Issue 10, 2018NTU COLLEGE OF ENGINEERINGWHERE CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY MERGE

NTU College of EngineeringA Leader in Engineering Education and ResearchBased on Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2018 by Subject

CoECollege ofEngineering

CEESchool of Civiland EnvironmentalEngineering

EEESchool of Electricaland ElectronicEngineering

MAESchool of Mechanicaland AerospaceEngineering

MSESchool of MaterialsScience andEngineering

SCBESchool of Chemicaland BiomedicalEngineering

SCSESchool of ComputerScience andEngineering

ONLINEVERSION

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LIFE AT CoE

• Launch of Dyson-NTU Studio

• Launch of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Programme

• Showcase of Learning Technology Solutions Developed by EEE and MAE

PEOPLE ANDEVENTS

• Hi Profs!

• Hacking to the Top: NTU Students Win with Innovative Solutions

• Beer Brewing Competition: Professors VS Students

• Team from SCSE Clinches the Highest LinPACK Award at SC18

• Winners of Global Capstone Design Award 2018

• Social Media Savvy Professors Recognised at John Cheung Social Media Award 2018

ENGINEERINGINNOVATION

• NTU Singapore and Harvard Scientists Discover Fat-blocking Effects of Nanofibres

• NTU Singapore Develops Smart Technology for Synchronised 3D Printing of Concrete

• NTU Singapore Scientists Develop ‘Contact Lens’ Patch to Treat Eye Diseases

LAUNCH OFDYSON-NTU STUDIO

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore(NTU Singapore) and Dyson have launched anengineering studio that will give students a chanceto work with industry experts to develop technologicalanswers to solve real-world problems.

NEW

Continued from cover page

The Dyson-NTU studio is Dyson’s first on-campus engineering studio in Asia. The studio builds upon an existing Dyson-NTU partnership, which includes local and overseas internships for students, and graduate recruitment opportunities.

An undergraduate module co-taught by the two partners in the studio will give NTU engineering students access to advanced prototyping equipment to help them turn their ideas into viable solutions. Students choose from a variety of problems faced by the society in this semester-long module. Guided by NTU professors and Dyson engineers, they will develop technology prototypes and test their viability on the NTU Smart Campus.

LIFE AT CoE CONVERGENCE

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The studio will simulate Dyson’s working environment and its research and development processes. Students from various fields of engineering will work in teams and apply what they have learnt to overcome challenges. They will need to define a problem, design and develop their ideas from a blueprint into a working prototype.

They will also get to use advanced prototyping equipment such as high-resolution 3D printers and digital fabrication facilities, and learn the latest industry sostware suites. These include high-resolution rapid prototyping and modelling sostware.

The studio will also serve as a platform for industry and career talks for students and researchers, and hosting of engineering-led competitions, and tech exhibitions.

The first batch of students have created their prototypes and have successfully presented them to the panel of judges from Dyson-NTU studio. They also participated in NTU College of Engineering’s Tea Party and unveiled their prototypes to the public and prospective students! More photos below:

It’s a wrap! Photo taken with the mentors from Dyson-NTU studio and Professors from NTU College of Engineering aster the final presentation.

Ms Yvonne Tan, Digital Motor Engineering Manager from Dyson Singapore giving a brief overview before the presentation.

Team REMINDOOR came up with the idea to create a smart mirror that can remind one on the things they need before they go out of the house.

One of the students from team Crampless introducing their product to NTU College of Engineering's Tea Party’s attendees.

Team RElectric aims to reduce wastage in electricity by using an application to control the electricity even if you’re not at home!

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LIFE AT CoE

Showcase of Learning Technology Solutions Developed by EEE and MAE

The School of MAE and School of EEE participated in the NTU Alumni Homecoming and Learning Technologies Festival which showcased NTU as well as partners’ Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) approaches and various learning technology solutions at The Wave on 13 October 2018. EEE Students from the Garage@EEE showcased their online Arduino, the first-ever student-initiated Technology-

A new double major degree programme in Mathematical and Computer Sciences (MACS) will be launched in Academic Year 2019, with the aim of producing graduates with complementary knowledge and skills in both Mathematical Science and Computer Science, who will actively contribute to Singapore’s evolving high-tech economy and participate in research and development activities benefiting the nation, the region, and even globally.

