Conference Speakers

Guest of Honour

Prof. Subra Suresh

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
President; Distinguished University Professor from Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

Prof. Subra Suresh is the 4th President and the inaugural Distinguished University Professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, since January 2018.

Prof. Suresh served as Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), a position to which he was nominated by the President of the United States, and unanimously confirmed by the US Senate (2010-2013). He has been the President of Carnegie Mellon University (2013 – 2017); Dean of Engineering (2007-2010) and Vannevar Bush Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); and Professor of Engineering at Brown University (1983-1993).  He graduated from high school at the age of 15 and received his engineering doctorate degree from MIT in two years. 

Prof. Suresh’s research has focused on the properties of engineered and biological materials and their implications for human diseases and technologies across a broad spectrum of industries and applications. He has authored three books, more than 300 research articles and 30 patent applications, and has co-founded two technology start-ups.  The Innovation Corps (I-Corps) programme which he created while serving as NSF Director in 2011 is now regarded as one of the most impactful initiatives in translating scientific discoveries into commercial practice.

Prof. Suresh is amongst a rare group of researchers elected to all three branches of the US National Academies: National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine. He has also been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and to leading science and/or engineering academies in China, France, Germany, India, Spain, Singapore, and Sweden.  He has been awarded 18 honorary doctorate degrees from institutions around the world.  His alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, awarded him an honorary doctorate degree during its Golden Jubilee Convocation in 2013 where he was the commencement speaker.

Prof. Suresh is the recipient of some of the most prestigious honors for advancing science, technology, education, research, and innovation through his scholarship and leadership: the 2020 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Medal; an Honorary Fellowship of St. Hugh’s College at Oxford University in 2018; the 2015 Industrial Research Institute Medal; the 2013 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science; the 2012 Timoshenko Medal and the 2011 Nadai Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; the 2011 Padma Shri award, one of the highest civilian honors from the President of India on Republic Day; the 2007 Gold Medal of the Federation of European Materials Societies; and the 1995 Presidential Young Investigator Award from the White House.

Connectivity: Partnerships and Collaboration for Science and Technology

University Briefing Session Speakers

Prof. Lam Khin Yong

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Senior Vice President of Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

Professor Lam Khin Yong guides NTU’s university-wide research and its implementation as the senior vice president (Research). He obtained his BSc with First Class Honors in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London, UK, and his MS and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. He was previously NTU’s acting provost (March-December 2017), chief of staff (2011-2017), acting CEO of NTU Innovation (2012 – 2013), associate provost for graduate education & special projects (2008-2011), and dean/chair of the School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (2006-2008). His research interests are Computational mechanics, the Development of refined meshless (element-free)techniques, and Smart materials modeling for active control. He also focuses on  Computational nanoscience/BioMEMS/Hydrogels, Multiscale simulations, and Computational methods in engineering.

Prof. Hyun Jung Shin

Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)
Vice Director of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Institute of Energy Science and Technology (SIEST)

Hyungjung Shin is the Vice Director as well as a professor of the Department of Energy Science at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. He received his B.S. degree from the Department of Ceramic Engineering at Yonsei Universi-ty. He got his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland, OH. From 1996 to 1997, he did Alexander von
Humboldt Research Fellow at Max-Planck Institute fur Metallforschung, Stuttgart, Germany. From 1997 to 2002, he was a member of the research staff at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon, Korea. After that, he served as a Lecturer at Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea. Since 2003, he also served as a Visiting Professor at Max-Planck Institute fur Metallfor-schung, Germany, and was appointed as an Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea in sequence. He was also a Visiting Professor at University of Texas, Dallas, Tx. In 2012, he was appointed as a professor at Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea. Since 2012, he has served as a professor at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. His research has focused on Nanoscale Functional Materials. Synthesis and Characterization, Atomic Layer Deposition, Nanoscale Local Probing Characterizations, and Renewable Energy Devices: Solar Cells and Fuels, Li ion Battery, Electrocatalyst, and Fuel Cells.

