TECH OFFERS

Strength training is beneficial for a person's overall health and wellness. There is increasing demand for strength training used in rehabilitation aimed at restoring the day-to-day functionality of elderly persons. Currently, continual adjustment and improvement to the strength training and rehabilitation plan is carried out using feedback based on visual analysis. This maybe time consuming, and has to be based on the experience of the rehabilitation therapist.  This technology offer is a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique used to detect the effectiveness of strength training. By using the technology, muscle oxygen consumption information can be acquired and mapped as a two-dimensional distribution without the need of direct skin contact. As such, it is possible to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of strength training on a site-by-site basis. In-vivo changes in oxygen concentration in muscles during strength training can be determined by detecting changes in oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin. In this technology offer, these changes are presented by variations in amplitudes of refracted content of an incidental NIR light directed into the skin. This method of analysing the changes in intramuscular blood flow is effective for understanding the muscle condition during strength training, and hence can be used to determine the effectiveness of the training.  The technology owner is keen to out-license the technology to application developers from the physical training and rehabilitation industry.  This technology offer uses near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure hemoglobin changes before and after training to detect effectiveness of physical training. The method:  uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum from 780nm to 2500nm.  does not need to have direct contact with the user's skin captures two-dimensional distribution of muscle oxygen consumption level detects surface scattering and internal scattering components uses precision shutter control technology This technology offer can be adopted in various industry such as: Physical education Training and rehabilitation  Medical and physiological diagnostics and research  This technology offer uses non-contact, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure muscle oxygen consumption in a targeted area of the muscle activity. It has a proprietary method used to trigger the electronic shutter to accurately extract the internal scattering of NIR light.  By displaying the measured oxygen consumption as a two-dimensional distribution, the operator can easily evaluate the effectiveness of muscle exercise over time. This method is efficient and removes the need for the operator to be experienced in visual evaluation of muscle condition; it is expected that this technology can be applied to various fields such as physical training and rehabilitation services. The technology owner is keen to out-license the technology to application developers from the physical training and rehabilitation industry.  physio, sensing technology, exercise, muscle Electronics, Sensors & Instrumentation, Lasers, Optics & Photonics

The solar energy industry is experiencing rapid growth and innovation, and machine learning is playing a key role in driving this trend. Solar energy plays a crucial role in the sustainability initiative providing a clean, renewable, and cost-effective source of power. The adoption of solar energy usage can help to address climate change, improve energy security, and provide access to electricity in remote areas. This growth is fueled by the increasing adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, which are helping organisations in the solar energy industry to more accurately predict and optimise the performance of their solar panels. These models can effectively analyse images of solar panels to detect and diagnose issues such as microcracks, “snail trails”, broken glass, hot spots, dust build-up and other defects that may impact their performance. Building and deploying these models can be a complex process, requiring the use of multiple tools and a high level of technical expertise. This technology offer is a customisable end-to-end MLOps platform that is capable of streamlining the process and makes it easier for teams to build custom computer vision models specifically for solar energy monitoring and optimisation. With this platform, teams can quickly and easily convert their data into working models with enterprise-standard practices, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of their solar energy monitoring systems. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration with organisations looking to improve and optimise the overall design and integration of solar energy systems.   The technology offer can help organisations improve the efficiency of solar panel systems by as much as 25%. It consists of the following features:  AI-Assisted Labeling - in-built annotating method with a mixture of contour analysis methods and deep-learning to label datasets with a few clicks per image with pixel-level accuracy. Image Augmentation - allows generation of synthetic variations of datasets directly in the platform to increase robustness. Multi Architecture and GPU Support - supports large data size that may require multiple GPUs to calculate gradients simultaneously.  