Jointly offered by the School of Computer Science and Engineering (SCSE) and School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS), this Bachelor of Science degree programme aims to attract top students who can master the technically demanding disciplines from both schools. The programme

Launch of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Programme

NEW

provides students with strong foundations in their two majors with core courses and in-depth specialised training in one of four areas at the interface of Mathematical Sciences and Computer Science – Theoretical Computer Science, Cryptography and Cybersecurity, Financial Modelling, and Data Science. Students will do a Professional Internship, and a Final Year Project in this programme.

Graduates from this programme are expected to either be ICT leaders and entrepreneurs in fast developing areas such as Financial Technology, Cybersecurity, and Data Analytics, or pursue postgraduate degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science related disciplines.

Enabled Learning (TEL) project that provides interactive step-by-step instructions to help students learn Arduino programming at their own pace. Students programmed the codes on the online interface, ‘assembled’ the components on the virtual Arduino Board and ran the programme. Aster mastering basic programming, students can explore further using their creativity to integrate different components to build projects such as the “Robotic Car” and “Motion Light”.

In addition, the School of EEE showcased their Online Assessment System with Integrated Study (OASIS), an online teaching and learning platform that takes learning beyond the confines of a classroom. Students can reinforce their learning by accessing a huge database of practice questions on OASIS anytime and anywhere with internet connection. Faculty can conduct assignments and quizzes online and provide students with instant results as well as analyse their class performance at the same time.

The Robotics Club from the School of MAE exhibited its 3rd-generation Infantry Robot. Designed to be vehicles with high levels of manoeuvrability and durability, the unmanned ground vehicles are capable of carrying out various tasks such as gripping, shooting, retrieving and even stairs-climbing using self-developed computer vision-based detection and tracking with embedded Robot Operating Systems. The robots competed at the RoboMaster International Competition 2018 and won the 3rd place in the international category.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS CONVERGENCE

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Can you tell us more about yourself, such as your interests, hobbies, etc.?

Hello! I’m Assistant Professor Christopher H. T. Lee from School of EEE. I’m originally from Hong Kong. I spent most of my life in my hometown and I am fortunate to have had the chance to stay in United States and Australia.

I love playing sports, especially basketball. My childhood dream was to play in the NBA, but I can only play NBA 2K (video game) now. I still play basketball occasionally, please find me if you need an extra bench player!

What do you like most about teaching?

I believe that teaching is a two way street – it‘s about teaching and learning at the same time. Teaching allows me to make a difference in the students’ lives and at the same time, I’m also able to learn from them.

What do you like about engineering?

To be frank, engineering is not an easy subject and it requires not only dedication, but also profound insight. However, the beauty of engineering is that we can utilise our fundamental tools to create something for the society and you will feel a great sense of satisfaction when you are able to create something that benefits other people’s lives.

Besides lectures, what methods of teaching do you use? / How do you connect your lessons to the “real world”?

In my opinion, a good teacher can teach students to learn during class, while an excellent teacher can inspire students to learn during their leisure time. I truly believe teaching has to be inspiring and not spoon-fed to the students. To do that, I motivate students by connecting learning materials to the real-world and giving examples.

Assistant Professor Christopher H. T. Lee

The Convergence team invites two new professors who have recently joined NTU College of Engineering to tell us a bit more about themselves.

Hi Profs!

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PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Can you tell us more about yourself, such as your interests, hobbies, etc.?

Hi everyone, I am Cavan Loy from SCSE.I was born and bred in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. I did my PhD and postdoctoral training at Queen Mary University of London and I served as a Research Assistant Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong before coming to Singapore in August 2018.

Currently, I am doing research in the field of deep learning and computer vision. My team and I have developed various cool applications for face recognition, face detection, image super-resolution, etc.

When I am not at work, I engage in various types of activities. I enjoy eating nice food but I exercise (either swimming or playing basketball) regularly to burn off the extra calories. I like music, both listening to them and playing them (I play the drum). I also like reading!