Prof. Jaeho Yeom

TAEJAE University
Founding President of Taejae University, Former President of Korea University

Professor Jaeho Yeom is the president of the Taejae digital university establishment preparatory committee, and the chairman of the board of directors of SK corporation. He obtained BSc and MSc degrees in Public Administration from Korea University, South Korea, and his Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University, USA. Previously, he served as an expert member of the Korean Presidential Commission of Science and Technology Policy and a Board member of the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation. He also served in government as a leader in the Inspection and Evaluation Group at the Ministry of Planning and Budget; Chair of the Policy Advisory Committee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Chair of the Committee for Innovation and Development at the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea; and as Advisor for Korean Presidential Commission of Science and Technology Policy. Research activities of Professor Yeom include the Effectiveness of Private R&D Funds (2008, ITEP), A Study on the Role and Improving Management of Public Research Institutes (2009, KISTEP), Research on the Development Strategy of Machinery R&D (2009, KIMM), Change Management (2009, BCSAA), Research on the Characteristics and Effective Management of R&D Mega Projects (2010, KISTEP), & Future Strategy for Test, Research, and Evaluation of Food and Drug (2011, NIFDS) among others.

Prof. Euijoon Yoon

Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH)
Founding President of Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH)

Professor Euijoon Yoon is the Founding President of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (2013-present). Before he joined KENTECH, he had been a professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU) (1992-2021). He obtained his BSc and MSc degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Seoul National University, South Korea, in 1983 and 1985, respectively. Then, he obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT, USA, in 1990. After working at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA, he joined Seoul National University as an assistant professor in 1992. He was Dean for Research Affairs and Head of SNU R&BD Foundation, SNU from 2019 to 2021. He had served as a Managing Director for Manufacturing Industry in Office of Strategic R&D Planning, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) from 2013 to 2016.

Prof. Ho Sup Yoon

CHA University
Head of CHA Advanced Research Institute, Vice President for research at CHA University

Prof Ho Sup Yoon is Executive Vice President (Research) and Professor of Biochemistry & Structural Biology at the College of Pharmacy, CHA University, Korea. Concurrently, he also serves CHA Advanced Research Institute as President. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University Singapore. Prof Yoon received his BSc from Seoul National University, MSc from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Ph.D. (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology) from the University of Chicago. Before joining NTU, he worked as a Sr. Research Scientist at Abbott Laboratories, USA. Before joining CHA, Prof Yoon spent 20 years at Nanyang Technological University Singapore. He was appointed Head of the Chemical Biology & Biotechnology Division, Structural Biology and Biochemistry Division, and Biomedical Research Director in the President’s Office at Nanyang Technological University. Prof Yoon has done pioneering research in deciphering how the Pleckstrin homology (PH) domain recognizes phosphoinositides and understands the molecular mechanism of the pro-survival Bcl-2 family proteins and the biological role of molecular chaperones on the stability of the pro-survival proteins, significantly contributing to the development of Venetoclax, a medication to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic lymphoma and acute myeloid leukemia. Prof Yoon’s current research programs focus on the structural plasticity of the anti-cell death proteins, the transcriptional activation mechanism of orphan nuclear receptors, and intrinsically disordered proteins in conformational disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease. Prof Yoon was elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Prof Yoon was the recipient of the Abbott Drug Discovery Impact Award 2000 and the Overseas Scientist of the Year Award from the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea 2018.

Prof. Raekil Park

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)
Vice-President of the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)

Raekil Park is Vice President for Academic Affairs as well as a Professor of the Department of Biomedical Science & Engineering of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Korea. From 1981 to 1987, he studied in Wonkwang University, Korea, for Medical Doctor. In 1994, He got his Ph.D in Medicine, Chonnam National University, Korea. From 1998 to 2015, he worked in the School of Medicine, Wonkwang University as a faculty. Since 2016, he has been a professor and a chair of the Department of Biomedical Science & Engineering of GIST. His research fields are Peroxisomes, Lipid metabolism, Ciliogenesis, and Autophagy.

Prof. Shlomo Sasson

SHARE (Singapore-Hebrew University Alliance for Research and Enterprise)
Director/CSO of SHARE (Singapore-Hebrew University Alliance for Research and Enterprise)

