NRP Project Synopses 2018 - Nanyang Technological … 2018 Project... · MAE03 Ng Yin Kwee ......

NRP Project

Synopses 2018

NANYANG RESEARCH PROGRAMME Overview of Project Titles 2018

Project Code

Name of Supervisor Category Project Title

CEE01 Cheung Sai Hung (Asst Prof) Engineering Optimal Sensor Placement for Structural Dynamic Model Updating

CEE02 Qin Xiaosheng (Assoc Prof) Engineering Generating High-Resolution Rainfall Data Using Statistical Techniques

EEE01A Amal Chandran (Asst Prof) Engineering Design, Build & Testing of a Nanosatellite (I)

EEE01B Amal Chandran (Asst Prof) Engineering Design, Build & Testing of a Nanosatellite (II)

EEE02 Andy Khong W H (Assoc Prof) Engineering Analysis of EEG signals for Learning Science

EEE03 Andy Khong W H (Assoc Prof) Engineering Data Analytics and Machine Learning

EEE04 Arokiaswami Alphones (Assoc Prof) Engineering Metamaterial Frequency Selective Surfaces

EEE05 Cuong Dang (Asst Prof) Engineering Light Blending for Different Feeling

EEE06 Er Meng Joo (Prof) Engineering Design and Development of a Smart Healthcare Cup

EEE07 Foo Yi Shyh Eddy (Dr) Engineering Feasibility Study of Solar Power in Singapore

EEE08 Guan Yong Liang (Assoc Prof) Engineering Seamless IPv6 Handover in V2x (Vehicle-to-Everything) Environment

EEE09 Gwee Bah Hwee (Assoc Prof) Engineering A Portable High-Accuracy ECG-Assisted Blood Pressure Monitor for Smartphones

EEE10 Gwee Bah Hwee (Assoc Prof) Engineering Deep Learning Techniques for Integrated Circuit (IC) Image Processing

EEE11 Gwee Bah Hwee (Assoc Prof) Engineering Investigation of Highly Secured Android Apps Based Smartphone

EEE12 Hu Guoqiang (Assoc Prof) Engineering Design a Low-Cost Cleaning Robot

EEE13 Kantisara Pita (Assoc Prof) Engineering Emissions from Rare-Erath Ions by the Energy Transfer from ZnO Nanocrystals Embedded in SiO2 Film

EEE14 Lim Meng Hiot (Assoc Prof) Sciences Gamification of Educational Modules - Organic Chemistry

EEE15 Lin Zhiping (Assoc Prof) Engineering Visualization of Mini-UAV Flying Path Using GPS Log In Connection to Surveillance Radar Target Tracking

EEE16 Luo Yu (Asst Prof) Sciences Design of Invisibility Cloak

EEE17 Luo Yu (Asst Prof) Engineering Negative Refraction in Metamaterials

EEE18 Luo Yu (Asst Prof) Engineering Terahertz Sensing with Spoof Plasmonic Devices

EEE19 Ng Boon Poh (Assoc Prof) Engineering Beautiful Arrays

EEE20 Ng Geok Ing (Assoc Prof) Engineering Gallium Nitride Transistors: Empowering the Next Generation Electronics

EEE21 Radhakrishnan K (Assoc Prof) Engineering Novel Gallium Nitride-Based Sensor for Air Pollution Monitoring

EEE22 Rusli (Assoc Prof) Engineering Implement Environmental Sensor Under Internet of Things

EEE23 Rusli (Assoc Prof) Engineering Low Cost and High Efficiency Si/Transition Metal Oxide Heterojunction Solar Cell

EEE24 Ser Wee (Assoc Prof) Engineering A Signal Processing Approach to the Detection of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

EEE25 Shao Xuguang, Michelle (Dr) Engineering Building Your Own Satellite 101 – CanSat (a Can-Sized Miniature Satellite)

EEE26 Shen Zhongxiang (Assoc Prof) Engineering Water Rectanna

EEE27 Shum Ping (Prof) Engineering Development of Hybrid Mobile Application

EEE28 Song Qing (Assoc Prof) Sciences Exploration of Different Methods to Remote Control the NAO Robot

EEE29 Song Qing (Assoc Prof) Sciences Eye Tracking Control of NAO Robot via Internet Of Things

EEE30 Song Qing (Assoc Prof) Sciences NAO Robot Based Home Automation for Internet Things

EEE31 Soong Boon Hee (Assoc Prof) Engineering IOT (Internet of Things) for Optimal Lighting Control in Green Buildings

EEE32 Tan Chuan Seng (Assoc Prof) Engineering Optical Waveguide

Project Code


EEE33 Tan Yap Peng (Prof) Engineering Smart Learning

EEE34 Tay Wee Peng (Assoc Prof) Engineering Creating Natural Questions for Crowdsourcing Platform

EEE35 Teo Hang Tong Edwin (Asst Prof) Engineering Design and Fabricate Multi-Point Folding Mechanism

EEE36 Wang Qijie (Assoc Prof) Engineering Understanding Lasers

EEE37 Wei Lei (Asst Prof) Engineering Smart Phone-Enabled Platform for VR Lab Tour

EEE38 Xu Yan (Asst Prof) Engineering Optimal Planning and Operation of Combined Cooling Heat and Power (CCHP) Systems in Future Energy Networks

EEE39 Zhang Qing (Prof) Engineering Carbon Nanotube Based Electronic Devices

MAE01 Chou Siaw Meng (Assoc Prof) Engineering Pie Crusting of Ligaments

MAE02 Hirotaka Sato (Asst Prof) Engineering CYBORG BEETLE: Electrical Stimulation of Insect Muscles to Induce Desired Motor Action and Behaviours

MAE03 Ng Yin Kwee (Assoc Prof) Engineering Modelling the Physical Palpation Examination of Patients for Diagnosis of Abdominal / Pelvic Adhesion in Terms of Elasticity and Rigidity (Stress-Strain Analysis)

MAE04 Shu Jian Jun (Assoc Prof) Sciences A Fast Way to Compute Least Square

MAE05 Shu Jian Jun (Assoc Prof) Sciences A Fast Way to Compute Matrix Multiplication

MAE06 Sridhar Idapalapati (Assoc Prof) Engineering 3D Printing of Novel Composite Joints

MAE07 Wu Mao See (Assoc Prof) Engineering Bending and Twisting of Soft Gels

MAE08 Wu Mao See (Assoc Prof) Engineering Crack Nucleation from a Disclination Defect in a Nanowire

MAE09 Zhou Yufeng (Asst Prof) Engineering Microparticle Manipulation by SSAW

MAE10 Zhou Yufeng (Asst Prof) Engineering Ultrasound Erosion on Soft Tissue

NIE01 Azilawati Bte JAMALUDIN (Dr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Translational Specifications of Neural-Informed Game-Based Interventions for Mathematical Cognitive Development of Low-Progress Learners

NIE02 Chen Zhong (Asst Prof) Sciences Exploration of the Use of Plant Biosensors for Environmental Surveillance

NIE03 Clarence Gerald GREEN (Dr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Improving Cognitive Uptake of Academic Information using Psycholinguistics

NIE04 Ho Weng Kin (Asst Prof) Engineering Functional Programming via Haskell

NIE05 Koh Ruilin Elizabeth (Dr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Making Teamwork Work

NIE06 Lee Shu Shing (Dr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Teacher Learning – What Happens Behind the Scenes

NIE07 Leng Ho Keat (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Effect of In-Games Advertisement on Attitude

NIE08 Lim Yang Teck Kenneth (Dr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Exploring the Role that Game-Based Worlds and Immersive Environments Potentially Play in Learning

NIE09 Loh Chin Ee (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Learning Spaces in the School Library

NIE10 Loh Chin Ee (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Spaces of Reading: A Visual Documentary

NIE11 Masato Kawabata (Asst Prof) Sciences Effects of Music on Runner's Experience and Performance During 800m Running: Junior College Students

NIE12 Masato Kawabata (Asst Prof) Sciences Junior College Students' Perceptions of the National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA)

NIE13 Rohit Medwal (Dr) Sciences Metal / Metal-Oxide Hetero-Interfaces for Spintronics

NIE14 Rohit Medwal (Dr) Sciences Plasma Assisted Low Temperature Graphene Synthesis

NIE15 Tan Cheng Chye Marcus (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Virtual Performativity: Performing Identity in Computer Games

NIE16 Toh Pee Choon (Asst Prof) Sciences Stirling Numbers

Project Code


NIE17 Vahid Aryadoust (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Mental Imagery in Comprehension

SBS01 Mu Yuguang (Assoc Prof) Sciences Rational Design of Human Protein HP1BP3 Inhibitors

SCBE01 Bae Tae-Hyun (Asst Prof) Engineering Engineering Porous Materials for Energy-Efficient Greenhouse Gas Capture

SCBE02 Chew Jia Wei (Asst Prof) Engineering Segregation of Particles in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed

SCBE03 Duan Hongwei (Assoc Prof) Engineering CO2 Responsive Photonic Hydrogel Sensors

SCBE04 Kunn Hadinoto Ong (Assoc Prof) Engineering Enhancing Environmental Sustainability of Pharmaceutical Solid Dosage Form Manufacturing via Life Cycle Analysis

SCBE05 Lee Jong Min (Assoc Prof) Engineering Energy Material

SCBE06 Pui Tze Sian (Dr) Engineering Developing a Compact and Low-Cost Long-Term Live-Cell Imaging Platform for Biomedical Research and Educational Purpose

SCSE01 Ta Nguyen Binh Duong (Dr) Engineering Security and Privacy Issues in IaaS Clouds

SOH01 Cui Feng (Dr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Translation and Culture: How to Improve Singaporean Students' Translation Ability

SOH02 Fang Xiaoping (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Medicine, Health, and Disease in the Straits Settlements, 1826-1946

SOH03 Jean Francois Noel Ghesquiere (Mr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

A Sociolinguistic Investigation of French, German, Italian and Spanish in Singapore Shop Signs

SOH04 Leong Ping, Alvin (Dr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Teacher Feedback: Does the Practice Match Expectations?

SOH05 Li Chenyang (Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

The Question of Being

SOH06 Li Chenyang (Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

The Question of Existence

SOH07 Qu Jingyi (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Exploring Heritage Values of Chinese Schools as Cultural Spaces

SOH08 See Eng Kiat (Dr) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

A Discourse Analysis of Online Reviews of Music Albums

SOH09 Tamara Silvia Wagner (Assoc Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Literary Representations of Infancy in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction

SOH10 Zhang Songjian (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

The Representation of Landscape in Jun Shao's Literary Works

SPMS01 Chen Gang (Asst Prof) Sciences Developing RNA-Binding Peptide Nucleic Acids for Biological Applications

SPMS02 Chen Gang (Asst Prof) Sciences Single-Molecule Biophysics: Mechanical Unfolding of RNA by Optical Tweezers

SPMS03 Fedor Duzhin (Dr) Sciences Variations of the Picture-Hanging Puzzle

SPMS04 Lew Wen Siang (Assoc Prof) Engineering Resistive Switching-Based Non-Volatile Memory Devices

SPMS05 S.N. Piramanayagam (Assoc Prof) Engineering Nanoimprint Lithography

SPMS06 S.N. Piramanayagam (Assoc Prof) Sciences Nanostructures By Self-Assembly

SPMS07 Shao Fangwei (Asst Prof) Sciences DNA Origami Assembled by DNA Dendrimers for Drug Delivery

SPMS08 Wang Xiao, Renshaw (Asst Prof) Sciences Shining Light on Nanomaterials

SSS01 James Ang (Assoc Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

National Culture, Institutions and Economic Growth

SSS02 Leong Kaiwen (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Economics of the Unbanked: Evidence from the Unlicensed Money Lending Market in Singapore

SSS03 Xu Hong (Asst Prof) Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Assessing Social Attributes of Faces

NANYANG RESEARCH PROGRAMME Project Synopses 2018

CEE01

Project Code CEE01

Title Optimal Sensor Placement for Structural Dynamic Model Updating

Category Engineering

Description Sensors can be installed in different parts of existing structures to collect system vibration data to quantify and update our uncertainties and knowledge in the structural dynamic model. In this project, we are interested in updating the dynamic model and response prediction of civil engineering structures when they are subjected to future dynamic loadings. The aim of this project is to determine the optimal locations of sensors so that one can obtain the most information for the updated response prediction of civil engineering structures. In addition, we will investigate the improvement in the response prediction quality as the number of sensors placed in their optimal locations is increased.

College / School School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Supervisor Cheung Sai Hung (Asst Prof)

Target Group Year 5 / JC1

Group Size Individual

Specific Knowledge Strong foundation in Physics, especially Mechanics and Mathematics.

