Professor Chan Eng Soon
CEO
Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Singapore
Professor Chan Eng Soon is the Chief Executive Officer of the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Singapore (TCOMS). He is also the Director of Research at the Office of Deputy President (Research & Technology) at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Prior to his current appointments, he held several key appointments in NUS, including being the Vice Provost (Special Duties) in the Provost Office, Keppel Chair Professor at the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Dean of Engineering, Head of the then Civil Engineering Department, Director of the Tropical Marine Science Institute, Executive Director of the Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering at NUS and the Director of the Offshore and Marine Programme at the Science and Engineering Research Council, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
He has also served in the Management Board of several institutions and research laboratories/centres, including the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing, Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Temasek Laboratories, Temasek Defence Systems Institute and the Tropical Marine Science Institute.
Professor Chan received his Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degrees from the University of Singapore/NUS in 1980 and 1982 respectively. He received his Doctor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986. Professor Chan's research interests and activities are focused on marine processes, including marine hydrodynamics, wave-structure interactions, wave actions and coastal protection.
Prof Chan is a Fellow of the Singapore Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Engineers, Singapore.
Prof. (Adj) Aziz Merchant
Executive Vice President of Engineering and Technology
& New Product Development/Engineering
Seatrium
Keynote Title: Maritime Decarbonisation: Future Marine Fuels & Energy Efficiency Technology
Biography: Aziz Merchant holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Naval Architecture from University College London, Bachelor of Engineering (First Class) in Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering from University of Glasgow and has also attended the General Management Program (GMP) at Harvard Business School.
With over 30 years of extensive design and engineering experience in offshore oil and gas development projects and offshore/marine vessel designs, Prof Merchant has more than 100 international scientific patents granted or filed under his name. Being an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore since 2014, he encourages researchers to apply new capabilities, concepts, and technology across different fields to raise the bar of research and development cross-industries.
As an Executive Vice President at Seatrium, he manages technology development for offshore renewables, new energy, green oil and gas, autonomous ship solutions, as well as Engineering Centres in Singapore and overseas, ensuring design and engineering operations function efficiently and effectively to drive business segment results.
Prior to his current appointment, he was the Director of Engineering at Keppel Offshore & Marine and Executive Director at Keppel Marine & Deepwater Technology.
In 2023, Aziz Merchant was appointed as a member of the Science & Technology Advisory Panel for the Technology Centre for Offshore & Marine, Singapore (TCOMS). TCOMS is a venture between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and the National University of Singapore.
He is also a member of the President Science & Technology Award selection committee since 2015.
Currently he is working on creating next generation offshore & maritime designs for energy transition in new energy, renewables and nearshore infrastructure such as alternative fuel transportation, offshore renewable solutions, deepsea mineral exploitation solutions, autonomous shipping, floating wind platforms, Carbon capture solutions, etc. He has a led a team of engineers to successfully complete a pilot trial in Singapore waters for a remote controlled and autonomous tug-boat under Maritime Port Authority grant funding.
He has also been recognized by industries for his unwavering drive for innovation. He received the Singapore Maritime Port Authority (MPA) Outstanding Maritime R&D & Technology Award in 2008 & 2015 and the Institute of Engineers Singapore Prestigious Engineering Achievement Awards 2009, 2013, 2016 & 2018. He has also received the ASEAN Outstanding Engineering Achievement Awards in 2009 & 2018.