Model Deployment & Active Learning - can be adopted in models built natively on the platform, on a fully managed GPU environment or edge deployment.  Works on 2D RGB Images (or converted from other spectrums) Supports polygon, bounding box, and mask labels Exportable to major annotation formats e.g. COCO JSON, LabelMe, PascalVOC, COCO MASK, CSV Width-Height, etc Supports model training with State of the Art models such as MaskRCNN, DeepLabV3 with "One-Click Train" feature Evaluation and Report Generation - to generate detailed evaluation result and statistical analysis of the model that can be included as part of the publication or technical specification sheet. The technology offer can be used for a variety of use cases in the solar energy industry, including: Building custom ML model to continuously monitor solar panels to identify and diagnose any issues affecting efficiency, such as power degradation, hotspots, and shading. Developing predictive maintenance models to proactively address potential problems before they occur Analysing images of solar panels to detect cracked cells, microcracks, hot spots, dust build-up, broken glass, and other defects Optimising the placement and orientation of solar panels to maximize energy production Developing a monitoring system to detect when a junction box is faulty, providing alerts to maintenance teams to take action. Addressing the challenge of low power production efficiency caused by “Snail Trails” by automating the detection and remediation of micro-cracks   The technology offer helps a wide range of demographics in helping improve the efficiency of industrial application developers, deep-tech problem solvers, and researchers. It improves the development cycle by enhancing in-house capability to custom-build computer vision models that are robust and production-ready. Using this technology offer, the collaborators can enhance both speed and cost benefits when developing computer vision capabilities. Active learning methods can further increase model accuracy over time. The technology offer is designed to elevate the capabilities of AI companies in the Solar Panel industry by providing cutting-edge integration and advanced technology for image processing by streamlining data analysis, allowing AI algorithms to quickly process and analyse both IR (Infrared Spectrum) and Photovoltaic (PV) images with speed and accuracy. This enhances the accuracy of AI algorithms and reduces the risk of errors, leading to more effective maintenance and optimisation of solar panels. The advanced image processing capabilities of the platform drive innovation in the Solar Panel industry and allow AI companies to develop new and more advanced algorithms, resulting in improved performance, cost savings, and greater efficiency.  The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration with organisations looking to improve and optimise the overall design and integration of solar energy systems.  solar panel, energy management, predictive maintenance, machine learning, computer vision, image processing Infocomm, Video/Image Analysis & Computer Vision

Traditional traceability technologies often rely on barcodes, QR codes, and holograms on external packaging. These methods are always more susceptible to both intentional and unintentional removal or tampering. This technology offer is a patented innovation that uses natural food ingredients as a unique bio barcode tag for identification. Tags can be added directly as a powder or liquid to products for batch tagging. The technology helps to prove compliance by offering tamper-proof assurance from raw material and hence improves the supply chain integrity by preventing counterfeiting, product dilution, and cross-contamination; at the same time, the tags protect brand value, and transparency as well as establish brand recognition. The technology provider is interested to do test-bedding with food ingredients companies, FMCG companies, agri-food growers, and trading companies who are concerning traceability in their value chain. The technology covers life science, food technology, and bioinformatics sciences. The properties of the tags are as follows: natural, food-grade and patented DNA-based unique identifier safe-to-eat, tasteless and invisible highly resistant to temperature and chemical conditions in the food processing as lasting as the shelf life of the product to which they are added can be detected through PCR, and obtain the individual traceability reports in 2hours can be integrated into the existing barcode labelling, RFID and blockchain system It ensures forensic traceability resulting in higher standards of food safety, quality control, responding to customer complaints and protecting the company’s reputation. Potential applications of this technology offer include (but are not limited to): -             Food and beverage products (plant-based meat, alcohol, coffee, palm oil, etc.) -             Cosmetics -             Fragrance -             Personal Care -             Pharmaceuticals Compared with existing technology, this patented technology is a food-grade ingredient, applied in minute parts-per-million quantity and can be added to the product without affecting the taste or texture. This gives a tamper-proof solution that could potentially solve the traceability issues and protect the brand reputation as well as the product integrity at the same time. While the ingredient is food-grade and applied in minute parts-per-million quantity; the technology provider continues extensive work with food regulatory experts familiar with Australian, US, Europe, UK and Singapore food regulations ensure the compliance of their products.   