Other Requirements NIL

Back to Table of Contents

CEE02

Project Code CEE02

Title Generating High-Resolution Rainfall Data Using Statistical Techniques


Description Rainfall is one of the most important inputs for hydrological modeling, and indicators for climate change impact studies. The rainfall data at finer timescales is generally more useful for hydrological process research, especially in the field of extreme rainfall-event evaluation and flood risk management. In the world wide, rainfall data are usually available at timescales of daily or monthly. The short interval records are limited due to various reasons such as costly data procurement and complex geographical conditions. Disaggregation methods are widely used to provide possible realization of hourly data which are aggregated up to the given daily data. This study will use rainfall data to test and compare various temporal disaggregation tools. The study outputs will be useful for helping generate high-resolution rainfall data for hydrologic studies.

College / School School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Supervisor Qin Xiaosheng (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Knowledge of basic statistical concept. Good computer skills.



EEE01A

Project Code EEE01A

Title Design, Build & Testing of a Nanosatellite (I)


Description A Cubesat is a miniaturized self-contained small satellite built in scalable multiples of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm (1 Unit) weighing no more than 1.33 kg per Unit. A cubesat contains all the sub-systems of a larger spacecraft such as attitude control, power, command and data handling, communication, structure and thermal systems. In this project, students shall design, build, integrate and test a 1U cubesat to carry a commercial-off-the-shelf payload to do scientific observations from orbit. The students will work closely with full time engineers and scientists at the Satellite Research Centre (SaRC) who will guide and help the students to understand the different concepts invloved in mission defenition, the challenges in building space hardware, actual hands on exprience in working on a live satellite mission and operation of a spacecraft using the NTU ground station. Come join SaRC at NTU for a unique 'out of the world' project experience.

College / School School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Supervisor Amal Chandran (Asst Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Some experience and interest in electronics, coding experience, interest in Math and Physics is expected. More importantly a willingness to learn new things will lead to a successful training program.

Other Requirements This project is ideally suited for groups of 4-8.


EEE01B

Project Code EEE01B

Title Design, Build & Testing of a Nanosatellite (II)


Description A Cubesat is a miniaturized self-contained small satellite built in scalable multiples of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm (1 Unit) weighing no more than 1.33 kg per Unit. A cubesat contains all the sub-systems of a larger spacecraft such as attitude control, power, command and data handling, communication, structure and thermal systems. In this project, students shall design, build, integrate and test a 1U cubesat to carry a commercial-off-the-shelf payload to do scientific observations from orbit. The students will work closely with full time engineers and scientists at the Satellite Research Centre (SaRC) who will guide and help the students to understand the different concepts invloved in mission defenition, the challenges in building space hardware, actual hands on exprience in working on a live satellite mission and operation of a spacecraft using the NTU ground station. Come join SaRC at NTU for a unique 'out of the world' project experience.


Supervisor Amal Chandran (Asst Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Some experience and interest in electronics, coding experience, interest in Math and Physics is expected. More importantly a willingness to learn new things will lead to a successful training program.

Other Requirements This project is ideally suited for groups of 4-8.


EEE02

Project Code EEE02

Title Analysis of EEG signals for Learning Science


Description This project involves the analysis of EEG signals to better understand how the brain responds to assessment outcomes. Students taking this project will be exposed to collection of EEG signals and data analytics. They will be exposed to how the brain responds to different external stimuli which will gain a better understanding of how humans learn and interact with online learning systems.


Supervisor Andy Khong W H (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Interest in data processing. Knowledge in Python (numpy, scipy) is advantageous though not necessary.



EEE03

Project Code EEE03

Title Data Analytics and Machine Learning


Description Machine learning has gained a lot of popularity in recent years due to the advent of computing power and data storage. In this project, students will be exposed to machine learning - they will be able to exploit the power of machine learning to find patterns in data. Students who are keen to pick up new skills such as Python to help them gain a better understanding of the collected data will find this project interesting.


Supervisor Andy Khong W H (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Interest in machine learning and data analytics. Knowledge in Python is advantageous though not necessary.



EEE04

Project Code EEE04

Title Metamaterial Frequency Selective Surfaces


Description Because of impracticalities resulting from their much larger size, lensing systems in a millimeter wave band cannot be dealt with in the same manner as optical systems. One technique for implementing this lensing is to transform the phase of the incident field, using metamaterials such as frequencyselective surfaces (FSSs). In this project, the FSSs known as the gangbuster surface (GS) is used to achieve the lensing effect. Considering the GS above a perfectly conducting ground plane. Incident waves reflect totally, and the phase of the reflected waves depends on characteristics such as the type and period of the GS, the lengths of the wires, and the separation between the GS and the ground plane. Any change in the various parameters used to design the lens results in deterioration in the profile field intensity and the diffraction efficiency, among other unwanted effects. The goal is to optimize the lens for changes in the angle of incidence such that the intensity of the electric field and the resolution at the focal plane are both optimized. To accomplish this optimization, differences in phase distribution for various angles are to be minimized by using an existing algorithm to modify the lengths of wires on the GS. Through the use of these different wire lengths, a GS can be constructed for a lensing system in the millimeter wave band that is stable for differing angles of incidence.


Supervisor Arokiaswami Alphones (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Interest in Engineering design and programming knowledge.



EEE05

Project Code EEE05

Title Light Blending for Different Feeling


Description Light is electromagnetic wave. White light is perception of human eyes with mixture of multiple waves. Such white light also have various types, creating different feeling: cool light, warm light, neutral light. This project will be very colourful because of working with multiple colour LEDs. The project will aim to generate different types of white light that we might use at home that is customized to be suitable for personal perception. The student will learn through experiments about electronics circuit, about the light sciences, and how to characterizing light as well as how light affects our life.


Supervisor Cuong Dang (Asst Prof)


Group Size Individual / Pair

Specific Knowledge Simple electronic circuits. Computer skills.

Other Requirements Prefer to work in pair.


EEE06

Project Code EEE06

Title Design and Development of a Smart Healthcare Cup


Description Maintaining good hydration and taking in adequate amount of calories, sugar, caffeine and alcohol are crucial for adequate physical and mental performance for all human beings. Unfortunately, due to the modern life style, many people tend to forget to drink adequate amount of water and tend to have excessive intake of calories, sugar, caffeine and alcohol. Current technological approaches to tackling these issues include smartphone applications, wearable devices and smart vessels. Unfortunately, none of these approaches is capable of monitoring the adequate intake of water, calories, sugar, caffeine and alcohol at the same time. More importantly, the existing products are not able to adequately assess the health condition of users. In this project, leveraging on Machine Learning and Smart Healthcare Analytics, we will develop a Smart Healthcare Device, called SmartCup, that enables users to set daily goals, to keep track of their liquid intake and to determine the amount of calories, sugar, caffeine and alcohol taken by users as well as dynamically guide the users in the intake of water, calories, sugar and caffeine. In addition, the SmartCup will be able to remind the users to take medicine regularly and dynamically provide feedback on the health condition of users.


Supervisor Er Meng Joo (Prof)

Target Group Year 5 / JC 1

Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Prior experience in hardware and software experiences will be an advantage.



EEE07

Project Code EEE07

Title Feasibility Study of Solar Power in Singapore


Description In the last 200 years, the global energy system has primarily relied on fossil fuels. Unfortunately, fossil fuels are polluting the environment and the air which we breathe. As a result of atmospheric pollution, serious climate changes have been observed whereby the Earth’s temperature is rising, deserts are expanding, fresh water supplies are dwindling, and sea levels are rising. In parallel to these alarming trends, the global population is increasing very fast that resulted in increasing energy demand. To maintain a sustainable world for future generations, there is an alternative energy search for fulfilling the increased power demand based on clean and renewable energies such as solar, wind, wave energy, bio-mass, geothermal and etc. In this context, Singapore is a country that is currently highly dependent on import of oil and natural gases to generate electricity. To be able to shift towards a more sustainable energy system, Singapore is investing in research regarding different alternative power generation technologies and systems so as to establish more sustainable energy solutions. Of course, despite the excellent progress, the transition to renewables will not be easy. As we all know, the intensity of sunlight varies during the day due to cloud cover, and wind speeds are fluctuating. There are also periods where there is no wind and no sunshine. Nevertheless, by clever monitoring, weather forecasting, power demand management, energy storage and flexible gas turbine power plants, the transition to smart energy grids and a cleaner and smarter energy world will be possible. Therefore, initiative must be taken in Singapore’s to minimize the impact of climatic changes and emissions of greenhouse gases which directly or indirectly increases the global temperature. Recently, the Singapore Government has announced a $6.2m grant in solar PV research and also the development of the Semakau microgrid testbed to promote research activities involving renewable energy sources. Fortunately, Singapore is blessed with an abundance of solar energy throughout the year, and the daily power demand peaks around mid-day which is perfectly aligned with the solar resource. The total installed PV capacity in Singapore passed the 100-Megawatt mark in 2016, and the “Garden City” is on track to host PV systems with a peak capacity of several hundred Megawatts by 2020. Measurements from a local weather station are used for estimating the solar radiance in Singapore. The results show that solar PV panels could be feasible in Singapore but that technological improvements as well as governmental subsidies are needed to make it profitable enough to attract investors. Solar energy technologies have never been more important, and promising, than today. It is up to all of us to continue their development and deployment, and we can be rest assured that future generations will be very grateful to us for having initiated the transformation of the global energy system towards sustainability. Photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation depends on solar irradiance, named surface-downwelling shortwave (that is, wavelength interval 0.2–4.0 μm) radiation, and other atmospheric variables affecting panel efficiency, namely surface air temperature and surface wind velocity (VWS). Climate change may therefore affect

PV power generation and its temporal stability for a given panel fleet. Therefore, basic principle of operation of various technology available for conversion of energy by photovoltaics can be studied along with a literature study of the feasibility of solar power generation in Singapore. In addition, the impact of climatic changes in the form of parametric variations such as solar radiation and temperature at the surface of solar panel, can be studied to assess the efficiency of the solar energy technology. A small experimental study about the solar power generation and the effect of radiation and temperature can be performed in the laboratory with the help of various equipment.


Supervisor Foo Yi Shyh Eddy (Dr)



Specific Knowledge Hands-on and hardware experience. Able to use basic measuring equipment, such as a multimeter.

Other Requirements We will be using the following for this project: 1) solar panels each rated at 50W, 2) light bulbs of various power ratings, 3) Measuring devices such as multimeter, wattmeter, voltmeter, ammeter, 4) connecting wires and accessories.


EEE08

Project Code EEE08

Title Seamless IPv6 Handover in V2x (Vehicle-to-Everything) Environment


Description The IEEE802.11p standard is new vehicular WiFi technology that enables cars to communicate wirelessly with surrounding entities. The objective of this project is to enable a moving vehicle to support seamless IPv6 services. This will enhance the user experience of interruption sensitive application, for example, video streaming, conference call, etc. Under the guidance of researchers from NTU-NXP Smart Mobility Test Bed Project (see www.infinitus.eee.ntu.edu.sg/Programmes/SMP/Pages/Home.aspx), the student will be able to play with the latest WiFi system in V2x environment and write device application programs to enable seamless handover function for IPv6 services. At the end of the project, the user in a moving vehicle should be able to talk to another vehicle via video streaming application.


