Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference in Singapore 2024 Created the Mindset to Embrace Serendipity to the Participants, held at CREATE!

Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference was conducted by Leave a Nest Singapore on the 16th of November 2024 at the SMART Campus, CREATE. The event was a huge success, attracting over 121 participants consisting of researchers, students, corporate executives, startups and community builders.

The event kicked off with the inspiring opening address from Leave a Nest Singapore Managing Director Dr. Kihoko Tokue for the participants to embrace serendipitous encounters and ignite intellectual curiosity.

Following the opening address, Mr. Shohei Michael Maekawa, Director of Leave a Nest Singapore and President of Leave a Nest United Kingdom, showcased Singapore as the Global Knowledge Hub of South East Asia by bringing UK startup Ichthion to Singapore and exploring ASEAN to tackle the issues with their technology.

For the first session in the morning, the Keynote Session started with the Keynote speech from A/ Prof. Lerwen Liu, followed by a panel discussion with panelists Dr. Guillermo A. Corona Herrera, Senior Manager of MVP Studio Technology Transfer and Innovation, NUS Enterprise, Mr. Jeff Lin, Partner at iGlobe Partners, and Ms. Tatiana Ratcu Siufi, Co-founder of Vidacity. The discussion enriched the participants on how Serendipitous and Designed Innovation is important in Singapore.

The morning session concluded with exciting sharing from 20 researchers of various backgrounds sharing about their ideas and new knowledge about their research area. This also included some startups sharing about their technology and solutions.

The first session in the afternoon discussed the topic of “Borderless: Robotic x Infrastructure, Propelling Smart Cities Development”. The panellists were Mr. Hadrien Roy (Ugo), Dr. Kush Agarwal (Wavescan), and Mr. Malcolm Chua (ST Engineering Ventures), with moderator Mr. Ambrose Chia (Leave a Nest Singapore).

The next session was a pitching session. This time, 5 startups from Japan, who were selected by AMEICC Japan to explore the ASEAN market for their unique technologies, pitched. The teams are REVOX, Ninzia, Integriculture, Thinker and Tsubame BHB. Before start of the event, there were MoU exchange ceremony between REVOX and Singapore startup Cuprina Pollination for the collaboration between them.

At the end of the Poster Session, there was the Special Session from Calbee, one of the leading food companies in Japan. The session discussed the topic “Novel Food Experience is Future Asian Wellness”. It was very interesting to hear the types of food that are coming up and how it could improve human health. The session was moderated by Dr. Ryuta Takeda (Leave a Nest, Co., Ltd.), with panellists Ms. Naoko Onishi (Calbee, Inc.), Dr. Shinji Fukuda (Metagen, Inc.), and Mr. John Cheng (Innovate 360). 

At the end of all the sessions, there were 3 Best Poster Awards announced, namely “People's Choice” Best Poster Award, “Mitsui DM Sugar” Best Poster Award and “Leave a Nest” Best Poster Award. The Mitsui DM Sugar and Leave a Nest awards carry monetary benefits along with certification.

People's Choice Best Poster Award

In the picture above, Dr. Harish receiving the People's Choice Award from Dr. Kihoko Tokue, Managing Director, Leave a Nest Singapore.

Mitsui DM Sugar Best Poster Award

In the picture above, Ms. Wong Lan Li receiving the Mitsui DM Sugar Award from Dr. Masahiro Okuno, Mitsui DM Sugar Co., Ltd. General Manager, Business Development Division and Mitsui DM Group R&D Center, Life Energy Business Development Unit.

Leave a Nest Best Poster Award

In the picture above, Mr. Kannan Tay Ganesh (left) receiving the Leave a Nest Award from Dr. Joe Inoue, Co-Founder and Chief Culture Officer, Leave a Nest Co., Ltd.

The event concluded with closing remarks from Mr. Shohei Maekawa, Director of Leave a Nest Singapore.