TECH OFFERS

The Dilution Air Processing Unit (DAPU) is an ideal solution for small and medium businesses to prepare themselves for the Covid-19 new normal by employing an enhanced air ventilation technique. The DAPU system allows the creation of zones (e.g. sickbays, waiting rooms, etc.) within workplaces with no recirculation of air. This prevents cross-contamination of unclean air in between the zones. This solution is suitable for hotels and other premises to be used for quarantine purposes. The DAPU consists of the following key features: Provides 100% fresh air supply with no recirculation Reduces airborne particles exposure by greater than 60% Achieves 25% energy efficiency in providing 100% fresh air supply as compared to conventional systems Uses fully portable modular approach Can be easily retrofitted to any existing air-conditioning system resulting in lower implementation cost The DAPU can also be deployed in any area without an existing air-conditioning system making it highly versatile. Key design advantages: A portable and modular design suitable for any area, even those without an existing Air conditioning system. Air Change Rate per Hour (ACH) of 40 for dilution, which means it is able to perform air change every 1.5 min for an entire room volume in contrast to the nominal 5 to 6 mins by conventional systems. 100% air change per room volume by fresh air in contrast to the nominal 25% to 30% using traditional mixed ventilation. The modular design feature makes it unique and versatile. The system is suitable for various operating modes bypassing intermediate devices. This allows for the adjustment of nominal operating conditions during post-pandemic situation. Key Performance advantages: Achieved 27.7% (target: 25+/-5%) energy efficiency improvements in building HVAC in comparison to conventional approach for achieving 100% fresh air supply. Actual measurements showed that there was a 30% reduction (target: 20%+/-5%) of cumulative concentration of airborne particles (greater than 0.3 µm and less than 1µm). This is in comparison to conventional room air conditioner without fresh air.  The use of the novel Bio antibody filter has reduced the airborne exposure of the occupants within the test chamber. There was a reduction of 45% of PM 1.0 particle concentration in the absence of fresh air.  With the availability of both 100% fresh air and the Bio antibody filter, airborne exposure of the occupants is further reduced by greater than 60%. DAPU is an innovative solution for enhanced ventilation and reduced transmission of airborne infectious diseases. Its aim is to offer an easily implementable and low-cost solution for 100% fresh air supply to buildings in curbing infections during a pandemic.  The system has 25% less energy consumption in comparison to conventional options and maintains the optimum humidity range at 45% to 55%. The modular design feature makes it unique and can be easily retrofitted to buildings. DAPU achieves 60% reduction of integrated airborne particle concentration in comparison to ordinary air-conditioners (with 100% recirculation).  DAPU could be an ideal solution when it comes to the creation of isolation zones within buildings to curb the spread of infectious diseases. This can play a vital role in safeguarding public health and ensuring global health security. Examples of practical applications are as follows: Isolation rooms in hospitals Sick Bays in campus or business places Swab stations Waiting rooms The DAPU technology demonstrates the innovative strategy in improving the capabilities of existing solutions and applying novel concepts to a very challenging situation such as pandemic control. The estimated market size for this technology could be largely due to its sustainable approach in meeting the demands for an expanding healthcare facility in the future. For pandemic control, DAPU can be operated indoor for the test chamber with 1 patient and 1 attending nurse/staff. This setup has a simple payback of less than 2 years. However, for high usage areas such as swab test stations in airports or conference venues, simple payback is expected to be less than a year. The business case for DAPU can only be properly articulated after this solution has been deployed in an actual situation and feedback obtained from stakeholders. This will ensure the integrity of the information provided and improvements to be made to ensure wider adoption of the system by other companies. dapu, air quality, Dilution Air Processing Unit Green Building, Heating, Ventilation & Air-conditioning, Sustainability, Sustainable Living

