IMRE LEADERSHIP TEAM

Dr. Wong is the Director of Corporate Services in the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE). She is also the Division Director of Administration Division which oversees the functions of research administration, project management and lab management.

She joined IMRE in 2001 to establish the Research Administration (RA) Department for the management of IP portfolio and project administration. The RA Department was subsequently renamed as Strategic Planning Office (SPO) in 2015 with the expansion of its roles to cover functions such as resources planning and implementation of systems for critical operations.

In addition to her work at IMRE, Dr. Wong was the Treasurer of Materials Research Society Singapore (MRS-S) in 2002-2003 and the Joint Secretary in 2004-2005. During this period, she facilitated the professional linkages between MRS-S and local research organisations and Institutes of Higher Learning as well as the promotion of Materials R&D to the local research communities.

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 Division Director of the Advanced Characterization and Fabrication Division in IMRE. Prior to this appointment, he was the Head of Department in the Advanced Characterization and Instrumentation Department at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering from 2017 to 2020. 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, and the MTI GEMS Award in 2018.

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).

Dr. Chiam is the Deputy Executive Director and Division Director of the Optics and Electronics Materials Division 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 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. 

Professor Loh completed his basic and postgraduate studies at the National University of Singapore. A polymer chemist by training, he is currently the Executive Director of the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), A*STAR. As a pioneer in the area of biodegradable thermogels, he is highly knowledgeable in developing these materials for various applications spanning biomedical, engineering, cosmetics, personal care and food. His scientific contributions have earned him the position of Fellowship in both Fitzwiliam College in the University of Cambridge as well as in the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is also the current Vice President and member of the Executive Committee of the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry. With his extensive experience in authoring >200 journal papers, 38 patents and know-hows, >30 book chapters and 7 books, he currently sits on several editorial boards of international journals as an expert in his area. He was recently given the Highly Cited Researcher Award by Clarivate Analytics. He has also successfully helped in the commercialization of 8 different products and is always interested in the translation of science to products. 

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. Davy Cheong is currently the Division Director of the Polymeric and Organic Materials Division at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and deputy director for the Singapore Battery Consortium. He graduated with a Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Sydney (USYD). He was awarded the Australian Research Council Postdoctoral fellowship in 2004, Silver prize for Wall Street Journal Asian Innovation Awards in 2012 and A*STAR Scientist-Entrepreneur Award in 2014. He obtained a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from NUS in 1997. After working as a research engineer at DSO National Laboratories, he pursued a Ph.D. degree in 1999 and joined IMRE as a research engineer in 2005. He was the Chief Technology Officer for a A*Star spin-off company from 2012 to 2016.  His main interests are in product prototype development and scaling up and commercialization of research outcomes.

Dr. Ngo holds a Ph.D. and B.Eng (First Class) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Nanyang Technological University and received his MBA from Nanyang Business School, Singapore. With work experience in both manufacturing and R&D industries, he is able to engage internal and external stakeholders, both local and international, in technical and business aspects.

Dr. Ngo is currently the Acting Division Director of Composites and Structural Division (CSD), where he oversees the planning of strategic capabilities and resources in his division. He is also the Head of the Department for Structural Materials Department (STR) where he leads more than 30 research scientists and engineers to develop capabilities in the areas of additive manufacturing, advanced alloy and ceramic materials for structural applications and next-generation structural inspection & evaluation. He then identifies key projects based on opportunities for innovation in the business landscape.

Dr. Ngo is passionate about using infrared technology (IRT) for defects detection in structural materials and is a Certified Level II Thermographer. He currently leads a team that provides innovative IRT solutions to industries such as manufacturing (production lines), electronics (silicon chips), building & construction, railway infrastructures, processes (chemical & petroleum) and aerospace.

Dr. Ngo is an Associate Faculty of the Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (SIE) Programme at Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) since 2018. He is also A*STAR Representative for Building & Construction Standards Committee (BCSC) and co-Convenor of a Singapore Standards Working Group to develop guidelines on the use of infrared thermography (IRT) for inspection & diagnostic for buildings in Singapore.