What do you like most about teaching?

Firstly, I enjoy interacting with young people as I think it keeps me young! While it is satisfying to see brilliant students excel in the class, I personally feel a stronger sense of achievement when the less capable students, through their own perseverance and determination, become more confident with time and eventually achieve their goals.

Frankly speaking, even though we are osten regarded as the “teacher”, I osten feel that I am learning a lot from the students when I am teaching. In fact, I osten see and treat the students as my peers. I have been learning so much, from how the young minds think, how the youngsters dress to the lingo they use in their daily communication, etc.

What do you like about engineering?

Engineering allows me to understand the inner mechanism of many things in the world. With the right skills you can build new and innovative gadgets or applications that can improve people’s lives. Engineering requires teamwork.I am fortunate to have met a team of most committed and dedicated people, who share similar research interest as me and whom I truly treasure.

Besides lectures, what methods of teaching do you use? / How do you connect your lessons to the “real world”?

During my lectures, I would osten start with didactic teaching, but aster the basic concept is introduced, I would switch to a more interactive type of teaching, whereby students collaborate and work among themselves on certain specific tasks.

I also give real-world examples when I teach. Students certainly enjoy it more when they can see how the things they learn in the university have been applied in real life.

Associate Professor Chen Change Loy

PEOPLE AND EVENTS CONVERGENCE

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Hacking to the Top:NTU Students Win with Innovative Solutions

Team ZPJ with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Minister Mr Ong Ye Kung and NTU President Subra Suresh.

Team Vandhe with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Minister Mr Ong Ye Kung and NTU President Subra Suresh.

Students from Singapore and India were part of a first of its kind Singapore-Indian Hackathon, held over 36 hours from 12-14 November 2018. Suggested by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his official State visit to Singapore in June 2018, the hackathon had 20 teams of three university students each from India and Singapore who competed to build innovative technological solutions that address the theme "Smart Campus". This includes presenting their own original ideas, such as how to navigate on campus efficiently outdoors and indoors, how to enhance learning using technology, how to manage one's digital identity, and many more. The teams also proposed solutions focused on parking on campus, effective learning, event management, and personal security.

Jointly organised by NTUitive, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the two top teams from Singapore and India with the most innovative solution were presented with $10,000 each, while the second and third prize winners won $6,000 and $4,000 each.

Students from NTU EEE and Renaissance Engineering Programme clinched the 1st and 2nd prize in the Hackathon with their innovative solutions.

This includes presenting their own original ideas, such as how to navigate on campus efficiently outdoors and indoors, how to

enhance learning using technology, how to manage one's digital identity,

and many more. The teams also proposed solutions focused on parking on campus, effective

learning, event management, and personal security.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

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Beer Brewing Competition:Professors VS Students

It’s not everyday that you get to see professors and students competing against one another in a beer brewing competition.In this 3-month long event organised by SCBE, students from

SCBE were led through a series of beer history and instructions on the brewing process, before they officially

get brewing.

The NTU SCSE team, once again proved their

capability by securing the Highest LinPACK award at the recent student cluster

competition in SuperComputing 2018

(SC18), held in Dallas. They broke the LinPACK SC17 record, which was set by the previous SCSE team,

claiming victory once again, for the school.

Assistant ProfessorJames Kwan

with his grand prize.

Team from SCSE Clinches the Highest LinPACK Award at SC18

A total of 11 teams participated and with the subsidy provided by SCBE for each team to buy the necessary ingredients and equipment for brewing, professors and students actively got their brewing on!

Assistant Professor James Kwan emerged as the winner for the competition and walked away with the grand prize of a beer brewing kit, portable alcohol meter and a certificate.

The SCSE team achieved 2nd place in the overall team performance, where teams are required to run real-world application, e.g. Seismic simulation to Artificial Intelligence application. Interestingly, one of the servers broke down mid-way through the competition. The students quickly reorganised their strategy and became more determined to do well in the competition. Thus, it came as a surprise to them when they were informed of the

results. One of the judges commented that he was really impressed with the students’ performance coming in 2nd overall with only one working server.

