Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation invests $2.8m in four new projects

The projects are expected to generate cumulative revenues of $250m in the first three years of commercialisation.

According to a release, with a long-term vision of promoting innovation through R&D, the Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation or SIIRD has invested another $2.8million into kick-starting four revolutionary new projects between local high-tech companies and their Israeli counterparts.

The SIIRD is a collaborative endeavour between the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Office of the Chief Scientist in Israel to promote, facilitate and support joint industrial R&D projects between companies from both countries.

As innovation becomes widely regarded as the key to economic progress and development, SIIRD will also be implementing two new initiatives to further bolster Singapore’s R&D sector during their next round of project approvals in December. Not only will it be raising the funding ceiling from the existing US$750,000 to US$1million, the Programme will also be expanding its funding criteria beyond private sector companies to encompass non- commercial research entities.

Leveraging on the technological expertise and know-how of the companies involved, the four collaborations represent pioneering advancements in their respective fields. The R&D projects are designed to solve existing real-world problems with innovative breakthroughs by tapping on the leading expertise of companies from both countries.

[Scents and Sensations in Games and Entertainment]
Based on the premise that smell is the primary human sense and central to the stimulation, reception and recall of experiences, Scentcom Ltd, an Israeli start-up on the cutting edge of Digital Scent Technology, and Lynxemi Pte Ltd, a provider of manufacturing development and supply chain management in the local semiconductor industry, are looking to develop a low-cost Miniature Digital Scent Module suitable for mass production.

With the Module embedded in devices, scents will be emitted to gamers and other device users through a nebulizer based on micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) production technology. The nebulizer will be activated by a piezoelectric transducer. The Module will easily integrate with handset devices, home theatre systems, mobile gaming devices and desktop computers. This will bring forth a truly immersive 4-dimensional (4D) entertainment experience into the home: The Miniature Digital Scent Module will allow snappy real-time reactions to in-game scenarios to enhance the multimedia experience.

[Faster than Wi-Fi chipset for notebook computers]
Lynxemi Pte Ltd is also partnering with an Israeli fabless semiconductor company, Wilocity Ltd, which develops 60 GHz multi-gigabit wireless chipsets, on another exciting project that will revolutionalize the speed of wireless networking. With the proliferation of home connectivity applications, there is a growing demand for increased transfer rates for short range wireless communication channels to handle demanding tasks that enable new usage models.

Therefore, Lynxemi and Wilocity are designing and qualifying a special package, which will encapsulate a 60GHz RF chip in a tiny module. Touted to reach a transfer rate of 7 Gbps (more than 10 times faster than the current highest Wi-Fi rate), the chipset will overcome the limited space and RF propagation limitations within devices such as notebooks. The module chipset is a new form factor, and will be the first-ever “active antenna array” to be integrated within commercial portable computer products in a reliable, cost-effective and high performance manner.

[Real-time Business Intelligence network]
In a bid to improve existing business intelligence solutions for telecom providers, Traffix Systems, one of the world’s leading Diameter protocol solutions vendor, and Elixir Technology Pte Ltd, Singapore’s leading provider of software tools and services, are developing an advanced Business Intelligence (BI) software suite. The suite obtains business intelligence information by analyzing the signalling information of telecom networks.

The use of signalling as the main source for network intelligence is regarded as a novel and innovative step towards an efficient and accurate system of data mining. The solution will provide real-time and built in analytic functions, which are lacking in current BI offerings. After the signalling information is routed and collected at a central network point, it is analysed and presented to network operators to help them better plan and improve future network services through cross-network understanding of services, end users’ habits and preferences.

Mr Lau Shih Hor, CEO, Elixir Technology said, “Through the combination of our award-winning software and the Diameter control plane expertise of Traffix Systems, I am confident that we are pioneering a new era ofnetwork intelligence and optimization in the telecoms sector. With the assistance of SIIRD, we have found an ideal Israeli partner with complementary technological know-how and with whom we can achieve an accelerated rate of commercialisation.”

[Skin cream to soothe radiation therapy blues]
With cancer billed as the world’s top killer, the use of radiation therapy as a form of treatment is becoming increasingly common. Unfortunately, one of the most common side effects of radiation therapy is radiation dermatitis which can range from a mild rash to severe ulcerations. Working on producing a topical cream which can moisturise, boost anti-oxidant levels as well as reduce dryness, redness, inflammation, erythema and itching, are Israeli leaders in skin problem treatment, Kamedis Ltd, and Singapore-based bio-tech and fermentation company, AP Nutripharm (APN) Pte Ltd.

The formulation of the Kamedis-APN cream will include herbal extracts and cordyceps fungi. It will be subject to in vitro assay and test controls to determine possible synergies between the two ingredients. There are plans in place to conduct clinical trials and multi-site, double-blind studies with a larger number of patients.

A total of 60 research scientists and engineers from Singapore and Israel will be involved in all the four projects.