MIT Technology Review has announced its annual list of Innovators Under 35 for the Asia Pacific Region. This acclaimed list honours innovators making great strides in their respective fields. Selected from a pool of 200 exceptional candidates, the 2020 list is double the usual number for the APAC region.
And among the names on the list are two Australians—Anastasia Volkova, CEO and Founder, FluroSat, who built a crop monitoring and management tool to help agribusinesses globally grow better yields with less resources; and Dongliang (Donny) Chao, a researcher at the University of Adelaide, who pioneered the development of new safe and low-cost battery technologies for next-generation reliable and scalable energy storage.
“The 20 ‘Innovators Under 35’ are a group of exceptional young scientists pursuing research that—in many cases—relates to substantial challenges facing humanity. The potential impact of their research is further increased when it becomes the foundation of one or more products that form the core of a Deep Tech startup,” said Steve Leonard, Founding CEO, SGInnovate. “Building a company from scratch is always hard, and even more so in the Deep Tech space.” EmTech Asia is pleased to partner with SGInnovate as the 2020 Deep Tech Partner of the event.
“It’s part of our ethos that technology can, and should, be a force for good,” said Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, CEO and publisher of MIT Technology Review. “We’re excited to be expanding our pool of talented young men and women, celebrating the impact they are making in this world.”
Among the 2020 Innovators Under 35 are researchers, inventors, and entrepreneurs whose work includes applications in agriculture, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, construction, energy, new materials, robotics, and water. They include:
· Bolei Zhou, HONG KONG SAR, Assistant Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, developed a technique that makes AI models more understandable and trustworthy to humans.
· Carine Lim, SINGAPORE, Ph.D. Candidate, National University of Singapore, spearheaded the development of a tool to unmask Alzheimer’s disease with a simple, accurate and cost-effective blood test.
· Chunfeng Wan, SINGAPORE, Technical Director, Meinhardt (Singapore) Pte Ltd, developed membrane technologies to convert osmotic pressure to renewable osmotic energy.
· Gibran Huzaifah Asmi El Farizy, INDONESIA, CEO and Cofounder, eFishery, created an IoT smart-feeding solution that leverages on data and its network to increase fisheries’ efficiency and profitability.
· Hao Guo, HONG KONG SAR, Postdoc Fellow, The University of Hong Kong, invented an electricity- and chemical-free filter for rapid water purification for disaster relief.
· Ka Yi Ling, SINGAPORE, Cofounder and Chief Science Officer, Shiok Meats, works on bringing crustacean meat to consumers by harvesting cells instead of animals.
· Katherine A. Kim, TAIWAN, Associate Professor, National Taiwan University, developed power electronics and control to maximise solar photovoltaic power for emerging applications.
· Lukasz Orlowski, SINGAPORE, Cofounder and CTO, Archanan, developed a cloud-based supercomputing system emulation engine for supercomputing software development, testing and validation
· Mohammad Hossein Davood Abadi Farahani, SINGAPORE, Cofounder and CEO, SEPPURE, has invented and commercialised a nanofiltration membrane that separates industrial chemical mixtures at a molecular level with minimal energy.
· Nazanin Saeidi, SINGAPORE, Postdoc Researcher – Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore ETH Centre, transforms, upcycles and repurposes organic waste to create a 100% mycelium-bound composite material for the construction industry.
· Ping Luo, HONG KONG SAR, Assistant Professor, The University of Hong Kong, developed computer vision and AI technologies to understand human behaviours such as facial expressions, emotions and social relationships.
· Po-Yen Chen, SINGAPORE, Assistant Professor, National University of Singapore, is developing mechanically patterned 2D materials towards the fabrication of stretchable electronics and smart soft robotics.
· Sadaf Monajemi, SINGAPORE, Cofounder and CTO, See-Mode Technologies, developed software that combines deep learning, signal processing, and text recognition to predict and prevent a stroke.
· Stephanie Hui Kit Yap, SINGAPORE, Ph.D. Candidate, Nanyang Technological University, invented an advanced hand-held microfiber-based sensor for water quality monitoring.
· Wei Ru Wong, MALAYSIA, Researcher, University of Malaya, has developed a novel technique using light to detect dengue virus and its antibodies in clinical blood samples.
· Yvonne Gao, SINGAPORE, Research Scientist, Institute for Materials Research and Engineering—A*STAR, built a modular hardware for quantum computers and successfully constructed the critical building blocks to demonstrate its viability.
· Ziyan Guo, HONG KONG SAR, PhD Researcher, The University of Hong Kong, has developed the world’s first intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-guided robot for bilateral stereotactic neurosurgery.
The 20 ‘Innovators Under 35’ will be recognised at the EmTech Asia conference, held on 25-26 February 2020 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.
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