For two years in a row, SCSE has successfully produced teams to compete at the very top of the league in the student cluster competition against some of the top universities with a history of High Performance Computing (HPC).

Ms Hao Meiru (Captain, CS Year 3) Mr Zhang Xinye (Vice-Captain, CS Year 3) Ms Wu Bian (CS Year 3) Mr Shen Youlin (CS Year 3)

Mr Cao Liu (CS Year 3) Mr Heng Weiliang (CS Year 3)Associate Professor Lee Bu-Sung, Francis (Team Advisor) Mr Liu Siyuan (Mentor, Class of 2018)

Team members

PEOPLE AND EVENTS CONVERGENCE

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Winners of Global CapstoneDesign Award 2018 Two teams of students from Design and Robotics & Mechatronics Stream of the School of MAE have won the Gold (2nd) and Bronze (6th) Award for the Global Capstone Design Award 2018 in August 2018!

The top 4 teams (including one of our teams) from the Capstone Design Award 2018 have been invited to participate in the E2 Festa, held in Ilsan, Korea on 8th and 9th November 2018.

Team 15’s product, Braille-in, is an assistive device which helps the visually impaired learn and practice using Braille in their daily lives. Due to the prevalence of smartphones and various voice commanding functions, there is a Braille Literacy Crisis among the visually impaired community. To reverse the trend, the team believes that technology can supplement instead of replacing how Braille helps the community, and hence, they developed a product to help the visually impaired learn and practice Braille, regaining their fluency in the language.

Albert Christian said, "i-CAPS is indeed a unique learning experience. It has offered international collaboration (with every group from each university consisting of 2 Korean students). Furthermore, our team consisted of 3 NTU students with 3 different nationalities, which has the most diversity among all other groups. People said it is never easy to do an international collaboration, but our group had proven them wrong by successfully clinching the gold prize."

Team 16's product is a smart bracelet to improve hospital care for patients with dementia. Due to the advancement in smart technology, the team has developed a prototype to show live data of dementia patients to improve the efficiency of hospital care for patients with dementia.

Joandy Leonata Pratama said, "It was definitely a very interesting experience to come up with different designs and ideas to solve the problem given by the organiser. Furthermore, working with the Koreans remotely was also a very interesting experience, as we were

Team 15 (Gold Award) members: Albert Christian (Robotics & Mechatronics Stream), Song Xue Ting (Design Stream), Yong Wei Yaw (Design Stream) and along with two other Korean students from Dongshin University.

contributing to different technical perspectives and ideas throughout the project. Despite the language barrier, we learnt to convey messages in a simple yet thorough manner. It was definitely an enriching journey."

The International Capstone Design Competition (i-CAPS) 2018 was held by the Innovation Hub Center for Engineering Education (HICEE) and hosted by Chonbuk National University. 19 teams consisting of international students from Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore were invited to participate in the event.

Team 16 (Bronze award) members: Joandy Leonata Pratama (Robotics & Mechatronics Stream), Le Bao Trung (Design Stream), Liaw Ying Qi (Design Stream) and along with two other Korean students from Chonbuk National University.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Social Media Savvy Professors Recognisedat John Cheung Social Media Award 2018Winners of John Cheung Social Media Award are recognised for their exemplary and innovative use of social media in their teaching practices.

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Hi Prof, can you share with us more about how you use social media in your teaching practices?Sure! I’ve made use of the cloud-based instant messaging platform (Telegram) to create a class chat group for all students (150+) to post questions, interact, create poll and learn from one another.

What motivated you to use social media in your teaching practices?In the Asia culture, students are typically too shy to ask questions in class and there is limited time aster lectures to cater to all the students. Students typically log in to NTULearn, an online learning and teaching platform, only to access notes or lecture recordings. On the other hand, students will never leave their mobile phones and having an interactive solution on their phones would make it accessible to students who have questions or to simply interact with one another.