Shlomo Sasson received his Ph.D. degree from the Hebrew University in 1982. He is a Professor of Pharmacology at the Institute for Drug Research, Faculty Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem), and the incumbent of the Adolf D. and Horty Storch Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences. He served as a visiting scientist and visiting professor at the University of Rochester in New York, University of California San Francisco, The German Diabetes Centre in Dusseldorf, University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, Sick Children Hospital in Toronto and others. He also served as the Israel Ministry of Science-appointed delegate to various EU-sponsored COST (Cooperation for Research and Technology) Actions, and on national and international review committees on academic accreditation matters, pharmacology, metabolism and diabetes research. He published over 130 research articles and reviews mostly on diabetes research and the mode of action of antiestrogens, and has several patents on novel compounds with potential antidiabetic effects. He has trained over 50 Ph.D and M.Sc. students. Prof. Sasson was frequently voted as excellent lecturer in pharmacology. Throughout his tenure at the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University he served as the Chair of the Committee for Advanced Studies (2002-2004), Chair of the Teaching committee of the Schools of Pharmacy (1991-1995) and the School of Medicine (2003-2011), and Vice Dean for Research (2014-2018). He was elected to the Hebrew University Senate (2016-2018) and the Executive Committee of the Hebrew University (2017-2018). Prof. Sasson is the Director/CSO of SHARE (Singapore-Hebrew University Alliance for Research and Enterprise), since 2019. In this capacity Prof. Sasson promotes scientific collaborations between Hebrew University and Singaporean scientists. 

AKC2022

Session Keynote Speakers

Prof. Dong-Gyu Ahn

Chosun University

Dong-Gyu Ahn received his B.S. degree from the Pusan National University, Korea in 1992. He then received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from KAIST, Korea in 1994 and 2002, respectively. Prof. Ahn is currently a Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chosun University, Korea. Also, he is serving as senior editor of IJPEM-GT (International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology), editor in chief of JKSMPE (Journal of Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers), director of KSME (The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers), associate member of CIRP (The International Academy for Production Engineering), etc. Prof. Ahn’s research interests include development and application of additive manufacturing technologies, rapid manufacturing, lightweight structure, and mold and die.

Prof. David W. Rosen

Georgia Institute of Technology, A*STAR

David Rosen is a Principal Scientist at the Institute for High Performance Computing and SIMTech, both A*STAR institutes in Singapore. He was a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology for many years.  Additionally, he held faculty and research positions at the Singapore University of Technology & Design.  His research interests include computer-aided design, additive manufacturing (AM), and design methodology, with a specific interest in design for additive manufacturing. He is a Fellow of ASME.  Also, he is the recipient of the 2013 Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, International Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Excellence (FAME) Award and is a co-author of a leading textbook on AM. In the standards community, he chairs the ASTM F42 subcommittee on design for additive manufacturing and was awarded the ASTM Award of Merit and promoted to Fellow of ASTM in early 2022.  

Prof. Im-Doo Jung

Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST)

Dr. Jung is currently an assistant professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea. He received his Ph.D. and B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea, in 2011 and 2016, respectively.After completing his doctoral degree, he joined the School of EEE, Nanyang Technological University for one year as a postdoctoral research associate. From 2017 to 2020, he worked at Korea Institute of Materials Science as a Senior Researcher. He has served as a committee member of Future Development Committee in Production and Design Division of Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME), a councilor of Korean Powder Metallurgy & Materials Institute (KPMI), and a finance director of Ulsan Branch of KSME.He is interested in the boundary-spanning research that realize digitalization of current manufacturing industries. His current focuses include artificial intelligence for manufacturing, material and medical innovation, additive manufacturing for intelligent metal components, metaverse for virtual manufacturing, digital twins, smart factory, and internet of things for metal applications. 

Dr. Daeyong Seong

LG Electronics

Dr. Daeyong Seong is a chief research engineer and team leader of the production process solution team at LG Electronics which has manufactured the various products such as refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, TV, notebook, smart phones, electronic motors, EV modules and so on. He has a strong knowledge and experience on manufacturing processes such as metal forming, welding, bonding, and joining. At LG electronics, he has been developing new innovative processes for cost saving and production efficiency.

Prof Namhun Kim

Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST)

Namhun Kim is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Graduate School of Artificial Intelligence at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Republic of Korea. He is currently acting as the Head of Industrial Engineering Department and the director of 3D Printing Convergence Technology Research Center at UNIST. He earned his B.S. in 1998 and M.S. in 2000 from Mechanical Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Republic of Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA in 2010. His scientific interests include design for additive manufacturing in future mobility systems, manufacturing system modeling and agent-based simulation.

