A*STAR IMRE Leadership Team

Professor Loh Xian Jun is currently the Executive Director of the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE). He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at both the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. As a pioneering and globally recognised expert in biodegradable thermogels, his extensive knowledge spans applications in biomedical engineering, cosmetics, personal care, and food industries. Professor Loh has made significant scientific contributions, earning him prestigious fellowships at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge; the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC); and the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3). He has also been honoured with the Highly Cited Researcher Award by Clarivate Analytics.

In addition to his leadership and academic roles, Professor Loh is the President and a member of the Executive Committee of the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry. In recognition of his public service, he received The Public Administration Medal (Silver) in the National Awards (COVID-19) in 2022.

With his extensive experience in authoring >300 journal papers, 38 patents and know-hows, more than 30 book chapters and 7 books, he currently sits on several editorial boards of international journals as an expert in his area. Professor Loh has successfully commercialised eight different products and is passionate about translating scientific discoveries into real-world applications. He is the co-founder of Vitreogel Innovations, a spin-off company dedicated to developing thermogels for the treatment of retinal detachment.

Dr Chiam is the Deputy Executive Director at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE). He received his B. Eng in Electrical and Computer Engineering from National University of Singapore, graduating with a Class I degree, before obtaining his Ph. D in Physics from Imperial College London in 2008. He is currently also the Technical Director of the Singapore Battery Consortium and the Lead for Urban Green Tech Horizontal Technology Programme Office. Previously, Dr Chiam was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University from 2011-2019. He has supervised more than 30 students and has published more than 70 research papers with >3200 citations. He has more than 15 years of experience in interface physics and electrochemistry of electronic materials and has a keen interest in pushing the boundaries of research and in the translation of technologies.

Dr Tan assumed the appointment as the Deputy Executive Director in April 2021 and her role expanded to include planning of strategic capabilities and resources, mentoring of researchers and facilitating their career development and timely training as well as interfacing with external stakeholders such as industry partners and public agencies. Prior to her current appointment, she has a strong track record in leadership in IMRE, serving as the Division Director for Composites and Structural (2020-2021), Head of Department for Polymer Composite (2017-2020) and Polymeric Materials (2016-2017) and Deputy Head of the Synthesis and Integration Group (2014-2016). Dr Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical Engineering) from the University of Science, Malaysia and obtained her Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. While pursuing her doctoral studies, she conducted research on self-assembly and rheology of functional polymers and developed deep expertise in dynamic and static light scattering technique which is useful for elucidating the structure-property-process relationship of polymers and composites. Beyond IMRE, she also contributed to A*STAR-wide and national initiatives. She was part of the working member in the JISP Advanced Materials taskforce which looked into identifying areas in advanced materials where Singapore needs to build capabilities to win.

Dr Troadec graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Upper Second Class Honours) from the Department of Applied Physics at Kingston University, UK and obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from the Department of Physics at Royal Holloway College, University of London, UK in 2001. While pursuing his doctoral studies, he conducted research on the fabrication and study of hybrid superconducting / ferromagnetic metallic nanostructure to quantify and shed some understanding on the origin of the proximity effect in such materials.

Dr Troadec is currently the Coordinating Director in Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE). Prior to this appointment, he was the Division Director of the Optics and Electronics Division from 2021 to 2023 and the Head of Department in the Advanced Characterisation and Instrumentation Department at the  from 2017 to 2020 at IMRE. As Head of Department, Dr Troadec leads about 50 staff in the development of capabilities relevant to the existing and future programmes of A*STAR, as well as industry needs (SMEs, LLEs and MNCs), and providing expert failure analysis to our local industries and partners.

Dr Troadec also served as a Deputy Head from 2014 to 2017 and a scientist, during which he focused his research on the nanoscale characterisation of electronic interfaces, such as semiconductor/metal interfaces, using Ballistic Electron Emission Microscopy (BEEM), a variant of Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM). He also initiated research on the use of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (SCCO2) as a green solvent for self-assembled monolayers deposition for functional coatings. Dr Cedric Troadec holds 2 patents and published over 50 research papers on BEEM, STM and SCCO2.

In recognition of staff who have consistently delivered excellent service quality and gone beyond the call of duty, Dr Troadec received the A*STAR Go-the-Extra-Mile-for-Service (GEMS) Award in 2017, the MTI GEMS Award in 2018, and the Singapore Standards Council (SSC) / Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) Commendation Award in 2023.

Dr Troadec also holds a position as executive committee member in the Materials Research Society – Singapore (MRS-S) since April 2016. MRS-S is the main organiser of the biennial International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technology (ICMAT).

