Advisory Board
Professor Chris Lowe OBE
Professor Chris Lowe OBE is Professor of Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity College. He is also Director of the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. The principal focus of Chris’s biotechnology research programme over the last 35 years has been high value - low volume pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals and the diagnostic sectors. Areas of outstanding expertise include: Downstream Processing of Biopharmaceuticals/Proteomics, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Enzyme, Protein and Microbial Technology. Chris has developed an enviable reputation for developing new mechanisms designed to transfer quality science from the academic to the private sector. The Institute of Biotechnology is a working example of Chris’s philosophy and is now regarded by many organisations both in the UK and overseas as a model for technology transfer from the academic sector. Chris has extensive contact with high technology industry throughout the world and has been largely responsible for generating the technology base for eight spin-out companies. In addition to incubating new start-up companies, In an illustrious career spanning 40 years, Chris has received numerous prizes and awards including a Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement (1996) and the UKSEC “Most Entrepreneurial Scientist of the UK” Award (2006). Chris holds several fellowships, including the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). He has written over 330 publications, 7 monographs and holds 60 patents. Chris has served on a number of government committees, including the DTI, the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health (UK).
Al Njoo
Al Njoo is director of Nations Petroleum, a privately held Canadian oil and gas group specialising in exploration and production. Nations has assets and operations in California, Indonesia and Brunei. He is also a board member of Merrill Lynch Indonesia. During the early 1990s, together with Merrill Lynch, he played a leading role in the privatisation efforts of the Indonesian government. At about the same time he established an institute (IPAF) to train and accredit Indonesian CFAs - based on the US Institute of CFA (ICFA). Before going into business Al was a corporate banker and director with the Chase Manhattan Asia banking group in Jakarta and Hong Kong.
Al is a passionate promoter for better education and healthcare in South-East Asia - by building east-west institutional links, combining east-west methods, and the use of new technology for higher productivity and cost efficient distribution for education and cultural enrichment. Through his philanthropic activities, he has sponsored the building of new schools in Nias, a tsunami-destroyed island off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. He supported cancer research at Johns Hopkins hospital group in Baltimore, and a few other cancer centres. He supports an ongoing scholarship programme for Asian students, helping them with their Ph.D. studies and research at Hopkins. He is a member of the World Presidents Organization (WPO), a global CEO board member of the Wharton Fellows (affiliated with the Conference Board), trustee of Sumber Waras hospital in Jakarta and Give2Asia in San Francisco, founded by the Asia Foundation.
Dr Zhiping Wang
Dr Zhiping Wang is the director of Research Programmes at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech). He also holds the position of Programme Manager for the Microfluidics Manufacturing Programme, and is Director of SIMTech’s Microfluidics Foundry. Zhiping has 20 years working experience in manufacturing technology development and industrialization, particularly in microelectronics packaging and microfluidics. Formerly, a Senior Manager in Philips Mobile Display Systems and Chief Technology Officer in Advanpack Solutions Pte Ltd, Zhiping had gained rich experience in industrial technology development and management. Zhiping received D.Phil in Engineering Science from Oxford University, M.Eng in Aeroengine from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China, and B.Sc. in Applied Mechanics from South-West Jiaotong University, China.
Dr Rosemary Tan
Dr Rosemary Tan founded Genecet Biotechnologies in 2001, a company which dealt in the design and promotion of educational kits and program for schools to teach the principles of life sciences. She then founded Veredus Laboratories in 2004, a medical diagnostics company engaged in the development, commercialization and manufacture of diagnostic assays for infectious diseases. Veredus Laboratories won the Red Herring Top 100 Private Companies in Asia Award and the Asian Innovation Award (Gold) from the Wall Street Journal Asia in 2006. Veredus was also named as one of the most important development to watch by Business Week in 2006. Veredus went on to win the Red Herring Global 100 award in 2007 and clinched the BioSpectrum Editor's Choice Emerging MedTech Company of Singapore in 2008. Dr Tan Is the recipient of the Outstanding Science Alumni Award from the National University of Singapore in 2006.
