Igniting Innovation - Nanyang Technological Universityscse.ntu.edu.sg/Research/Documents/RRSCE_2005.pdf · Watson Research Center, USA, and SIMTech. In this project, researchers aim

Research Report 2005


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Contents 03> Message from the Dean 04> Message from the Vice-Dean of Research 05> Statistics

Fireworks – Award-winning Research Projects and Papers06> IntegratedVirtualExperimentationandBusinessProcess ImplementationforHigh-techManufacturingandServiceNetworks

08> UseofVR/ARActivatesLearning

10>CreatingUbiquitousInteractiveDisplaysusingProjector-Camera Systems

12> EnhancingPortEfficiencyinSingapore

14> InformationExtraction–AnInvestigativeApproach

18> TowardsHiddenWebMonitoring:LookingThrough SemanticGlasses

19> SpaceTechnology

20> Grid-basedProblemSolvingEnvironmentfor EngineeringMaterials

21>HumanPacman–BetheGame

16> Globalisation

Research Centres and Laboratories 22> EmergingResearchLab

23> ForensicsandSecurityLab

24> CentreforAdvancedMediaTechnology

24> GameLab

25> CentreforHighPerformanceEmbeddedSystems

25> ParallelandDistributedComputingCentre

26> BioInformaticsResearchCentre

26> CentreforComputationalIntelligence

27> CentreforAdvancedInformationSystems

27> CentreforMultimediaandNetworkTechnology

28> International Collaboration30> SCE in the Community

Editorial BoardAssocProfSeahHockSoon(Advisor)AssocProfLeeBuSung,Francis(Chairman)AsstProfArleneBastionMissAnitaSebastian

Designer:MdmJeanTan

EnquiriesPleasedirectallenquiriestoAssocProfLeeBuSung,FrancisVice-Dean(Research)Email:[email protected]

04/06Informationiscorrectattimeofprinting.Forupdates,pleaserefertotheschoolwebsite.Reg.No.200604393R


TheSchoolofComputerEngineering(SCE)expandeditsroleasaneducationand research institute in 2005. New methodologies for teaching wereinitiatedandresearchlaboratoriesweresetup,reflectingchangesinSCE.

In this report, you will find articles on research projects and papers byfacultyandstudentsinSCEthathavewonmajorawardsintheregionalandinternationalscenesin2005.

YouwillalsoreadaboutthedifferentfacetsofresearchinSCE.Theschool’smain research thrust encompasses five niches: game technology,grid technology, information intelligence, humanized interfaces, andpervasive computing.Anaddition to the researchactivities inSCEwas theformation of two new research laboratories. The Emerging Research Labwas launched to identify and nurture new and promising research areas.The Forensics and Security Laboratory focuses on applying computationaltechniquestoforensicanalysisandsecurityengineering.

At the end of last year, Nanyang Technological University formed researchclusters to facilitate research and advance training within the university.This move would propel SCE’s research even further as we work in closepartnershipwithalltheotherschoolsintheuniversity.

SCEcontinuestoforgeallianceswithmajorresearchinstitutions,governmentagencies, and industries. Locally, SCE collaborates with SIMTech, InstituteofHigh PerformanceComputing, andAnimagine Pte Ltd, andgovernmentorganisations such as IDA, LTA and MPA. On the global scene, our newpartnersincludetheHondaResearchInstituteEurope(Germany),andKarlstadUniversity(Sweden).

OneofthekeystrengthsinSCEisthequalityofourfacultyandresearchers.This strong research culture continues to attract new talent from all overtheworld,creatinganinternationalflavourintheschool.Active(on-going)researchgrantshavebeenincreasingoverthepastyears.In2005,theamountofactivegrantsrosetoS$17.1million,doubleofwhatitwastheyearbefore.

SCE welcomes outstanding researchers and educators to join ourschool. And we will surround them with state-of-the-art tools in order toexcelinbothfields.Theschooliscommittedtopioneerinnovations,andtobecomethecentreofexcellenceinteachingandresearch.

Message from the Dean

AssocProfSeahHockSoonDeanSchool of Computer Engineering

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Message from the Vice-Dean of Research

The School of Computer Engineering (SCE) has come a long way sinceits formation in 1988. Back then, the school was focused on setting up aComputerEngineeringprogrammeforundergraduates.Overtheyears,SCEhas increased its undergraduate and graduate programmes, and researchtoo,hasflourished.

SCE, established as a strong engineering school, has taken major stridesin developing and promoting the education and research eco-systemwithin theschool.Therearecurrentlyover200graduatestudentsand100academic staff striving to boost education and research here. This year,the Emerging Research Lab, and the Forensics and Security Lab wereset up alongside the main research centres in the University to expandSCE’sresearch.

SCEhasastrongresearchculture.Establishinginternationalcollaborationsandimmersingourstaffinoverseasattachmentsarejustpartsofit.TheschoolhasteamedupwithinstitutionssuchasGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology(USA)andIndianInstituteofScience(Bangalore,India).Throughthesecollaborations,ourfacultyhasbeengiventheopportunitytoundertakejointresearchactivitiesandbeinvolvedinthesupervisionofgraduatestudents.

Facultyandgraduatestudentshavedonetheschoolproudintheirparticipa-tionatinternationalconferencesandcompetitions,wheretheywereinvitedasspeakersorwereawardedfortheirresearch.

ResearchReport2005highlightssomeoftheresearchprojectsthathavemadesignificantimpact–createdFIREWORKS–intheresearchcommunity.Itdoesnotencompassallourinterestingon-goingprojects,butitdoesprovideanoverviewofkeyresearchactivitiesinSCE.

Multi-disciplinary global research efforts – where researchers from around the world come together to address a myriad of scientific challenges – are becoming more prevalent and essential for world-class research today.

AssocProfLeeBuSung,FrancisVice-Dean (Research)School of Computer Engineering

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ConferencepapersPhDstudents

Researchgrants inSCEhasbeen increasingsince2001.Thetotalamountofon-goingresearchgrantin2005isapproximatelyS$17.1millionofwhichabout43%areexternalgrants,i.e.fromindustryandstatutoryboards.

Statistics

MajorcontributorsofresearchfundingfromstatutoryboardsincludeA*STAR(AgencyforScience,TechnologyandResearch),DSTA(DefenceScienceandTechnologyResearch), IDA (Infocomm Development Authorityof Singapore) and MPA (Maritime Authority ofSingapore).

Major contributors of research funding from theindustry include ST Microelectronics, InfineonTechnologies,SunMicrosystem,STDynamics,MedicalImaging,andCEIContractManufacturing.

SCE’s staff strength increased in 2005 to 230, withacademicstaffstrengthat99.Researchstaffstrengthhasremainedsteadyforthepastfewyears.Thenumberof graduate students engaged in research stands at257,ofwhich20%areMasterofEngineering (MEng)studentsandtherestarepursuingadoctorate.Since1989,atotalof181MEngand59PhDstudentshavegraduatedfromtheschool.

In2005,SCEpublished269journalsand481conferencepapers, averaging about 7.5 journals and papers peracademicstaff.

2001

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2005

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2000

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MEngstudents

ProjectOfficers :27

ResearchEngineers :2

ResearchAssociates :21

ResearchFellow :11

Academicstaff :99

Administrativestaff :23

Technicalstaff :47

Researchstaff :61

Staff Strength

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500 600 700

Research Strength

PublicationsPostgraduate Students (by Research)

300

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The goal of the SUR project is toapplyadvancedsimulationmethodstodesignandtunetheperformanceof critical business processes. Thetechnology will enable fast andeffective modelling of businessp r o ce s s e s an d op e ra t i ons ,monitoring of business processtargets,predictionof theeffectsofproposed process changes, and theeasy and rapid deployment of thebestpossiblebusinessprocessesbackinto the software system throughthereuseofthebusinessapplicationlogicinthesimulationmodel.

Integrated Virtual Experimentation and Business Process Implementation for High-tech Manufacturing and Service Networks SCE was awarded the Shared University Research (SUR) award by IBM to support a projectledbyAssoc Prof Stephen John Turner, SCE, andDr Peter Lendermann, Singapore Institute ofManufacturingTechnology(SIMTech).

Project HighlightsFast and effective response tochanges in business strategies andthe competitive environment isvital for success. To achieve this,the business processes and theaccompanying software infra-structure must be adaptive andrespondquicklytonewchanges.Thechangesthatneedtobeimplementedmust be analysed thoroughly andshown to be effective before anypotential gains to the business canbe realised. This is particularlyimportant for industries with

operations that are subject to highvariability, such as semiconductormanufacturing or aerospace sparepartslogistics.

Thisprojectisbeingcarriedoutjointlywith the prestigious IBM Thomas J.Watson Research Center, USA, andSIMTech.Inthisproject,researchersaimtodevelopasoftwareapplicationframework (Fig. 1), using productsfrom the IBM Websphere BusinessIntegration (WBI) suite. Businessprocesses are linked using the WBIsuitetoacomputersimulationmodel

Fig.1ProposedframeworkforBusinessProcessOptimisation.

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representing business operations,such as the manufacturing and/orlogistics operations. This allows thebusinessprocessestoberefinedandanalysedinavirtualexperimentationenvironmenttofindthebestpossiblesolution. By reusing the businessapplication logic in the simulationmodel, the refined business pro-cesses can be easily deployed backinto the real system again by usingtheWBIsuite.

