NUS staff, alumni and students lauded in 2021 Singapore 100 Women in Tech List

Thirty-six NUS staff and alumni have been lauded in the 2021 Singapore 100 Women in Tech (SG100WIT) List, the latest iteration of an award aimed at recognising and celebrating Singapore-based women who have been inspiring their communities and making significant contributions to the tech industry. Two young women from the NUS community are also named in the new “Girls in Tech” category.

The latest List was unveiled by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information and Patron of the Singapore Women in Tech (SGWIT) movement at the 2021 Tech³ Forum held on 15 Oct.

The List highlights the diversity of roles in technology helmed by women and spotlights the role models in Singapore's dynamic information and communications technology sector, in the hope of inspiring girls and women to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

A total of more than 600 nominations were received from members of the public as well as from schools and universities. The 100 women who made this year’s list were evaluated by a panel consisting of influential leaders from the business, technology and academic communities, including several SG100WIT 2020 honourees.

Among those from NUS named in the list is Provost's Chair Professor Atreyi Kankanhalli from NUS Computing, who is ranked among the top 100 information systems (IS) researchers globally.

She conducts research in the areas of online communities and digital collaboration, digital transformation and innovation in service sectors (e.g., eGovernment, Healthcare), and IT governance and policy with a range of organisations, sponsored by government and industry grants. She chairs the upcoming International Conference on Information Systems 2021, one of the top IS conferences in the world.

“This recognition is very meaningful to me! Ever since my undergraduate engineering degree – where we were only seven girls in a batch of 250 students – I have felt it is important to encourage women to enter and shine in technology fields,” shared Prof Kankanhalli.

Also named in the list is Maybelline Ooi Sim Leng, an alumna of the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies. The nurse-turned-entrepreneur co-founded VIRTUAI, a desktop virtual reality programme that incorporates virtual simulation with AI and analytics to enable the global community of healthcare learners and trainers to share knowledge in a secured environment.

During her nursing training, Ms Ooi acquired basic Python programming through self-taught online modules. This skill has greatly helped her understand the technologies needed to scale VIRTUAI into AI and analytics. She is pursuing more courses in data science to deepen her skills.

“I am humbled to be an honouree in the Singapore 100 Women in Tech 2021 list alongside the exceptional technopreneurs, industry talents, and leaders. Being a nurse technopreneur, what excites me is the ability to leverage on latest technology to improve healthcare and scale it to impact a wider community with entrepreneurship,” said Ms Ooi.

NUS’ Chief Information Technology Officer, Ms Tan Shui-Min, was also recognised among the list of outstanding women in tech.

Ms Tan, who is an alumna of NUS Computing and NUS Business, oversees the creation, delivery, and support of applications from all business domains, including Education, Research and Administration. She also played a vital role in strategic planning, guiding daily operations and implementing campus-wide IT policies. Most recently, Ms Tan’s vision and direction drove NUS IT to implement innovative IT solutions to keep 60,000 NUS students and staff safe amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am honoured to be amongst a list of illustrious awardees in this prestigious accolade that celebrates women in IT. I am grateful for my incredible team, and share this recognition with them. This award is also an affirmation that women can excel and make a difference in the tech sector,” commented Ms Tan.

A rising star in the tech field, NUS Research Fellow and alumna Dr Kirthika Senthil Kumar from the NUS N.1 Institute for Health is recognised in the all-new SG Girls in Tech 2021 List for her efforts in harnessing technology to benefit the community.

She has participated in two cohorts of the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme (GRIP) to translate a robotic positioning system used for deep brain stimulation procedures and a membrane-based technology that can efficiently separate plasma from blood at the point of collection.

“During my PhD journey at NUS, I failed fast enough to discover the blind spots early which helped me shape my focus. For someone from a technical background, the focus is usually kept on finding the solution whereas understanding the end-user and evaluating the market potential for that idea is equally important. At every stage that I tried to progress, I faced questions regarding the latter so I started framing my ideas around the user and market needs,” Dr Senthil Kumar said.

“I also believe in building a strong community of fellow women in Technology collaborating beyond the traditional boundaries. Two is always better than one, given the opportunity, a balanced gender ratio at workplace would help create a better world for mankind,” she added.

Heartiest congratultions to NUS staff, alumni and students in the 2021 Singapore 100 Women in Tech List and 2021 SG Girls in Tech List:

View the full SG100WIT 2021 List here.