What was the reaction from your students on integrating social media into teaching?Based on my conversation with a few students, they find it useful to engage in interactions with the lecturer, peers and for

networking. Queries are answered quickly, not just by the lecturer but also by their peers. They also get to know what questions other students have, and in the process, learn more and enhance their learning, especially on questions they have never thought about.

What are the benefits of using social media in teaching practices? I am able to reach out to more students, understand and track the pace of learning beyond classrooms through the platform. In addition, the questions raised on the platform are not just strictly from the lecture syllabus. Students also asked questions out of curiosity and personal interest in the subject being taught. In other words, students are observed to go beyond classroom knowledge and explore further into the subject of interest for personal enrichment.

Has the use of social media increased the interaction between professors and students?Time is critical in learning and students have wild imagination. They osten view the sending of emails as being too formal for them to express their ideas. However, social media

allows a less restrictive and informal avenue for them to engage their lecturer. To some students, a social message is much easier to embark on than a formal email or face-to-face query. To the lecturer myself, I am able to clarify in real-time, understand the pace of learning and determine if some concepts require further reinforcements.

Hi Prof, can you share with us more about how you use social media in your teaching practices?To enhance the capability of their collaboration and communication, I introduced ‘Wiki’ that enables students to add, amend, correct and post information for other students. The Wiki, with its ability to connect to social networking tools, allows students to share their knowledge and assess ideas through Q&A and surveys. I have also shared several online co-sharing repositories, such as ‘3dhubs.com’ and

‘servicedesigntools.org’. These online repositories which are crowd-sourced, provide online resources and serve as a platform for the students to share, discuss and learn about manufacturing technologies with the world at large.

What motivated you to use social media in your teaching practices?The motivation behind using social media in my teaching practices was to provide students with a first-hand experience of the emerging and disruptive technologies, and benchmarking products.

What was the reaction from your students on integrating social media into teaching?Engaging students in real-world case studies helps to stimulate their interest in the subject. Students were generally receptive and gave positive comments such as "Good interactive class through group exercises for better understanding in product development" and "All the classroom activities are really fun and make learning a lot more holistic and enriching."

What are the benefits of using social media in teaching practices? Social media allows students to maintain and enhance their relationships and enables them to build and establish virtual relationships and digital citizenship. It also allows them to access, evaluate, maintain and share information.

Has the use of social media increased the interaction between professors and students?Students are able to obtain new knowledge without fully relying on text books as references. In addition, these tools allow professors and students to connect with group members, share knowledge and opinions, and collaborate with other students through discussions and meetings.

Usage of cloud-based social messaging

platform to enhance interactionsbeyond classroom

Assistant Professor Ng Bing Feng

Translating social media to engineering

design education and implicationsAssistant Professor Moon Seung Ki

ENGINEERING INNOVATION CONVERGENCE

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Cellulose fibres 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair,

could one day be added to food to

reduce fat absorption, if future experiments

are successful.

NTU Singapore and Harvard ScientistsDiscover Fat-blocking Effects of Nanofibres

The research on fat-blocking effects of nanofibres conducted by Associate Professors Ng Kee Woei, Joachim Loo and their team has been featured on various media platforms. The breakthrough was achieved in collaboration with Associate Professor Philip Demokritou from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Along with their counterparts at Harvard University, the team discovered that nano-sized cellulose fibres, derived from all-natural substances, could potentially become a food additive which reduces fat

absorption by up to 48 per cent in a simulated gastrointestinal tract. This is accomplished by the binding and trapping of triglycerides by the nanocellulose fibres. In addition, this new method of using nanocellulose fibres as fat blockers has been granted a US provisional patent which was jointly filed by NTU Singapore and Harvard University.

Associate Professor Ng Kee Woei, a biomedical engineer and materials scientist at MSE said the finding reinforces the conventional wisdom that eating a high fibre diet is good for health.

"We've known for a long time that fibre in the diet has positive health benefits, but what we have shown now is that in animal experiments, fibres at the nanoscale are much more effective at reducing fat absorption than in its bulk form," said Associate Professor Ng.

Associate Professor Ng Kee Woei and Associate Professor Joachim Loo with the nanocellulose fibres which were ground down from wood pulp.

