CEE PhD Student Wins Gold Award at ASPIRE Forum 2025

NTU School of Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD student, Koo Pooi Ling, proudly represented the university at the ASPIRE Forum 2025 hosted by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Her team’s project, Lumbear — an AI-powered comfort bear designed to support children with special needs — was awarded the Gold Excellence Award in the student workshop, the HKUST Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.

In line with the forum’s theme, “Advancing Health & Medicine through AI & Technology”, four cross-university teams worked intensively over five days to design AI-based solutions that address the challenges of Hong Kong’s aging society. Lumbear, equipped with temperature and heartbeat sensors, provides emotional comfort for children while easing the burden on caregivers in care facilities.

Koo collaborated with peers from Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), Tsinghua University (China), HKUST (Hong Kong), and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST, Korea). Reflecting on the experience, she highlighted the importance of cultural exchange and teamwork across diverse academic backgrounds: “We spent the first day getting to know each other — our research, our education systems, and even cultural traditions. Those conversations shaped how we worked together as a team.”

The programme also featured insightful talks and industry visits. Koo shared: “It made me realise that when technology is built with empathy, it doesn’t just solve problems — it changes lives.”

NTU looks forward to hosting the ASPIRE Forum in 2026, bringing this prestigious event to Singapore.