Xue Fen is the Deputy Director of Corporate Services, bringing extensive experience in business process management. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Applied Science from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and began her career as a service professional with a national carrier to gain valuable life experience. Xue Fen’s analytical skills and meticulous nature have driven significant operational efficiency in the banking industry. At a Swiss bank, she successfully executed key strategic initiatives, including the implementation of a Digital Private Banking Onboarding process across the Asia-Pacific region. In her role leading the Complaint Handling unit at the Swiss bank, Xue Fen demonstrated in-depth knowledge of banking processes, regulatory frameworks, and risk management. Her strategic approach ensured complex client concerns were resolved effectively, aligning with both operational and compliance goals.

Andrew is a Senior Scientist and Division Director of Composites and Structural Division (CSD) at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE). He holds a PhD and BEng (1st class) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and received his MBA from Nanyang Business School (NBS), Singapore. He worked in the semiconductor industry for 2 years before joining IMRE as a Research Scientist in 2010.

As the Director of CSD, he is responsible for the development of ~80 research scientists and engineers in the areas of additive manufacturing, advanced alloy and ceramic materials, advanced composite materials and engineering, and next-generation structural inspection and evaluation. He then identifies key projects based on opportunities for innovation in the business landscape.

Andrew is passionate about using infrared technology (IRT) for defects detection in structural materials. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars, and currently leads a team that provides innovative IRT solutions to the industries which include manufacturing (production lines), electronics (silicon chips), building & construction, railway infrastructures, processes (chemical & petroleum) and aerospace structures. 

Andrew is an Associate Faculty of the Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (SIE) Programme in Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). He is also a Certified Level III Thermographer and Level I Licensed Instructor of Infrared Training Centre (ITC), which is Teledyne FLIR’s premier infrared training provider. He is currently the A*STAR Representative for Building And Construction Standards Committee (BCSC) in Singapore Standards Council (SSC), and the co-convenor in a Singapore Standards Council Working Group (SSC WG) to develop guidelines on the use of IRT for inspection & diagnostic for buildings in Singapore.

Arseniy Kuznetsov received his double PhD degree in process engineering from University of Paris 13 (France) in 2005 and in physics from Institute of Applied Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia) in 2006. Since 2007 till 2011 he worked at the Laser Zentrum Hannover (Germany) as Humboldt Research Fellow. Since October 2011 till now he has been working in A*STAR, Singapore first in the Data Storage Institute and now in the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering. He was the Head of Advanced Optical Technologies (previously, Advanced Concepts and Nanotechnology) department since April 2014 till December 2023, with which he developed the direction of nanophotonics and flat optics in A*STAR from fundamentals to industrial applications. He is currently appointed as Senior Principal Scientist II and, together with his new role of Director of Optics and Electronics Division in IMRE, holds responsibilities of Director of Nanoantenna-SLM and Nanoantenna-LED Programs. Activities under these programs are devoted to development of novel nanodevices based on dielectric nanoantennas and metasurfaces. He is an author of >100 journal papers (incl. Science, Nature Nanotechnology etc.) and an inventor of >20 filed patent applications. For his pioneering research on optically resonant dielectric nanostructures and dielectric nanoantennas, he was awarded 2016 IET A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize, 2017 NRF Investigatorship Award and 2020 IPS World Scientific Physics Research Medal and Prize. In 2020 he was also elected to be an Optica Fellow and in 2023 an A*STAR Fellow.

Dr Ivan Tan obtained his B.Eng. (1st Class Honours) of Mechanical Engineering at University of Newcastle, Australia in 2003 and received his Ph.D (Materials Science and Engineering) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2013. 
 
As the Division Director of MedTech Materials & Devices Division (MMDD), he is responsible for the development of ~80 research scientists and engineers in the areas of Advanced Biomaterials, Sensors and Flexible Electronics for Medtech applications. Prior to this, He was a Head/Principal Scientist of Soft Materials Department at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) from 2020 to 2023. Under his leadership and guidance, many of his group leaders achieved and were awarded excellent competitive grants (1 NRF-CRP, 1 NRF-F, 7 A*STAR Career Development Funds, 2 Young Individual Research Grants, 4 Central Research Funds,). He is also an Associate Faculty member at Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) providing lecture for SIT master students and also appointed as Industry Advisory Panel Member at PSB Academy. 
 
Dr Tan was able to draw from his experience working in A*STAR to make significant contributions by developing technological solutions to fight the COVID19 pandemic. He led the research team worked closely with multiple public agencies to provide scientific evidence that may guide relevant policies for safe reopening. The team has been awarded the FireFly Borderless Silver Award by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) 2021. In 2023, he was awarded National Commendation Award and COVID-19 Resilience Medal for his outstanding contributions to Singapore. 

To date, he has authored/co-authored 59 international peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals and most recently published a paper in the journal Science and got IMRE Best paper Gold Award 2021 and also Charles Hatchett Award 2021. He has filed 8 know-hows, 7 patents and 2 of these patents have been successfully licensed to a SME local company.