Header Image - CCDS Nexus

Welcome to CCDS Nexus - October 2025 Edition

This edition of Nexus brings together stories from the CCDS Quarterly (October 2025), themed around Mentorship; the spark that connects experience, insight, and growth across generations of computing and data science talent.

From classroom to career, research lab to real-world innovation, mentorship shapes how we learn, lead, and lift others. Here, we celebrate those connections; and the people who make them matter.

Editor’s Note

At CCDS, mentorship isn’t just guidance; it’s the invisible thread that binds our community. Every great coder, researcher, and innovator has someone who believed in them first, and this edition is our tribute to those who pay it forward.

As you explore Nexus, you’ll meet mentors and mentees who’ve shaped one another’s journeys, transforming potential into purpose. Their stories remind us that learning never really ends — it evolves through connection.

 

 

Feature Stories

The big ideas, the defining voices, the moments that shape who we are. These stories anchor our October issue; revealing what mentorship looks like in action, from world-class research collaborations to student–faculty partnerships that push boundaries.

Explore how mentorship fuels discovery, resilience, and reinvention across CCDS.

CCDS Faculty talking about mentorship

Guiding Growth: The Spirit of Academic Mentorship at CCDS

Mentorship is more than guidance – it’s connection, encouragement, and growth. Our faculty mentors embody this spirit, walking alongside students as they learn, adapt, and find their path.

Sometimes, it's the smallest gesture, a check-in, a shared laugh, a word of advice, that make the biggest difference.

We caught up with a few outstanding mentors to get their perspectives. 

If you have a mentorship story to share, tell us at [email protected]
Catalyst@iLab 2nd edition 2025 with a group of student mentors and mentees

Catalyst@iLab: Growing Together Through Mentorship

Catalyst@iLab turns learning into leadership; a peer-led initiative where everyday interactions spark confidence, community, and growth.

Now in its second run, the student-led programme connects CCDS undergraduates across cohorts to share experiences, navigate challenges, and grow together.

Each story reflects a shared belief: leadership begins when we help one another rise.

Guiding Futures: Empowering CCDS Students Through Career Coaching

Career coaching at CCDS bridges the gap between classroom learning and career readiness. Hear how Tiew Yen Huei and Tomoki Teng gained the confidence and clarity to step boldly into the professional world.

CCDS students can book a 45-minute one-on-one session with their Career Coach through the CareerAxis Portal.

Faculty Highlights

Behind every breakthrough lies a mentor; someone who teaches not just code, but curiosity.
Our faculty stories spotlight educators and researchers who lead by example, guiding the next generation of thinkers and builders with both rigor and heart.

These are the people shaping tomorrow’s innovators; one conversation, one collaboration at a time.

Prof Loy Chen Change speaking to the audience at the IIT Bombay International Award 2025

Prof Loy Chen Change Wins 2025 IIT Bombay International Award

Prof Loy Chen Change, President’s Chair Professor at CCDS, has received the IIT Bombay International Award for Outstanding Research for breakthroughs in image and video restoration.

His work, from SRCNN to CodeFormer, continues to redefine visual AI, reflecting CCDS’s leadership in impactful, forward-looking research.

CCDS Assistant Professor Dr Wang Wenya giving a talk

Asst Prof Wang Wenya Named 2025 Asian Young Scientist Fellow

Asst Prof Wang Wenya has been named a 2025 Asian Young Scientist Fellow, recognising her pioneering research in trustworthy AI.

Her work combines symbolic reasoning with deep learning to make AI transparent and reliable; advancing technology people can truly understand and trust.

Diagram showing how COMET predicts LNP efficacy from component structures, compositions, ratios and mixing parameters, with panels on synthesis, prediction, high-throughput training data and common molar ratios.

NTU–MIT Collaboration Accelerates RNA Medicine

A CCDS–MIT team led by Asst Prof Alvin Chan developed COMET, an AI model that predicts optimal RNA delivery methods.

Published in Nature Nanotechnology, COMET revolutionises RNA medicine design, cutting development time dramatically and underscoring AI’s role in transforming biomedical innovation.

CCDS Research Wins SIGIR 2025 Test of Time Award

A 2013 paper by A/P Sun Aixin and Prof Gao Cong received the SIGIR 2025 Test of Time Award for shaping modern location-based services.

Their pioneering time-aware recommendation model remains foundational; a testament to CCDS’s enduring global research impact.

Asst Prof Siu Lun Chau Wins IJAR Young Researcher Award

Asst Prof Siu Lun Chau won First Prize in the IJAR Young Researcher Award for breakthroughs in reasoning under uncertainty.

His work blends mathematics and machine learning to advance AI systems that think with nuance; strengthening CCDS’s leadership in principled AI research.

Student Achievements

Mentorship often begins with a single spark; a challenge issued, a door opened, a belief affirmed.
In this section, meet the students who’ve turned that spark into something greater: breakthroughs in research, leadership in student initiatives, and achievements that reflect both talent and tenacity.

Each story is a reminder that success is rarely solitary; it’s built on shared effort, trust, and encouragement.

CCDS NTU Student Vannes Wijaya

Coding for Excellence: Vannes Wijaya on Competitions, Community, and Growth

A student’s journey from coding challenges to confidence, leadership, and community impact.
CCDS PhD Researcher Wang Siyi Wins Best Poster Award at ACM AsiaCCS 2025

Cracking the Code of Quantum Security: CCDS Team Wins at AsiaCCS 2025

CCDS students secured top honours for their cutting-edge cybersecurity research in this international competition.
Future of Work GenAI Augmentation Challenge 2025

Redefining the Future of Work: NTU Students Harness GenAI

Students explored the role of Generative AI in shaping productivity, creativity, and future-ready skillsets.

CCDS Women Leading the Way in Tech

Four CCDS women were recognised among Singapore’s Women in Tech 2025 and Girls in Tech 2025, reflecting the talent and leadership shaping our community.
NTU CCDS Alumna Zhao Ruochen named one of the SG 100 women in Tech

Zhao Ruochen – Alumna, 100 Women in Tech 2025

Driving innovation in applied AI and championing diversity in tech.
Alysa Tan CCDS PhD Researcher named one of SG100 Women in Tech 2025

Alysa Tan – PhD Researcher, 100 Women in Tech 2025

Bridging research and impact through community-driven AI work.
CCDS PhD Alka Luqman named SG 25 Girls in Tech

Alka Luqman – PhD Student, Girls in Tech 2025

Mentor and advocate for accessible, inclusive AI research.
NTU CCDS student Katyayani Pande named SG 25 Girls in Tech 2025

Katyayani Pande – Undergraduate, Girls in Tech 2025

Tech-for-good enthusiast inspiring more young women to code.

Community & Campus Highlights

The spirit of mentorship extends beyond classrooms and labs; it lives in our daily culture of collaboration, creativity, and care.

From student-led initiatives to college-wide events, these updates reflect how CCDS continues to grow together as one community.

Because at the heart of every code and connection lies the same principle: we rise by lifting others.

🎓 CCDS Quarterly — Convocation Special Edition

Every ending is a beginning in disguise.

The CCDS Quarterly Convocation Special celebrates the journeys, triumphs, and transformations of our graduating Class of 2025. These stories capture the spirit of resilience, discovery, and mentorship that define CCDS; where every student's success reflects a community that believes, guides, and grows together.

Read the Convocation Special →