Prof. Tae Seok Seo

Kyung Hee University

Tae Seok Seo is a professor of Department of Chemical Engineering, Kyung Hee University, South Korea. He received his BS, MS, and PhD degree from Seoul National Univ. (South Korea), KAIST (South Korea), Columbia University (USA) and finished his Post-doctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley under the guidance of Prof. Richard A. Mathies. His current research interests are centered on lab-on-a-chip, microfluidics, integrated biosensors, genomic technology, single cell assay, and nanobiotechnology. He holds more than 130 papers, 50 patents, 8 technology transfers, and 17 awards.

Mr. John Park

SimTech

John Byunghee Park received B.S. degree in Business Administration from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea and received MBA from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA, USA in 2014. He joined Simmtech in 2007 and started work in new business development team in Seoul. He moved to San Jose, CA in 2011 where Simmtech America located and spent 10 years as a technical sales director for developing new business opportunities in System IC semiconductor market. In 2021, he joined to Simmtech SEA team as a GM and head of regional sales and now is leading a team to support one of the major memory customers in Simmtech, also ventures into developing new customer bases in SEA region.

Ms. Aw Ai Ti

A*STAR

Ms. Aw Ai Ti is the Head of the Aural & Language Intelligence (ALI) department at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR, Singapore. She leads the department in the development and implementation of A*STAR’s Audio, Speech and Language R&D strategies with key areas in audio analytics, speech recognition, speech and language generation, conversational AI and multilingual NLP. Ms. Aw pioneered the research and development of Southeast Asian Language Processing and Machine Translation capabilities in Singapore. She started her career with A*STAR in 1997 spearheading the capability development of natural language processing technology and building Machine Translation capability to address the language barrier in language understanding and information sharing. Her team, together with Ministry of Communications and Information and support from Translational Research and Development for Application to Smart Nation (TRANS) Grant, co-developed SGTranslate, a locally relevant translation engine for Singapore’s Whole of Government deployment. 

Prof. Jinwoo Lee

KAIST

Prof. Jinwoo Lee obtained his B.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2003)degrees from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering of Seoul National University (SNU), Korea. After postdoctoral research at SNU (with Prof. Taeghwan Hyeon) and Cornell University (with Prof. Ulrich Wiesner), he joined the faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH (2008–2018). In 2018, he joined the faculty of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST. He is interested in the synthesis and application of designed nano-functional materials for energy conversion and storage devices.

Mr. David Toh

NTUitive

David Toh is Director and CEO of NTUitive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore responsible for commercialising the university’s scientific research and incubating startups.

Before joining NTUitive in 2013, David spent 20 years in the finance industry at ING Barings, Lehman Brothers and DBS Asset Management as a top rated technology sector analyst and fund manager. In that capacity, David also advised listed and private technology companies in the Asia Pacific region on corporate strategy and fund raising in capital markets. After leaving investment banking, David worked as a fund manager at DBS Asset Management before setting up his own Asia Pacific focused absolute return equity fund.

Prior to the finance industry, David worked as a process engineer at Chartered Semiconductor, where he was responsible for fab wide yield enhancement activities. David is a member of the Singapore Stock Exchange Listings Advisory Committee, and is also an independent director of SGX-listed iFast Corp. David graduated with double degrees from Cornell University in 1991 with distinctions in B.Sc. in Materials Science & Engineering and a B.A. in Government and Asian Studies.

Prof. Sierin Lim

Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

Sierin Lim is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and the Associate Dean (Global Partnerships) at the Graduate College of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU). Her research group focuses on the design and engineering of hybrid nano/microscale devices from biological parts for applications in health and the environment. She is currently leading a Competitive Research Programme funded by the Singapore National Research Foundation on Towards Carbon-Neutral Plastic Bioupcycling.

Sierin earned both her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). She actively promotes and builds supportive communities for women in STEM. She is an awardee of L’Oreal-UNESCO Singapore for Women in Science National Fellowship (2012) and the Inaugural Singapore 100 Women in Tech List (2020). She founded the Biomedical Engineering Society (Singapore) Student Chapter in 2009, co-founded Women@NTU in 2018 and Society of Women Engineers Singapore (SWE@SG) in 2021, of which she is the Vice President (Academic). She is also leading the Ministry of Education-funded Promotion of Women in Engineering, Research, and Science (POWERS) programme at NTU.

 

Prof. Eun-Hee Lee

Jeonbuk National University

TBD

Prof. Yuri Park

Andong National University

TBD

Prof. Young Na Ahn

Seowon University

TBD

Prof. Kyoo Soon Chang

Dong Seoul University

TBD