Supervisor Guan Yong Liang (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge The student needs to be interested and has the fundamental understanding of WiFi communication. Good knowledge of TCP/IP, C programming skill with driving skill would be advantageous.



http://www.infinitus.eee.ntu.edu.sg/Programmes/SMP/Pages/Home.aspx

EEE09

Project Code EEE09

Title A Portable High-Accuracy ECG-Assisted Blood Pressure Monitor for Smartphones


Description Blood pressure (BP) has long been one of the best indicators to detect the early onset of diseases and health issues. High BP or hypertension often leads to a greater risk of heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease. Preeclampsia or high BP during pregnancy afflicts 5-10% of women, and is dangerous for both the mother and child. High BP is called the 'silent killer' as it often produces no symptoms so that the affected people usually do not treat it until it is too late and the blood vessels are damaged. Having regular BP readings is important to monitor health and provide early warning signs of potentially fatal diseases. BP readings are preferably taken in comfortable or familiar locations, where patients carry on their daily routine, to avoid the 'white coat hypertension' syndrome due to the anxiety experienced in the physician's office. Automated BP monitors are preferred by patients to take readings at their convenience. Other factor that can lead to their popularity is the global trends of aging population and obese population, whose risk of hypertension is high. They will likely increase the demand for BP monitors as they become aware of the risk of hypertension. The market for BP monitors is projected to reach US$2.7 billion by 2020. Automated BP monitors have an inflatable occlusion cuff that is wrapped around either the arm or the wrist. Arm-type monitors are generally bulky/non-portable and expensive. To encourage people to take BP readings regularly, wrist-type monitors would be more suitable; however, their readings are generally less accurate than those obtained by the arm-type monitors. Recent studies show that a 3-4mmHg increase in systolic BP would translate into 20% and 12% higher mortality from stroke and coronary heart disease, respectively. Thus, even the smallest inaccuracies can lead to false information and fatal consequences. In short, there is a need for BP monitors that are highly-accurate, and convenient to use whenever and wherever. The objective of the project is the design and realilzation of a portable high-accuracy BP monitor that can be attached to (and detached from) smartphones. The monitor will be non-invasive and primarily employ the oscillometric method to estimate the BP by converting the oscillations of arterial blood flow to eletrical signals. The significance of attaching the monitor to the smartphone is that it will be more convenient to the user to carry the monitor around and use it. Further, the BP reading can be sent to the smartphone so that it can be logged and transmitted to healthcare professionals for analysis. The critical requirements for the monitor are low power-consumption, small-form-factor, and high-accuracy BP readings/estimations. Low-power consumption is imperative to reduce the required energy storage elements and to render possible usage of low-power mechanical components with smaller form-factor. Unlike conventional BP monitors, the proposed BP monitor will also be designed to acquire electrocardiogram (ECG) signals from the user simultaneuously, and subsequently, incorporate them to achieve more accurate BP estimations.


Supervisor Gwee Bah Hwee (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Not necessary.



EEE10

Project Code EEE10

Title Deep Learning Techniques for Integrated Circuit (IC) Image Processing


Description Deep learning techniques are becoming increasingly popular in general-purpose image processing thanks to the re-introduction of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) in 2012, which won the famous ImageNet visual recognition challenge by a large margin. Ever since then, CNN-based methods have been widely adopted by internet giant companies such as Google and Facebook to perform ever more complex visual recognition tasks such as those in driverless cars. To support such rapid growth, industry and academia have since developed comprehensive deep learning frameworks (such as TensorFlow from Google and PyTorch from Facebook) to construct and test CNN models. In this project, we propose to investigate these popular deep learning frameworks as well as popular CNN models and apply them to process Integrated Circuit (IC) images. The specific task is to identify and segment important IC components from images taken by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) by means of CNN-based method. The student will get first-hand experience with programming in the most advanced deep learning frameworks and develop a real-world application by using those frameworks. Basic training in popular programming languages for deep learning and image processing such as Python and Matlab will be provided.





Specific Knowledge NIL



EEE11

Project Code EEE11

Title Investigation of Highly Secured Android Apps Based Smartphone


Description To date, most of the electronic communication devices are connected via internet. Nevertheless, digital information available online is highly vulnerable against cyber-attack. Unauthorized party may intercept the unprotected data and retrieve the confidential information. Hence, effective encryption algorithms are required to protect the data from unauthorized party. Encryption algorithms such as Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Data Encryption Standard (DES), triple-DES (3-DES), Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) typically encrypt the data (plaintext) into a form of encrypted data (ciphertext) and decrypt it to the original data upon receipt as to protect the data. On the other hand, a physical-attack approach which is known as Side Channel Attack (SCA) has been reported to successfully extract the secret key of the encryption algorithm by analysing the physical parameters such as power dissipation, electromagnetic interference and timing of electronic devices. Therefore, in this project, we aim to investigate, design and implement algorithms based on Android 2.2 application to highly protect the data against SCA. The experiment will be done based on ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessor with frequency 750MHz –1GHz. The focused encryption algorithm is AES and the physical measurements are power and electromagnetic emanation.





Specific Knowledge Programming skills.



EEE12

Project Code EEE12

Title Design a Low-Cost Cleaning Robot


Description Robots may be used to replace human beings to do cleaning work. This project aims to design and implement a simple and low-cost cleaning robot that is able to clean the floor in an indoor environment. The scope of this project may include: 1) Assemble a cleaning robot using off-the-shelf components; 2) Design and implement cleaning strategy for the robot; 3) Test the cleaning robot in an indoor lab environment.


Supervisor Hu Guoqiang (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Simple programming; assembly of machine components.



EEE13

Project Code EEE13

Title Emissions from Rare-Erath Ions by the Energy Transfer from ZnO Nanocrystals Embedded in SiO2 Film


Description Rare-Earth (RE) ions have been extensively used for various source of light emissions. The emissions cover a wide range of spectrum, from visible to near infra-red, and hence they have been used for lighting, displays, optical amplifier and many others. The optical excitations of the RE ions, however, requires specific wavelength which is challenging and relatively expensive to have. In this project, we will use semiconductor ZnO nanocrystals to act as sensitizers. The optical excitation of the ZnO nanocrystals is quite easy to have, as long as the photon energy is higher than the bandgap. The RE ions can in turn be excited by the energy transfer from the excited ZnO nanocrystals and give emissions when the RE ions relax to the ground states. The RE ions and the ZnO nanocrystals will be incorporated in SiO2 films. The project involves the fabrication and the characterization of the samples.


Supervisor Kantisara Pita (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Very good in Physics and Chemistry.

Other Requirements Very careful and diligent students as this project involves lab experiment.


EEE14

Project Code EEE14

Title Gamification of Educational Modules - Organic Chemistry

Category Sciences

Description This project requires students to develop an gaming app to make learning of basic concepts in organic chemistry fun and mentally engaging. Students opting for this project should have the following interests: - game design - app programming (Android) - organic chemistry Students shall exercise creativity in designing the gaming aspects, which include storyboarding plus the UI look and feel.


Supervisor Lim Meng Hiot (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Chemistry, particularly Organic Chemistry.

Other Requirements Interest in app programming.


EEE15

Project Code EEE15

Title Visualization of Mini-UAV Flying Path Using GPS Log In Connection to Surveillance Radar Target Tracking


Description Due to their small size, slow flying speed and low flying altitude, mini-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (mini-UAVs) are regarded as difficult targets to be detected by the current surveillance radar system. The weak echo signal returned from the mini-UAVs makes the mini-UAV tracking problem challenging. Particularly, the existing radar system often fails in tracking mini-UAVs flying at the far away distance from the radar unit. Thus, correcting/compensating the tracking error using other source of information (e.g., mini-UAV GPS log) is an important step towards automatic mini-UAV target tracking. The goal of this project is two-folded as follows: 1) Visualize the flying path of mini-UAVs based on GPS log 2) Investigate into radar target tracking errors by means of a comparison between

the GPS flying path and the radar tracking results. The student will be guided to learn the general concepts and procedures of data visualization, tracking errors analysis of the current surveillance radar system, and how to connect and compare the GPS path and the target tracking results.


Supervisor Lin Zhiping (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Good at Math and Computing (coding).



EEE16

Project Code EEE16

Title Design of Invisibility Cloak

Category Sciences

Description Invisibility cloak is a fictional device which can make objects invisible to outer detection. Recent years, invisibility cloak has become a hot research topic. The concept made use of metamaterials - whose properties are not defined by their chemical makeup but rather by their structure on the tiniest scales - to guide light around an object, rendering it in effect invisible. This project will exploit different cloaking schemes, which can be used to conceal objects in various environments. Specifically, we will use Matlab programs to verify the performance of the designed cloak and to discuss its possible experimental realization.


Supervisor Luo Yu (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Physics and Optics.

Other Requirements Matlab coding.


EEE17

Project Code EEE17

Title Negative Refraction in Metamaterials


Description When light is incident upon the interface of two different materials, it will be bent and refracted at the interface. Normally, the refracted and incident light beams lie on different sides of the surface normal. Nevertheless, recent theoretical and experimental developments show that artificially structured metamaterial can support negative refraction, where the refracted and incident light beams appear on the same side of the surface normal. In this project, we will explore different mechanisms using metamaterials to achieve negative refraction.





Specific Knowledge Basic knowledge of Electromagnetics.

Other Requirements CST Simulation.


EEE18

Project Code EEE18

Title Terahertz Sensing with Spoof Plasmonic Devices


Description The demand for new chemical and biological sensing methods for the effective detection of small amounts of molecules has been continuously growing for diverse purposes such as health care, food monitoring, environmental science, and national security. In particular, there is an increasing concern for health risk originating from screening to detection of bio-molecules. One element in strategy to address these concerns is to develop rapid, easy to use, sensitive detection methods which are the objective of this project. The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) supported by noble metal nanostructures provides a powerful platform for sensitive structural detection of a single or a small number of bio-molecules. The resonantly enhanced optical fields allow one to detect tiny environmental change owing to a molecule or protein absorbed on the nanoparticle surface. However, owing to large metal losses at optical frequencies and strong nonlocal screening effects at the subnanometer scale, the lowest detectable concentration of protein solution using traditional LSPR sensor is 100 ng/mL, which is not low enough for sort-after applications. In this project, the student will be guided to design artificially structured subwavelength elements, namely metamaterials / metasurfaces, to further improve the sensitivity of LSPR sensors. Compared to noble metal structures in optical spectrum, judiciously designed metadevices can mimic the LSPR behavior at terahertz/mid infrared frequencies, creating sharper scattering peaks as well as stronger near-field enhancements while alleviating the loss and nonlocal problem of traditional LSPR sensors. Our objective is to design compact, noninvasive, and cost-effective meta biosensors capable of detecting protein concentration as low as 1ng/mL.





Specific Knowledge CST or COMSOL simulation.



EEE19

Project Code EEE19

Title Beautiful Arrays


Description In double-slit experiments, interference patterns are observed due to wave cancellation or enhancement. If the separation of the slits changes, the interference pattern will change accordingly. In microwave engineering, when two antennae (which are radiator or sensor elements) are used to replace the double slits, similar interference patterns are observed. The patterns in this case are known as beampatterns. A beampattern is usually synthesized such that a pointed mainbeam is obtained while the sidelobes are being suppressed. This may be achieved by manipulating the number of antenna elements and inter-element spacings. When multiple antennae are used, the antennae form an array. The array is known as an antenna array, or sensor array in a more general sense. In the case of a double-slit, we may see it as a simple linear array used for optical signal. In microwave engineering, if more than two antennae are used, we may use the antennae to form linear arrays (one-dimensional), planar arrays (two-dimensional) or conformal arrays (three-dimensional). The question now is, how would the array shape, that is, the array geometry affect the beampattern? How could we synthesize an array beampattern by manipulating the array geometry? In this project, we would like to study the possibilities of using the golden ratio and Fibonacci number to design the array geometry of linear and planar arrays. The studies will be carried out with Matlab programming on a personal computer. Sample programs will be provided for a start.


Supervisor Ng Boon Poh (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Interested in Physics.



EEE20

Project Code EEE20

Title Gallium Nitride Transistors: Empowering the Next Generation Electronics


Description Silicon-based transistors are the main semiconductor technologies driving many electronics applications today. However, due to the increasing demand for higher performance transistors to meet the next generation of electronics applications, new types of semiconductor transistors are needed. Due to its inherent material properties such as wide bandgap with high breakdown voltage and high saturation electron velocity, Gallium Nitride (GaN) based transistors have emerged as a very promising and important building blocks of many future advanced applications such as high-power switches, wireless communications, satellite communications and sensors etc. In this project, the students will be exposed to the technology of GaN transistors, their applications and they key device paramaters for application consideration. They will also learn the useful and important basic operation, characterisation techniques and analysis of GaN based transistors. This hands-on experience will prepare the students well for their future studies in electronics engineering particularly in the areas of semiconductors, power electronics and integrated circuit design.


Supervisor Ng Geok Ing (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Basic Physics and Mathematics.



EEE21

Project Code EEE21

Title Novel Gallium Nitride-Based Sensor for Air Pollution Monitoring


Description Gas sensing technology has gained increased attention especially where the detection of gases and air pollutants is imperative for the safety of human health. There is a need to detect NO2, since its long-term exposure can lead to bronchitis in asthmatic children and can impair lung growth. Moreover, it is the primary source of nitrate aerosols, forming an important component of dangerous airborne particles. Thus, the regulations governing NO2 in automobiles are becoming increasingly strict. Similarly, the presence of CO2 gas in high concentration poses risk to human health and may lead to serious physiological damages due to O2 deprivation and organ failure. At present, the commonly used gas sensors suffer from limited sensitivity, limited lifetime, poor selectivity and high energy consumption. In order to overcome these shortcomings, gallium nitride material based sensors are attractive due to their unique physical properties such as high band gap, high career density near the surface and chemical inertness. In this project, students will help to characterise the sensors developed in our team using a gas sensor system for NO2, CO2 and O2 gases. The effect of functionalisation layers on the gas sensitivity, response time, recovery time, etc will also studied as a function of temperature and gas concentration. The underlying sensing mechanism will be understood.


