Industrial Seminars AY23/24: August – September

The Industrial Seminar Series (ISS) of AY23/24 kicked off on 24 August, with a focus on two industries that are highly applicable to mathematical sciences majors — Accenture, a preeminent example of the consulting industry, and WorldQuant, representing the quantitative finance industry.

Due to unforeseeable circumstances, Dr. Ramine Tinati, Manager Director of Applied Intelligence at Accenture, who was slated to deliver Accenture’s portfolio on technology consulting pertaining to AI and machine learning, was not able to be present at the seminar. The twofer hence focused on the speakers from WorldQuant, helmed by James Macarthur (Head of International Trading, CEO, Singapore and General Manager, UK). His talk introduced the audience to the quantitative finance and trading industry, where mathematical and statistical modeling are used to derive an “Alpha” model which aptly predict trading trends. Lim Guo Xing (WQBRAIND Head of Strategy and Operations for Singapore and Malaysia) followed up with an introduction to the highly attractive WorldQuant BRAIN research consultant program, where anyone, not just WorldQuant employers, could get paid by freelancing to build quantitative trading models and algorithms.

James Macarthur (Head of International Trading, CEO, Singapore and General Manager, UK) interacts with student attendees at the networking tea reception following the WorldQuant seminar on 24 August.

Symrise, a leader in the Flavours and Fragrances Industry, but with a content that was specially tailored to the mathematical sciences students, invited three data scientists from Symrise to talk about prevalence of data science in the industry, highlighting the wide arrays of applications of our mathematical sciences students’ skills in a large variety of industries. The talk was helmed by Do Vinh Bao (Head, Sensory and Consumer Insights, APAC) and Jonathan Simon Jacobs (Group Manager, Data & Neuroscience) gave a brief introduction of the company, a Germany-based multi-national with a long and storied history, and the Flavours and Fragrances industry, before zooming in on how statistics and data science are now widely used in quantitative consumer research at Symrise, how data science and machine learning approaches are now more intimately harnessed in the development of new flavours and fragrances. Dr Yu Peigen (Senior Sensory & Consumer Insights Scientist) and an NUS Science alumnus (FST, ‘2011, ‘2017), provided a case study on how data science was used on a market analysis of carbonated soda, to gather insights on the design strategies of a new flavor of carbonated soda. Given the enthusiastic Q&As during the tea reception, it was apparent that the students had appreciated the wide-ranging use of data science in an industry that is not financial, trading, or ICT.

Mr. Do Vinh Bao (Head, Sensory and Consumer Insights, APAC, Symrise) introduces the Flavours and Fragrances industry to the students at the 7 September seminar.

The 3^rd seminar on 12 September featured Cargill, a global behemoth in the food supply and logistics industry, and the biggest privately owned company in the USA. Their second campus appearance in the past three years, Cargill fielded three speakers, highlighting their R&D activities in food science and food business, drawing an enthusiastic crowd of more than 40 students, especially those that studied chemistry, food science and technology, and life sciences.

The talk was led by Mr. Beh Kok Wei (Application and Technical Services Lead, Cargill Singapore), an industry veteran with more than two decades of industry-related experiences, gave a bird’s eye view of the Cargill empire and its capabilities in food solutions both globally and regionally. The two R&D scientists then brought the students through a day in the life of a Cargill scientist, with Ms. Li Jie Chan, FST alumnus (‘2008, ‘2012) introducing to the students how analytical scientists can help decode the ingredients that go into food that we consume. Mr. Jowee Ng, a dairy application specialist, detailed his role in co-creating diary products such as ice creams, yoghurts and condensed milks with his customers both in Singapore and through South-east Asia. The talk rounded up with accompanying Cargill talent acquisition specialists outlining the internship opportunities for students at Cargill’s R&D Department in Singapore. Given it was Cargill, the seminar included components of food tasting, more specifically, the different types of cocoa products, and the students walked away with free chocolates courtesy of Cargill.

Students compare different samples of cocoa with ingredients sourced by Cargill at the Sep 12 Cargill seminar at the Multi-purpose Room.

Most recently, on 21 September, the ISS welcomed IQVIA, one of the largest companies in the Contract Research Organization industry, critical for bringing new pharmaceutical drugs from bench side to bed side. The team aims to broaden the horizons of the Faculty of Science’s Chemistry, Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical sciences students, who may not have been aware yet of this industry where their domain knowledge is highly applicable.

IQVIA answered the call by sending a 6-member strong team of Research and Operations Directors, headed by Ms. Kuek See Hui (Senior Director, Flexible Resourcing). The IQVIA Director introduced IQVIA Singapore and its clinical operations to the students, including Q2 Solutions, which is an IQVIA subsidiary specialized in laboratory testing. A clinical research associate and a senior site activation coordinator at IQVIA were also brought in to give the audience a blow-by-blow outline of what the professional life is like for key roles at IQVIA that are critical to support drug development and testing.

Charmaine Chen (Senior Clinical Research Associate at IQVIA) walks students through a day in the life a clinical research associate, at the 21 September seminar at the Multi-purpose Room.

The Industrial Seminar Series will continue after the exam break featuring companies including Singapore Airlines on 24 Oct (noon, MPR), Mitsui Chemicals on 1 Nov (noon, LT31) and Natixis, a French Investment Banking, on 3 Nov (noon, MPR).