Spent coffee grounds are one of the major food waste produced globally with several million tonnes being discarded annually. It has been reported that only 6% of the original coffee cherry can be used to make a cup of coffee and the remaining balance are inedible and has no value to the industry. As such, a large amount of residue is currently generated from the coffee industry and disposed of at incineration plants or landfills.   This technology features a cost-effective and scalable thermochemical process to transform spent coffee grounds into carbon-rich solid materials, known as hydrochar, as a form of low-cost solid adsorbents for industrial wastewater treatment. Thermochemical processes are well suited for wet biomass such as spent coffee grounds and utilises mild temperature profiles under relatively low pressures. The process also has the potential to convert other kinds of food waste, such as durian husks, coconut husks, fruit peels etc, into hydrochar.This presents a sustainable solution for creating a circular economy and minimising negative impact on the environment by converting non-edible and no value food waste into a value-added product for food and water industries. The technology relates to an innovative and custom-designed thermochemical reactor capable of converting the spent coffee grounds into solid adsorbents also known as hydrochar. Hydrochar particles produced have the following attributes which include a robust mesoporous framework, higher surface area, and functionalised removal of cations, anions and organic pollutants in wastewater. Up to 80% of the organics and chemical oxygen demand can be removed after passing through the hydrochar. After water treatment usage, hydrochar can be repurposed as a soil conditioner which helps in plant germination, closing the loop on food waste. The thermochemical reactor is also capable of converting other food wastes including durian husks, coconut husks, fruit peels, and other non-edible food waste. The technology can be adopted in the food and beverage industry that are looking to upcycle the non-edible and no value food waste into value-added products, such as solid adsorbents. The carbon-rich material, hydrochar, presents a sustainable alternative as the low-cost adsorbent that can attract interest from sectors that require treatment of reject and backwash water. These include industries from semiconductors, petrochemicals, wastewater treatment, desalination, and textiles. Offers a cost-effective process to produce higher value-added products from food waste, creating a circular economy Reduced disposal cost Revenue creation from waste Tailor-made design of thermochemical reactor to produce higher surface area and better efficiency of solid adsorbents from food waste Highly scalable hydrochar, wastewater treatment, sustainable, circular economy, adsorbents, spent coffe grounds, food waste, valorisation, thermochemical Environment, Clean Air & Water, Filter Membrane & Absorption Material, Chemicals, Organic, Waste Management & Recycling, Food & Agriculture Waste Management, Industrial Waste Management, Sustainability, Circular Economy

Food tracking and traceability systems can utilize Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and Internet-of-Thing (IoT) sensors to streamline the workflow of food supply chain management. Such a traceability system mitigates the complex business processes and speeds up the workflow of working through multiple business owners along the nodes in the value chain. This Technology Offer is a DLT application that can be used to manage the food supply chain. The technology aims to obtain transparency, ease of transactions and speed of delivery, synchronization, tracking and security. As an example, IoT sensors can be attached to livestock to obtain information about them from the source, and is uploaded to the ledger data of the node. When the livestock is shipped to the manufacturer, shipment tracking data can be uploaded. The transport is thus done with trackable ownership, possession and telemetry parameters such as location, temperature, humidity and activity. The manufacturer then processes the livestock, weighs the meat, packs and labels them. The label has a unique cryptographic QR code or NFC tag that links to the data citing the origins of the meat. The packaged meat is then shipped to the distributors, and eventually reaches the buyer. The final buyer can access a complete record of information and trust that the information is accurate and complete. This Technology Offer is developed using a state-of-the-art permissioned blockchain platform that enables businesses to transact directly and in strict privacy with one another. With this technology, the system can bring numerous benefits to the process owners and customers in the supply chain. Customers are more likely to trust the quality and safety of the food they consume. Food manufacturers and logistics companies could benefit from enhanced productivity, cost savings and boosted process transparency by eliminating the need for third-party intermediaries to handle monetary transactions. This allows businesses and their customers to interact and transact directly at lower costs. In terms of security, all contract transactions processed by the system are stored in chronological order in the blockchain and distributed across multiple systems. The transaction blocks are linked to each other and secured using well-established cryptography to provide high data integrity. No one can alter the contents of a block as all other nodes on the blockchain will detect this discrepancy and mark such an attempt as invalid. Regulators can also exploit the immutable feature of blockchain as an audit trail to verify compliance and detect fraud. DLT is important in the global food trade as it ensures food safety and underpins trust to the end consumers. This technology is targeted at corporations and supply chain management that deals with livestock. It can be used by supply chain management to trace the food from farm to fork. The software developed serves as a reference implementation for a food supply chain application. The target users are the process owners and consumers. This system can also be customised for other food industries such as halal, organic or agri-food industries. Currently, proof-of-concept stage has been completed, and this Technology Offer is available for industry partners for collaborations and potential licensing. Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology, Food Supply Chain Infocomm, Smart Cities, Blockchain & Other Distributed Ledgers, Sustainability, Food Security