Supervisor Radhakrishnan K (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Interest in Materials Science.



EEE22

Project Code EEE22

Title Implement Environmental Sensor Under Internet of Things


Description There has been very strong interest and attention in the past few years focused on the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT refers to a network of physical objects embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity, which enables these objects to collect and exchange data. It allows remote sensing and control across network infrastructure, creates opportunities for more direct integration between the physical world and computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit. [1] One of the challenges in the IoT technology is the provision of energy for the sensing, electronics, communication, etc. It is important that the deployed devices are autonomous, that is, able to harness environmental energy and be self-sufficient so that there is no need to provide and replace batteries. Among the various sources of energy that can be harnessed from an indoor environment, light energy has been shown to be one of the most efficiency and widely available. In this project, the student will study and implement an environmental sensor to sense and transmit signal wirelessly to a host for real-time monitoring of the environmental parameter of interest. The scope will also include the building of communication circuit and circuit for harnessing of light energy to power the sensor and communication circuits, to realize a fully autonomous sensor. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things


Supervisor Rusli (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge No pre-requisites. Students should preferably have an interest in electronic engineering and in the study of renewable energy.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things

EEE23

Project Code EEE23

Title Low Cost and High Efficiency Si/Transition Metal Oxide Heterojunction Solar Cell


Description As the importance of renewable energy source becomes more apparent, tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing photovoltaics (PV) since solar energy is plentiful and widespread. However, the high production cost of the conventional high-efficiency Silicon (Si) solar cells poses a barrier for solar energy to compete with fossil fuels. This has led to the search of novel solar cells that are low-cost and highly efficient. Recently, there has been significant interest in the study of inorganic / organic hybrid Si / transition metal oxide solar cells which can be fabricated at low temperature and low cost. The objective of this work is to design, fabricate and characterize Si / transition metal oxide based on molybdenum oxide and other transition metal oxides.


Supervisor Rusli (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge No pre-requisites. Students should preferably have an interest in Physics and in the study of renewable energy.



EEE24

Project Code EEE24

Title A Signal Processing Approach to the Detection of Obstructive Sleep Apnea


Description Being able to sleep well is important for our health. As such, sleep studies have been conducted in many sleep laboratories. One of the sleep disorders that can be detected from a sleep study is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA occurs when the airway collapse during sleep causing pauses in breathing, and resulting in lower oxygen levels and elevated blood pressure. OSA can cause serious consequences in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, depression or even death. The current way of OSA detection requires the patient to be wired to many pieces of equipment in the sleep laboratory of a hospital. Recent research has reported the use of a sound sensor to detect the presence of OSA, which is a simpler, lower cost, and more comfortable approach. The aim of this project is to study some pattern recognition methods and develop a signal processing algorithm to detect OSA automatically. The student will be required to study some research papers, develop and implement an algorithm into computer programs, and test the effectiveness of the algorithm with some real patient data collected from the local hospitals. Students with a strong background in mathematics will be an advantage.


Supervisor Ser Wee (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Students with strong mathematics background will be an advantage. Some of the signal processing algorithm may require the calculations of some statistics (e.g. Kurtosis). Students with Matlab programming experience will be an advantage too.

Other Requirements Students with Matlab programming experience will be an advantage too.


EEE25

Project Code EEE25

Title Building Your Own Satellite 101 – CanSat (a Can-Sized Miniature Satellite)


Description A CanSat is a special form of a miniature satellite packing all the electronics into standard aluminium can. All the sub-systems based on satellite architecture will be put inside a can with a total weight limit of 400 ~500 grams. To make the objectives feasible for the student to achieve, given the constraint on project duration and relevant knowledge, the student will be given a set of starter kit to work on. He / She is required to work on both the hardware and software parts of the CanSat under proper guidance. He/she is required to build a CanSat, perform various tests on it. If the basic objectives are reached ahead of time, we can proceed to add more payloads into the CanSat to make equip it with more appealing functionalities, such as GPS to identify the exact location of the CanSat and / or Camera to provide the scenes from a bird’s eye view. In this project, the student will be learning and practicing engineering approach to solve a problem, project management skills in making timeline and milestones, hand-on skills of hardware assembly and software programming.


Supervisor Shao Xuguang, Michelle (Dr)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Willingness to do hands-on engineering experiment is necessary. Basic C/C++ programming skills would be helpful. Previous experience with Arduino microprocessor would be very useful.



EEE26

Project Code EEE26

Title Water Rectanna


Description Water is an interesting medium that is transparent, flexible, and can be potentially low loss. Therefore, water can be an excellent candidate for designing reconfigurable antennas. The objective of this project is to explore innovative shapes for wide-band and multiband antennas that can be used in modern communication systems. Both theoretical simulations using ANSYS high frequency structure simulator (HFSS) and experimental measurements will be involved in this project. Dedicated students can get a lot of hands-on experience in this project.


Supervisor Shen Zhongxiang (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair




EEE27

Project Code EEE27

Title Development of Hybrid Mobile Application


Description HTML5 is the latest version of the HyperText Markup Language. It helps describe the document's structure and allows documents to be cross-linked. Today the language has grown, with an Alexa research stating that 34% of sites were using HTML5 alone (discounting other versions of HTML such as HTML 4.0 or XHTML). Further, HTML has gained two other partner systems that are closely associated with and support it. These are CSS (Cascading Style Sheets – latest iteration CSS3) helps HTML improve the document’s user interface by describing how it should look. JavaScript then helps to build interactivity. The purpose of this project is to develop a moble application for interactive teaching and learning.


Supervisor Shum Ping (Prof)


Group Size Pair




EEE28

Project Code EEE28

Title Exploration of Different Methods to Remote Control the NAO Robot

Category Sciences

Description NAO robot, being the first humanoid robot designed by SoftBank Robotics, is currently used in many sectors including business, education and research. With a unique combination of both mechanical engineering and software, it is a popular choice among developers. However, there are multiple ways in which one can control and program the robot, namely through Choregraphe, Integrated Development Environment (IDLE), Visual Studio, Eclipse, Android Studio or any other platform, using different or a combination of languages like Python, Java and C++. In this project, the different ways are explored and a comparison is done between them so that future developers can easily choose the way they would like to control the robot. You will have a chance to access the latest human robot hard/software in our research lab of EEE, NTU. See more information about the NAO at https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en.


Supervisor Song Qing (Assoc Prof)






https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en

EEE29

Project Code EEE29

Title Eye Tracking Control of NAO Robot via Internet Of Things

Category Sciences

Description The objective is to develop an intelligent system that can use eye tracking technology to control a robot like application for medical application, for example served for disabled people. The basic method of the project is to control the NAO robot through wireless link (WiFi) with graphic interface and eye tracking control system





Specific Knowledge C++ and basic image processing knowledge.



EEE30

Project Code EEE30

Title NAO Robot Based Home Automation for Internet Things

Category Sciences

Description NAO is a well-developed robot for academic research integrated platform with multi-sensors mainly for PC communication, we intended to develop the robot with an integrated interface for Android and iOS phones such that the robot can perform an automatic role for home automation and service. There are a number of rich applications developed for NAO robots at research universities like MIT and Stanford for examples. You will have a chance to access the latest human robot hard/software in our research lab of EEE, NTU. See more information about the NAO at https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en.








https://www.ald.softbankrobotics.com/en

EEE31

Project Code EEE31

Title IOT (Internet of Things) for Optimal Lighting Control in Green Buildings


Description Energy consumption attributed to buildings in Singapore is estimated to be over 30% of total national use. The target is to reduce energy consumption to meet the goals and increase the stockpile of Green-mark certified buildings as well as adapt to the circadian rhythm of the human occupant. As lighting accounts for about 20% of the building’s electricity usage, the student would be working on (1) an efficient and reliable and robust dimmable IOT enabled LED system for commercial buildings and (2) the system adapt to the circadian rhythm of the human occupant. The lighting control system would be incorporated with building information modelling (BIM). Matlab or software programming skills would be expected for the students. The students should be self motivated and eager to lean.


Supervisor Soong Boon Hee (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Individual/ Pair

Specific Knowledge Programming skills.

Other Requirements Knowledge of 3D printing would be useful.


EEE32

Project Code EEE32

Title Optical Waveguide


Description Besides electrical wires, signal can also be converted to optical signal and transmitted via photon using waveguide. The performance of electrical wire is hitting a road-blocl due to its resistance and reliability concerns in the future generation of technology. Unlike electrical wires, optical signal signal transmission in waveguide offers several advantages such as high speed, high bandwidth and low energy consumption. In this project, you design, fabricate and characterize optical waveguides using germanium as the medium for future communication and sensing applications.


Supervisor Tan Chuan Seng (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge High school Physics.



EEE33

Project Code EEE33

Title Smart Learning


Description Learning has been a fundamental ability of human beings that helps develop our society and humanity. With the advances in information and communications as well as data analysis and artificial intelligent technologies, learning has become increasingly more accessible, interactive, and pervasive over the past recent years. This project aims to study and identify suitable technologies and effective strategies that can facilitates students’ learning and improve their learning efficiency. The project will also investigate interplay between specific teaching and learning processes as well as student behaviours in response to different teaching/learning activities. The project is suitable for students with strong interest in learning and information technologies. Experience in computer programming or behaviour science is advantageous.


Supervisor Tan Yap Peng (Prof)



Specific Knowledge Strong interest in learning and information technologies. Experience in computer programming or behaviour science is advantageous.



EEE34

Project Code EEE34

Title Creating Natural Questions for Crowdsourcing Platform


Description In a crowdsourcing platform like Amazon Mechanical Turk, a task is broken down into microtasks that are then assigned to many workers, whose answers are aggregated to form the final answer to the original task. This is because workers are usually unreliable, and can only answer simple binary questions. In this project, we use an automatic sequential task design strategy that decomposes a multi-class labelling problem into simpler q-ary questions for the workers. The students will develop a method to convert the q-ary questions into natural English questions for the workers. Techniques to achieve this involve natural language processing and machine learning. The students will integrate and implement their method into an existing online platform and app.


Supervisor Tay Wee Peng (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Programming skills. Strong Mathematics background, and eager to learn new things.



EEE35

Project Code EEE35

Title Design and Fabricate Multi-point Folding Mechanism


Description This project will introduce the student to a special class of polymers known as shape memory polymers (SMP). These SMP can change it shape pending specific triggers such as heat or UV light. The control of these triggers (at different points of the SMP) could thus control specific folding or opening mechanisms. Therefore using clever design and manupliation of the material, we can introduce multiple staged folding methods to create interesting depolyment or encasement devices. Here the student will synthesis the SMPs and design specific shape that can allow these types of multi-stage folds. There will be lab work needed as well as the handling of chemicals.


Supervisor Teo Hang Tong Edwin (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Some experience in Chemistry and comfortable handling chemicals and working on furnaces.



EEE36

Project Code EEE36

Title Understanding Lasers


Description Laser, Light Amplification via Stimulated Emission Radiation, is probably one of the most important scientific inventions in the past 60 years. There are many important applications including but not limited to internet, biomedical sciences, imaging, security, spectroscopy, gas / chemical sensing, communications, military applications and astronomy sciences. In this project, the prospective student will study the operation principles of lasers, particularly focus on a so-called quantum cascade laser, a new type of semiconductor laser which has attracted a lot of attention in recent years due to its ability of generating arbitrary laser emission according to customers' requirements in long wavelength regimes.


Supervisor Wang Qijie (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Some knowledge in Optics and Physics.



EEE37

Project Code EEE37

Title Smart Phone-Enabled Platform for VR Lab Tour


Description Virtual reality (VR) has captured the world’s imagination. With so many exciting application, it is becoming a medium with tremendous potential. Virtually, this technology enables user to be transported to other places, to be fully immersed in experiences, and to feel like you are really surrounded by the environment. It opens up previously unimagined ways to interact and communicate. The objective of this project is to leverage the VR technology to make the EEE lab tour more active and convenient for visitors. By using this system, external visitors will be able to access the labs and have a virtual lab tour without interrupting the ongoing research progress, especially to few labs that are limited to professionally trained people.


Supervisor Wei Lei (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Mobile app development.



