Innovation & Enterprise Awards - Recognising Entrepreneurs and Innovators
Two individuals received the Outstanding NUS Innovator Award, one of the categories under the I&E Award. They were Mr Tan Min Liang, who is the CEO and Chief Gamer of Razer, and Dr Steven Zhou, Founder & Director of MXR Corporation Pte Ltd. They each received a $10,000 cash prize and trophy from NUS President Prof Tan Chorh Chuan and President of NUS Society Mr Johnny Tan, during The Enterprise Connection. This is the first year that the I&E Award has been held, jointly organised by NUS Enterprise and the NUS Society. The award aims to recognise individuals and companies within the NUS community who have made significant accomplishments in entrepreneurship and innovation, as achieved by the two inaugural winners.
Prizes being presented to Mr Tan Min Liang (left) and Dr Steven Zhou.
Mr Tan founded Razer in 1998, together with his friend Robert Krakoff. From a 2-employee company, Razer has grown to more than 225 staff, with 7 offices worldwide. The company is a world leader in computer gaming accessories and in 2010 Razer captured 42% of the game peripheral market share. Razer is the only gaming peripherals company to have dedicated R&D teams, with 3 R&D laboratories, based in Singapore, the U.S. and China.
“Winning this award is a great motivator for myself and my team. It is recognition for the work that we have done, and I look forward to seeing how else I can contribute back to NUS”, said Mr Tan Min Liang. As part of his advice to young budding entrepreneurs, he added, “Do not be afraid to fail – this is one of the most important messages that was taught to me by my mentor.”
Dr Zhou founded MXR Corporation, a spin-off company that has been commercialising his research in the field of augmented reality. The company’s product, wIzQubes, is a 3-dimensional interactive mixed reality storytelling media, which improves children’s psychological development, extends their concentration in reading and fosters the learning process.
“Mixed Reality as a technology, has been identified as a top 10 emerging technologies that are going to change the world by the MIT Technology Review. There are many applications of this technology – such as for military, advertising and educational purposes. Our company is focusing on the commercialisation of this technology to promote learning, even from childhood,” said Dr Zhou, who is also an assistant professor at the NUS Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.
The Promising NUS Start-up Award was a second category within the I&E award. While the judges did not award a winner, they identified KAI Square as a merit winner. Five other finalists were 2359 Media, Double Helix Tracking Technologies, Smoov, Stream Media and Zopim Technologies.
(From right) Neo Shi Yong and Victor Goh from KAI Square - merit winners of the Promising NUS Start-up Award receiving their award from Mr Johnny Tan (far left), President of NUS Society and Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, NUS President.
Hear more from our winners at the winners gallery.