Research SignificanceIntraditionalsimulationanalysis,thebusiness processes and operationsmust first be studied and capturedas simulation models, from whichdifferent ‘what-if’ scenarios can beperformed. Subsequently, the bestsolution,verifiedthroughsimulation,must be implemented back intothe real system. This is a lengthyprocess and creates anunnecessarytranslation cost of converting thebusiness process logic from thebusinessapplicationtothesimulationmodelsandviceversa.Furthermore,certain fidelity in the logic may besacrificed in order to simplify thesimulationmodel.

In this framework, the unnecessarytranslation step is reduced byleveraging on business logic thatcanbereuseddirectlyforsimulationpurposes.

The proposed framework not onlyserves as an integrated decisionsupport tool for businesses, it canalso be combined with the WBIMonitor to give a comprehensive,continual process optimisationframework.Inthisway,thebusinessapplicationbecomesalivingsystem,and evolves and grows with thebusinessneeds.

The framework is an example of asymbiotic simulation system – onethat interacts with the real systemin a mutually beneficial way. Thereal system benefits from theoptimised performance obtainedfrom the analysis of simulationexperiments, and the simulation

systembenefitsfromthecontinuoussupply of the latest data andthe automatic validation of itssimulationoutputs.

The ultimate vision of this researchprojectisthecreationofanadaptivedecision support framework thatallows the high fidelity representa-tion of all value-creation processesin a unified business model.This can be used to improve theperformance of the businessprocesses in a virtual experiment-ation testbed (Fig. 2), and thentodeploythecorrespondingbusinessapplicationsoftwareusingthesameunified model. All critical tacticaldecisions for business processmanagementwillbeenabledthroughonesingleframework.

Thisprojectisuniqueinthat,forthefirst time, virtual experimentationwithbusinessprocessesinadynamictestbed becomes possible throughcommerciallyestablishedsoftware.

Impact on IndustryThe impact of this research onindustry will be an immensereduction of the cycle time for

business process design-analysis-enhancement-implementation. Theframework will allow experimenta-tion and improvements thatotherwise would not be possible,resulting in reduced manufacturingand logistics costs, and enhanceddelivery service performance forhigh-techproducts.

Related ProjectFor the Integrated and AdaptiveSimulation-based Decision SupportFramework for High-tech Manufac-turingandServiceNetworksproject,an A*STAR SERC TSRP Grant wasawarded under the IntegratedManufacturing and Service Systemstheme. Team MembersAssoc Prof Stephen John Turner,Asst Prof Malcolm Yoke Hean Low,Xiaoguang Wang, Ling Ding, DrPeter Lendermann, Lai Peng Chan(SIMTech),DrSteveBuckley(IBMT.J.WatsonResearchCenter).

Principal InvestigatorAssocProfStephenJohnTurnerEmail:[email protected]

Fig.2Virtualexperimentationtestbed.

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Use of VR/AR Activates Learning ThepresentemphasisoninnovationandcreativityinSingapore’seducationsystemshouldshinelightontovirtualandaugmentedreality–forenliveningpreviousdryasdusttexts.AssocProfWolfgangMüller-Wittig,DirectorofCAMTech,isleadinghisteamofresearcherstocreatemeaningfuleducational experiences through its innovative and enterprising use. As these experiences aregroundedinasubstantivesubjectareaofknowledge,focusingontheintellectualandemotionaldevelopment of the viewer, Assoc Prof Müller-Wittig’s work possesses both educational andentertainmentvalues.Itenergisestheprocessofeducationandmakeslearninglively,reflectingthe present educational philosophy of Singapore to move towards interactive and innovativecurriculums.

Augmented Reality Chinese Learning GameTheAugmentedReality(AR)ChineseLearning Game is an Edutainmentgame which can make Chineselanguage learning more interactiveand thus, engaging. With theemphasis and dominance of theChinese language today, Singaporehas recognisedandemphasised theneedforChineselanguageteachingtoberecastedintomoreimaginativeandstudent-centredmodes.

The system uses AR technologywhichallowsadditional informationtobeaddedontotheuser’sview.

The target audience for this gamewould be young children, althoughplans include older learners ofthe language. In Singapore, manychildrenfindthelearningofChinese

charactersverydifficult.Asaresult,manyofthembecomedisinterestedin learning the language. Throughthis game, children will be able toexplore the language and becomefamiliarwiththecharactersinamoreimmersiveandfun-filledway.

This software, however, will alsoappealtoanyonewhowantstolearnbasicChinesecharacters.

The game revolves around a choiceoftwomaintypesoftemplates,onewitha singleChinese character, theother, which has two characters onit.Playerscanoptforeither.Awebcamera captures the characters,and the AR application interpretsthem. An audio pronunciation ofthe character(s) is read out withcorresponding3Dmodelsaugmentedonscreen.

The Augmented Physics LaboratoryARisattractingincreasingattentionfrom Human-Computer Interaction(HCI) researchers anddesigners. It is a perfecttool for educat ionpurposes through theembedded features ofits graphical display,and flexible means ofinteraction with the realworld.

This project aims todesignandimplementaninteractive teaching andlearning interface using

AR tools to teach students aboutresistance concepts and currentelectrical physical phenomena. Theproject concentrates mainly on thesimple mechanics and calculationsof resistance concepts in serial orparallel electrical circuits; and howdifferentmeasuresofresistancewillproducedifferentcurrents.

Thedemoprototypeconsistsoffourmarkers and their corresponding3D digital models, including tworesistors, a generator and a bulb.A simple mock-up of an electricalcircuitissetup,andthenusersinputthreedifferenttypesofcomponentsinto four pre-designed slots. Thesystemdisplaystherelevantcapturedinformation,sendsbackthetypeofresistors chosen, and makes somecalculations. It then prints out therelevant teaching materials/data totheuser,suchasthetotalresistanceandfinalcurrentinthecircuit.

UsingARinphysics.

ARmakeslearningChineseinteractiveandengaging.

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Students learn while playing, whichgreatly improves their learningcurves.ThesettingoftheAugmentedPhysicsLabcanbeeasilyadaptedforvariousotherphysicalphenomena.

Digital Heritage – The Peranakans The team’s Digital Heritage ProjectaimstopromoteSingapore’suniqueheritage through presenting thePeranakans as visual reality. ThePeranakans are facing problems ofmaintaining and perpetuating theirculture for future generations, andseeking ways to rejuvenate theirculture and history. Virtual Reality(VR) would hold great potentialas a new and interesting way ofcombining tradition with cutting-edgetechnology.

To bring the culture to life inVR, arealistic virtual environment withvirtualcounterpartsofterracehouses,thematic rooms, and Peranakanheritage objects has been createdandcanbeexplored.Atwo-handedtangibleinteractiondevice,includinga Chinese character recognitionmethod, navigation, and on-screenmenus,hasalsobeendeveloped.

TheDigitalHeritageprojectisareal-time application that is built withan in-house visualisation systemutilisingOpenSGfortherenderingofthecomplete3Dscene.

The Virtual Fish Tank The Virtual Fish Tank is a real-time edutainment application thatsimulates autonomous, life-like fishof different species, in a realisticunderwater environment. Each fishperceivestheworldandreactsbasedontheobjectsinitsfieldofvision.Thebehaviourofeachfishisdefinedbyaset of sub-behaviours, like collisionavoidance,hunting,andescape.Thereactionisaresultofacombinationof these sub-behaviours. Models ofrocks, plants, and corals are usedto create a realistic environment.Optical effects typical for waterare also simulated, like causticsthat occur due to sunlight passing

throughwaves.Interactionmethodsthat let users participate turn theVirtual Fish Tank into a learningenvironment. Users can explore thefish tank freely, gather informationabout anyfish andplant, feedfish,andplayeducativegames.

Impact on SocietyAssoc Prof Müller-Wittig’s workhas received recognition from IDA,entrusted with steering Singaporeinto an IT hub. Here are examplesof how the research plays a role inSingapore’sITplans.

3D Modelling and Reconstruction of Incident Scenes – Nicoll Highway Thisresearchhasprovidedtechnicalsupport for critical incident inquirysuch as the Nicoll Highway Inquiry.TheMinistryofManpowerrequestedtheschooltoprovidea3Dcomputervisualisation in May 2004. Thevirtual model of the overall wallsystem provided illustration andground orientation, to facilitate theCommitteeofInquiry(COI)hearing.

KPE TunnelThis project is conducted in closecollaboration with NTU s School ofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering,theCentreforGraphicsandImagingTechnology (CGIT), SCE, and theLand Transport Authority (LTA) ofSingapore. Its main objective is tostudy driver responses along theKallang-Paya-LebarExpressway(KPE)tunnels,tofindoutwaystooptimisethe use of various new designfeaturesandtechnologiesinsidethetunnels.Morespecifically, thestudywillinvestigatedriverpreferencesforvariousdesignfeaturesofthetunnel(e.g. lane use signs, variable speedlimits,etc.)

Since the KPE is still underconstruction, the study combinesfield surveys and laboratoryobservation with the use of a highperformance driving simulationsystem. Assoc Prof Müller-Wittig’sresearchers are responsible fordevelopingarealisticvisualisationofthedrivingscenes,andtoprovidean

experiment environment for testingvariousdesignoptionsattheKPE.

