Donaldson Tan
The Singapore Start-up Community certainly didn’t disappoint at the 2011 Techventure Conference which was held at Marina Bay Sands on 13-14 October 2011. The industry sectors represented ranged from biomedical, cleantech to social media.
TechVenture 2011 provided anecdotal evidence that the Start-Up Community is a vibrant sector. According to the National Research Foundation (NRF), close to 5,000 technology start-ups register in Singapore annually since 2006. As a result, technology enterprises now accounts for more than 10% of the new enterprises less than five years old in Singapore.
In this article, New Asia Republic shall highlight a list of engineering marvels that were developed locally and were showcased at the 2011 TechVenture Conference.
BINGO – Scone Solutions Pte Ltd
BINGO, developed by Sconce Solutions, is a specialised internet search engine for 3-dimensional industrial designs. Unlike a traditional internet search engine which utilises keywords and meta-descriptors, BINGO makes comparison across 3-dimensional objects.
On top of that, it integrates seamlessly with industrial design software such as AutoCAD and Pro-E. BINGO can identify duplicated parts in an industrial design and feedback to the user during the early phase in order to avoid design duplication, wasted efforts and unnecessary inventory costs.
WaterWise – Visenti Pte Ltd
Visenti is a MIT spin-off based in Singapore. Since 2008, the Visenti team has been working with the Public Utilities Board (PUB) to manage Singapore’s water system. WaterWise is an end-to-end integrated hardware and software system for monitoring, analysing and modelling urban water distribution systems in real time.
According to Dr Mudasser Iqbal of Visenti, the worldwide average operating cost of a water utility company is US$15M per annum and the WaterWise System is able to generate savings up to US$4M per annum by providing real-time decision support to boost the impact and efficiency of the water distribution system while reducing energy and maintenance cost. For example, WaterWise can automate the optimisation of pump scheduling to minimise energy consumption.
mPowerPad – Third Wave Power Pte Ltd
mPowerPad is a rugged portable solar panel that can recharge electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Solar energy is stored in its 2,500 mAh Nickel-Metal Hydride (NIMH) battery, which can also be recharged via AC/DC and car adaptors. Slightly bulkier than the iPad, it offers mobile charging while being environmentally friendly at the same time. The device is entirely based on solid-state technology, i.e. there is no moving parts. The device will be launched commercially next month.
ClearCell System – Clearbridge Biomedics Pte Ltd
ClearCell System is a home-grown cancer detection technology which Clearbridge describes as “Next Generation Non-Invasive Liquid Biospy”. The technology detects circulating tumour cells (CTC) via microfluidic channels. Typically, CTCs are much bigger than other cells found in the human blood. As a result, CTC are too large to go through microfluidic channels while other components of the human blood go through. ClearCell System can be utilised as a screening tool as well as a diagnostic tool to determine the staging of the cancer.
Wireless Gigabit Connectivity – NTU
The Nanyang Technological University has developed the world’s first ultra low-power 60GHZ mobile Chipset for Wireless Gigabit Connectivity. It supports 2.5Gbps data transfer rate within a 3-metre range. It is 1,000 times faster than Bluetooth technology, which means it can be used for transmitting high-definition video and uncompressed mission-critical data in real time.