The majority of the local indoor farmers grow crops that are harvested for their leaves. One way to increase the growth rate of such leafy greens is to provide a longer period of light. However, some of the crops grown, e.g., spinach, are long-day plants that flower when the light periods are longer than their critical day-length. While important to a plant’s life cycle, this vegetative to reproductive phase change is undesirable for farmers, not only because it shortens the harvest period hence reducing the yield, but also because it changes the taste profile. To tackle this problem, a light recipe that was able to suppress flowering was formulated. Plants grown under this light recipe showed a faster growth rate than those grown under flowering-suppressing short-day photoperiod. Moreover, they do not flower even when the light period has surpassed the critical day-length. Positive results were obtained when this light recipe was tested on spinach and arugula. This technology would work for other long-day crops, and it will be beneficial to indoor farmers who are interested to try it. The technology uses lights of different wavelengths to control the molecular switches, the phytochromes, of plants. It tricks the plant into suppressing its floral transition even when the long-day photoperiod is conducive for flowering. This is an improvement compared to the usual method of just providing short-day photoperiod to suppress flowering as the growth rate is now faster. This is particularly useful for crops, such as spinach and arugula, that can be harvested multiple times. With this extended harvest period, growers can have more cycles of continuous harvest within one batch of plant growth, thus increasing their yield. No additional chemical or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are used to achieve this flowering repression. This LED light recipe is suitable for: Farmers who are looking to improve and increase crop yields Indoor farms that use LED lightings Lighting developers or producers can be potential partners to provide this technology as a package. Customer benefits include - Increased yield through: The extended harvest period for crops that supports continuous harvesting Overall reduction of waiting time for plant establishment during lag phase Customizable recipes to suit different crop types We have completed the current proof-of-concept stage and are looking for project collaborators or consultancy projects to test the technology on the client’s crop choice. increase crop yield, growth rate, indoor farming, LED light recipe Life Sciences, Agriculture & Aquaculture, Sustainability, Food Security

The most common cryopreservation media used in laboratories consist of 10% DMSO and 20% to 90% fetal bovine serum (FBS). DMSO was thought to reduce the size of ice-crystals during freezing, thus reducing mortality whereas FBS improves the viability of cells during recovery.  Although effective for cryopreservation of most cell types, FBS poised significant risks, including the possible risk of cross-species virus infections such as the “mad cow disease”, as well as the possibility of triggering an adverse immunogenic response from the recipient. Our serum-free cryopreservation formula allows the cryopreservation of mammalian cells without the need for serum. The technology utilise a product from insect cells to replace serum in the cryopreservation media. Since insect cells are very distant from mammals, there is less likelihood of cross-species viral infection. The formula was comparable to the traditional serum-containing formula commonly used to cryopreserve mammalian cells. Furthermore, when tested against 3 different mammalian cell lines, our serum-free cryopreservation media has comparable post-thaw cell survival and recovery when comparable to 3 commercially available cryopreservation media. Cryopreservation of cell line for Research and Development (cell culture) Cryopreservation of cells for clean meat production Cryopreservation of cells for cell banking Cryopreservation industry was estimated to be worth USD2.2 Billion globally and cryopreservation reagents are estimated to be worth 20% share of the total value (estimated USD 440 million) A novel method in cell preservation without the need for blood product. For the cell preservation industry, preserving cells using this technology could reduce the risk of cross-species virus infections such as the “mad cow disease”, as well as the possibility of triggering an adverse immunogenic response from the recipient. cryopreservation Life Sciences, Industrial Biotech Methods & Processes, Biotech Research Reagents & Tools

This Technology Offer allows automation of the process of monitoring stock levels in the warehouse, and when they drop below a certain threshold, trigger a certain event.  This technology can be used to address the following challenges: What items are on the shelf? What is the current inventory level? What items need to be restocked? How many items need to be restocked? This technology can automatically trigger material top-up quantity from a cloud platform to suppliers, based on visual signals using webcams. Two types of technology concepts are used: 1) Webcam scans AR code to detect stock to be replenished or 2) Webcam compares area occupied vs empty (ROI image area mapping), and calculates stock to be replenished Thus, stock management can optimized and no longer require storage in warehouse; they can be directly sent to Centralized Packaging, hence saving staging space & inventory. This technology would be useful for companies that are interested in automating the warehouse processes. This in turn could reduce the time and manpower required to do inventory checks. The technology can also be applied in places with high turnover stock rates or unpredictable selling rates, e.g., pharmacy or supermarket. This technology allows for automatic monitoring and top up triggering of inventory levels, thus reducing time and manpower required to do inventory checks. Inventory Management, Logistics, Warehouse Management Logistics, Inventory Management