EEE38

Project Code EEE38

Title Optimal Planning and Operation of Combined Cooling Heat and Power (CCHP) Systems in Future Energy Networks


Description The future energy networks will integrate multiple energy resources in order to achieve maximum energy utilization efficiency. The energies may include fossil-fuel, wind, solar, nature gas, as well as other forms of energy such as heat and cooling, etc. The combined cooling heat and power (CCHP) system is a promising approach to enable such multiple energy integration. This project aims at optimal planning and operation of CCHP in a comprehensive energy network. Specific tasks include modelling of the CCHP systems, other energy resources, as well as the energy transmission network, optimization-based methodologies for planning (sizing and locating) and operation of CCHP systems, development of high-quality solution algorithms, investigation of the operational support of CCHP to the whole energy network in terms of security control, renewable energy harvesting, etc.


Supervisor Xu Yan (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Familiar with mathematical optimization algorithms, MATLAB programming language, and have fundamental knowledge about power system and microgrid.



EEE39

Project Code EEE39

Title Carbon Nanotube Based Electronic Devices


Description Next generation electronic circuits, displays, and many other applications would require a high flexibility. Silicon based devices suffer from drawbacks of high-temperature processing. Organic thin film transistors, as a replacement for amorphous silicon based thin film transistors (TFTs) in low-end applications, have yielded several impressive demonstrations for applications as large-scale integrated circuits, flexible displays, sensor sheets and other systems. In all cases, however, the carrier mobilities of the organic TFTs are quite low, typically ~1 cm^2V^-1s^-1. In contrast, carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film transistors are readily suitable for a flexible circuitry with the outstanding advantages of high mobility and low operating voltage over widely explored organic and polymer-based materials. In this project, thin CNT films will be obtained using solution-based filtration or chemical vapor deposition growth. Electrical and optical characterizations will be carried out. CNT based field effect transistors will be developed.


Supervisor Zhang Qing (Prof)



Specific Knowledge Elementary Physics for Secondary 4 or above.



MAE01

Project Code MAE01

Title Pie Crusting of Ligaments


Description The objective of this project is to understand how ligament biomechanical property changes with pie crusting. The scope of this project include the understanding of how ligament’s biology changes with pie crusting and to derive a mathematical model to determine how pie crusting affects the length (L), stress-strain curve, and load to failure of a given ligament. We want to study the relationship between the number of stabs (n), distance between stabs (w), transverse distance between stabs (s), the length of each stab (d) and the alteration of biomechanical properties of the ligament. With this mathematical model, we will validate it with biomechanical studies in the lab with standardized animal ligament, where we can modify the variables and observe the respective alterations in its biomechanical properties.

College / School School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Supervisor Chou Siaw Meng (Assoc Prof)






MAE02

Project Code MAE02

Title CYBORG BEETLE: Electrical Stimulation of Insect Muscles to Induce Desired Motor Action and Behaviours


Description 1) Anatomy to map out the leg and flight muscles 2) Implantation of wire electrodes into the muscle of interest 3) Electrical stimulation to induce desired motion (muscle contraction) 4) Develop stimulation protocols and sequences to control beetle waking and flight 5) Test (4) using a radio control system1) Anatomy to map out the leg and flight muscles [References] http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/CorpComms2/Documents/2015/03_Mar/AsiaOne_150318_NTU%20and%20UC%20Berkeley%20develop%20remote%20controlled%20beatle.pdf http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2815%2900083-4?cc=y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNmSh8tElnA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSCLBG9KeX4 Or google "Cyborg Beetle' or 'Cyborg Insect'.


Supervisor Hirotaka Sato (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge No specific knowledge and skills but strong interest and self-motivation are required. Good time management.



http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/CorpComms2/Documents/2015/03_Mar/AsiaOne_150318_NTU%20and%20UC%20Berkeley%20develop%20remote%20controlled%20beatle.pdf



http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2815%2900083-4?cc=y

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2815%2900083-4?cc=y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNmSh8tElnA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSCLBG9KeX4

MAE03

Project Code MAE03

Title Modelling the Physical Palpation Examination of Patients for Diagnosis of Abdominal/Pelvic Adhesion in Terms of Elasticity and Rigidity (Stress-Strain Analysis)


Description Description: 1) Evaluation of the diagnosis parameters

a) Quantification of the data b) Proof of the hypothesis (validation with tactile sensing breast cancer

diagnostic technique) 2) Validation of the protocol

a) Model the palpation process with and without adhesion b) Application and analysis of the protocol developed on experiment

generated results and data acquisition.


Supervisor Ng Yin Kwee (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Hardworking, image processing, good in Maths.

Other Requirements Innovative.


MAE04

Project Code MAE04

Title A Fast Way to Compute Least Square

Category Sciences

Description The method of least squares is a mathematical / statistical technique to determine the best fit theoretical curve to experimental data. Directly applying the mathematical definition of least square gives an algorithm that takes time on the order of n to determine the best fit curve to n points. The scope of this project is to develop a fast way to compute least square.


Supervisor Shu Jian Jun (Assoc Prof)






MAE05

Project Code MAE05

Title A Fast Way to Compute Matrix Multiplication

Category Sciences

Description Matrix multiplication is a mathematical operation that takes a pair of matrices to generate a new matrix. Directly applying the mathematical definition of matrix multiplication gives an algorithm that takes time on the order of nmp to multiply an n x m matrix by an m x p matrix. The scope of this project is to develop a fast way to compute matrix multiplication.


Supervisor Shu Jian Jun (Assoc Prof)






MAE06

Project Code MAE06

Title 3D Printing of Novel Composite Joints


Description Composite materials comprising two distinguishable phases are finding wider uses in aerospace, wind energy, oil and gas, sports equipment. Nature composite materials include wood, bone, straw reinforced bricks etc. Herein this project we explore 3D printing of composite materials and make lap and scarf joints to evaluate their mechanical performance as a function of various process variables. The joints geometries will be optimised for a given load-bearing capacity. The process involves testing the joints under laboraty environment using established standards.


Supervisor Sridhar Idapalapati (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Motivation to learn new things. Knowledge of Physics.



MAE07

Project Code MAE07

Title Bending and Twisting of Soft Gels


Description This project investigates the mechanics of axial loading, bending and torsion of soft materials. Biological materials such as DNA molecules, cells, skins and cartilages are soft and may undergo large deformation under mechanical loading. Specifically, a model of a DNA molecule is pulled / bent / twisted and the task is to predict its mechanical respone. In particular, the influence of the axial load on the torisonal elastic constant will be studied. A soft material model capable of handling large deformation will be implemented. The dependence of the mechanical response on the elastic constants of the material model will be studied in detail.


Supervisor Wu Mao See (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Some knowledge of Mathematics will be required, especially differentiation and integration.

Other Requirements None.


MAE08

Project Code MAE08

Title Crack Nucleation from a Disclination Defect in a Nanowire


Description Rotational defects called disclinations are present in nano-objects such as nanocrystals and nanowires. This project aims to investigate the nucleation of a crack from a disclination located within a nanocylinder. Cracks often are undesirable as they degrade the material property and the functionality of the devices. The students will use an energy method to compare the energy of the defect within the nanocylinder to the energy of the cracked cylinder. They will learn the basic mechanics and use mathematical software to solve several physical problems. The objective is to discover the influence of the defect strength, structural size and elastic constants on the susceptibility of crack nucleation. The crack characteristics, i.e., their lengths and stability / instability will be investigated in detail. The project will be mostly theoretical and computational.


Supervisor Wu Mao See (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Some elementary mathematical skills such as differentiation and integration will be needed for the research tasks. New mathematical software can be learned while doing the project.



MAE09

Project Code MAE09

Title Microparticle Manipulation by SSAW


Description Standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) will be produced by interdigital transducer (IDT) deposited on a piezoelectric substrate and formed inside a microchannel. Microparticles could be manipulated (separation and accumulation) at a high efficiency and cost in comparison to the other available approaches (i.e., optical and magnetic). Novel excitation strategies and IDT configurations will be explored.


Supervisor Zhou Yufeng (Asst Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Simulation and experimental skills

Other Requirements Teamwork.


MAE10

Project Code MAE10

Title Ultrasound Erosion on Soft Tissue


Description High-intensity focused ultrasound has been applied succesffuly in our laboratory to erode soft tissue noninvasively. In order to further improve this technology, ultrasound parameters should be optimized. In this study, ultrasound intensity, pulse duration, pulse repetition rate, total exposure time, focal location, driving frequency and tissue stiffness will be studied for the maximum erosion volume.


Supervisor Zhou Yufeng (Asst Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Experimental skills and ability to process data.



NIE01

Project Code NIE01

Title Translational Specifications of Neural-Informed Game-Based Interventions for Mathematical Cognitive Development of Low-Progress Learners

Category Business, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Description A team of researchers from NIE and mathematics specialists from MOE, in collaboration with experts from University College London, UK, is embarking on a research study that aims to narrow mathematical achievement gaps within the Singapore education system. We aim to identify the characteristics and causes why learners persistently perform poorly in math, particularly those who continue to struggle despite current established behavioral and cognitive intervention approaches in schools. We aim to conduct behavioural and neural profiling of low-progress mathematics learners, starting at the lower primary level (Grades 1 and 2). The project will introduce mathematics games to learners to aid them in their mathematical progress. This project has a neuroscience component and there will be opportunities to use cutting-edge technologies for brain imaging in this project.

College / School National Institute of Education

Supervisor Azilawati Bte JAMALUDIN (Dr)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge (i) Strong in Mathematics, (ii) Knowledge of educational games or interest in games, (iii) Interest in game development, (iv) Interest in neuroscience in education, (v) Familiar with primary school setting, (vi) Able to administer survey, conduct interview.

Other Requirements (i) Good interpersonal and verbal communication skills, and able to interact with teachers and lower primary school learners, (ii) Good organisational skills, ability to take initiative and to work flexibly, as part of a team, as well as independently with minimum supervision.


NIE02

Project Code NIE02

Title Exploration of the Use of Plant Biosensors for Environmental Surveillance

Category Sciences

Description Living in a garden city Singaporeans are proud of the urban habitat. However the nation was highly developed in semiconductor industry in the past few decades and is still hosting petrochemical industries at Jurong Island, which put the city in the risk of pollution. Lacking of farming land, in recent year community gardening becomes popular to entertain residences with the fun of sowing, cultivating, and harvesting of edible vegetables. However the quality of soil in community gardens and the safety of vegetable produced remain largely uncertified. Performing holistic environmental surveillance is costly and time consuming due to sample collection and application of a series of measurements in analytical chemistry. A cheaper and more convenient alternative is to use plants as on site biosensors to monitor environmental quality. The contaminants and other environmental stress agents commonly lead to genotoxicity represented by DNA damage and alteration of gene expression. This project aims to develop biomarkers and other versatile methods that would detect such plant responses to environment, and provide a reliable and low-cost way of environmental surveillance.


Supervisor Chen Zhong (Asst Prof)




Other Requirements Passion in plants and concern in environment.


NIE03

Project Code NIE03

Title Improving Cognitive Uptake of Academic Information using Psycholinguistics


Description This project will introduce students to psycholinguistics and corpus linguistics. Students in this project will be part of an interrelated research group, where they individually, or in coordination with others, plan a small experiment that looks at the psychology of language processing- e.g. how students from different backgrounds or subject areas process grammar / vocabulary differently.


Supervisor Clarence Gerald GREEN (Dr)



Specific Knowledge A interest in the English Language and Psychology. A working knowledge of Grammar.



NIE04

Project Code NIE04

Title Functional Programming via Haskell


Description Functional programming is a programming language paradigm which makes use of expressions as data and expression transformations as programs, and where functions have the status of first class citizens. This paradigm contrasts against the usual imperative paradigm where programs typically contain mutable variables which get updated by a change of state of variables, e.g., initialisation and increment of variables within loop constructs. In this project, one experiences functional programming with the language HASKELL, where all programs are coded as functions which can be treated as "methods" as well as passed around as "data". The power of functional programming will be explored by implementing interesing algorithms using HASKELL. The project also consists of understanding the programming semantics of selected fragments of the language; in particular, the Scott semantics using domains model or the Ho's operational domain-theoretic semantics. Semantical considerations not only allow the programmer to prove program correctness but also to invent new and seemingly impossible algorithms.


Supervisor Ho Weng Kin (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Sound logical reasoning and strong Mathematics background. No need to have any prior experience in Computing.



NIE05

Project Code NIE05

Title Making Teamwork Work


Description Project work and teamwork can be challenging. However, certain students thrive at it. How do they do it? What are their strategies? What makes a person a good team player? Why are there problems in teams? What are the ways to overcome these team problems? What are the important processes and skills required in teamwork? What makes teamwork work? In this research project, students will unpack the challenges and processes required in teamwork, a lifelong learning skill. Students will be able to craft their own research question relating to the processes in teamwork and perform a quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods study to address the research question. For instance, students can focus on effective teamwork strategies and interview seniors or juniors on their experiences of teamwork. Teamwork is an important 21st century competency for school and work. Students will find this research project helpful for their own personal learning and growth especially in the area of project work and teamwork. They will also gain the experience of designing, conducting and presenting research in the Social Sciences.