ULTRA – Ultra portable augmented reality for industrial maintenance applications This project, ULTRA (supported bythe European Commission, IST-004734,http://ist-ultra.org/),aimstodevelopan‘ultraportable’systembyapplyingARtechniquestohandheldPCs.Thiswillofferacomfortableandunobtrusive solution, integratingaugmented-reality functionalitieswith near-the-eye display, wirelessconnection,andremotesupportovertheintegratedmobilephone.

Thesystemwillnotrequireexpensivehardwareandiseasytowear,makingit suitable for many applicationsincluding:

• Maintenanceandsupportofcomplexmachines

• Constructionandproduction

• Edutainmentandculturalheritage

The research institute is one of thecoredevelopersofOpenSGinvolvedinthedevelopmentofanAugmentedReality System for handheld PCs.Oneofthemaintasksistodevelopaperforming rendering engine whichoffers similar features to PC-basedvirtualrealitysystems.

Principal InvestigatorAssocProfWolfgangMüller-WittigEmail:[email protected]

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Creating Ubiquitous Interactive Displays using Projector-Camera SystemsTheCentreforMultimediaandNetworkTechnology(CeMNet)housesanunusualroomwithanunremarkabledoorlabelledSmartSpace.Thisdooropenstoamostlybareroom,simplyfurnishedwithunconventionallyplacedprojectors,cameras,andmicrophones.

SmartSpace is the primary home toSCE’s research into the innovativeuse of projector-camera systems(PROCAMS). The long-term goalof the PROCAMS project is todevelop key technologies that willenable the creation of ubiquitousdisplays in intelligent environments,creating a present-day version ofthe `holo-deck’ where the walls,tabletops, floors, and other objectscan be transformed into interactivedisplays. Such ubiquitous displayswillrevolutionisethewayinteractivemedia may be delivered to users,and will enable augmented realityapplications to be used withoutcumbersomeheads-updisplays.

Furthermore,ubiquitousdisplayscandramatically enhance our pervasiveaccess to computational andinformationresources,breakingfreeofconfiningsmallhandhelddevicesandcreatingasubstantialimpactonworkandhomelifestyles.

Itisimpossibletoachievethisvision,atleastnotpractically,bymountingflat-panel displays on all visiblesurfaces. Instead, the approachadopted by researchers is to createubiquitous displays through amoderatenumberofcasuallyplacedprojectors and cameras that spanlargeandoverlappingfieldsofview.This approach would allow for thecreation of interactive displays onchallenging surfaces such as curvedpillars,movingobjects,people, andevencloth.

Research and Technical ChallengesGeometric Modelling and CalibrationWhen obliquely projecting ontomultiplenon-planarsurfaces,therawimages displayed would be heavilydistorted. To correct thisdistortion,we need to know which point onwhich physical surface is lightedup when we turn on a particularpixel in a projector. This requires a

geometric model of the surface orenvironmenttobecreated,followedbyageometriccalibrationproceduretolearnthespatialmappingbetweeninput projector pixels, observedcamera pixels, and points in thephysical environment. Additionally,these mappings should also bederived across multiple projectorsandcameras.

In the research, different methodswere investigatedanddeveloped toapply the calibration automatically,robustly, and fast. These charact-eristics would allow projector-camerasystemstobeportable,andbeabletoadapttophysicalchangesin the environment (e.g. displacedfurniture,newobjects,etc.).Oneofthe applications that was enabledthrough geometric calibration isa scalable large display createdby seamlessly combining multiplecasually placed projectors withoverlappingoutput.

Withubiquitousdisplays,everysurfacecanbeaninteractivedisplaythroughadvancedprojector-cameratechnology.

Scalablelargedisplaycreatedbyseamlesslycombiningtheoutputoffourcasuallyplacedprojectors.

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Colour and Intensity CalibrationTherelationbetweeneachprojectorinput pixel colour and intensity tothe resultant colour and brightnessofthecorrespondingprojectedpointonthesurfacemustalsobehandled.This relation is dependent not onlyontheinternalcharacteristicsoftheprojector, but also on the surfaceshape, the angle of the projectedlightrayincidentonthesurface,andtheappearanceofthesurface(which,forexample,maybeatable-topwithawood-graintexture).

Oneof theresearchdiscoverieswasa new technique for automatedintensity calibration. The noveltyof this technique over the existingtechniques is the lack of need forexpensive supplementary equipment.Through geometric and intensitycalibration,aninterestingapplicationwas created for a revolutionaryinterior lighting system based on asinglefixedprojectorthatiscapableof simulating illumination-shadingeffects resulting from multiplevirtuallampsthatdonotreallyexist.These virtual lamps can be placedanywherebytheuser,eitherthroughthe normal computer interface, orviaaphysical3Dlocationsensor.

User InteractionIn the ubiquitous scenario, whereusersanddisplayscanbeanywhereintheroom,thestandardkeyboardand mouse interface is no longerviable. Two more natural modesof interaction have been exploredas replacements for the mouse.One was a laser pointer which hasthe advantage that a user onlyneeds one laser pointer to interactseamlessly across different displays.Furthermore, users can havemore than one laser pointer tosimultaneously interact within asingledisplay.

Usersareabletodirectlyhighlightandinteractwithphysicalobjectsbyplacingtheprojectedmousepointerovertheobjects,orwithlaserpointers.

User and Environment AwarenessBesides deliberate user interaction,such intelligent displays may alsocontain functionalities to reactproactively to the subconsciousneeds of users. One of the earliestPROCAMS project embarked inSCE was that of automaticallyremoving shadows cast by usersthat partially blocked projectors, aswell as removing blindingly-brightprojected light that fell onto users.A subsequent project explored thereverseobjective – thatof havingaprojected spotlight automaticallyfollowapresenter.

Funding and AchievementsThe PROCAMS project obtainedthe NTU Start-Up Grant of $100Kin2002.Apaper resultingfromtheproject was awarded Best Paper atthe IEEE International Workshop onProjector-CameraSystems2005.Theprojectalsoresultedinthreepaperspublished in the top competitivevenue of the IEEE Conferenceon Computer Vision and PatternRecognition(CVPR).

Team MembersAssoc Prof Cham Tat Jen, Asst ProfMichaelBrown,AssocProfWolfgangMüller-Wittig,SongPeng

Principal InvestigatorAssocProfChamTatJenEmail:[email protected]

Creatingilluminationshadingeffectsarisingfromvirtuallightsourcesthatdonotphysicallyexist.

PROCAMS-augmentedwhiteboardthatallowsphysicalanddigitalinktoco-existinthesamespace.Thesystemisabletoprocesslaserpointeractions.

Theother,morerecent,modeallowsthe user’s arm to be the pointinginterface. This entirely removes theneedforadditionaldevices.

Asystemcapableofinterpretingarmpointingdirectionsandhandactionsforinteractingwithlargedisplays.

Another project was established toinvestigate users’ interaction withphysical objects using a mouseor a laser pointer, and ‘retrieval’of lost objects using projectionhighlighting.

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Enhancing Port Efficiency in Singapore SingaporeisstrivingtocapitaliseonitsstrengthasanexcellentAsianporttopromoteitselfasanInternationalMaritimeCentre.TheMaritimeandPortAuthority(MPA)ofSingaporehasbeenworkingwithSCEtofurtherenhancecompetenceofthelocalindustry.Overthepastseveralyears,ateamofresearchersinSCEhasteamedupwithMPAtoworkonprojectsrangingfrommaster-planningofnewterminals,evaluating innovativeoperationalequipmentandhandlingpolicies,estimatingterminalcapacity,enhancingproductivityofexistingterminalstooptimisationofinter-terminaltruckingprocedures.

Project HighlightsThe research team is currentlyconducting a study with MPA andSurbana International ConsultantsPte Ltd to develop a master planof a future Singapore terminal. Itinvolves the large-scale simulationof container terminal operationsranging from vessel operationsat quayside, storage and retrievaloperationsat yard sideand import/exporthandlingatthegates.

Results from this study will help torefine theport layout. The researchteam has also been evaluatingdifferent quayside and yard sidehandlingequipment,andoperationalpoliciesforafuturehigh-performanceport capable of efficiently handlingmegavessels.

Inadditiontoplanningandpreparingfor the future, existing containerterminal operations were also

examined. Researchers collaboratedwith localoperator, JurongPort, toconductacapacityestimationstudyfor terminal and gate operations.Ways to optimise the trucking ofcontainers between the differentterminalswerealsostudied.

The research team’s AdaptableContainerTerminalSimulator(ACTS)wasusedtosimulatetheoperationsofaregionalNOL-operatedterminal– Vietnam International ContainerTerminal (VICT). ACTS was usedto assess the handling capacity ofthe terminal, detect bottlenecksin operations, and determine the

CapacityestimationofcontainerterminalforJurongPort,Singapore. Newtechnologiesevaluatedforfutureports.

Detailedandrealisticmodellingofyardstorageoperations.

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number of resources required tocater to the increasing volume ofportactivityoverthenextfewyears.

