How made-in-NTU technologies are changing our future
by Lester Kok / Illustrations and animations by Vivian Lim
Tears to power up
Now
NTU’s electrical & electronic engineering scientists have developed a way to harness the salinity – or salt content – in tears to generate a small electrical charge that can sustain wearable electronics such as smart contact lenses or sensors.
Future
Imagine smart contact lenses fuelled by an infinite source: your tears! Designed to naturally lubricate your eyes, these smart lenses could display information that overlays your real-world environment like augmented reality and even scan the environment for clues – just like Batman’s high-tech gadgets in the movies.
Flex-ing 3D printing tech
Now
3D printing scientists from NTU and industry partner Panasonic have developed a groundbreaking machine that effortlessly prints thin, flexible electronic circuits. Picture a milk carton label that alerts you when the milk turns bad, or a smart sports band that flexes while you move. And here’s a game-changer: a smart IV drip bag with embedded electronics that makes life easier for both patients and nurses.
Future
Electronics will soon break free from the constraints of hard circuit boards.Imagine embedding electronics on curved or soft surfaces: you’ll have smart patches that seamlessly blend with your skin, or electronic T-shirts and sweatbands that do double duty. And your phone or tablet could be as rollable as a map, ready to unfurl at your command, just like in sci-fi movies.
Cool invention
Now
Say goodbye to conventional cooling fans in data centre servers, and hello to the next generation of cooling tech for high-end computers. Housed in a metal leak-proof cabinet, NTU’s prototype uses sprays of non-conductive fluid to cool down sizzling hot computer chips directly and efficiently. The used fluid then gets collected, cooled down with ambient air, and reused by the system, wasting nothing.
Future
This spray cooling technique could be adapted to supercharge small performance computers like gaming rigs – allowing PC enthusiasts to achieve their wildest overclocking dreams. The NTU research team from the School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering joined forces with Aftershock PC to explore innovative and sustainable cooling methods to scale up computer performance. Picture transparent cases with liquid elegantly cascading over the electronics. This could be the future of gaming rigs – a refreshing twist to the usual noisy RGB-lighted fans
This story was published in the Jul-Aug 2023 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