Supervisor Koh Ruilin Elizabeth (Dr)



Specific Knowledge Interest in the concept and application of teamwork. Competent in verbal and written communication.



NIE06

Project Code NIE06

Title Teacher Learning – What Happens Behind the Scenes


Description Singapore is a high-performing education system and teachers contribute a big part of it. Have you ever wondered how in-service teachers learn and continuously develop capacities for their practice? What problems do they face in classrooms? How do they work together in professional communities to design lessons, address problems, reflect and refine practices? These are all scenarios and processes that teachers engage in for continuous capacity building and professional development. In this project, students will unpack the structures and processes that shape teacher learning in Singapore schools. Students will craft their own research questions about teacher learning in schools and gather qualitative data to address the research question. One possible project could be a collection of stories about teachers’ professional development across different levels of seniority with a focus on eliciting common traits that enable and constrain teacher learning. Students with interests in Education and Social Sciences will find this project meaningful for their personal learning and future career development. They will gain some experience of the nature of research in Social Sciences.


Supervisor Lee Shu Shing (Dr)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Interest in qualitative research and social sciences. Excellent written, oral, and analytical skills with an eye for detail. Good interpersonal skills and able to communicate effectively with teachers.



NIE07

Project Code NIE07

Title Effect of In-Games Advertisement on Attitude


Description The aim of this research is to examine whether there is a change in attitude when respondents are exposed to brands appearing in sports video games. Respondents will be tasked to play a console racing game. After the game, respondents will complete a survey to examine whether there is any difference in attitude towards brands that appear in the game.


Supervisor Leng Ho Keat (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge 1) Have an interest in sports sponsorship and racing console games (PS platform) 2) Able to recruit up to 30 respondents to play console games 3) Able to conduct statistical tests i.e. t-tests



NIE08

Project Code NIE08

Title Exploring the Role that Game-Based Worlds and Immersive Environments Potentially Play in Learning


Description Since 2009, lesson units have been carried out in a number of schools with the aim of developing an understanding about how game-based worlds and immersive environments can be leveraged for learning; these lesson units have been used in a variety of subjects, such as Geography, Literature, and Design & Technology. If you are interested in thinking about such worlds and environments, and / or about maker culture and open-source hardware / software, with a view to designing more authentic learning experiences, we welcome your participation in this project, which is likely to be sufficiently flexible to support your own particular areas of interest. You will be working as part of a team of designers and software developers as we help build teacher-capacity in curriculum and pedagogy.


Supervisor Lim Yang Teck Kenneth (Dr)



Specific Knowledge A healthy interest in collaborative learning. Interest in maker culture, game-design and learning through games is a plus.

Other Requirements Participation in this project will likely involve site visits to schools around Singapore.


NIE09

Project Code NIE09

Title Learning Spaces in the School Library


Description This educational project aims to explore the effectiveness of the school library as a learning space. Student-researchers will make use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods (library user surveys, observations, interviews and visual data) to examine their school library as a learning space. They will devise a method for evaluating the effectiveness of the library in promoting learning and suggest ways to improve the library as a learning space. For more details on the larger project, please refer to the project website: https://www.readingculturesg.org/.


Supervisor Loh Chin Ee (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Interest in school libraries. Basic photography skills. Basic interview skills.

Other Requirements Students will be expected to do a literature review and learn to create and execute a survey as part of the project.


https://www.readingculturesg.org/

NIE10

Project Code NIE10

Title Spaces of Reading: A Visual Documentary


Description This project aims to explore spaces of reading in Singapore to understand what Singaporeans read and where Singaporeans read. Taking a visual documentary approach, the researcher will collect photography, observation and interview data to explore the reading practices and spaces in Singapore. For more details on the larger project on reading and school libraries, please refer to the project website: https://www.readingculturesg.org/.


Supervisor Loh Chin Ee (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Photography Skills. Interest in reading. Keen eye for details. Interview skills.

Other Requirements Students will be expected to do a literature review and learn other research skills on the job.


https://www.readingculturesg.org/

NIE11

Project Code NIE11

Title Effects of Music on Runner's Experience and Performance During 800m Running: Junior College Students

Category Sciences

Description This study examines the music effects on Junior College students’ middle-distance running performance and experiences by conducting experiments in a laboratory. Participants will be running three 800m on a treadmill in different music and no music conditions to explore the differences when applied between genders on attentional focus, perceived rate of physical exertion, heart rate, exercise enjoyment, and electroencephalogram (EEG). Effects of music on runner’s experience and performance will be examined from the perspectives of gender and type of music.


Supervisor Masato Kawabata (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Anyone who is interested in exercise or physical activity is welcome.

Other Requirements Anyone who is interested in exercise or physical activity is welcome.


NIE12

Project Code NIE12

Title Junior College Students' Perceptions of the National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA)

Category Sciences

Description This study seeks to investigate how the National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) is perceived or experienced by Singaporean students. As there are no empirical studies or data available to public to clarify Singaporean students’ positive and negative experiences of NAPFA, it is unknown whether students’ NAPFA experiences or perceptions are different between gender groups or school levels. Participants will complete an online survey on their NAPFA experiences and perceptions. The findings of the present survey are considered useful for PE teachers to understand what students experienced and perceived during the NAPFA and improve their PE lessons for the NAPFA test. Findings in this study will reveal in-depth insights of Singaporean students’ perception and experience of NAPFA to improve existing practices for students’ better learning.


Supervisor Masato Kawabata (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Anyone who is interested in exercise or physical activity is welcome.

Other Requirements Anyone who is interested in exercise or physical activity is welcome.


NIE13

Project Code NIE13

Title Metal / Metal-Oxide Hetero-Interfaces for Spintronics

Category Sciences

Description The generation of pure spin current (i.e flow of spin) using charge current has gained attention in the field of spintronics. So far, the conversion efficiency of charge current to spin current is limited to single digits in materials like Pt and Bi and need to be improved by one order of magnitude for the practical functionality of spintronic devices. In the III-V semiconductors hetero-interfaces small value of charge current to spin current makes it difficult to realize its use in device application. However, in recent years, at the metal hetero-interface a large value spin-orbit interaction has been reported which is responsible for the high value of charge to spin current [1,2]. In the present research proposal, attention is paid to the development of Metal/Metal-oxide hetero-interfaces for large spin-orbit interaction. We propose electronic and photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations for the investigation of hetero-interfaces to estimate the effective magnetic field at the interface. The strength of effective magnetic field can be tuned by applied electric field [3,4]. Hence, by taking the advantage of tunable effective magnetic field at interfaces, interconversion efficiency from charge current to spin current can be improved drastically. [1] Gilberson et. al. Physical Review B, 79, 235333 (2009). [2] Schmult et. al. Physical Review B, 74, 033302 (2006). [3] Ast et. al. Physical Review Letter, 98, 186807 (2007) [4] Marchenko et. al. Nature communications 3, 1232 (2012)


Supervisor Rohit Medwal (Dr)



Specific Knowledge Motivated for basic Physics and magnetism. Hands-on skills towards to experimental Physics.

Other Requirements Self-motivated and sincere.


NIE14

Project Code NIE14

Title Plasma Assisted Low Temperature Graphene Synthesis

Category Sciences

Description Well-stabilized chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method has been used for quite long time for the growth of graphene on the copper and nickel substrates. In order to grow the high quality graphene on copper and nickel substrates using CVD, high temperature processing above 1000 oC is required. High growth temperature does not allow us to grow the graphene on the various desired substrates which are useful for various applications like wearable and flexible electronics. Hence, we propose a plasma assisted graphene growth in which carbon precursor will be exposed to RF plasma before deposition. The plasma will help to dissociate the carbon and will promote the graphene growth even at very low temperature close to room temperature. The approach can be used to grown the graphene on various type of substrates.


Supervisor Rohit Medwal (Dr)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Motivated to learn advance materials characterization techniques.



NIE15

Project Code NIE15

Title Virtual Performativity: Performing Identity in Computer Games


Description The project will be an intersection between performance theory (concepts of performativity as articulated by J.L. Austin and Judith Butler) and digital gaming. Immersive virtual environments are commonplace and characteristic of many video games available in the market today; the levels of verisimilitude are constantly challenged as immersive 3D games seek to dissipate the boundary between the virtual and the real (or not). Creating and designing an avatar, and not merely selecting from a prescribed list, have also become commonplace in many award-winning games such as Bioware's Mass Effect trilogy or Dragon Age series and the ever popular SIMS. As such, the rapidly changing 'identity-scape' of contemporary video games, with autonomy granted to the gamer to shape and create an avatar, yields interesting questions about how this player projects a 'Self' in virtual environments. Do gamers create 'alter-egos' of themselves or do they seek to present an 'authentic' self in an other 'reality'? What is this 'digital double' that is created and how is the gamer connected emotionally, psychologically and telematically to the avatar? How is race, ethnicity and gender performed in such virtual spaces? Does virtual reality allow for a reconsideration and renegotiation of social relations, ethics and politics (as evident in Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games)? In short, the project encourages research in how identity is construed, created, negotiated and performed in virtual 3D computer game environments. While this question is recognisably broad, the research project need not engage in macro terms and could focus on one specific area of virtual performativity.


Supervisor Tan Cheng Chye Marcus (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge The student must possess a strong capacity for writing and expression and have the necessary reading and comprehension skills for engaging aspects of cultural and performance theory. Knowledge and keen interest in the field of digital gaming (video, computer, console) and network gaming would certainly be a necessary prerequisite. He / She must also have access to immersive video games (1st or 3rd person Role-Playing Games, shooters, etc.) in addition to extensive experience in inhabiting such digital, virtual spaces.

Other Requirements Belonging to a dedicated community of gamers, real or virtual, would be an added bonus since that would facilitate the ease of qualitative data collection, if necessary.


NIE16

Project Code NIE16

Title Stirling Numbers

Category Sciences

Description Given a set of n distinct objects, how many ways are there to group them into k non-empty subsets? For example, if a, b, c, d are four distinct objects, there are a total of seven ways to group them into two non-empty subsets. 1) {a, b, c}, {d} 2) {a, b, d}, {c} 3) {a, c, d}, {b} 4) {b, c, d}, {a} 5) {a, b}, {c, d} 6) {a, c}, {b, d} 7) {a, d}, {b, c} This is an example of Stirling Numbers of the Second Kind and unlike the binomial coefficients, i.e. the number of ways to choose k objects out of n distinct objects, there are no simple closed form formulas for Stirling numbers of the Second Kind. In this project, we shall study the Stirling Numbers in detail and pay particular attention to identities satisfied by them.


Supervisor Toh Pee Choon (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Basic counting skills like permutations and combinations.

Other Requirements Ability to work independently.


NIE17

Project Code NIE17

Title Mental Imagery in Comprehension


Description This project seeks to investigate the nature of mental imageries that are formed during comprehension. When we read or listen to a descriptive text, often times mental imageries representing the dimensions of the text are automatically generated in our mind. For example, when we read "The eagle was flying down at a very high speed to hunt the rabbit", several images form immediately in our mind, including an eagle (or more), a rabbit, etc. How these imageries are formed and whether they have distinctive features across different groups of comprehenders is an area which has not received much research attention. The project will address this gap through using arts, interviews, and some statistical analysis. The benefits of the project for the students include 1) becoming familiar with human comprehension mechanisms, 2) learning useful statistical analysis, 3) application of arts in comprehension research.


Supervisor Vahid Aryadoust (Asst Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Familiarity with Adobe Photoshop or a similar software package. Interest in comprehension research.



SBS01

Project Code SBS01

Title Rational Design of Human Protein HP1BP3 Inhibitors

Category Sciences

Description Recently it is found that human protein HP1BP3 plays a critical role in the tumor cell proliferation [1]. Hence, limiting the interaction of it with linker DNA at its binding sites would be a promising way to inhibit the tumor proliferation. In this project small molecule candidates which can bind HP1BP3 strongly will be predicted through molecular dynamics simulations and virtual screening [2]. 1. Dutta, B., Ren, Y., Hao, P., Sim, K. H., Cheow, E., Adav, S., ... & Sze, S. K. (2014). Profiling of the chromatin-associated proteome identifies HP1BP3 as a novel regulator of cell cycle progression. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, 13(9), 2183-2197. 2. Yaw Awuni and Yuguang Mu (2015) , Molecules, 20, 5152-5164.