Impact on IndustryThe aforementioned projects haveassisted in thedesign andplanningof future terminals. Several newtechnologiesandschemeshavebeenanalysed to assess feasibility andutility. Existing container terminaloperations have been accuratelymodelledandsimulatedtoevaluatehandling capacity, and to helpidentify potential bottlenecks andoptionsforremovingthem.

Fig.3

ContainerterminaloperationsofanNOL-operatedterminalweresimulated.

GateresourcesatJurongPortwereevaluated.

Detailedandrealisticmodellingofstowageonboardvessels. Masterplanforafuturecontainerterminal.

Truckingefficiencywasalsoimprovedusing algorithms proposed formatchingjobstoresources.

The maritime sector, one ofSingapore’s mainstays, has contrib-utedinexcessof8%tothenation’sGDP. Over the past few decades,Singaporehasbuiltupaconsiderablecompetitive advantage and it iscriticaltocontinuetoimproveeveryaspect of the container flow in ourterminals.

Team MembersAssocProfHsuWenJing,AssocProfHuang Shell Ying, Stuti Nautiyal,YeRong,andChenChuanyuExternal:MPA,SurbanaInternationalConsultants Pte Ltd, Jurong Port,andNOL

Principal InvestigatorAssocProfHsuWenJingEmail:[email protected]

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Information Extraction — An Investigative ApproachSearch task involving extracting information about terrorism-related events hidden in a largedocument collection is being studied by Assoc Prof Lim Ee Peng, and his team from SCE andthe Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS), NTU. The task assumes that a terrorism-relatedeventcanbedescribedbyasetofentityandrelation instances. Ideally, theextractionofpertinentinformationshouldbedonewiththeleastamountoftimeandeffort,andonlyonrelevantdocuments.

Fig.1RelationchartofthebombinginLondon.

Assoc Prof Lim and his teamproposed to develop a searchengine system known as IntelligentExplorer for Terrorism knowledge(INEXT). INEXT would implement auniquedocument selection strategybasedoninformationextraction(IE)patterns. This strategy emulates aninvestigation process: selecting onedocumentatatimeandmaximisingthe amount of event-relatedinstance information gathered.INEXT is designed with severalessentialmodulessuchasthenamedentity recognition module, entitycoreference module, domain entityand relation extraction module,documentrankingmodule,andentity

and relation annotation module.These modules would address thedifferentsub-problemsinthesearchprocess.

Project Highlights Terrorism information extractionand analysis represent importanttasksthatarenotwellsupportedbyexistingdocumentretrievalsystems.Inmostexistingsystems,itisassumedthat each user query consists ofkeywords,andthemainobjectiveistofinddocuments containing thesekeywords. The different semanticmeaningsofthesekeywordsandhowtheylinktothefinalinformationarebeyondthescopeofprevalentsearch

engines. Document searching is anintegralpartofalargerinvestigativesearchtask.Thecompletetaskwouldbe achieved by finding documentsand extracting knowledge aboutevent,people,organisation,etc.

Fig.1depictssomeessentialrelationsofpeople,organisations,andplacesinvolved in the bombing on 7 July2005.Alargenewsarticlehadtobescoured for a collection of subsetarticles, known as relevant articles,to gather knowledge. The relevantsubset may still comprise manyarticles and thus, significant timeand effort are required to readthroughitall.

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In the investigative search taskabove, existing search engines canbe seen to fail to deliver requiredinformation. This is because theyomitthefollowingsub-tasks.Finding relevant articlesKnowledgerequiredforinformationconstructioncanbefoundindifferentparts of relevant articles. Since thisknowledgeisnotgivenbeforehand,it is not possible to use knowledgeterms as query keywords. At best,some initial seed query keywordsmay include ‘London bombing July2005’. Hence, existing documentretrieval systems may not locate allrelevant documents by using seedquerykeywords.

Knowledge constructionThis essential sub-task involveextracting information on people,organisations, and places fromrelevantdocuments.Veryoften,theinformationrequiredcanbefoundinmore than one relevant document.Itisobviouslyadvantageoustoreadonlyasmallsubsetthatwouldcoverthe required knowledge completelyinstead of ploughing througheverything. Existing documentretrieval systems, unfortunately, donotsupportknowledgeconstruction,nor do they identify the smallestsubsetofdocuments.

ScreenshotoftheINEXT’sentityandrelationannotationmodule.

AchievementsINEXT is proposed to supportinvestigative search tasks, bothin finding documents relevantto a specific terrorism event andextracting entity and relationinformation. INEXT (Fig. 2) consistsof: a named entity recognitionmodule to extract person andorganisation names; a coreferenceresolution module to resolvepronounsandnamedentitiesofthesame objects; a domain entity andrelationextractionmoduletoextractterrorism related entities and theirrelationships; a document rankingmodule that scores documentsby the number of terrorism related

entity and relation instances; and amodule to allow users to annotatetherequiredinstances.

Related Projects WebArc: Website Archival Using aStructuredApproachWeb Unit Mining: Finding andClassifyingSubgraphsofWebPages

Team MembersAssoc Prof Lim Ee Peng, Asst ProfChang Kuiyu, Dr Rohan Gunaratna(IDSS)

Principal InvestigatorAssocProfLimEePengEmail:[email protected]

Fig.2INEXTsystemcomponents.

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TheCentreforAdvancedMediaTechnology(CAMTech)wastheadvisorandtechnologypartnerforVietnam’sfirstVirtualRealityLab.

SCE forms strong global links

SCE has strong alliances with industry andacademiaacrosstheglobe.

AssocProfLeeBuSung,Francis(standing,fifthfromleft)presentedtwopaperstograduatestudentsatOsakaUniversity,Japan.HeisalsoanAdjunctProfessorthere.

16<Globalisation


3.AsstProfTimoBretschneider’s(centre)paperwasrankedsecondattheSymposiumonSmallSatellitesforEarthObservation.4. PhDstudent,WangJinjun(left),wontheMicrosoftResearchAsiaFellowshipAward.5. PapersbyPhDstudent,HoSyLoi,andAssocProfJagathRajapakse(right),wontheBestStudentPaperAwardandtheOverallBestPaperAwardattheFirstIEEESymposiumonComputationalIntelligenceinBioinformaticsandComputationalBiology.

Facultyandstudentsgarnerawardsfromregionaland

internationalcompetitions.

Ourstrongresearchculturecultivatessharingofknowledge.

1. AssocProfLimEePeng(secondfromleft)andhisteamwonthebestpaperawardatthe3rdIEEEInternationalConferenceonIntelligenceandSecurityInformatics.2.PhDstudent,QianKunZhao,andAssocProfSouravBhowmick(right)wonthebestpaperawardatthe13thACMConferenceonInformationandKnowledgeManagement.

SCEhostednumerousinternationalconferences,seminars,andexhibitions.

Globalisation>17


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Towards Hidden Web Monitoring: Looking Through Semantic GlassesThe first time the problem of state-of-the-art change detection algorithms for tree-structureddatawasnotedwasinapaperbyAssocProfSouravBhowmickandhisstudenttitled‘DetectingSemanticallyCorrectChangestoRelevantUnorderedHiddenWebData’.

ObjectiveAssocProfBhowmickandhisstudentworked to transform unorderedhidden web query results to XMLformat,anddetectchangesbetweentwoversionsofXML representationof the hidden web. Unlike existingtechniques, they could detect moresemanticallycorrectchanges,andupto seven times faster than X-Diff (awell-knownpublishedalgorithm)onreal-lifehiddenwebdata.

Project HighlightsData on the hidden web can onlybeaccessedbyposingqueriesusingsearch forms. As the hidden webis highly dynamic and can changequickly and unpredictably, it isimportant to detect and representthese changes. As these changesare reflected on the query results,the team could now detect andrepresentchanges in thecontextofsuchqueryresults.Asauser isonlyinterested in specific information inthe hidden web database, the goalis to detect and represent only therelevantchanges.

The team developed a semantic-conscious change detection systemcalledHW-Difftoaddresstheaboveissues.Thearchitectureofthesystem

is shown in Fig. 1.To the best of theirknowledge, this isthe first approachthat addresses animportant limitationof state-of-the-artXML change de-tection algorithmsby making themsemantic-conscious.

The team used theHW-Stalker algorithm to transformhidden web query results to XMLformat. This transformation tech-nique can identify special semanticattributes(identifiersandfacilitators)inthehiddenwebqueryresultsandmap them into XML attributes. Anidentifier can serve to identify aparticular result, distinguishing itfrom other results. Facilitator(s) inthe result of the hidden web queryresult set serve as non-uniquecharacteristicsfordistinguishingtheresultsfromoneanother.

Asnon-XMLhiddenwebqueryresults

are transformed into XML, one canaddress the problem of detectingchangesinthecontextofsuchXMLdocuments.Existingstate-of-the-artXML change detection algorithmswillclearlydetectsyntacticallycorrectchanges.However,theyfailtodetectsemanticallycorrectchanges.Intheseapproaches, structural constraintsare used to detect the changes,ignoringsemanticconstraints.

For example, these algorithmsmaydetect that themodelof a carelement has been updated from‘Mercedes’to‘Jaguar’.However,thisissemanticallyincorrect!

TheHW-Diffhasbeen shown tobeable to detect more semanticallycorrectchangesandrunsuptoseventimesfasterthanX-Diff(Fig.2).

