Ten NUS and NTU Students Receive World Future Foundation's PhD Prize for Outstanding Environmental and Sustainability Research
Winners stood out for developing innovative sustainable solutions to address global challenges
Ten graduate students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have been recognised for their outstanding environmental and sustainability research. They received the World Future Foundation (WFF) PhD Prize in Environmental and Sustainability Research – an award of US $10,000 each - from Dr Feng Lun, Chairman of the World Future Foundation, at a presentation ceremony held at NUS today.
This year's prize winners had conducted research on a wide range of topics. Five winners from NUS studied high performance membranes for membrane distillation and osmotic power generation, biodiesel policy instruments in Indonesia, urban qualities of the public realm in quotidian neighbourhoods at night and giant clam conservation in Singapore.
Another five winners from NTU are researching into enhancing photovoltaic systems and solar technology, sustainable energy storage solutions such as solid oxide fuel cells and lithium ion batteries, and environmentally-friendly cryocooling systems for electronics.
The winners were assessed based on the societal and economic relevance of their research (for example, commercial potential); evidence of novelty (for example, patents); and a demonstrated passion for environmental and sustainability research.
Dr Wang Peng from the NUS Faculty of Engineering, for instance, has developed high performance membranes for membrane distillation. Membrane distillation is an emerging technology that can be used for desalination, wastewater treatment, processing of foods and other applications. Dr Wang and his colleague have successfully re-designed membranes that show excellent separation performance and superior robustness. The research had been published in several international journals including Environmental Science & Technology, Water Research, AlChE Journal and Journal of Membrane Science.
Dr Teh Pei Fen from NTU School of Materials Science and Engineering, has discovered new, readily available materials for the next generation of lithium ion batteries. Together with an innovative, cost effective and environmentally benign production process, she has also reduced certain limitations of lithium ion batteries, while increasing performance and efficiency.
Dr Teh's research holds great potential in a wide range of applications, including portable consumer electronics, battery-operated vehicles, and renewable energy storage systems. Dr Teh's research had won the Ian Ferguson Postgraduate Fellowship in 2011, and has been published in various international journals such as the Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Journal of Materials Chemistry, and ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Introduced in 2010, the WFF PhD Prize is Singapore's first-of-its-kind award to recognise excellence in doctoral-level (PhD) environmental and sustainability research. It is also the highest cash award among student prizes at Singapore's universities.
Chairman of the Board, World Future Foundation, Dr Feng Lun said, “With our scientific achievements and intellectual acumen, I am confident that man and nature can co-exist harmoniously. At the World Future Foundation, we believe that active research into new technologies and the deployment of innovative solutions is the way forward in addressing pressing environmental issues. Over the last five years, 50 young and talented winners of the WFF PhD Prize in Environmental and Sustainability Research have contributed innovative solutions and fresh ideas to address challenges relating to water, energy, climate change, biodiversity and community. We are deeply encouraged that our prize winners are making excellent progress in their chosen fields and we hope that these outstanding researchers will go on to make a great impact in promoting sustainable development in Asia and beyond."
NUS Vice Provost (Graduate Education), Professor Mohan Kankanhalli said, “This year, the five NUS winners were chosen amongst 164 high quality submissions from PhD candidates. Our students' achievements reflect NUS' strength in sustainability research, and we are proud that they have demonstrated passion, creativity and innovativeness in developing multi-disciplinary, sustainable solutions towards solving environmental problems. The Prize provides a timely impetus for these young and talented researchers to continue to contribute towards environmental sustainability.”
NTU Associate Provost (Graduate Education), Professor Yue Chee Yoon said, “The WFF PhD Prize is a prestigious addition to any young researcher's achievements, and this year, our judging panel was again faced with the challenging task of selecting the winners as we have received a good number of exceptional candidates. Over the past five years, we have seen remarkable 'green' research innovations submitted for the award, which is testament to NTU's leading role in sustainability research. I believe that the winners this year will continue their ground breaking work, and conceive innovative solutions that contribute to a more sustainable world for the benefit of humankind.”
On winning the WFF PhD Prize, Dr Wang said, “This is the best graduation gift as it is a form of recognition as well as a reward for all the hard work in the past years. It will also inspire me to continue my work on environmental technologies. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my supervisor Professor Neal Chung Tai-Shung at NUS who introduced me into the world of membrane research.” Dr Wang is currently working as a Water/Environmental Research Scientist at General Electric.
NTU's Dr Teh said, “The WFF PhD prize is a strong encouragement for researchers to pursue environmentally sustainable research projects. I am honored to be one of the recipients of this prize and credit goes to my supervisor Associate Professor Madhavi, for her indispensable guidance and inspiration.”
Winner of the L'Oreal-UNESCO for women in science national fellowships award in 2010, and nominated as one of the three “Great Women of Our Time” in the Singapore Women's Weekly Magazine in 2011, Associate Professor Madhavi Srinivasan took Dr Teh under her wing as her PhD student in 2009.
Please refer to the Annex for the full list of winners and their projects.
