Professor Redfern is the President’s Chair in Earth Sciences in the Asian School of the Environment as well as Dean of the College of Science.

Professor Redfern is a mineralogist, trained as a crystallographer, who is interested in the links between atomic scale structure and the physical and chemical properties of planetary materials, from Earth’s oceans to its core. His scientific research career, focussed on mineral sciences and more broadly within geosciences, spans more than 35 years. He completed his PhD in 1989 at the University of Cambridge, Department of Earth Sciences, and until 2019 has held a full time academic appointment in a UK HEI. Initially, upon graduating with his PhD, he was appointed in 1989 at the University of Manchester as Lecturer in Geochemical Spectroscopy joint between Geology and Chemistry. Subsequently, in 1994, he returned to Cambridge as a Lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences, and was then promoted to Reader and then Professor. In 2016 Professor Redfern became Head of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He left Cambridge in 2019 to move to NTU and take up the post of President’s Chair in Earth Sciences, alongside the role of Dean of the College of Science. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, University of Cambridge.

Professor Redfern is the recipient of the European Mineralogical Society’s Medal for Research Excellence and is the only individual to be awarded with both the Max Hey and Schlumberger Medals of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, of which he is a Fellow. He is also Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America and of the Geological Society of London. Professor Redfern is keen to translate scientific discovery to wider audiences and served as a British Science Association Media Fellow working alongside journalists at the BBC for some time. He was also a member of the UK ministerially-appointed Committee on Radioactive Waste Management charged with providing independent scrutiny of the development of a geological radioactive waste repository in the UK.

Associate Professor Bent Weber is currently the Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Education at the College of Science and is an Associate Professor of Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Prof. Weber first joined the Division of Physics and Applied Physics, SPMS, as Nanyang Assistant Professor (NAP) and Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) Fellow, where he investigates the atomic and electronic structure of two-dimensional (2D) and topological materials towards their application in future classical and quantum information processing. His research led to 5 tech disclosures and patents applied, with one recently granted.

Before joining NTU, Weber worked as an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA fellow at the Centre for Atomically Thin Materials (MCATM) at Monash University, Australia, and was an Associate Investigator at ARC Centre of Excellence for Future Low Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) in Australia. Prof. Weber obtained his PhD from the Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at The University of New South Wales (UNSW).

David Toh is currently the Acting Associate Vice President for Technology Transfer at the NTU Innovation & Entrepreneurship Office and is responsible for commercialisation of the University’s intellectual property.

With more than 20 years of experience in the finance industry, David was a top-rated Asia Pacific technology sector analyst in the investment banking industry. David also advised public and private technology companies on corporate strategy and fund raising. After leaving investment banking, David worked as a fund manager at DBS Asset Management before setting up his own Asia Pacific focused equity fund.

David is also currently an independent director of SGX-listed iFast Corp and advises a number of startups in an informal capacity. He was previously a member of the Singapore Stock Exchange Listings Advisory Committee providing opinions on technology companies seeking IPOs. David graduated with a B.Sc. Materials Science & Engineering and a B.A. in Government and Asian Studies from Cornell University in 1991.

Andreea is the Venture Building Director at ATUM Ventures. With an entrepreneurship and scientific research background, she is currently working on commercializing deep-tech innovations through ATUM Ventures’ venture building programme.

Andreea graduated from the National University of Singapore with a PhD-MBA double degree, where she focused her research on nanotechnology, while learning business strategy and entrepreneurship in parallel. From there, she found her footing in the deep-tech entrepreneurship space, as a founder-in-residence at Entrepreneur First, before she started a new entrepreneurship journey on her own. Driven by a desire to create tangible scientific impact, she is now focused on bringing innovations from lab to market.

Dr. Peter Chen is the Co-Founder of Singapore Dental Star R&D Investment Company with expertise in cross-disciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship. Previously at SCG Cell Therapy, Dr. Chen held the role as Vice President and led key initiatives in the GMP facility setup and established public–private collaborations.

Dr. Chen has co-founded, led over six startups across pharmaceuticals (small molecules and cell therapy), dental technology, biomanufacturing, advanced materials, and energy storage (metal hydrides/deuterides).

With over 20 years of experience in deep-tech product development, venture building, fundraising, and regulatory strategy, he has played a pivotal role in scaling early-stage companies across the biotech, medtech, skincare, FoodTech, and advanced manufacturing sectors.

Dr. Chen actively mentors and supports founders through the A*STAR Essentials Program and the National GRIP Program. His domain expertise spans flow chemistry, cell culture media, natural bio-preservatives, and high-value cosmetic actives. Dr. Chen is also highly experienced in regulatory affairs, having led multiple teams through ISO 13485, CE, HSA, and FDA approvals for both therapeutics and medical devices.

Shelby has more than 10 years of industry experience in life science innovation and commercialization. She joined Vertex Growth in July 2022.

Prior to joining Vertex, Shelby was Deputy Director at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), she managed and commercialized biomedical technologies with a full lifecycle including IP management, license, funding & managing translation projects, and incubating biomedical spinoffs.

Before A*STAR, Shelby was Investment Manager at Invest In Denmark, based in Royal Danish Consulate General in Shanghai. She covered China Biotech, MedTech and Agri-Tech sectors, identified and facilitated investment and partnership alliance from China to Denmark, through cross-border business development.

Shelby graduated from Columbia University with a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering and holds a Master of Science in Bioengineering from National University of Singapore and Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences from Wuhan University.

Professor Peter Preiser is Professor of Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Before this he was Chair of the School of Biological Sciences for over six years and Associate Vice President Research (Biomedical Life Sciences). Professor Preiser has extensive experience in malaria biology and developing quantitative proteomic approaches along with transcriptional profiling to understand complex biological processes in relation to host parasite interaction. He is the co-Lead PI of the AMR inter-disciplinary research group with the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), Prof Preiser has collaborated with top research institutes around the world and has published over 100 top-quality international journal papers. Professor Preiser is also an academic entrepreneur, co-founded Thrixen and currently serves as Co-Founder and Chairman in the company. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Biology from University of Delaware, USA, in 1981.

Professor Shen Zexiang is a Professor with the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. He has spent close to 30 years in academic and research positions in China, London and Singapore. Professor Shen also serves as the Cluster Director of Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N). His current research works focus on nearfield Raman microscopy, Plasmonics, nano materials and devices, graphene and nanosphere lithography, graphene-based supercapicators and batteries, and over 200 of his papers have been published in international journals. Professor Shen is also an academic entrepreneur and is the Co-Founder of SG Graphene Technologies Pte Ltd. Professor Shen received his Bachelor degree in Physics from Jilin University, and PhD degree from King’s College, University of London.

Professor Timothy Tan is an Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore). His research interest is in oligonucleotide nanomedicine, focusing on developing innovative therapeutic approaches for skin diseases, with particular expertise in gene silencing technologies. He has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications in international journals and holds more than 15 patents (granted/applied). His academic contributions have been recognized through prestigious awards, including the Singapore President's Public Administration Award in 2015 and the Young Investigator Award at the International Symposium of Materials on Regenerative Medicine in 2012.

Beyond academia, Professor Tan has successfully translated his research into commercial applications as the Founder, Chief Scientific Advisor, and Chief Strategy Officer of RNAscence Biotechnology. RNAscence Biotechnology, an NTU-NSC spin-off, has commercialized the world's first transdermal siRNA gene silencing technology, representing a significant advancement in non-invasive siRNA therapeutics.