An international philanthropic organization based in Singapore presented prizes on Wednesday to 10 PhD students of two local universities who have excelled in their theses on issues concerning environment, sustainability and metropolis in the future.
The World Future Foundation, which was founded in 2008 by a group of entrepreneurs and professionals from the Asia Pacific region, gave each of the students from the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University a cash prize of US$10,000.
The National University of Singapore said the prize was the first of its kind in the city state to recognize excellence in doctoral-level environmental and sustainability research. It is also the highest cash award among student prizes given out at Singapore universities.
Feng Lun, a real estate billionaire known for his insights on the industry and chairman of the board of the foundation, said it was the third year that the foundation gives out the annual award.
“We were hoping that we can promote research aimed at putting various technologies to use in urban development, as Singapore has done. The prizes are aimed to make the future better and, of course, we are also hoping for the research to benefit countries including China and bring benefit to Singapore,” Feng said.
Feng has been known for his efforts to promote the development of vertical cities, including sponsoring contests in the design of vertical cities.
The prize winners this year covered a wide range of topics in their research such as environmentally friendly water treatment systems, high performance biofuel separation and purification, novel solar cells and rechargeable energy storage systems.
Wei Yuting from the Faculty of Engineering, the National University of Singapore developed a group of novel multifunctional materials that could be used as an adsorbent and membrane to effectively remove arsenic and boron from water. No additional energy is required for the treatment of anionic pollutants using these novel materials.
Saravanan Kuppan from the Faculty of Science, the National University of Singapore, developed a novel-architectured mesoporous titanium dioxide that has excellent energy storage properties when used in lithium-ion batteries.
Such batteries are promising options for energy storage in electric vehicles and smart grid applications. A patent has been filed in the United States for his mesoporous Titanium material and its application in electrochemical devices.
Lu Bo, managing director of the foundation, said it is building a database for prize winners to keep in close touch with them and keep abreast on their latest achievements.
“Through a five-year effort, we hope to develop it to a world class academic prize with international influence,” he said.