ENGINEERING INNOVATION

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Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have

developed a technology where two robots can work in unison to 3D print a concrete structure. This method of concurrent

3D printing, known as swarm printing, paves the way for a team of mobile robots to print

even bigger structures in future.

NTU Singapore Develops Smart Technologyfor Synchronised 3D Printing of Concrete

Developed by Assistant Professor Pham Quang Cuong from MAE and his team at NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, this new multi-robot technology was published in Automation in Construction, a top tier journal for civil engineering. The NTU scientist was also behind the Ikea Bot where two robots assembled an Ikea chair in 8 min 55s.

Using a specially formulated cement mix suitable for 3D printing, this new development will allow for unique concrete designs currently not possible with conventional casting. Structures can also be produced on demand and in a much shorter period.

Currently, 3D printing of large concrete structures requires huge printers that are larger than the printed objects, which is not feasible since most construction sites have space constraints.

Having multiple mobile robots that can 3D print in sync means large structures like architectural features and specially-designed facades can be printed anywhere

as long as there is enough space for the robots to move around the work site.

The NTU robots 3D printed a concrete structure measuring 1.86m x 0.46m x 0.13m in eight minutes. It took two days to harden and one week for it to achieve its full strength before it was ready for installation.

“We envisioned a team of robots which can be transported to a work site, print large

pieces of concrete structures and then move on to the next project once the parts have been printed,” explained Assistant Professor Pham.

Moving forward, the NTU research team will look at integrating even more robots to print larger scale structures, optimising printing algorithm for consistent performance and improving the concrete material for faster curing.

(3rd from lest) NTU Assistant Professor Pham Quang Cuong and his multidisciplinary team of researchers consisting of roboticists, civil engineers, mechanical engineers and material scientists, with the 3D concrete structure printed by the two robots concurrently in a single print.

ENGINEERING INNOVATION

CONTACTUS

Connect with UsNTUCollegeofEngineering

ntucoe

Dean’s OfficeCollege of EngineeringNanyang Technological University, Singapore70 Nanyang Drive, Block N1.3-B1-01,Singapore 637457

Convergence TeamTel: +65 6316 8896Fax: +65 6896 8757Email: outreach-coe@ntu.edu.sgwww.coe.ntu.edu.sg

NTU Singapore ScientistsDevelop ‘Contact Lens’ Patch to Treat Eye Diseases

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have developed a ‘contact lens’ patch with microneedles that could provide a painless and efficient alternative to current methods of treating eye diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Current localised treatment methods such as eye drops and ointments are hindered by the eye’s natural defences, blinking and tears. Eye injections can be painful and carry a risk of infection and eye damage. As a result, some patients are unable to keep up with the prescribed regime for their eye ailments, many of which require long-term management.

The proof-of-concept patch, successfully tested in mice,

is covered with 2mm by 2mm biodegradable

microneedles that deliver drugs into the eye in a

controlled release. Aster pressing it onto the eye

surface briefly and gently – much like putting on contact lenses – the drug-containing

microneedles detach by themselves and stay in the cornea, releasing the drug over time as they dissolve.

When tested on mice with corneal vascularisation, a single application of the patch was 90 per cent more effective in alleviating the condition than applying a single eye drop with 10 times more drug content.

This novel approach, developed by a team led by Professor Chen Peng from SCBE with clinical insights from Singapore National Eye Centre's Associate Professor Gemmy Cheung, was published in Nature Communications.

The team includes Assistant Professor Wang Xiaomeng from NTU's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and Assistant Professor Xu Chenjie and research fellow Dr Aung Than from SCBE.

Professor Chen said the team has filed a patent, and is currently working on further improving the eye patch technology. They are also looking to partner clinician scientists to study the feasibility of conducting medical trials.

Assistant Professor Wang Xiaomeng from NTU's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and Professor Chen Peng from NTU's School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering are part of an NTU team that developed a 'contact lens' eye patch to treat eye diseases. Painless and minimally invasive, the patch could potentially be a viable alternative to the current treatment options, which face poor patient compliance.