College / School School of Biological Sciences

Supervisor Mu Yuguang (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Biology H1/2/3



SCBE01

Project Code SCBE01

Title Engineering Porous Materials for Energy-Efficient Greenhouse Gas Capture


Description Extensive research on the capturing of the greenhouse gases had been conducted in view of the growing concerns of global warming. In particular, aqueous alkanolamine and liquefaction process which is industrially utilised to remove CO2 and SF6 respectively are energy intensive, thus an urgent need of questing the most suitable alternative to alleviate the major problem encountered in these removal processes. Incorporation of adsorbents and membrane-based separation as a whole display its strong practicability in overcoming the potential limitation due to its lower energy penalty as well as smaller plant footprint. Hence, this project aims to develop novel porous adsorbents that can effectively capture CO2 and SF6. To be more specific, nanoporous materials such as zeolites and metal-organic framework will be synthesied and engieered to improve affinity to CO2 and SF6.

College / School School of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering

Supervisor Bae Tae-Hyun (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Chemical synthesis, characterization of porous materials (will be trained), gas uptake analysis (will be trained).

Other Requirements Responsibility.


SCBE02

Project Code SCBE02

Title Segregation of Particles in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed


Description Fluidized beds represent important industrial operations. Because the particles in bubbling fluidized beds are often not monodisperse, the different particle sizes segregate according to species. The objective of the current work is to experimentally determine the impact of the width of the distribution on the degree of segregation.


Supervisor Chew Jia Wei (Asst Prof)






SCBE03

Project Code SCBE03

Title CO2 Responsive Photonic Hydrogel Sensors


Description This project focuses on fabrication of CO2 responsive hydrogel photonic crystals by developing amino groups enriched hydrogel matrix. First, silica opal template will be prepared by a vertical deposition method on a glass slide. After that, Dimethyl aminopropyl methacrylamide (DMAPMA) will be used as a functional monomer for construction of hydrogel matrix. The precursor mixture will be photopolymerized after infiltration into the crystalline voids of the silica opal. Following the removal of the silica opal by 1% hydrofluoric acid, a visibly hydrogel photonic crystals inverse opal film will be formed. A comprehensive study will be done on the structural, optical, mechanical properties of the hydrogel photonic crystals inverse opal, and its sensitivity and repeatability for CO2 vapor sensing. Aim: To obtain CO2 responsive hydrogel photonic crystals sensors with high sensitivity and good repeatability. The morphology and optical properties of the hydrogel photonic crystals will be characterized by FESEM, TEM and Fiber optic spectrometer, respectively. Vapor sensing will be performed in a designed vapor sensing chambers, monitored by a same Fiber optic spectrometer.


Supervisor Duan Hongwei (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Basic understanding of physical Chemistry.



SCBE04

Project Code SCBE04

Title Enhancing Environmental Sustainability of Pharmaceutical Solid Dosage Form Manufacturing via Life Cycle Analysis


Description In this project, the students will participate in our group's effort to develop life cycle inventory (LCI) database of the key pharmaceutical excipients used in the solid dosage form preparation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). The ultimate objective is to develop a more sustainable and greener API solid dosage form production. The project will require extensive literature review, data mining, and computer simulation. Students with keen interests in pharmaceutical field and environmental sustainability are encouraged to apply.


Supervisor Kunn Hadinoto Ong (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Life cycle assessment analysis, environmental sustainability awareness.



SCBE05

Project Code SCBE05

Title Energy Material


Description Nowadays, portable electronic devices are becoming much more multifunctional and developing in the trend of being thin, lightweight, flexible and even rollup, in order to meet the rapid growing modern market demands. In this project, energy materials will be synthesized and characterized.


Supervisor Lee Jong Min (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Chemistry.



SCBE06

Project Code SCBE06

Title Developing a Compact and Low-Cost Long-Term Live-Cell Imaging Platform for Biomedical Research and Educational Purpose


Description One of the important technique to study dynamic processes in living cells is long-term observation or imaging using time-lapse microscopy (1). However, existing technology that allow real-time examination of cellular function through microscopy is often costly and bulky. The recent rapid prototyping technology such as 3D printing makes it possible to quickly and easily fabricating custom parts at low cost for building one-off prototype (2). The project aims at building a prototype of low-cost, portable long-term label-free live-cell imaging system for application in life science and education.


Supervisor Pui Tze Sian (Dr)


Group Size Pair




SCSE01

Project Code SCSE01

Title Security and Privacy Issues in IaaS Clouds


Description The use of virtualization and resource multiplexing enable commercial cloud providers (e.g., Amazon EC2) to maximize utilization but at the same time introduce new security vulnerabilities. It has been demonstrated that malicious users could launch virtual machines (VM) which are placed co-resident (on the same physical machine) with the target VM. Such placement in turn may lead to cross-VM side-channel attacks to extract sensitive information from the target VM. In this project, we investigate solutions including but not limited to VM placement algorithms to ensure security and privacy for IaaS cloud data centers. This project assumes a good background in algorithms and programming skills (e.g., Java and Python).

College / School School of Computer Science & Engineering

Supervisor Ta Nguyen Binh Duong (Dr)



Specific Knowledge Python programming.

Other Requirements Linux skills preferred.


SOH01

Project Code SOH01

Title Translation and Culture: How to Improve Singaporean Students' Translation Ability


Description Multiple translation mistakes have found its way into the websites or publication of different departments of Singapore government in recent years. Effort should be made to probe the reasons behind the occurrence of translation mistakes in Singapore where its people claim to be bilingual or even multilingual. Although bilingual programme in English and Chinese has been adopted in Singapore schools since the 1980s, bilingualists are not necessarily qualified translators. Thus, developing students' cultural competence on top of language competence is essential in training them to be qualified translators. This project will explore how to improve Singaporean students' translation ability.

College / School School of Humanities

Supervisor Cui Feng (Dr)



Specific Knowledge Applicants should have sufficient listening, speaking, reading, and writing ability in Chinese.



SOH02

Project Code SOH02

Title Medicine, Health, and Disease in the Straits Settlements, 1826-1946


Description From 1826 to 1946, medicine, health, and disease were major concerns during British colonial rule in the Straits Settlements, which were a British Crown colony. The colonial government introduced and set up medical institutions like hospitals, clinics, leprosaria, and asylums, while launching disease eradication and control schemes through epidemiological surveys, quarantine, and isolation. These schemes impacted on the local society and were further complicated by the gradual formation of a migrant society. This project aims to explore the social history of medicine, health, and disease in the Straits Settlements during the 19th and 20th centuries. It examines the different meanings of medicine, health, and disease in colonial society, indigenous society, and migrant society.


Supervisor Fang Xiaoping (Asst Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Basic History knowledge about the Straits Settlements.



SOH03

Project Code SOH03

Title A Sociolinguistic Investigation of French, German, Italian and Spanish in Singapore Shop Signs


Description This study is a first step in investigating the recurrent forms and patterns of French, German, Italian and Spanish as used in commercial shop signs across different business sectors in Singapore. It seeks to uncover the users’ motivations behind the use of French, German, Italian and Spanish here via surveys. Apart from the four official languages and their various spoken dialects, Singapore is host to a variety of other minority languages (Gordon 2005). French, German, Italian and Spanish are another case in point. Apart from its economic value, the popularity of French, German, Italian and Spanish seems to be due to its positive associations with high culture, haute couture and elegant life-style. These associations appear to be increasingly exploited in commercial signs across the island.


Supervisor Jean Francois Noel Ghesquiere (Mr)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Interest in European languages.



SOH04

Project Code SOH04

Title Teacher Feedback: Does the Practice Match Expectations?


Description It is common knowledge that teacher feedback on writing is crucial in helping students improve on their existing set of skills and learn new ones. Over the years, research on teacher feedback has focused on the form, type, effectiveness, and implementation of feedback. Notwithstanding this, the usefulness and effectiveness of teacher feedback continue to be questioned. For example, students have been reported to complain that the feedback that they received is difficult to understand, inadequate, and / or vague. This is compounded by some studies showing a disconnect between ideal and actual feedback practice among teachers themselves. With the wealth of studies in this area, what else can we learn about reinforcing students' learning through feedback? One area that has surprisingly received little focus is how both teachers and students in the same educational setting view the current state of feedback practice. In other words, does the current feedback practice among writing teachers truly address the concerns that their students may have? The aim of this project, therefore, is to determine the extent of match between teacher and student perspectives regarding feedback practice in the context of Singapore. It is only when the views of both teachers and students are considered that potential gaps can be identified and rectified, thus helping learners effectively utilize feedback to improve their writing.


Supervisor Leong Ping, Alvin (Dr)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Designing surveys and crafting interview questions.



SOH05

Project Code SOH05

Title The Question of Being


Description The question of being is a metaphysical question. But what is being? How can we answer this question? The project will investigate this problem. Students will be guided to read original philosophical texts and conduct their own research on the question.


Supervisor Li Chenyang (Prof)



Specific Knowledge Philosophy.

Other Requirements Superb reading skills and writing skills.


SOH06

Project Code SOH06

Title The Question of Existence


Description What is existence? This is a foudnational metaphysical question. The project will guide highly motivated students to investigate this question. Students will be guided to read original philosophical texts and conduct their own research on it.


Supervisor Li Chenyang (Prof)



Specific Knowledge Excellent reading and writing skills.



SOH07

Project Code SOH07

Title Exploring Heritage Values of Chinese Schools as Cultural Spaces


Description This research aims to understand the heritage values of 'huaxiao' or Chinese schools past and present in Singapore, by exploring both tangible and intangible aspects in order to help devise appropriate measures correspondingly in preserving or promoting such heritage. Chinese schools in this context are of interest not only as sites of an exclusive identity, limited in relevance to a particular social network that carries certain social capital, but also as cultural spaces where various literary and cultural practices of the Chinese tradition have been transmitted exemplarily over decades in the last century, as part of Singapore's emerging national identity. In terms of the tangible component, the significance of architectural spaces like former schools of clan associations housed at Chong Wen Ge and Kong Chow Wui Koon, as well as campus sites of major schools like the Chinese High School and Chung Cheng High School, may be investigated by combining approaches of art history and cultural memory in relation to Chinese education. In terms of the intangible component, activities in literary arts, visual arts and performing arts which have concentrated in some notable schools like The Chinese High School and Chung Cheng High School may be surveyed and oral history conducted accordingly. Recommendations for protection and promotion of Chinese schools as heritage would hence be made based on a values-based approach, taking into account relevant heritage values such as historical, aesthetic and social values, with the help of a historiographical and typological framework on Chinese schools in Singapore as sites of cultural transmission and witness to larger historical development.


Supervisor Qu Jingyi (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge 1) Field work and interview with relevant respondents on heritage or legacy of Chinese schools will be conducted so the candidates better have relationships with traditional Chinese schools, including current and former presidents, graduate students and current students.

2) The candidates need to speak and write mandarin Chinese very proficiently. 3) The candidates have the basic historical knowledge to Chinese schools in

Singapore.



SOH08

Project Code SOH08

Title A Discourse Analysis of Online Reviews of Music Albums


Description This research project analyses the rhetorical moves and language features of a popular genre: the online review of music albums. The analytical approach involves Genre Analysis (Swales, 1990) and the Appraisal Framework (Martin & White, 2005). Using systematic random sampling, the student will collect a corpus of 30 classical and 30 pop music reviews of albums from popular websites such as Allmusic (https://www.allmusic.com), Music + Album Reviews on The Guardian

(https://www.theguardian.com/music+tone/albumreview) and Gramophone: The World’s Best Classical Music Reviews

(https://www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews). The student will analyse either piano or vocal music albums but may suggest other websites for analysis. This is a predominantly qualitative study but may involve simple descriptive statistics (e.g. mean, mode). This study makes a direct contribution to music discourse, a hitherto underexplored research area within genre studies. It also provides an academic perspective to current writing advice given by music practitioners. References Martin, J. R., & White, P. R. R. (2005). The language of evaluation: Appraisal in

English. Hampshire & New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Swales, J. (1990). Genre Analysis: English in academic and research settings.

New York: Cambridge University Press.


Supervisor See Eng Kiat (Dr)



Specific Knowledge The student should have basic working knowledge of simple language categories (e.gs, verb, noun, adjective etc). The supervisor will provide guidance regarding the more complex language forms and structures. This project focuses mainly on discourse and language; however, it is advantageous for the student to possess some basic musical training (e.g. ABRSM Grade 2 piano) to appreciate some of the more technical descriptions in the music reviews.



https://www.allmusic.com/

https://www.theguardian.com/music+tone/albumreview

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews

SOH09

Project Code SOH09

Title Literary Representations of Infancy in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction


Description This project involves a close literary analysis of the changing representation of young infants in nineteenth-century British fiction. The research is on both canonical and non-canonical texts of English literature, produced during the Victorian age. It will also comprise primary research on historical texts, both fiction and non-fiction of the Victorian era.


