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Shi Huang

Seeram Ramakrishna, a leading researcher at the National University of Singapore and the most cited scientist from the city state, has joined one of China’s leading universities full time.
He joined the department of mechanical engineering at Tsinghua University in September, but the university only announced the appointment this week.
The Singaporean, who was described by MIT Technology Review China as the “father of electrospinning”, has been appointed as a Xinghua distinguished chair professor – the university’s highest professorial title – and director of its iWearables Centre.
Tsinghua president Li Luming welcomed Ramakrishna to the university, describing him as a world leader in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
He added that he hoped his academic influence and leadership would help the university to produce more high-level results.
Ramakrishna said he was well aware of Tsinghua’s academic and cultural heritage and he hoped to use his experience to help conduct innovative research.
Born in India, Ramakrishna earned his master’s degree from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1988 and his doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1992.
He began teaching at the National University of Singapore in 1996 and remained there for nearly 30 years, serving in various roles, including as vice-president for research strategy between 2008 and 2012 and most recently as a professor of materials engineering in the mechanical engineering department.
Ramakrishna is best known for his work on electrospinning, a method for making nanofibres by applying a high voltage to a polymer solution or molten polymer that produces long, thin fibres.
Over the past 25 years, much of his research has focused on submicron-scale nanofibres and the development of new electrospinning technology.
Most electrospinning machines are only used in controlled laboratory or industrial settings, such as air filtration manufacturing facilities.
But Ramakrishna and his team worked on handheld electrospinning machines using technology that miniaturised the power supply to ensure they could be used in emergency situations where there may be no external power source available.
His research also focused on ways to develop materials for medical research, including artificial organs and regenerative medicine.
Electrospinning was initially used to develop two-dimensional materials on which cells can grow, but it has since expanded to 3D materials that can be used to cultivate artificial organ tissues.
He has published more than 2,000 peer-reviewed papers, which have been cited more than 220,000 times and was Singapore’s most cited scientist up to the end of last year.


He is also a fellow of the British Royal Academy of Engineering, Singapore’s Academy of Engineering and the Indian National Academy of Engineering.
In 2023, he was elected a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the following year received the Chinese Government Friendship Award – the highest honour conferred by China on foreign researchers who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s modernisation and reform efforts.
In recent years, his research has focused on ways to improve flexible wearable devices and the challenges related to areas such as reliability.
He is also working on customising materials for data centres, where a key technical challenge is scaling up the production of specialised nano materials.
Ramakrishna and Tsinghua University have been asked for comment.


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Seeram Ramakrishna’s research has focused on areas such as medical technology and wearable devices. Photo: Handout

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News

China

The ‘father of electrospinning’, who taught for almost 30 years in the city state, will continue his research in Beijing


The ‘father of electrospinning’, who taught for almost 30 years in the city state, will continue his research in Beijing.


Singapore

National University of Singapore (NUS)

Chinese Academy of Engineering

Tsinghua University

Top Singaporean materials scientist Seeram Ramakrishna joins China’s Tsinghua University

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The ‘father of electrospinning’, who taught for almost 30 years in the city state, will continue his research in Beijing

The ‘father of electrospinning’, who taught for almost 30 years in the city state, will continue his research in Beijing