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the world earth’s estimate 9.8 billion population will reside in urban centers. In addition, factors such as climate change, limited arable land and pollution will make indoor farming an attractive option. Current technologies used in traditional farming will definitely be inadequate and for Singapore, it will be even more vital to achieve food security with limited resources.  The technology described herein consists of a horticultural LED system that can eventually help to address 2 main concerns of urban farming - operation cost and crop yield. The predictive algorithms can help to predict important lighting information necessary for indoor farming. This lighting information is crucial for end-user (e.g. farmers) to formulate their own “light” recipe for optimizing the growth rate of their crops. In addition, it has analytics features that can assist in analysing DLI, energy costs, etc. for improving crop yield. The technology owner is seeking partners to collaborate through various modes including technology licensing and test bedding. Software functions: 1)     Personalised configuration The software is designed for seamlessly configuration and can be configure separately and independently for different shelf. This configuration can be fully automated to allow for different environmental parameters at different time frames or growth phases of the crops.  2)     Smart analysis The software can perform analyse and predict the light recipe the plant canopy is experiencing. Parameters subjected to analysis includes light map, light ratio, etc. This will shorten the time needed for end users to measure these parameters greatly, and hence improve productivity.  In addition, the software allows users to set time periods to run pre-set light intensity according to individual desired needs, effectively automate the system. The software platform is catered for different plant stages from propagation, growth to flowering at any indoor facilities such as indoor vertical farm as well as in research centers for crop research and development. The system can be apply to the following segments of the market, which can utilize this platform includes the following: Controlled plants R&D for pharmaceutical use Urban food production Vertical farms Laboratories/research/education institutions Hobbyist Cost saving Optimise crop yield Reduce R&D time Versatility of the lighting for different crops/growth period Scalability (dependent on the number of LED) Wide coverage (~ 2 km indoor)

Human DNA contamination is an issue in the process of manufacturing devices for molecular and genomic applications. Such devices need to be certified human DNA free for sensitive downstream processes. Therefore, there is a need to monitor human DNA residual level in factory surfaces and in final products. The technology provider had identified a novel target for detection of human DNA and developed a highly sensitive PCR based detection method for presence of human DNA based on this target. They have demonstrated that the method is specific, sensitive and with low cost. Compared to a commercial kit available in the market, this method is at least 500 times more sensitive. This method will be a valuable tool for device manufacturers. In addition, it can also be applied on forensic as well as environmental samples. Furthermore, the principle of the method can be adapted to detect other animal species for either identification or monitoring purposes. The said method is simple and reproducible. It meets the requirement described in the ISO 18385 standard (Minimizing the risk of human DNA contamination in products used to collect, store and analyse biological material for forensic purposes-Requirement) in terms of detection sensitivity. One of the key advantages of this innovation is its superior sensitivity level in human DNA detection. When compared with a commercial human DNA detection kit on the market, thismethod demonstrated at least 500 times higher sensitivity when performed under comparable conditions in parallel. The primary application will be for certification of human DNA-free in manufactured products. With this test, products can meet higher standard of requirement especially in the molecular biology and genomic DNA related applications. Therefore manufacturers can broaden its market reach and add value to their products. This method can also be applied identification of human remains in forensic samples. With higher sensitivity level, efficient routine tests procedure can be established by using less samples volume or even pooled samples. The overall test cost will be lower.   DNA, DNA detection, PCR Healthcare, Diagnostics, Medical Devices, Chemicals, Agrochemicals, Analysis

Multiple Pickup and Delivery Planning (MPDP) is very common in both passenger and cargo transport operations. However, due to the planning complexity, it is impossible to quickly generate good solutions manually to support daily transport operation planning. The MPDP solution developed by the team is able to close the gap by quickly generating transport plans for multiple vehicles with multiple pickup locations and multiple delivery locations. Web-based application. No installation required and easy to access Capable of handling multiple complex constraints, such as different time windows, different vehicle types, different vehicle departure times, different vehicle start and end locations, Visualisation of jobs and planned routes on both map and Gantt chart Flexible for human planner to overwrite the existing plan with drag-and-drop feature The MPDP solution can be applied to two potential areas. The first area is passenger transport planning for Book-a-Ride, bus pooling and carpooling services. The MPDP solution is able to quickly generate high quality plans either in advance or in real-time to replace the manual planning. The second area is cargo delivery planning in the logistics industry. The potential users include packed food delivery to consumers from different restaurants, courier service providers who provide same day pickup and delivery services, premier transport service providers who provide 2-hour delivery services etc. The solution will facilitate the human planner to assign travel routes based on the vehicle’s current location, vehicle capacity, service requestor’s start and end location as well as service start time. The solution will also consider the drivers break time, vehicle departure location and end location. Moreover, the planning and scheduling engine developed is able to run in the background to assign passengers to vehicles automatically. This feature can also be used for the real-time planning of last minute transport service requests. The solution can be applied for both passenger service providers and logistics industry players for delivery planning. Potential users includes of Dial a Ride (DAR) service providers and logistics opterators that provide same day pickup and delivery courier services.  Provide better service to customers Reduce operating cost by cutting vehicle traveling distance on the road Improve vehicle utilisation to generate more revenue Infocomm, Enterprise & Productivity, Logistics, Planning & Order Processing, Transportation, Delivery & Distribution