Supervisor Tamara Silvia Wagner (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Solid background in English literature and literary history. Fondness for reading, especially big Victorian novels, including the lesser novels of Dickens, and also non-fictional material (e.g. nineteenth-century conduct books).



SOH10

Project Code SOH10

Title The Representation of Landscape in Jun Shao's Literary Works


Description The topic of this project is landscape, memory and identity. By exploring the representation of landscapes in Jun Shao's literary woks, this research project aims to explore the inscription of collective / historical memory and the formation of national identity, and hope to open a new critical dimension for a better understanding of Singapore Chinese literature. Jun Shao (Wang Junjie, 1927-2014) was a local Chinese writer and educator. He spent his teenage in Japan-Occupied Singapore, finished college education in the 1950's and then started his career as a primary teacher. In the almost sixty-year literary career. Jun Shao wrote thousands of essays, some of them were collected to his six vollumes of essays. These fascinating literary works feature the description of landscapes and Nanyang color, and they are also the records of historical memory and national identity, e.g. Chinese Diaspora, the Pacific War, nation-building. Jun Shao's essays have been included to anthologies of Singapore Chinese literature, but they have not received attention from modern scholarship, though a few papers appeared in the past decades. Thus, a thorough examination of Jun Shao's essays is needed. Through a critical analysis of his literary works, this research project will cast light on the creative mind of a leading figure of Singapore literature in particular and inspire scholars to rethink the importance and significance of national identity. The approaches and methodology include library / archival research, fieldwork and oral history, case study and textual analysis, contextualization and conceptual framework.


Supervisor Zhang Songjian (Asst Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge The participants should have a good command of Chinese language and culture, and basic knowledge of Singapore's history.

Other Requirements This research report should be written in Chinese.


SPMS01

Project Code SPMS01

Title Developing RNA-Binding Peptide Nucleic Acids for Biological Applications

Category Sciences

Description As double-stranded RNA stem regions are often involved in biologically important tertiary triplex structure formation and protein binding, the ability to sequence-specifically target any desired RNA duplexes would have great potential for biomedical applications. We are developing a new four-letter chemical code (T, L, S, and Q) for the recognition of RNA Watson-Crick duplexes. RNA duplexes with any Watson-Crick pairs (AU, GC, UA, or CG) can be recognized by forming T-AU, L-GC, S-UA, and Q-CG base triples, respectively. The four bases are grafted on the Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA) with an unnatural peptide-like backbone. Remarkably, the triplex-forming PNAs can specifically bind to RNA duplex but not single-stranded RNA or double-stranded DNA regions. Compared to a traditional antisense strand, which forms a duplex structure with the target sequence, the advantages of a triplex-forming PNA are as follows: (1) The triplex formation strategy facilitates the targeting of not only the sequence but also the secondary structure of RNA, which results in high selectivity. (2) The triplex formation does not involve the disruption of the pre-formed RNA secondary structure of the target sequence, which presumably facilitates fast binding kinetics. Compared to small molecule binders, triplex-forming PNAs are advantageous for sequence-specifically binding to RNA duplex structures and can do so in a programmable manner. The students will learn the concepts and lab skills related to peptide chemistry, nucleic acid structure and function, and biological activity assays. Lab website: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/RNACHEN/

College / School School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences

Supervisor Chen Gang (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Chemistry and Biological Chemistry.



http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/RNACHEN/

SPMS02

Project Code SPMS02

Title Single-Molecule Biophysics: Mechanical Unfolding of RNA by Optical Tweezers

Category Sciences

Description It has become increasingly evident that conformational dynamics is important for biological function. RNA often unfolds and folds for its diverse functions. Local successive unzipping of RNA structures by applying mechanical force may better mimic helicase activity than traditional global unfolding of RNA structures by increasing temperature or denaturant concentration. A stretching force of 10-100 picoNewton (pN) applied on the terminal ends is needed to unfold RNA structures. We are using high-resolution optical tweezers, to apply mechanical stretching force to the terminal ends of RNA, which facilitates mechanical unfolding and folding of RNA one molecule at a time, in near physiological solution and at room temperature. The students will learn the concepts and lab skills related to nucleic acid structure and function, molecular biology, and molecular biophysics. Lab website: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/RNACHEN/


Supervisor Chen Gang (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Physical Chemistry.



http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/RNACHEN/

SPMS03

Project Code SPMS03

Title Variations of the Picture-Hanging Puzzle

Category Sciences

Description In this project, we are going to explore the picture-hanging puzzle and its variations, following the paper "Picture-Hanging Puzzles" by Erik D. Demaine et al. The paper is available here: https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3602 Ideally, we will read the whole paper and attempt solving open problems given in the end of the paper. The students will explore ideas from group theory, topology, Boolean algebra.


Supervisor Fedor Duzhin (Dr)



Specific Knowledge Proofs in Mathematics, basics of group theory, Boolean algebra.

Other Requirements Please read the first two sections of the paper (https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3602) and solve as many puzzles from pages 3-4 as you can before agreeing to take this research.


https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3602

https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3602

SPMS04

Project Code SPMS04

Title Resistive Switching-Based Non-Volatile Memory Devices


Description A two-terminal ReRAM element that generally composed of metallic electrodes sandwiching an insulating active layer, or metal / insulator / metal stack, largely relies on the active layer property to deliver the binary resistance state. The insulating layer usually contains an oxygen-deficient oxide, and requires smooth interface layer with the adjacent metallic electrode. In this project, we will explore nanoscale MgO crossbar structure for resistive switching memory element.


Supervisor Lew Wen Siang (Assoc Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Have a strong interest in research project.

Other Requirements Hardworking.


SPMS05

Project Code SPMS05

Title Nanoimprint Lithography


Description Lithography is a common technique used in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. In the most advanced forms, devices with a feature size of about 20 nm have been fabricated. Extending this to much smaller sizes require new technologies. Nanoimprint lithography (NIL), proposed two decades ago, is one such promising technique. In NIL, the features available on a stamp are imprinted on to the desired surface for duplication of nanopatterns. In this project, the students will work PhD students as a team and carry out research on imprint of various structures. The students will gain a first-hand research experience in nanotechnology.


Supervisor S.N. Piramanayagam (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Knowledge of Physics and Chemistry.

Other Requirements A strong motivation to do research, curiosity and tenacity.


SPMS06

Project Code SPMS06

Title Nanostructures By Self-Assembly

Category Sciences

Description Nanostructures play an important roles in several technological applications today. Fabrication of nanostructures with required features is crucial to achieve the desired performance. In this project, the students will fabricate nanostructures by chemical self-assembly using diblock copolymers. The student will work with the PhD students at NTU and prepare resist solutions, spin coat them and carry out various other techniques such as reactive ion etching and atomic force microscopy. A hands-on experience such as this would help the students to gain a first-hand experience of nanotechnology.


Supervisor S.N. Piramanayagam (Assoc Prof)




Other Requirements A strong motivation to do research, curiosity.


SPMS07

Project Code SPMS07

Title DNA Origami Assembled by DNA Dendrimers for Drug Delivery

Category Sciences

Description DNA origami is a family of nanostructures folded by deoxynucleotide oligomers. With define 3D structure, uniform size, low cytotoxicity, long circulation time and high biocompatibility, DNA origami are more superior than traditional nanoplatform composed of inorganic metals and / or organic polymers. this project aims at building up DNA origami with define cubic and polyhedron strucutre by using synthetic DNA dendrimers. The application of using these origami as drug carrier for aptamer-based specific targeting of cancer cells will be further explored.


Supervisor Shao Fangwei (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Student applying for this project should have some background in Chemistry and Biological Chemistry.



SPMS08

Project Code SPMS08

Title Shining Light on Nanomaterials

Category Sciences

Description The object of this project is to investigate photoconductivity of nanomaterials in a simplified photodetector configuration. When light is shined on a material, electrons inside are excited by the energy absorbed by the material. Consequently, the conductivity of the materials may be enhanced. This optical and electrical phenomenon is photoconductivity. The photoconductivity phenomenon has a great application potential in many areas, including the commonly used photodetectors, i.e. devices that measure light intensity. A simplified photodetector configuration contains the photoconductive material, which is connected as part of a circuit and its resistance values responses to the light intensity. Furthermore, nanomaterials, such as nanoparticle and nanometer-thick thin film, has attracted great attentions in scientific studies, due to the unconventional properties, unusual responses to external stimuli, and promising technical application. Benefiting from the advantages of the nanomaterials, intriguing photoconductive phenomena are expected when shining lights onto nanomaterials. In this project, students will characterize the conductivity changes of nanomaterials under the light irradiation.In a photoconductive study, the light that strikes the nanomaterials shall have sufficient energy to excite electrons. Here, we propose using a laser with different wavelengths in the visible range, in order to provide different energy for excitation. The students will choose one or two interested materials to study. Our laboratory will provide options ranging from well-known graphene, to new Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDCs) and even low dimensional complex oxide, such as 3 unit cell thick LaMnO3. These materials will serve as the photoconductive materials to form a simplified photodetector. The performance of the photodetector will also be measured. Throughout the project, students will learn the core physical concepts. More importantly, program and practical engineering skills will also be taught, which will greatly help the future career of the student.


Supervisor Wang Xiao, Renshaw (Asst Prof)






SSS01

Project Code SSS01

Title National Culture, Institutions and Economic Growth


Description This project will examine whether informal or formal institutions play a more significant role in the course of economic development. While the well-known study of Acemoglu et al. (2001) has demonstrated that colonial origin is strongly associated with current economic performance, others have cast doubt on this finding, arguing that the informal features of institutions are more important, since historically the same institutions have functioned very differently under different environments (Glaeser et al., 2004; Tabellini, 2010). Whether culture or domestic institutions are more important for growth is an unresolved issue in the literature that requires further investigations.

College / School School of Social Sciences

Supervisor James Ang (Assoc Prof)



Specific Knowledge Basic knowledge in Economics, some statistical analysis skills such as OLS regressions, and a passion for understanding why economic performance differs widely across countries.



SSS02

Project Code SSS02

Title Economics of the Unbanked: Evidence from the Unlicensed Money Lending Market in Singapore


Description Using a unique dataset, we study the unlicensed money lending market in Singapore. In this market, borrowers search for lenders, and lenders decide how much money to extort from borrowers. Lenders make extortion possible by harassing borrowers into compliance. Interestingly, we observe that different lenders extort different amounts of money from different borrowers. This is despite our finding that empirically, the borrowers’ characteristics do not have any predictive power on the magnitude of the lender’s extortion and harassment levels. Furthermore, we find that when the authorities increase enforcement efforts specifically targeted at reducing the number of lenders in this market, lenders extort more from borrowers compared to pre-enforcement. Last, these enforcement efforts have on average, the following effects: The initial interest rate on the loan mutually agreed upon by both the lender and the borrower increases, the loan amount given out by the lender decreases, the amount of money the lender extorts from the borrower increases and the lender’s harassment activities against the borrower dips before eventually increasing.


Supervisor Leong Kaiwen (Asst Prof)


Group Size Pair

Specific Knowledge Must be proficient in the English language (Scored A for English).

Other Requirements Must enjoy reading articles from journals, newspapers, government reports etc.


SSS03

Project Code SSS03

Title Assessing Social Attributes of Faces


Description We tend to make inference about a person’s trait or attributes based on the images of faces. For example, we judge trustworthiness, attractiveness, dominance or threats, base on the face images, though the accuracy of such judgment is under debate. It has been shown that our judgment of trustworthiness can be built within the first 100ms after seeing the face. There have been extensive studies evaluating such social dimensions of the faces. However, there are still quite a few questions remained to be answered. In particular, what are the most important factors in assessing facial attractiveness? How does the previous exposure to attractive or unattractive faces affect our judgment of subsequently presented faces? Does happy face appear more attractive than neutral or sad face? We will investigate these questions in the project. To answer the first question we will use the bubbles technique – apply small masks on faces to reveal partial face. To answer the second and third questions we will use visual adaptation technique, known as the psychophysicist's microelectrode, to see the short-term plasticity of our facial attribute judgment.


Supervisor Xu Hong (Asst Prof)



Specific Knowledge Good in Math, and willing to learn Photoshop and MATLAB.



NRP Project Synopses 2018 - Nanyang Technological … 2018 Project... · MAE03 Ng Yin Kwee ......

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