: www.esp.nus.edu.sg Tel No.: (65) 6516 8854 Fax No.: (65) 6775 4710 Email: [email protected]
V o l . 7 , N o . 4 , D e c 2 0 1 2
ESPians featured in Newspaper Articles
Prof Wang in front of man-made floating islands on the Han river, Seoul.
Dr Ho Ghim Wei was featured in TODAY newspaper on 28th Sep 2012 for a scientific discovery. She demonstrated that it is possible to replace ITO in dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) with a 3-D transparent conductor fabricated using a cheap aqueous method.
Prof Wang Chien Ming was featured in a full page article entitled
“My home in the sea? Building large floating platforms to compete
for space in the sea” on page 14 of Lianhe Zaobao, Sunday
14 October 2012. Prof Wang, who is an expert in large floating
platforms, suggested that Singapore could explore expanding
beyond the shoreline to gain space in the sea.
Dr Ho in the lab with PhD student Mr Kevin Moe
ESP Graduate Mr Tan Wenyou was featured in the Straits Times on 31 Dec 2012 with
Mr Chiu Whye Leong on the subject “Insider’s account of Gambling Addiction”.
Mr Chiu credited Dr Leong Kaiwen and Wenyou for helping him turn around his life
from gambling addictions and debts to resuming his studies reading Business and
Accountancy in UniSIM in the new year in addition to managing his food franchise
business on the sidelines.
ESP Graduates Tan Wenyou, Investment Manager in
SPRING Singapore, Foo Wei Jian, Electromagnetic
Engineer in DSO National Laboratories and ESP 3rd Year
Student Tee Ng Joey were featured under the heading
“Bridging Engineering and Science” in the current
edition of Brightsparks Magazine, dedicated to students
from Public Universities. Mr Ethan Sia of Brightsparks
said he was impressed by ESP students who are all
rounded in many aspects with exceptional talents.
Mr Zhao Dexin, founded Imperio Trading in
March 2010 before entering the Electrical
Engineering Department, NUS in the same
year. In early 2012, Mr Waqas Hassan
Cheema, student from Engineering Science
joined this company as its Marketing and
Sales Director. They were recently featured in
MyPaper as the Dynamic Duo of successful
Student Entrepreneurs for their good
business acumen. Dynamic Duo: Imperio Trading’s
Marketing & Sales Director, Mr Waqas Hassan and Founder, Zho Dexin
Mr Chiu Whye Leong & Mr Tan Wenyou
Mr Foo Wei Jian Electromagnetic Engineer
DSO Nat. Laboratories
Ms Tee Ng Joey ESP Year3 Student
Mr Tan Wenyou Investment Manager SPRING Singapore