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Meeting summary
Quick recap
The AIChE Singapore Local Section celebrated its 10th anniversary with a special event that featured speeches from the current president and various dignitaries, including the launch of a new logo and recognition of award winners. The meeting highlighted the organization’s growth and contributions to chemical engineering through education, industry connections, and student engagement, with presentations from various researchers discussing their work in areas like process systems, machine learning, and membrane technology. The event concluded with the announcement of departmental and organizational awards, including a new bursary fund for students celebrating the NUS ChBE Department’s 50th anniversary.
Next steps
| • | Kenny Yip to launch the new AIChE Singapore Local Section logo. |
| • | Emma Pang to receive the prize for winning the new logo competition at the next AGM. |
| • | AIChE Singapore Local Section to continue organizing conferences and events to strengthen connections with universities and industry. |
| • | AICHE Local Section Committee to assist the development of AIChE chapters in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. |
| • | AICHE Singapore Local Section to continue organizing webinars and guest lectures for students and professionals. |
| • | NUS AIChE Student Chapter to continue partnering with student chapters from other countries for international exchanges. |
| • | NUS AICHE Student Chapter Competition Subcommittee to participate in the AIChE Chem-E-Car competition. |
| • | AICHE Singapore Local Section to continue recognizing outstanding individuals through annual awards. |
| • | NUS Chemical Engineering Department to raise awareness and funds for the 50th anniversary Bursary fund. |
Summary
AIChE Singapore 10th Anniversary Celebration
Cindy Lee, the Senior Lecturer from the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NUS, served as the MC for the event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the AIChE Singapore Local Section. Kenny Yip, the current AIChE Singapore Local Section President, delivered an opening address, highlighting the organization’s growth from a small group of passionate individuals to a dynamic and forward-thinking community. He emphasized the importance of their three main purposes: promoting interactions among institutions and professionals, disseminating knowledge, and recognizing significant contributions to the profession through various awards. The event also marked the beginning of the World Conference on Engineering Thermochemistry, which was taking place in the following three days.
AIC Singapore 10th Anniversary Logo Launch
Kenny Yip announced the official launch of a new logo to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the AIC Singapore local section, emphasizing its symbolism of the community’s evolution and commitment to excellence. Emma Pang, the winner of the logo competition, was acknowledged, and the prize presentation was scheduled for the next AGM. Lucas Ng, the second president of the section, reflected on the community’s growth and contributions, with Lucas expressing gratitude for the industry award he received for his work.
Promoting Safety and Sustainability Standards
Lucas Ng, who chairs the Chemical Standards Committee under Singapore Standards Council, discussed his work in promoting safety, sustainability, and standards development in the oil and gas and chemical industry. He highlighted Singapore’s efforts in developing hydrogen-related standards and his keynote address at the NUS Alumni Safety, Health and Environment Society seminar, emphasizing a multi-pronged approach for safe and sustainable operations in energy and chemical sectors. Lucas also shared his role in bridging gaps between industry, academia, and government agencies, focusing on fostering collaboration and promoting excellence in safety, sustainability, and professional development.
EICG SLS Membership Growth Reflection
Tushar Poddar reflected on his 10-year involvement with the EICG SLS, highlighting his initial impression of the vibrant academic environment and the opportunities it provided. He shared his experiences serving as president and his contributions to the community, including organizing webinars and facilitating student participation in international conferences like Gas Tech. Tushar emphasized the growth in membership from 22 to 35 members and expressed gratitude for the opportunities to contribute to the chemical engineering community in Singapore.
AIChE International Section Expansion
Tushar discussed the challenges and progress of organizing local sections for AIChE in various international regions, particularly in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. He highlighted the difficulty of consolidating AIChE members in regions like India and emphasized the need for more involvement from the international community. Tushar also mentioned the positive impact of focusing efforts on specific goals, which has led to improved performance metrics over the past four years. He concluded by emphasizing the importance of effective communication and collaboration between the executive committee and student communities.
AIChE Singapore Celebrates 10th Anniversary
The meeting celebrated the 10th anniversary of the AIChE Singapore Local Section (AIChE-SLS), highlighting its contributions to promoting chemical engineering through education, industry connections, and student engagement. Prof. Raymond Lau, the fifth president, emphasized the importance of collective efforts to sustain and advance the field, especially in light of declining student interest in engineering due to AI advancements. Avijit Mishra, the NUS AIChE student chapter president, shared the chapter’s initiatives, including industrial visits, guest lectures, webinars, and a new women in STEM series, while fostering international collaborations. The meeting also recognized award winners for their contributions to chemical engineering education and industry.
Chemical Engineering and Machine Learning
Assistant Professor Xunyuan Yin presented research on chemical engineering at the intersection of process systems and machine learning, focusing on power-to-liquid processes and carbon capture applications. The team works on both system-level optimization and smaller-scale dynamic modeling, with applications in shipboard carbon capture and water treatment. Assistant Professor Shen Jie, a recent NTU Materials Science and Engineering faculty member, introduced his research on 2D materials and membranes, highlighting his background in China and previous work at UC Berkeley and KAUST.
Advancing Membranes for Energy Efficiency
Shen Jie presented research on developing advanced membrane materials for energy-efficient separations, focusing on 2D materials and their applications in clean water production, CO2 separation, and hydrogen purification. He explained that membranes could reduce energy consumption by 90% compared to traditional separations by avoiding phase changes and using pressure or concentration differences as driving forces. Shen Jie’s team is working on defect-free membranes and precise control of nanoscale channels, with recent progress in creating ultrathin membranes using CVD methods and engineering pores at the nanometer scale to mimic biological channels.
AI in Chemical Process Engineering
Assistant Professor Zhe Wu from the NUS Chemical Engineering Department received an award and shared his research on artificial intelligence in process system engineering. He discussed his work on developing AI solutions to address theoretical and practical challenges in applying AI techniques to chemical plants, including guaranteeing model performance and dealing with limited data sets. Zhe also mentioned his research on using transfer learning, physics-informed machine learning, and digital twins for process optimization and safety. Additionally, he highlighted his contributions to education, including a new course on machine learning in chemical engineering and a course on process safety digitization.
AICE 2024 Awards Ceremony
The meeting focused on the AICE 2024 awards ceremony, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the organization. Cindy Lee announced and presented awards to outstanding young faculty, young researchers, and postgraduate thesis recipients, as well as service and member awards. Several awardees were unable to attend due to commitments or weather conditions. The ceremony concluded with a group photo of all members who received awards.
Chemical Engineering 50th Anniversary Celebration
Cindy announced that the Department of Chemical Engineering is celebrating its 50th anniversary and established a bursary fund to provide financial assistance to students pursuing chemical engineering degrees. Cindy invited attendees to contribute to the fund and provided contact information for further inquiries. The conversation ended with Cindy thanking participants for their attendance and encouraging them to join the tea session for networking and photo opportunities.