The technology provider is interested to do test-bedding with food ingredients companies, FMCG companies, agri-food growers, and trading companies who are concerning traceability in their value chain. Personal Care, Fragrances, Nutrition & Health Supplements, Foods, Ingredients, Quality & Safety, Processes

There is a proliferation of health-tech wearables in recent years as the healthcare paradigm shifts from discrete monitoring in a hospital to continuous monitoring at one’s convenience. However, regular change of batteries and power outlet charging are often the pain points of using these wearables. Moreover, electrical charging points may not be readily available, especially when the user is in an outdoor environment for prolonged periods e.g. field trips that stretch for a few days. For these wearable devices to be powered for uninterrupted usage, there is a need for a constant source of external energy supply. Ambient energy can be harvested from the body's activities and serve as a reliable external energy source for wearables and portable electronic devices. As this energy source is readily available, energy sustainability can be achieved for the electronics and sensors in wearables and portable devices. However, it remains a technological challenge to develop such energy-harvesting devices.  This technology offer is a 2-D non-resonant energy harvesting method using hybrid energy harvesting mechanisms that can harvest energy from body movements. It can also be customised to harvest wave or wind energy, etc.  The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration, technology licensing and test-bedding with application developers intending to use motion energy harvesting solution to power devices.  The technology offer is a hybrid energy harvester that has a unique design configuration. It can overcome the following challenges of existing technology: Low, irregular frequency and amplitude generated by body movement, together with the limitation of parasitic damping and harvesting mechanism, often restrict the average output power of an energy harvester to a few microwatts, which is only sufficient to power up devices/wearables with ultra-low power applications. Kinetic motion harvesters are typically designed to harvest energy generated by motion in a specific plane of movement. However, human body movements are not constrained to any fixed planes. Thus, the energy harvested may not have reached optimal levels. The energy harvester, which is of 6cm (L) x 6cm (B) x 4.5 cm (H), is able to generate a power density of 4.8µW/cm3 at acceleration of 1g and frequency of 4Hz. It can be resized and scaled-up according to the application with customisable component selection.  Besides harnessing energy from human body motion to power wearables and portable electronics, the energy harvester could also be customised for the following applications to harness:  Blue energy by placing the energy harvester on a mass of water body to power offshore sensors used for monitoring environmental pollution and natural disaster etc. Ambient energy e.g. wind, to power wireless IoT sensor networks in remote areas, removing the need for regular battery replacement. Kinetic energy from the movement of non-living objects e.g. vehicle or roped elevator This technology offer has the following advantages compared to existing energy harvesters in the market: A hybrid combination of electromagnetic and triboelectric energy harvesting mechanisms allows for more energy to be harvested simultaneously from the same body movements. Increased dimensions of mass movements allow more energy to be tapped from different types of body movements. The design functions at a low-frequency regime (<10Hz) in non-resonant mode to fully harness the energy from human motion. Integrated energy storage and power management circuit allow energy harvested to be stored and managed, thus providing a complete package for product commercialisation. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration, technology licensing and test-bedding with application developers intending to use motion energy harvesting solutions to power devices.  alternative energy, battery alternative, green energy, sustainable energy, renewable energy, blue energy, energy source, energy harvester, energy generator Energy, Battery & SuperCapacitor, Sensor, Network, Power Conversion, Power Quality & Energy Management, Electronics, Power Management, Sustainability, Sustainable Living