ApplicationsTheHW-Diffsystemcanbeusedasaframeworkforaccuratemonitoringofhiddenwebsites,semantic-conscioushidden web query processing, andfor maintaining integrated datafrommultiplehiddenwebsites.Thistechnique is useful in E-commerce,mobilecommerce,ande-business.

AwardsThepaperbyMEngstudent,VladimirKovalev, and Assoc Prof SouravBhowmickwas ranked toppaper atthe 16th International Conferenceon Database and Expert SystemsApplications (DEXA). They alsoreceived a certificate of excellencefromtheDEXAcommittee.

Principal InvestigatorAssocProfSouravBhowmickEmail:[email protected]

Fig.1ThearchitectureofHW-Diff.

Fig.2PerformancesofHW-DiffandX-Diffonarealhiddenwebsite(www.autotrader.com).

18<Fireworks


ObjectiveThe objective is the seamlessintegration of the technical andoperational aspects of remotesens ing into the frameworkspanned by relief organisations.This comprises on-board dataprocessing for disaster warning,monitoringandrescueorganisation,communicationoptimisationamongthe participating parties, andautonomous mission planning. Asystem of systems transparentlyassimilates a manifold of satellitetypes with dif ferent scanninginstruments.Thus,aholistic,uninter-rupted view of our planet can berecorded.Thiswouldgreatlyfacilitatehumanitytocopewiththechangesinourenvironment.

Project HighlightsAparadigmchangefromsupervisedto unsupervised processing of theremotelysensedimagerywascarriedout by transferring the ground-based processing on-board to be

Space TechnologyPrompt,accurateinformationisvitalforstrategicplanningandgroundteamsascanbeseeninthe tsunamidisasterand terroristattacksaround theworld.However, thereexistsahugegapin the current satellite technology between acquisition capability and support communicationbandwidth,i.e.moredatacanbeobtainedthanforwardedtotheground.Also,itisonlyforafractionofitsorbittimethatsatellitescomewithinvisibilityofgroundreceivingstations.Addingoperationalconstraints,theselimitationscanresultinhoursorevendaysofdelaysbeforepertinentinformationismadeavailable.

conductedpriortotransmission,creatingastanding watch.Muchof the delay and data volumewould be eliminated or greatly

reduced.

While many current missionsperform data compression on-board, the newly developedconcept extends this towards

enabling a spacecraft to reactautonomouslytodetecteddisasters,toacquireandevaluateinformation,and to issue warning messages tolow-cost, low bandwidth, remotemobilegroundterminals.Sofar,onlya couple of missions have tackledon-board image evaluation, butfall short of developing the entireframework. Another vital feature inthe framework is the possibility ofunlimitedcodeuploadsafterlaunch–calledsoftwarepayloads.

Tofulfilthemanifoldcomputationalm i s s ion r e qu i r ement s in ahomogeneous framework, thecentralised computation servicearchitecture(CSA)wasdesignedandimp le me nte d . T h i s s o lu t iontransparentlyallocatesagiven task,

according to its requirements interms of latency, resources andreliability to one of the executingunitswithintheCSA.Theresultisahigh degree of resource utilisation,improvedlevelofreliability,andtheflexibility to cater for changingresourceneedsduringdevelopmentand mission lifetime withoutredesign. The first aspect can beachieved through sharing variouscomputation units within thesatellite,andtheautomaticselectionof the most appropriate one. Thisrequires a careful online analysis ofthemission’soperationalobjectives.Also, in theCSAsolution, radiation-inducedfailuresfromtheharshspaceenvironmenthasbeencutdowntoagracefuldegradation.

Current ly, the system awaitsintegration into the X-Sat satellite– Singapore’s first remote sensingsatellitemissionduetobelaunchedin2008.

Award and CollaborationThe research is conducted incollaboration with the GermanAerospace Agency, University ofSurry and the Applied University ofAachen. Parts of the project wonthe Second Best Paper Award at aSymposium on Small Satellites forEarth Observation, held in Berlin,GermanyinApril2005. Principal InvestigatorAsstProfTimoRolfBretschneiderEmail:[email protected]

Bringingground-basedprocessingintospace.

Unsupervisedfeatureextractionofdisasters.

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Research Report 200520<Fireworks

Grid-based Problem Solving Environment for Engineering Materials Theincreaseincomputingpowerhastransformeddesigninscienceandengineering,spurringadesiretoproduceever-morecomplexsystems.However,asthesesystemsarenothuman-centredinnature,theyrestrictdesignteamsgivingtheirbest.Essentially,weneeda‘paradigmshift’inengineeringnewcomplexproductsandmaterials.

ObjectiveTheresearchteamproposedaGrid-basedProblemSolvingEnvironment(GPEM) for engineering materialsframework, incorporated withstandards-based plug-and-playfeaturesthatareflexibleenoughandhastheabilitytogrowandimprove.

Project HighlightsMostformsofdistributedcomputingtechnologiesarenotamenabletothescale of integration and complexityconcerned with this proposal.Standards are a challenge as thesetechnologieslackcommoninterfacesandworkingmethods.Assuch,theyremain disparate and difficult tointegrate.

Grid computing establishes a setof open standards for distributedresources and ubiquitous services,for representation, discovery andcontrol. Such standards initiativespave the way for new technologiestobeamalgamated;deliveringmorepowerfulandcomplexserviceswhichhaveledtotheintensityofresearchingridandgrid-relatedapplications.

Presently,solvinglarge-scalecomplexdesign problems often requires ahuge amount of computationalpower that is very costly. In suchapplications, grid computing is aviableandcost-effectiveoption.

GPEM aims to provide a trulypervasive and reusable grid-basedProblem Solving Environment (PSE)that supports various science andengineering applications, focusingon engineering andmaterial design

(Fig. 1). It begins with the userattemptingtodiscovernewcomplexmaterials and products accordingto given specifications (properties,geometry, etc.) and requirements(structural, electrical, thermal, etc.).Thegoalistoderiveadigitaldesigncompliant with those specificationsand requirements. In achievingthis, engineering multi-objectiveand multi-variable optimisationtechniques, from both commercialand in-housecodes,willbeusedtoexplorethedesignsolutionspace.

The compute-intensive optimisationprocess may also draw uponmodelling and simulation softwaresuchasAbaqus,MscPatran/Nastran,Fluent,etc.,ortheuser’sproprietaryapplications. Grid computing tech-nology is employed to address thedesignsearchprocessesandservicesby harnessing the geographicallydistributed compute resources ofcollaborators. This collaborationamong remote partners wouldfacilitate sharing of data andinformation,andtoremotelydiscuss

engineering data in visual forms.Finally, the ultimate proposedGPEM is ‘knowledge-based’ and‘intelligent’, allowing for effortlessinteractionsbetweenuserandweb-basedfunctionalities.

ApplicationTheaimoftheprojectistoestablisha truly pervasive and reusable PSEwithgridcomputingastheunderlyingtechnology that supports variousscientific computational problem-solving activities. This framework isvitalforSingaporewheretheinternetisanintegralpartoflife.

Team MembersAsstProfOngYewSoon,AssocProfLee Bu Sung Francis, Dr MohamedSalahuddin, Dr Terence Hung, DrHung Kin Chew and Dr Wu Ping.Theprojectisajoint-effortbetweenNTUand A*STAR (InstituteofHighPerformanceComputing).

Principal InvestigatorAsstProfOngYewSoonEmail:[email protected]

Fig.1Grid-basePSEforengineeringofmaterials.��

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Human Pacman — Be the GameAssocProfAdrianCheokandresearchersattheInteractiveandEntertainmentResearchCentre,NTU,exploretheuntappedfrontierinhuman-computerinteraction.Hererole-playingisredefinedasplayersarephysicallyimmersedinthegame.

versionofthegamecanberenderedinreal-time.

Helpers participate via the internet,and can watch the game ‘live’ andguide Pacman or Ghost by textcommunication.Inthisway,gamersworldwideareinvitedintoPacWorldthroughtheinternet.

AssocProfCheok’sprototypesystemaccommodates up to eight playersat any one time. The system isalso designed to be expandable toaccommodatemoreplayers.

Recognition The leading scientific journal‘PersonalandUbiquitousComputing’published an invited academicpaper on Human Pacman. Thereare over 2000 reports on internetsites and web logs featuring theHumanPacman.Theworkhasbeenfeatured in over 200 internationalpressarticlesand50TV/radiomediareports including CNN, CNBC, BBCWorld,NBC,MTV,DiscoveryChannel,and National Geographic Channel.In CHI 2004, (www.chi2004.org),a major international conferenceon Human-Computer Interactionheld in Vienna, Austria, the teamdemonstratedHumanPacmantoanenthusiasticaudience(only16demoswereinvited,fromprestigiousteams

such as IBM TJ Watson and MediaLab.HumanPacmanwastheonlyonefromAsia).Theworkwasselectedasoneoftheworld’stop100inventionsandexhibitedattheWiredNextfest,Chicago2005.

Principal InvestigatorAssocProfAdrianCheokEmail:[email protected]

Fig.1Modelinwearablecomputer.

First-personpoint-of-viewseenbyPacman.

Bird’seyeviewofplayersandthecorrespondingvirtualworld.

