NEA Conferred Distinguished Award at MND’s R&D Awards 2019
Top honours for NEA’s Project Wolbachia at the Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards 2019
Distinguished Award for NEA’s Project Wolbachia – Singapore at the Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards
The biennial Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards was launched in 2011 and seeks to recognise and encourage outstanding R&D efforts which contribute towards MND’s vision of making Singapore “An Endearing Home, A Distinctive Global City”.
This year, there were 25 nominations from government agencies and Institutes of Higher Learning. NEA was awarded the Distinguished Award for the innovations and development of the male Wolbachia-Aedes technology for urban settings. This is the highest award category of the Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards and according to the evaluation panel, NEA’s Project Wolbachia – Singapore is world-class research material.
The awards ceremony was held on 23 July 2019, in conjunction with the 5th Urban Sustainability R&D Congress. A/Prof Ng Lee Ching, Director of Environmental Health Institute (EHI) and principal investigator of Project Wolbachia – Singapore, reported during her talk at the Congress that NEA’s Project Wolbachia – Singapore has achieved up to 90% suppression of the urban Aedes aegypti mosquito population at the study sites in Yishun and Tampines. Project Wolbachia – Singapore was also showcased at the exhibition.
On behalf of NEA, EHI team received the Distinguished Award from Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance at the opening ceremony of the 5th Urban Sustainability R&D Congress.
About the Urban Sustainability R&D Congress
NEA’s Project Wolbachia – Singapore is world-class research material
The Urban Sustainability R&D Congress, co-organised by MND, NEA and 15 partner agencies, was inaugurated in 2011 to foster research collaborations. Held biennially, it is a national platform for government agencies, research community and industries to discuss R&D solutions to address Singapore’s urban sustainability challenges. In addition, this is in support of the national Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 (RIE2020) Urban Solutions and Sustainability domain’s efforts to create a sustainable and quality living environment for Singaporeans.
The 5th Urban Sustainability R&D Congress was held on 23 and 24 July 2019, at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, with the theme “Transformative Innovations, Cities of Tomorrow”. More than 1,000 participants from government agencies, research institutes and private companies attended the Congress.
During his opening address, guest of honour Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, spoke about the need for government agencies to continue to work with the industry as co-investors and co-developers of research and innovation to address national issues and create a better city. “Many of the projects demonstrate good teamwork and partnerships between government agencies, research institutions and the industry. Through their hard work and commitment, we have seen how our investments in research have helped to improve the daily lives of Singaporeans,” said Minister Wong.
Project Wolbachia – Singapore
Project Wolbachia – Singapore was awarded the Distingushed Award, for EHI’s innovations and development of the male Wolbachia-Aedes technology for urban settings. It aims to complement existing vector control strategies, in suppressing the population of dengue mosquitoes in the community. When a male Wolbachia-Aedes mates with an urban female mosquito (without Wolbachia), their resultant eggs do not hatch. Thus, the release of Wolbachia-Aedes male mosquitoes offers a promising approach to further reducing the population of Aedes aegypti in Singapore. Results have shown up to 90% suppression of the Aedes mosquito population at the study sites in Yishun and Tampines.
Mosquito rearing is laborious and time-consuming, with very little technological support, despite advances in engineering and artificial intelligence solutions in other fields. Together with Orinno Technology Pte. Ltd. (OTPL), a local start-up company, the teams have collaborated to develop various process modules and novel devices that would improve the production efficiency and quality of the Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes required for field releases. As a result of these creative solutions, five intellectual property patents have been filed for the novel devices. These devices have received interest from other international programmes that are also producing male mosquitoes for suppression of the mosquito populations in their communities.
Singapore’s first release of male Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes at Braddell Heights.
Deng Lu, Senior Research Officer at the EHI, demonstrating the use of the larvae counter – one of the several innovations that automate and speed up the mosquito rearing process.
Strong support from stakeholders and the community
With strong support from stakeholders and the community, the project has attracted both local and international partners, and developed novel and proprietary technologies. Such collaborations will ensure scalability and contribute to economic activity, whilst serving the primary outcome of improving public health in Singapore.
Information brochures are distributed to all households at the release sites. The project team will continue to provide more information to residents and local stakeholders at the study sites.
For more information on Project Wolbachia – Singapore, visit:
www.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/resources/research/wolbachia-aedes-mosquito-suppression-strategy/project-wolbachia-singapore
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