A*STAR: 20 Years of Science and Technology, launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today, captures the transformation of Singapore from a science and technology (S&T) backwater into a vibrant research and development (R&D) hub. The book is a meaningful record of how sustained investments in R&D in the last two decades have helped Singapore to develop a spectrum of deep capabilities across the physical sciences, engineering and biomedical sciences, and brought benefits to Singapore as a result.

 

Singapore’s investment in R&D has grown from a modest sum of $2 billion in 1991 with the first five-year National Technology Plan to $16 billion in 2011 with the launch of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2015 plan. Singapore’s total expenditure on R&D has risen from $760 million or 1.0% of GDP in 1991 to $6 billion or 2.3% of GDP in 2009. The private sector contributes to more than half of this amount. Business Expenditure on R&D has also seen a ten-fold increase from $310 million in 1990 to $3,700 million in 2009.

 

Today, Singapore is ranked among some of the most research-intensive nations in the world. Singapore’s R&D ecosystem has grown from five public research institutes linked to specific industry clusters such as manufacturing, microelectronics and infocomm technology to a plethora of research performers including the research intensive universities and the 20 research entities from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Singapore’s vibrant R&D ecosystem has also successfully attracted MNCs such as Roche, GSK, Applied Materials, Gamesa, Fujitsu and Mitsui Chemicals to establish corporate laboratories here.

 

Our sustained investment in R&D has created higher value-added jobs as evidenced by the six-fold increase in the number of research, scientists and engineers (RSEs) and seven-fold increase in the number of PhDs between 1990 and 2009. The number of RSE jobs in the private sector also grew, by more than six-fold from 2,300 to 15,000 from 1991 to 2009. Scientific talent in the public sector has also increased four-fold from under 3,000 in 1991 to more than 11,000 in 2009. 

 

A*STAR Chairman Mr Lim Chuan Poh said: “In a short span of 20 years, we have become a serious player in the world R&D stage. Singapore is responsible for some of the world’s breakthroughs from being the first to sequence the pufferfish genome to making the world’s smallest molecule-sized gear. Our investment in R&D has also opened up new opportunities from the contribution to economic growth to the creation of meaningful jobs for Singaporeans. The A*STAR Commemorative Publication captures the key milestones and achievements in this journey, and recognises the many people who made this journey possible.”

 

The special edition slipcase incorporates patent pending technology from A*STAR’s Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology’s (SIMTech). Jointly fabricated by local SME Zephyr Silkscreen and A*STAR, the slipcase is an early concept demonstration of “intelligent printed media”, made possible because of SIMTech’s large area roll-to-roll manufacturing processes for functional printing.

 

 

Inspired by the possibility of studying large data sets and analysing trends that emerge, the star on the Commemorative Publication cover is actually a visual representation of data obtained as part of a pilot study conducted by A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R).  The team analysed GPS positions from a fleet of taxis to study traffic network patterns. The simulated network shows how real time data of locations and routes can model taxi journeys and the aggregation of taxis in various parts of the island.

 

The team started out studying human immune systems, viral bioinformatics, and biological interaction networks but has since applied its data mining capabilities to other data-rich application domains. More details on the cover design are in Annex D.

 

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Annex A – Quotes from the Book

Annex B – Highlights of Discoveries and Innovations

Annex C – R&D Facts and Figures

Annex D – Design of the Book

 

For media queries and clarifications, please contact:

 

 

Loh Xiu Hui

Senior Officer, Corporate Communications

Agency for Science, Technology and Research

Tel: 6826 6439 (O); 9686 3007 (Hp)

Email: loh_xiu_hui@a-star.edu.sg

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The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation-driven Singapore. A*STAR oversees 14 biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering research institutes, and six consortia & centres, located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis as well as their immediate vicinity.

A*STAR supports Singapore's key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry. It also supports extramural research in the universities, and with other local and international partners.

For more information about A*STAR, please visit www.a-star.edu.sg.

A researcher from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Dr Zeng Qi, genetically engineered the first transgenic rat in Asia. This breakthrough prompted Fortune magazine (Oct/Nov 1991) to declare “Zeng’s success is yet another sign that Asia is no longer merely the home of rows upon rows of women sewing garments or of machines spewing out VCRs, picture tubes and personal computers.” The Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (IMCB) became the first research institute to implement and commercialise transgenic rat technology.

 

Professor Susanto Rahardja led a team from the Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R) to develop a state-of-the-art lossless compression algorithm for audio signals called the MPEG-4 Scalable to Lossless System (SLS). In as early as 2002, the technology defeated all other proponents, including Microsoft, Franhoufer, NTT and Real Networks, in an evaluation conducted by the MPEG International Standard committee and was adopted as the reference model. Recently, I²R developed a new audio lossless codec that was adopted by Audio Video Coding Standard (AVS) Workgroup of China and incorporated into China Blue High-Definition Disc (CBHD) in China, in recognition of its superior lossless compression performance.

 

In 2010-11, A*STAR made successive breakthroughs in key areas of cancer research. Published in top scientific journals Cancer Cell, Nature Cell Biology, Cancer Research and Nature Genetics, the research sheds light on the mechanism behind cancer metastasis, suggest why breast cancer cells live as long as they do, show a better way to detect cervical cancer and uncovered the cause of a rare skin cancer. In 2011, for example, the Institute of Medical Biology led an international team to identify the genetic basis of a skin cancer that heals itself. The peculiar behaviour of this self-healing cancer, called multiple self-healing squamous epithelioma (MSSE), was discovered by the team led by Professor Birgit Lane to be caused by a failure in the gene, TGFBR1.

Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) and IBM Research developed the first biodegradable polymer nanoparticles to combat drug resistant superbugs, such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Their self-assembled nanoparticles selectively kill bacteria without destroying surrounding healthy red blood cells, and have great potential to treat infectious diseases in the body. Possible applications include the treatment of MRSA skin and blood stream infections, wounds, multidrugresistant tuberculosis and lung infections. Dr Yiyan Yang is IBN Group Leader and one of the project’s lead scientists.

Researchers at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) made it into the Guinness Book of World Records by demonstrating the world’s first controllable 1.2 nm molecule-gear. The breakthrough, developed in 2009 and published in Nature Materials, marks a radical shift in the scientific progress of molecular machines which may lead to innovations like pocket-sized supercomputers, miniature energy harvesting devices and data computing on atomic scale electronic circuits. The IMRE team is led by Professor Christian Joachim.