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Objective Human Pacman springs off thehugely popular arcade game,Pacman,fromthe1980s.Itisareal-worldphysical,social,andwideareamobile entertainment system thatis bui l t on the concepts ofubiquitous computing, tangiblehuman-computer interaction, andwide-area entertainment networks.Human Pacman epitomises thefutureofgamingthatisanchoredonphysicality, mobility, social interac-tion,andubiquitouscomputing.

Project HighlightsHumanPacmancanbeplayedbothindoorsandoutdoors.Playersdonawearablecomputer(anotebookwithmanygadgets),headsetandgoggles(Fig. 1), and choose to role-play aseitherPacmanorGhost.

Inthegame,Pacmanwalksthroughvirtual cookies to collect them,while Ghosts ‘eat’ Pacman byphysically tapping Pacman on theback. However, Pacman can collectpower-pills, which are Bluetooth-embeddedboxeshiddeninthegamearea, to temporarily become SuperPacman,and‘eat’theGhostinsimilarfashion. The movements of PacmanandGhostsaretrackedusingsensorslinkedtoawirelessLANconnectedtotheinternet.Hence,the3D-graphical


Emerging Research LabTheEmergingResearchLab(ERLab)identifiesandnurturesnewandpromisingresearchareasinthedisciplinesofscience,computing,andengineering.Thelabhousesthreeresearchprogrammeswithnineacademicstaff,fourresearchfellows/officers,and18graduatestudents.Thelabalsosupports59FinalYearProjects.

22<ResearchCentresandLaboratories

Research Areas Cognitive and Neural Systems– investigates human cognitivefunctions and develops computingsystems that are cognitivelyintelligent. Topics include cognitivearchitectures and modell ing,cognitive visual understanding, andinteraction-basedlearning.

Evolutionary and Complex Systems –examinescomplexsystemsthroughthe study of immune systemsmodelling,evolutionarybiology,andcooperativegametheorytodevelopunobstrusivecomputingdevices.DNA Chip Design Technology–apowerfultoolforgeneticresearch.Thispioneeringresearchprogrammecanbeappliedtobuildourcapabilityof designing DNA chips, throughthe development of a web-basedserver and various genome-basedand pharmacogenetic chip designtechniques.

External Funded Collaborative Projects• IntelligentTechnologiesforMedia

FusionandAnalysis(withA*STARInstitute for Infocomm Research(I2R),CeMNet,andCAIS).

• Cognitive Information Systems(with Intelligent Systems CentreandSTEngineering).

• Robust Evolutionary DesignOptimisationandGridComputing(withHondaResearchInstitute).

• National Grid Office project onGrid-basedPSEforEngineeringofMaterials(withA*STARInstituteofHighPerformanceComputing).

Project HighlightsLearning Environments with Attention and Perception (LEAP)LEAP is an innovative researchinitiative to study how cognitiveelements can be applied to currenttechnologies to create cognitivelysensitive machines that can learn,pay attention, and interpretinformation for further action. Thestrategic application into cognitivevisual understanding involvesstudying the visual cortex andsuperior colliculus, and modellinghuman visual pathways along withattentionalactivities.

Drug Resistance Modelling for the treatment of HIV infections(withUniversityofAmsterdam)This project adopts a multi-agent modelling approach byviewing the immune systemas a hierarchical structure ofcooperatingandcompetingagents,operating with highly coupledbehaviours to exhibit emergent

complexity. The research simulationof HIV-1 pathogenesis has verifiedtheemergentresultsofseveralwell-knownhypotheses.

Upcoming Projects• Cognitive(Vision-based)

Navigation

• AgentAugmentedMediaSystemforSituatedLearning(withHarvardUniversityandtheNationalInstituteofEducation,Singapore)

• SimulationofViralEpidemiologyinaSocialOrganisation(withtheMinistryofDefence,Singapore)

• ASimulationModelforCancerImmuno-therapy

• AlgorithmsforSelectingOligonucleotideProbes

Centre DirectorAssocProfTanAh-HweeEmail:[email protected]

TheMediaWorkbenchdevelopedundertheIntelligentMediaProject.

Research Report 2005 ResearchCentresandLaboratories>23

Forensics and Security Lab

The Forensics and Security Laboratory (ForSe Lab) was established to focus on applyingcomputationaltechniquestoforensicanalysisandsecurityengineering.Thelabcurrentlycomprisessevenacademicstaff,oneresearchassociate,andthreegraduatestudents.Thelabalsosupportsapproximately10to15FinalYearProjectseveryacademicyear.

Research Areas Forensic Analysis– computer storage devices, hand-writing, and examination of digitaldevices including mobile phonesandPDAs.

Biometric Technology– facial, fingerprint and palmprintrecognition, gait, DNA and skinor hair colour analysis, biometrictechniquesusinginfraredimaging.

Security Engineering– intelligent video surveillance andmonitoring, facial analysis usingemotion and expression, automaticsearchingandclassificationofimagecontent, and clustering techniquesforfeatureselection.

Current Projects• RobustHumanFacial

Representation,RecognitionandInterpretation

• PossibilisticClusteringAnalysisforArtificialCognitiveSystem

• ForensicAnalysisofHandwriting–VerificationofDocumentExaminersProcedures

• Infra-redHandVeinPatternBiometrics

Project HighlightsEmotion Recognition by FacialExpressionAn automatic emotion recognitionsystem based on a RecursiveNeural Node approach to adaptiveprocessing of the Semantic FacialEmotionTreeStructuresusingLocalGabor Features is carried out. It ismodelled closely with the brain’scognition to interpreting emotions(Fig. 1). According to psychologist

Dr. Ekman, humans are able toeffortlessly recognise the six basicemotions regardless of culturalor social backgrounds. There is agrowing interest in the research ofautomaticemotionrecognitionfromfacialexpression.

Thermal Hand Vein Pattern Verification SystemBiometrics, suchas face,fingerprintand iris images, has been studiedextensively for personal verificationpurposes in the past few decades.However, verification using veinpatternsislessdevelopedcomparedto other human traits. A newpersonal verification system usingthermal-imaged vein pattern in thebackofthehandhasbeendeveloped(Fig. 2). Preliminary testing on adatabase containing 108 differentimages has been carried out andall the images were correctlyrecognised.

Upcoming Projects• SmartEye:AnEmbeddedCamera

SystemforCognitiveVisionBasedSurveillanceinSmartIn-houseEnvironments(withGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology)

• DiscreetIrisScanningforReliablePersonIdentification(withUniversityofKent,UK,andFusionWorks,STDynamics)

• EEGSignalProcessingforBrain-ComputerInterface(BCI)

Centre DirectorAssocProfGrahamLeedhamEmail:[email protected]

Fig.1Asurprisefaceisrecognisedbythesystem.

Fig.2Thermalimagesofthebackofthehandsinanormalofficeenvironment.


Centre for Advanced Media TechnologyTheFraunhoferInstituteforComputerGraphicsofDarmstadt,Germany,andNTUestablishedtheCentreforAdvancedMediaTechnology(CAMTech)asajointresearchanddevelopmentcentre.CAMTechconcentratesonresearchrelatedtoadvancedmedia.Thecentreplaysauniqueroleofintegratingscientificacademicresearchwiththedemandsoftheindustrymarket.Anotherareaoffocusisedutainment:educationandentertainmentusingaugmentedandvirtualreality.

Thecentredrawsuponthestrengthsand resources of the foundingorganisations in computer graphicsand advanced media technology.AlthoughCAMTechprimarilyfocusesontheSingaporeandAsianmarkets,thecentreisalsoengagedinvariousinternationalprojects.

Key Technologies • 3DModelling

• Real-timeRendering

• VirtualandAugmentedReality

Key Competencies• ScientificandMedical

Visualisation

• NextGenerationLearningEnvironmentsforLifeSciences

• VirtualEngineeringandManufacturing

• VirtualandAugmentedEnvironmentsforMedicalApplications

• NewMediaforEdutainmentandCulturalHeritage

• 3DModellingandReconstructionofIncidentScenes

Significant CollaborationsCAMTechwasselectedastechnologypartnerandadvisorfortheplanningand set up of a Virtual Reality Labfor immersive visualisation at IOIT,Hanoi, Vietnam. The Virtual RealityLab was opened on 17 May 2005bytheDeanofSCE,AssocProfSeahHockSoon.

Centre DirectorAssocProfWolfgangMüller-WittigEmail:[email protected]

24<ResearchCentresandLaboratories

Game Lab Game Lab (gameLAB) explores the frontiers of gaming, pushing the boundaries of existingparadigmsandcreatingnewparadigmsforgames. Itprovidesamulti-disciplinaryenvironmentforresearchers incomputergraphics,artificial intelligence,human-computer interface,andthecreativeartstoworktogetherinseriousgamesandinteractivedigitalentertainmentprojects.

Research Areas• Multi-platformGame

Development

• ‘SeriousGames’forVariousApplicationContexts

• IntelligentGameCharactersthroughMachineLearning

• Multi-playerGameEnvironments

• AIforMusicProcessinginGames

Current Projects• AI-basedSimulation

• VirtualOrchestra

• GamesforEducationinNationalHeritage

Research DirectorAsstProfEdmondPrakashEmail:[email protected]

Technical DirectorMrWongCheeKienEmail:[email protected]


Centre for High Performance Embedded Systems

TheCentreforHighPerformanceEmbeddedSystems(CHiPES)promotesresearchanddevelopmentinembeddedsystemsengineeringusingstate-of-the-artVLSICADtoolsandtechnology.

