Wrap-up: Industrial Seminar Series (AY24/25 Semester1)

The industrial seminar series, aimed at broadening the industrial awareness of Faculty of Science students, completed its run of 7 seminars for the semester. As with past semesters, the invited employers to these lunch-time seminars (or 2pm seminars run as part of the SP2401/2 class of Science & Technology Industry Insights) were carefully curated to include a large swathe of industrial sectors catering to the differing interests of mathematical, physical, life and chemical science students.

Industries featured that cater to mathematical science students include commodities trading (Glencore), consulting (QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey), and two unusual suspects from the biopharmaceutical industry (Johnson & Johnson) and from the F&B sector (Starbucks), with the latter two companies detailing the prevalent use of data science in their entire value chain (Johnson & Johnson) and in consumer segmentation and insights gathering (Starbucks).

For life and chemical sciences students, Sanofi, a pre-eminent representative of the pharmaceutical industrial sector with a strong footprint in Singapore, came to introduce their next-generation manufacturing facility that they are in the midst of building in Singapore. The consulting industry was also represented, with L.E.K. Consulting, a firm focused on healthcare and life sciences consulting, visiting the science campus with a trio of speakers from diverse academic backgrounds.

Seagate, representing the semiconductor sector, tied their seminar to the broader backdrop of data and data storage as the foundation of AI-sphere. And their presentation, including some cutting-edge research being conducted in the data storage arena, was of interest to physical and chemical sciences students. And so was Evonik, a specialty chemicals company in the B2B sphere, which wrapped up this semester’s roster of employers by informing students interested in a research-based career about opportunities at the Evonik Asia Research Hub.

Catering to all science students whose use of AI has permeated their personal and academic lives, Addlly AI, a Singapore-based startup specializing in creating AI-powered workflow, was invited to give an overview of the workplace disruptions brought up by AI and to offer the students a glimpse into a future where AI will supercharge the productivity of individuals and institutions alike.

The industrial seminar series will resume in the next semester. Look out for the roster of employers from the Student Life and Alumni Relations section’s email communications.

Dr. Paul Beaumont, Associate Partner and Senior Expert Data Scientist at McKinsey & Company, illustrates a use case of AI consulting with the audience at the 22 Aug seminar, which also features Glencore, a Swiss-headquartered leader in commodities trading.

At the 27 August seminar,  Sanofi’s speaker, Lay Mui Toh (Site Quality Head and NUS Science alumnus), introduces the next-generation manufacturing facility called Evolutive facility that Sanofi has just broken ground in Singapore, and the exciting career opportunities it will bring.

Barish Chakravarty, Senior Engineering Director at the Seagate Research Group, spends considerable amount of time informing the students of the various research projects into storage media at Seagate.

Tina Chopra, Co-founder and CEO of Addlly AI, pitches to the students the disruptions, adaptations, and opportunities brought to the work place since the advent of Chat GPT at her 25 Oct seminar.

Dr. Ronny Sondjaja, Vice President and Head of Research, Development and Innovation (APAC), Evonik, engages with the audience at the 29 Oct Evonik seminar.