Feed cost generally accounts for 60% to 70% of the total production costs in an intensive shrimp aquaculture system. Fishmeal, which is often the main ingredient of shrimp feed, is one of the reasons for the high cost. It is also unsustainable to use fishmeal as it is derived from fish, contributing to the depletion of other fish species on a global scale. The technology offer is an alternative protein source in shrimp feed that uses okara, a nutrient-dense side stream from soy milk and bean curd production. Direct application of unprocessed okara into shrimp feed may work, however, due to the presence of anti-nutrients, the absorption of protein and amino acids from the okara may be limited. The technology developer has formulated a shrimp feed with an optimum amount of processing to increase the digestibility and enhance the nutritional properties and at the same time lowering the cost of shrimp feed by up to 50%. Currently, the developer has developed shrimp feed suitable for L. vannamei shrimp species with complete or partial replacement of animal protein which is fish meal. The technology is available for IP licensing and IP acquisition as well as R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are keen to adopt the solution.  Okara are high in insoluble fiber, proteins, unsaturated fats and isoflavones The okara-based formulation is optimised with minimum processing to increase the protein digestibility and enhance the bioavailability of nutrients Lower cost feeds using nutrient-dense side stream Shrimp fed with okara-based feed showed comparable growth rate as the group fed with commercial diet. There is an increase in the length and weight growth of the shrimp The shrimp feed uses okara, which is rich in proteins, may help the local and Southeast Asian shrimp farmers to reduce the cost of shrimp farming as well as contribute to circular economy by using agro-industrial side stream. The developed formulation is done based on L. vannamei shrimp, a high demand commonly consumed shrimp species in Singapore. The nutritional composition can be tailored for different species, and maybe be applied to mollusks and fish as a feed ingredient. An alternative nutrient source for shrimp feed allows for the sustainability of food supply and the reduction of food production side streams. Furthermore, it also reduces the fishmeal dependency on finite marine resources. The processed okara serves as a cost-effective plant-based functional ingredient that helps to increase the growth rates and maintain the survivability of shrimps. At the same time, lowering the costs of feed for aquaculture farms without comprising shrimp health. The technology is available for IP licensing and IP acquisition as well as R&D collaboration with industrial partners who are keen to adopt the solution.   shrimp feed, okara feed, upcycle food, food waste, aquatic feed Life Sciences, Agriculture & Aquaculture, Waste Management & Recycling, Food & Agriculture Waste Management, Sustainability, Food Security

Caregivers often need to monitor the whereabouts of People with Intellectual Disabilities (PwIDs), who tend to wander off their usual route because of distractions or stress. Current measures to locate them are manual and time-consuming. Caregivers have to retrace the daily journey taken by the PwIDs and rely on the public to assist them.  This technology offer is a low-cost, reliable tracking and monitoring device, developed to enable caregivers to easily track the current location of the PwIDs. The tracking device uses Global Positioning System (GPS) to obtain location data, whereas the corresponding timestamp (date, time) is obtained from the Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network. The resultant timestamped GPS data can be sent to any cloud servers or IoT dashboards via NB-IoT communication. An existing issue with some current NB-IoT tracking system is, the timestamp may not be accurately tagged to the corresponding GPS location data, due to mis-synchronisation. This system is able to overcome such a problem, hence ensuring accuracy of tracking. The tracking device is encased in an access card form factor that can be worn around the neck, making it suitable for PwIDs as it is a familiar form factor to them. The technology owner is able to customise the tracking device; data can be streamed to a 3rd party application server for post-processing and dashboarding. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration with tracking device design companies, and/or end application users such as PwID institutions, including those with existing tracking platforms. Location tracking using GPS technology is common. However, the communication link between the hardware and the internet or cloud servers has been more reliant on WiFi or mobile networks (3G/4G). Usage of WiFi is not possible outdoors and subscription to mobile networks is not practical as it will cost more just to send a few bytes of data. Thus, leveraging NB-IoT network which is mainly utilised by IoT devices to send a small amount of data is a cheaper option compared to mobile networks such as 3G and 4G. In some NB-IoT dashboards, the platform requires position data and timestamp to be sent as an separate packets to servers, i.e., the position data and corresponding timestamp are sent sequentially rather than in a collective packet. This can result in pointing to an incorrect association of location with corresponding time, due to data loss or data corruption. In this technology offer, the tracking device is able to effectively synchronise time data to position data, thus ensuring the time data and corresponding position data is always reflected accurately. The device developed is specially designed to be encased within an access card holder that can be worn around the neck, hence reducing the number of possessions that needed to be carried by the PwIDs. In certain PwIDs, such as those with autism spectrum disorder, having a familiar form factor also reduces the risk of it being rejected.  •    Logistics -  Outdoor asset tracking (Mobile Assets) •    Healthcare - Tracking of patients with dementia, people with intellectual disabilities  The device also comes with an android mobile application to locate the current position of the tracking device. Caregivers can use this to check on the live location of the PwID, and view the historical route taken by the tracker within a specified interval. Alerts can be sent to caregivers when the tracker exits/enters a preset perimeter (factory warehouse, school, homes, etc.). With NB-IoT communication, there can be other features such as fall detection alert, vital signs alert, etc.   In this technology offer, an effective method is used to synchronise time and location data for GPS/NB-IoT based tracking. This ensures the accuracy of the location tracking, which is critical in applications such as tracking PwIDs. The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration with tracking device design companies, and/or end application users such as PwID institutions, including those with existing tracking platforms.   NBIOT, GPS, tracking, tracking system, narrow band Internet of Things Infocomm, Networks & Communications, Internet of Things, Wireless Technology

Indoor farming presents a range of different challenges to crop yields compared to outdoor farming activities. Traditional outdoor farmers intuitively know what environmental factors affect the growth of the crop. Indoor farming, on the other hand, requires the farmer to simulate the optimal climate conditions for expected crop yields. The indoor climate can either contribute to the yields or, in unfortunate circumstances, lead to the loss of the crop. However, it is not always easy to create an ideal environment for the crop.  This technology offer is a control system that allows the facility manager to align optimal crop conditions with the equipment settings in their facility, minimising the drift between settings and site-level crop conditions. The control system can also be used to compute the correlation between data across crop production, environment, and business performance. The control system can be customised further by adding other sensors for better accuracy of control.  The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration and licensing with innovative industrial automation companies specialising in product development of sensor networks and high-data throughput IoT gateways.    The technology offer is a control system that has the following features: can be integrated into existing building management system (BMS) dashboard for real-time data and reporting analysis machine learning techniques to identify the optimal environment  Using this technology,  the indoor farming community can expect energy savings of 25% to 35%, improved crop yields by 25% to 75%, and 25% reduction in man-hours. The control system can take in the climate data, such as air temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide and volatile organic compound readings (VOC) from the building management system (BMS); as well as farming data, such as soil temperature, soil moisture, pH level and electrical conductivity. The computational output is then used to control the temperature, ventilation, lights, fogging machines and balance the irrigation and humidity levels where the crops are cultivated.  This technology offer can be deployed in the following applications: Urban agriculture – farming and gardening Hydroponic/aquaponic facilities Rooftop farms/Community gardens Green houses The technology can also be integrated into soil conditions monitoring and plant video analysis. Customisable inputs and outputs Energy savings of 25% to 35% Enhanced crop performance by 25% to 75% Resource (man-hour) optimisation by 25% Cost-effective data analysis The technology owner is keen to do R&D collaboration and licensing with innovative industrial automation companies specializing in product development of sensor networks and high-data throughput IoT gateways.    vertical farming, indoor farming, climate optimisation, environmental optimisation, computing method Electronics, Sensors & Instrumentation, Energy, Sensor, Network, Power Conversion, Power Quality & Energy Management, Green Building, Sensor, Network, Building Control & Optimisation, Infocomm, Ambient Intelligence & Context-Aware Computing

Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) is widely used for blast protection and structural reinforcement of concrete elements in buildings and infrastructure. However, conventional FRP solutions have limitations due to labour-intensive applications such as on-site preparation and resin mixing, inconsistent quality, long curing time, and low productivity. The technology is a glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) roll pre-saturated with a tacky resin system that can be easily applied to structural elements like “double-sided tape”. The resin-infused GFRP can fully cure in natural light within a few hours, strengthening the structure with only a marginal increase in wall thickness. A fire-retarding version of GFRP is also available. The GFRP solution is fast and efficient with minimal on-site tools and less dependent on workmanship skills. The technology is available for IP licensing and collaboration with industrial partners who are interested in adopting the fast-curing GFRP technology in their products and applications. The GFRP is a composite material made of glass fibres and a proprietary polymer resin that hardens only when exposed to light. The unique feature of polymer resin enables GFRP to be packed into a ready-to-use roll of sticky wrap. The technical features and specifications are listed as follows: GFRP can be easily applied like “double-sided tape” without additional equipment GFRP can fully cure in natural light within a few hours, forming a reinforcing shell of 1.2mm per layer Additional layers can be applied to meet the overall strength requirement Factory-controlled quality ensures consistent application compared to conventional methods GFRP has an ultimate tensile strength of 750MPa, a tensile modulus of 35GPa, and a pull-off strength of 5-5.8MPa This technology can be deployed in the building and construction industries. The potential applications are as follows:   Blast protection for critical infrastructure Roof reinforcement of ageing buildings Reinforcement of concrete columns and walls Strengthening of pre-cast members Repair of cracked concrete walls Repair of structures damaged by fire Repair of leaking pipes Fast curing system achieves full strength in 3 hours under suitable conditions Easy application without on-site mixing allows for a cleaner and tidier work site Up to 30% cost savings in time and manpower Factory-controlled quality ensures consistent application The technology is available for IP licensing and collaboration with industrial partners who are interested in adopting the fast-curing GFRP technology in their products and applications. Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer, Structural Strengthening, Blast Protection, Advanced Materials Materials, Composites, Chemicals, Polymers, Sustainability, Sustainable Living

One-third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted. At the same time, millions of people are hungry and unable to afford a healthy diet. Having said that, food loss and waste could potentially impose food security and impact the world with nutrition, socioeconomic, and environmental issues.  This technology offer is a process technology that provides an efficient and environmentally friendly approach to utilise agri-food side stream and convert it to a valuable, high protein biomass. The technology develops precision approaches, i.e., the proper treatment methods for food sidestreams, specific separation means for target ingredients, suitable strains for protein production, and optimized operational conditions for the fermentation process. The process also utilises the inexpensive agri-food side stream as the novel feedstock for protein fermentation. The technology is available for R&D collaboration and test bedding, with partners that are interested in valorisation of food sidestreams to value-added edible protein. The technology owner is also keen to license and commercialize this technology. Some key features of the technology are as follows: - Bioconversion of food sidestreams to edible protein - Food sidestreams can be effectively treated to obtain the target ingredients - Suitable membrane technology separates target ingredients from treated food sidestreams efficiently - Specific strains can be isolated and used for the protein fermentation •         Food sidestreams treatment (enzymatic, physical and chemical methods) •         Membrane technology application (e.g., target ingredients separation) •         Strains isolation and culture •         Fermentation process optimisation •         Foods (e.g., alternative protein, sensory characteristic, nutritional benefit) •         Customised process and condition •         Environmentally sustainable food production through bioconversion •         Cost-efficient development with food sidestream as novel feedstock •         Scalable fermentation process •         CO2 mitigation by biomass growth which can lessen the environmental burden The technology is available for R&D collaboration and test bedding, with partners that are interested in valorisation of food sidestream to value-added edible protein. The technology owner is also keen to license and commercialize this technology. Foods, Ingredients, Waste Management & Recycling, Food & Agriculture Waste Management, Sustainability, Food Security