Research Areas• ReconfigurableComputing

• SecureEmbeddedSystems

• ComputerArithmetic

• EmbeddedControl

• AlgorithmstoArchitectures

• EmbeddedSoftware

• EmbeddedSignalProcessing

• DesignMethodologies

Current Projects• AlgorithmstoArchitectures

andEmbeddedDesignMethodologies

• ReconfigurableArchitecturefor

EmbeddedSignalProcessingandControl

• T-EngineRelatedCompetency

Project HighlightsA Framework for a Portable, Scalable, and Extensible Real-time Operating System All relevant aspects of modernembedded systems design in RTOScustomisationfromoverheadchargesare addressed. A new mechanismhas been proposed to specify RTOSrelianceofmodulesforwhichmodelshavenotbeenmadeavailable.Basedontheseconcepts,a framework forautomatic application-specific RTOScustomisationisproposed.

High Performance Computer Security Hardware ComponentUnified architecture of crypto-processor in security supportsencryption,signing,andencryption-signing. A unified architecture hasbeen planned with the unifiedexecution unit supporting RSA andECC. Security protocols such asencryption-signing are identifiedwith this architecture. An improveddifferentialpoweranalysisapplicableto future crypto-processor has alsobeenproposed.

Centre DirectorProfThambipillaiSrikanthanEmail:[email protected]

Parallel and Distributed Computing Centre

Research Areas• GridandClusterComputing

• CollaborativeWorkingEnvironments

• ParallelandDistributedSimulation

• Multi-agentSystems

• ParallelComputerArchitectures

Current Projects• IntegratedVirtual

ExperimentationandBusinessProcessImplementationforHigh-techManufacturingandServiceNetworks(IBMSharedUniversityResearchAward)

• AnIntegratedandAdaptiveSimulation-basedDecisionSupportFrameworkforHigh-TechManufacturingandServiceNetworks(withA*STARIMSS)

• AdaptiveEnterprise@Singapore(AE@SG)DigitalMediaGrid,MediaPortal(withHewlettPackardandIDA)

• LargeScaleDistributedSimulationontheGrid(withUKe-Science)

• COFFER:CollaborativeOfficeDocumentEditingandRevisionControl(withURCSUG)

Project HighlightsAn Integrated and Adaptive Decision Support Framework for Simulation-based High-tech Manufacturing and Service NetworksResearchers study how design,analysis, enhancement, and imple-mentation of critical businessprocesses in a manufacturing andservicenetworkcanberealisedusing

a simulation/application framework.Research areas include advancedsynchronisation mechanisms, auto-matic adaptation and validation ofsimulation models, scheduling andtask management in a gr idenvironment, and business metricsa n d p r o c e s s e n h a n c e m e n tmethodologies.

Large Scale DistributedSimulation on the GridThe long-term aim of this projectis a Grid Plug-and-Play DistributedSimulation System: a collaborativedistributed simulation environmentwhere researchers develop, modify,assemble, and execute distributedsimulationcomponentsoverthegrid.

Centre DirectorAssocProfStephenJohnTurnerEmail:[email protected]

The Parallel and Distributed Computing Centre (PDCC) has an international reputation for itsresearch in parallel and distributed simulation, grid and cluster computing, and collaborativeworkingenvironments.

Research Report 200526<ResearchCentresandLaboratories

BioInformatics Research Centre TheBioInformaticsResearchCentre(BIRC)isthefocusoftheeducation,researchanddevelopment,and human-resource training in bioinformatics at NTU. Research includes modelling andcomputationoflifesciencesdataandprocesses.BIRCalsofacilitatesteachingandresearchprojectsoftheMSc(Bioinformatics)programmeatSCE,andthePhD(ComputationandSystemsBiology)bytheSingapore-MITAlliance.

Research Areas • Genomics

• StructuralGenomicsandProteomics

• SystemsBiology

• BiologicalDatabases,Mining,andVisualisation

• FunctionalandCellularImageInformatics

• DrugDiscoveryandTrialDesign

Current Projects• NeuralSystemsBiology

• RecognitionofTranslationInitiationSites(TIS)andAlternateTIS(ATIS)inEukaryotes

• CancerClassificationwithGeneandProteinExpressionData

• ProteinStructuresandInteractionsPrediction

• StructuralBiologyofStemCellProteins

• DistributionofMitochondrialNADHFluorescenceLifetimes

• DiscoveryofTranscriptionFactorBindingSites

Project Highlights Application of a DNA chip in hepatocellular carcinoma The project studies the geneticprofile of high and normal alpha-fetoprotein titres of hepatocellularcarcinomatobetterunderstandlivercarcinogenesis.

Grid-based comparative genomic pipeline for detecting non-coding functional sequences (FundingfromA*STAR,administeredbyNationalGridOffice)A service / agent based grid-architecture will be designed overthegridenvironmenttocomparetheconserved non-coding sequencesacross species, and analyse themfor any regulatory features. Thisproject could revealnovel sequencesegments in non-coding regions,withpreviouslyknownfunctions.

Centre Deputy Director AssocProfRajapakseJagathEmail:[email protected]

Centre for Computational Intelligence

The Centre for Computational Intelligence (C2i) investigates natural and/or artificial systemsto comprehend principles that render intelligent behaviour possible in complex changingenvironments.Thecentre’smainobjectiveistodevisecomputingsystemsthatcanlearn,reason,explain,understanddata,andprovidesolutionstoreal-worldproblems.

Research Areas• AdaptiveandAutonomous

Systems

• Neuro-cognitiveInformatics

• AnticipatoryComputing

• DecisionSupportSystems

• Nature-inspiredSystems

• HumanizedInterfaces

Project HighlightsEmotion Recognition System for Human Behaviour ModellingThis systemcloselymodelshowthehuman brain categorises variousemotions. Applications of interest

include human-machine interfaceandintelligentsurveillance.

Driver Modelling for Identifica-tion and Verification (withNagoyaUniversity)A neuro-fuzzy classifier system thatautomaticallymodelshumandrivingbehaviourfrommulti-modalsensorydata.Driver identificationallowsforenhanced security and user-specificcustomisation.

Affect-based Tutoring System for the Development of Critical Reasoning SkillsAn intelligent tutoring systemimplementsCollin’sEpistemicGameTheory to help improve basicclassificationskills inprimaryschoolstudents. In the latest version, thepedagogical framework integratesaffect-based modelling to managestudent-computer interactions andobjectively adapt the rules of thecognitiveinstruction.

Centre DirectorAssocProfMichelBPasquierEmail:[email protected]


Centre for Advanced Information SystemsThe Centre for Advanced Information Systems (CAIS) conducts frontier research in critical andprecisiondataanalysis,andknowledgecomputing.Research inareassuchasdataminingandknowledgediscovery,intelligencecomputing,andlarge-scalesystemsimulationhasplacedCAISintheregionasacentreofexcellence.The10thAnniversaryofthePacific-AsiaKnowledgeDiscoveryinDatabases(PAKDD)Conferencein2006willbehostedbyCAIS.

Research Areas• InterfaceComputing

Infrastructure

• InformationPrivacyandSecurity

• DigitalLibrary

• Next-generationInformation

• ManagementInfrastructure

• DataMining

• MobileDataManagement

• ManufacturingInformatics

• MaritimeInformatics

Some Current Projects• Querying and Mining Data

Streams

• MIDAS-MiningDataStreams• ScalableXML-basedInfrastructure

forMultimediaandEntertainment• Anontology-augmented,context-

aware Web Services frameworkforagileenterprisecollaboration

• TRESURE-Miner:MiningHistoricalChangestoTreeStructuredData

• MiningEvolvingWebLogData• DocumentSelectionforDomain-

Specific Event InformationExtraction

• A*STA R IMSS ( IntegratedManufacturing Service System)Integration of Manufacturingand Service Systems for trustedCollaborativeVirtualEnterprises

Project HighlightsSUCXENT: Efficient Storage and Query Processing of XML Data Anefficientschema-obliviousstoragemechanism called SUCXENT++was designed to prove that thepresumption that schema-consciousapproaches perform better thanschema-oblivious approaches isnot always true. This project maybe the first attempt to design aschema-oblivious approach thatcan outperform schema-consciousapproaches.

Centre DirectorAssocProfNgWeeKeongEmail:[email protected]

Centre for Multimedia & Network Technology

The Centre for Multimedia and Network Technology (CeMNet) is clustered into threecomplementary research areas, broadly categorised as Network Technology, MultimediaSignalProcessingandCommunications,andPervasiveComputing.

Research Areas• SeamlessWireless

CommunicationsoverthePublic-transportSystem

• BroadbandNetworkApplicationsandProtocolsDevelopment

• ModulationandMultipleAccessesforSoftwareDefinedRadio

• MediaSemanticsforbetterIndexing,Storage,andRetrieval

• VideoSignalProcessingandCommunications

• IntelligentEffectors,SensorsforPervasiveComputing

Current Projects• PervasiveNetworksforSeamless

MobileCommunication

• AE@SG–ConstraintResolversforUtilityDataCentres

• Camera-basedImagingandRestorationof‘SpecialCollections’Materials

• Pet-Device++Click-and-TellExtension

Project HighlightsImage Retrieval++ – Semantic Matchmaking with an Animal OntologyTechnologyinsemanticmatchmakinghasbeenused in traditional textualand data information retrieval.However, few applications explorethe way of using SemanticMatchmak ing in mult imedia

informationretrieval.Inthisproject,researchersproposeanovelontologymodelthatintegratesbothlow-levelfeaturesinmultimediaandhigh-levelhuman readable concepts togethertorepresentimagecontents.

