A start-up, a scale-up and a hospital bag top accolades at maiden Design AI and Tech Awards

Straits Times

19-05-2025

Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How (2nd from left), with (from left) SUTD's Tai Lee Siang; ; LionsBot's Tan Wei Hua; SGH's Moarie Grace Tan and Jeff Tang; MetaOptics Technologies' Aloysius Chua; and BT editor Chen Huifen. PHOTO: WINSTON CHUANG
SINGAPORE - Home-grown semiconductor optics start-up MetaOptics Technologies, local autonomous cleaning robot firm LionsBot and Sengkang General Hospital clinched top honours at the inaugural Design AI and Tech Awards (Daita) on May 19.
Jointly organised by The Business Times (BT) and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), the competition aims to spur innovators from start-ups and companies to harness design and technology to develop groundbreaking solutions that tackle real-life business challenges. Daita was launched in October 2024 with multi-asset investment firm Granite Asia as a supporting partner.
MetaOptics swept the judges with its advanced colour metalens imaging system that features a single-glass layer alternative to traditional multi-layer curved plastic lenses.
Its deputy chief executive officer Aloysius Chua said in his presentation: 'The challenge today with traditional three-dimensional optics is the bulkiness, complexity and high costs.'
He explained that metalenses, also known as flat optics or 2D lenses, are single layers of glass made up of millions of circular pillars of varying diameters – each as thin as one-thousandth of a human hair – at the same height.
MetaOptics uses semiconductor fabrication techniques to etch millions of microscopic pillars onto glass wafers.
PHOTO: METAOPTICS TECHNOLOGIES
'MetaOptics is the first company to produce a single-layer metalens on a 12-inch glass wafer, working in visible light wavelengths and integrated into a camera to capture a colour image,' said Mr Chua.
The start-up boasts proprietary AI software that sharpens and improves the vibrancy of the images captured, as well as a brightening algorithm that lights up dark areas without overexposing brighter sections.
Noting that the lenses are fabricated and assembled in Singapore, Mr Chua told BT: 'We want Singapore to be the excellence centre of metalenses. We want to control the design and we want the key manufacturing supply chain to be in Singapore.'
MetaOptics Technologies' deputy chief executive officer Aloysius Chua told BT the award brings validation to the work put in by the young startup over the past three-and-a-half years.
PHOTO: WINSTON CHUANG
On winning the award, he said: 'As a young start-up, it brings validation to the work that we put in… In three-and-a-half years, we were able to develop tech and commercialise it, and now our products are already sold into the market.'
A mechanical engineer by training, Mr Chua added: 'We are not very far from commercialising lenses into the consumer electronics market… In the next few months, you will hear a lot about us.'
MetaOptics was one of the three winners among eight shortlisted projects.
Local robotics company LionsBot took the crown with its autonomous robots that are armed with AI navigation, fleet management and generative AI support; and which use 10 per cent of the water utilised by traditional cleaning machines.
Local robotics company LionsBot's design head, Tan Wei Hua, said the mature startup, which was founded in 2018, aims to double the number of robots it deploys worldwide in the next few years.
PHOTO: WINSTON CHUANG
Design head Tan Wei Hua told BT: 'It's the first award that really brings together design and technology… and a lot resonated with us, like how we're using design to make technology more accessible, impactful and delightful for users. It's an affirmation that we're on the right path of bringing design, AI and tech together.'
Founded in 2018, the mature start-up has conducted some 10 cycles of prototyping of its robots, more than 3,500 of which are deployed in over 30 countries.
'We are not stopping here. In the next couple of years, we're aiming to double the number of robots that we're deploying worldwide,' said LionsBot's Mr Tan.
LionsBot's autonomous robots are armed with AI navigation, fleet management and generative AI support; and use 10 per cent of the water utilised by traditional cleaning machines.
PHOTO: LIONSBOT
He concluded: 'We have transformed cleaners into skilled robot operators, enhanced the dignity of the profession, improved accessibility to technology for the elderly and less-tech-literate and, at the same time, put Singapore on the map as a source of innovative design and engineering.'
Rounding up the three winners is Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) with its fully automated sterile supply system.
Jeff Tang (left), senior executive, operating theatre services, and Moarie Grace Tan, assistant director, nursing, operating theatre services, at Sengkang General Hospital.
PHOTO: WINSTON CHUANG
Ms Moarie Grace Tan, assistant director, nursing, operating theatre services, explained: 'We have 14,000 unique instruments categorised into 4,000 products, 2,600 different kinds of surgeries and many surgeons with their own preferences, (which) becomes a huge nightmare when we can't find what is needed.'
With its first-of-its-kind automated storage and retrieval system in Singapore's healthcare sector, the hospital has halved retrieval times of instruments, boosted storage capacity by 75 per cent and reduced the manual handling of heavy containers.
'Now we can look into having the whole department as automated as possible,' said SKH's Ms Tan. 'The award gives us that leverage because it tells others that we are people who are looking at innovating and making things work better, rather than just sticking to traditional methods.'
A three-arm robotic system, coupled with four Vertical Carousel Systems, automates the storage and retrieval of instrument sets.
PHOTO: SENGKANG GENERAL HOSPITAL
The other five finalists include: international education provider EtonHouse; Nanyang Biologics, a pioneering spin-off from Nanyang Technological University; Singapore-based Porolis Technologies, which focuses on digital gemmology; port operator PSA Singapore; and SBS Transit Rail.
In a speech at the event, SUTD's deputy president and chief innovation and enterprise officer Tai Lee Siang said: 'All the contestants put in clear indicators of the impact… some of which are not possible without the power of AI, to overcome past inefficiencies and accurately measure impact.'
Award submissions were assessed across six criteria: design-thinking process and strategies; originality; utilisation of AI and advanced technologies; ethical consideration and sustainability; aesthetic and functional qualities; and quantitative and qualitative impact.
The six touchstones are weighted equally so that contenders use the opportunity to address a range of factors, said Prof Tai in an earlier interview with BT.
He chaired the judging panel, which comprised BT editor Chen Huifen; DesignSingapore Council executive director Dawn Lim; GreenA Consultants senior partner Farizan d'Avezac De Moran; AI Singapore director for AI innovation Laurence Liew; and Professor John Ochsendorf, founding director of MIT Morningside Academy for Design.
On May 19, the eight finalist teams each delivered a five-minute presentation to the judges, followed by another five minutes of question-and-answer from the judges.
Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and National Development Tan Kiat How graced the event as the guest of honour.
Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How was the event's guest of honour and delivered a speech.
PHOTO: WINSTON CHUANG
On why SUTD made the pivot to AI, the university's president Phoon Kok Kwang said: 'We are making the bet that AI is not hype. If we are right, the opportunities for innovation would be staggering, and we want to be the forerunner of this post-AI world.'
BT's Ms Chen said: 'This competition isn't just about ideas. It's about human-centric solutions amplified by AI's transformative potential… The best solutions don't just leverage AI; they elevate people and improve lives and processes.'
More information about Daita is available here.
THE BUSINESS TIMES
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