A prototype retrieval system is setuptoassesstheefficacyofontologyin providing better image retrievalperformance. Results have proventheadvantagesofourimageretrievalsystem over traditional keywordbased systems. Extensions to thiswork should lead to even moredramaticimprovements.

Centre DirectorAssocProfChiaLiang-Tien,ClementEmail:[email protected]

Research Report 200528<InternationalCollaboration

International Collaboration

• BrainScienceResearchCentre,KoreaAdvancedInstituteofScienceandTechnology,Korea• CenterforIntegratedAcousticInformationResearch,NagoyaUniversity,Japan• CityUniversityofHongKong,HongKongSAR• CybermediaCentre,OsakaUniversity,Japan• FudanUniversity,China• HongKongPolytechnicUniversity,HongKongSAR• HongKongUniversityofScienceandTechnology,HongKongSAR• HuazhongUniversityofScienceandTechnology,China• IBMIndiaResearchLab,India• IndianInstituteofScience,Bangalore,India• InstituteofInformationTechnologyHanoi,Vietnam• KyotoUniversity,Japan• KyushuUniversity,Japan• MSRA,Beijing,China• NagoyaUniversity,Japan• NationalSunYat-senUniversity,Taiwan• NTTCommunicationScienceLaboratories,Japan• PekingUniversity,China• SASTRAUniversity,India• ShanghaiJiatongUniversity,China• SungkyunkwanUniversity,Korea• TsinghuaUniversity,China• UniversityofTokyo,Japan• Xi’anJiaotongUniversity,China

NO

RTH

AM

ERIC

AA

SIA

• ArizonaStateUniversity,USA• CincinnatiChildren’sHospitalMedicalCentre,USA• CincinnatiChildren’sHospitalResearch,USA• DepartmentofElectricalandComputerEngineering,UniversityofBritishColumbia,Canada• GeorgiaTechResearchCorporation,GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,USA• InstituteofIntelligentSystems,UniversityofMemphis,USA• IowaStateUniversity,USA• KentStateUniversity,USA• MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,USA• NorthwesternUniversity,USA• SanDiegoStateUniversity,USA• SchoolofComputerScience,SimonFraserUniversity,Canada• UniversityofArizona,USA• UniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara,USA• UniversityofCincinnati,USA• UniversityofIllinoisatUrbanaChampaign,USA• UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbour,USA• UniversityofMinnesota,USA• UniversityofMissouri-Rolla,USA• UniversityofOklahoma,USA• UniversityofTennessee,USA• WayneStateUniversity,USA

Research Report 2005 InternationalCollaboration>29

AUST

RA

LIA

&

NEW

ZEA

LAN

DEU

ROPE • AGHUniversityofScienceandTechnology,Poland

• BrunelUniversity,UK• BudapestUniversity,Hungary• CentreforNeuralNetworks,Kings’sCollege,London,UK• DarmstadtUniversityofTechnology,Germany• DistributedSystemDepartment,UniversityofUlm,Germany• FraunhoferInstituteofComputerGraphics,Germany• HondaResearchInstituteEurope,Germany• ImperialCollege,UniversityofLondon,UK• INI-GraphicsNetFoundation,Germany• INRIARhone-Alpes,Grenoble,France• Max-Planck-InstituteofCognitiveNeuroscience,Germany• MoscowInstituteofPhysicsandTechnology,Russia• NicholausCopernicusUniversity,Torun,Poland• NottinghamUniversity,UK• Polish-JapaneseInstituteofComputerTechnology,Warsaw,Poland• RoyalInstituteofTechnology(KTH),Stockholm,Sweden• StockholmUniversity,Sweden• SwissInstituteofBioinformatics,Switzerland• SwissInstituteforExperimentalCancerResearch(ISREC),Switzerland• UniversityCollegeLondon,UK• UniversityofAmsterdam,Netherlands• UniversityofBirmingham,UK• UniversityofEdinburgh,SchoolofInformatics,UK• UniversityofFreiburg,Germany• UniversityofSouthampton,ComputationalEngineeringandDesignCenter,E-Science, GEODISE,UK• UniversityofUlster,Ireland• WarsawSchoolofSocialPsychology,Poland• WarsawUniversityofTechnology,Poland

• CurtinUniversityofTechnology,Australia• DeakinUniversity,Australia• GriffithUniversity,Australia• MurdochUniversity,Australia• NationalGraduateSchoolofManagement,AustralianNationalUniversity,Canberra,Australia• TaitElectronicLtd,NewZealand

Research Report 200530<SCEintheCommunity

SCE in the CommunitySCEisastrongengineeringschool. Faculty also shinesas leaders in various fieldsoutsidetheschool.

AmemberoftheCouncilofITStandardsCommittee,ProfAngelaGohwaspresentedtheSPRINGOutstandingAchievementAwardinrecognitionofherworkinleadingstandardisationinitiativesinSingapore.

ActiveinMercyReliefactivities,AssocProfAbdulWahabbinAbdulRahmanisseenhereonahumanitariantripatBandaAceh,Indonesia.

AssocProfKhongChooiPeng(standing,fourthfromleft)istheToastmastersInternationalDistrict80Governor.ShewasawardedtheExcellenceinLeadershipAwardforEducationandTrainingattheannualToastmastersconvention.

AssocProfLeeBuSung,Francis(seated,left)isthepresidentoftheSingaporeAdvancedResearchandEducationNetwork(SingAREN).SingARENpromotesresearchanddevelopmentinnextgenerationbroadbandandinternettechnologies,andworkstolinkthelocalresearchandeducationcommunitytotherestoftheworld.

AssocProfSeahHockSoonisthefoundingpresidentofSIGGRAPH,SingaporeChapter.MembersofthegroupwereintheMalaysianMultimediaSupercorridortonetwork,exchangeinformation,anddiscussfutureactivities.


“My three years of postgraduate studies at SCE was the best academic experience I ever had, and the exposure to modern technology during this period helped me immensely to achieve my career goals. ”

R.G.N. Meegama, PhD (SCE, Class of 2004)Senior Lecturer

Director, Centre for Computer StudiesSabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

“The Masters programme in SCE is relevant to my job. It improved my analytical and research abilities, and honed my problem-solving skills. ”

Liu Ting, MEng (SCE, Class of 2004)J2EE Developer, NCS Pte Ltd, Singapore

Australia BradYuChangBin(Classof2004),PhD,AustralianNationalUniversity

QiuLing,PhD(Classof2003),JamesCookUniversity

GaoYongSheng,PhD(Classof2000),GriffithUniversity

ChinaKanyanYang,MSc(Classof2005),KureComputingCenterCo.Ltd

Finland DennisShestakov,MEng(Classof2003),UniversityofTurku

CanadaNiuYun,MEng(Classof2001),UniversityofToronto

USAYangPeng,MEng(2005),LehighUniversity,PA

VasilyVolkov,MEng(Classof2003),UCBerkeley,CA

GajananChinchwadkar,PhD(Classof1998),Sybase

YueDong,MASc(Classof1997),wasinOracleuntilrecently

UKChenDan,PhD(Classof2005),Midlandse-ScienceCentre,UniversityofBirmingham

XieYong,BASc(Classof2003),OxfordUniversity

ChenJingying,PhD(Classof2002),UniversityofStAndrews

Hong Kong SARNgoChongWah,BASc,MASc,(Classof1997),CityUniversityofHongKong

Sri LankaR.G.N.Meegama,PhD(Classof2004),SabaragamuwaUniversity

Singapore HoSyLoi,PhD(Classof2005),BioInformaticsResearchCenter,NTU

NguyenNgocMinh,PhD(Classof2005),BioInformaticsResearchCenter,NTU

SanjuSunny,MEng(Classof2005),Avanade

XieJiawei,PhD(Classof2005),MotorolaElectronics

AmolDabholkar,MEng(Classof2004),DeloitteandTouche

LiShan,MEng(Classof2004),BuildfolioSingaporeTechnologiesPteLtd

LiuTing,MEng(Classof2004),NCSPteLtd

LiuYong,MEng(Classof2004),GlobalSoftwareGroup-Singapore,Motorola

MarvinTanBuckLiang,MEng(Classof2004),GovtInvestmentCorp(GIC)

TanChoongLeong,PhD(Classof2004),mTouche(Singapore)PteLtd

YuFubing,MEng(Classof2004),InfineonTechnologiesAsiaPacificPteLtd

MiaoChunyan,PhD(Classof2003),NTU

VinodVenkatraman,MEng(Classof2003),CognitiveNeuroscienceLab,SinghealthResearchServices

WeiLu,PhD(Classof2003),HewlettPackard(Singapore)PteLtd

LiLiyuan,PhD(Classof2001),I2R

LiuHaifeng,PhD(Classof2000),Reuters

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