NTU Singapore brings Intel and Western Digital CEOs to Silicon Valley summit on AI and deep tech

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) is bringing together Intel CEO Tan Lip-Bu and Western Digital CEO Irving Tan, both NTU alumni, with researchers, entrepreneurs and investors at its first Tech Summit and Alumni Conference in the United States on 23 October 2026.

Held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, the summit will examine how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing industries and work, the infrastructure needed to support its growth, and advances in energy storage and electrification.

The event will also provide a platform for NTU researchers, entrepreneurs and alumni with technology and investment leaders in Silicon Valley, while strengthening ties among NTU’s nearly 2,500 alumni in the US.

It takes place during the first US immersion trip under Activate Global Fellows – Singapore, a national fellowship hosted by NTU in partnership with US-based non-profit Activate to help researchers develop science-based businesses.


AI, the future of work and energy technologies
Summit Highlight: Fireside Chat

• Intel CEO Tan Lip-Bu and NTU President Professor Ho Teck Hua

• Prof Ho brings experience from more than two decades in US academia, including 13 years at the University of California, Berkeley.

• In a recent paper published in California Management Review, Prof Ho proposed a model in which knowledge workers become both task architects and managers of AI agents. Workers divide tasks into smaller components, delegate some to AI agents, and assess and combine their outputs into a completed piece of work.

• NTU is also preparing students across disciplines to work with AI. By 2030, the University aims to embed AI into 40 per cent of courses across its undergraduate degree programmes. These courses will use AI to personalise learning or teach students to build, deploy and manage AI agents.

Summit Keynotes:

Professor Christian Wolfrum, NTU Deputy President and Provost and Executive Chairman of AI Singapore
• Topic: How Singapore is building national AI capabilities, including open AI models and computing infrastructure.

Western Digital CEO Irving Tan
• Topic: The infrastructure needed to support the AI economy, including its data storage needs.

Professor Shirley Meng, NTU Vice President (Industry) and an NTU alumna
• Topic: Advances in energy storage and electrification. 
• She brings experience from research and leadership roles at institutions including the University of California San Diego, the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory.


Connecting technology leaders, entrepreneurs and investors

The summit will feature NTU alumni working across AI, data platforms, communications and computing. They include:

• Dr Jia Li, co-founder of LiveX AI; 
• Mr Steven Lin, research engineer at Google DeepMind; 
• Ms Prukalpa Sankar, founder and co-CEO of Atlan; 
• Mr Rohit Jha, CEO of Transcelestial; and 
• Dr Glenn Ge, CEO of TetraMem.

Panel discussions will examine innovation in the AI era, opportunities and challenges in the global technology landscape, and venture capital fundraising.

Mr Anson Liang, President of the NTU Alumni Association (USA-West), will deliver the welcome address and moderate the fundraising panel.

Organised by NTU’s Office of Alumni Engagement with support from its US alumni associations, the event will include networking sessions and a start-up showcase to help participants exchange ideas and explore potential collaborations.


Supporting Singapore deep tech in international markets

Panel Discussion:
• Professor Louis Phee, NTU Vice President (Innovation and Entrepreneurship), 
• Dr Cyrus Wadia, CEO of Activate; 
• Mr Brian Dow, CEO of NTU spin-off Amperesand; and 
• Dr Zhaoxi Chen, CEO of robotics start-up Ropedia.

The panel will discuss how university research, industry partnerships and international networks can help technology ventures develop and grow.

These connections are also central to Activate Global Fellows – Singapore, which has S$12 million in funding from the National Research Foundation, Singapore, with support from Enterprise Singapore.

• Founders from the inaugural cohort will visit San Francisco and Silicon Valley from 17 to 25 October to meet potential customers, investors and industry partners.

• The cohort includes NTU spin-offs LoopForBio, which uses fermentation to turn food-processing by-products into microbial protein for aquaculture feed, and LAPIS, which is developing metal 3D printing using ultra-thin metal sheets instead of metal powders.

• Through the summit and fellowship, NTU aims to strengthen connections between Singapore’s research and innovation community and US partners, drawing on its alumni network to support research collaboration and help science-based ventures reach international markets.

See Annex A below for more information on NTU spin-offs and their innovations.


Annex A

Protein from food-manufacturing by-products for aquaculture feed

LoopForBio grows microbial protein from food-manufacturing by-products using its NTU-developed CircuProtein technology. The protein provides an alternative to fishmeal made from wild-caught fish, potentially reducing pressure on marine resources while turning food-processing by-products into a useful feed ingredient.

Fish and shrimp feeding trials have shown that the protein can replace a substantial proportion of fishmeal while maintaining growth and feed performance.

The company is establishing a modular pilot plant and seeking US research, feed-industry and aquaculture partners, including operators of land-based shrimp farms, to support further trials and potential deployment.

Co-founder Dr Ezequiel Santillan is part of the inaugural Activate Global Fellows – Singapore cohort.

Powder-free metal 3D printing for complex components

LAPIS is commercialising an NTU-developed manufacturing process that combines laser cutting and welding to build metal components layer by layer from ultra-thin sheets, instead of loose metal powders.

The process can create intricate internal channels for cooling and fluid flow, as well as enclosed cavities without trapped powder. In NTU tests, stainless-steel parts produced using the technology were reported to be more than 70 per cent stronger than bulk steel.

A LAPIS-fabricated structure forms part of an artwork deployed about 7,000 metres below sea level off Japan, providing a deep-sea field demonstration.

The company is seeking US partners to develop applications in thermal management, semiconductor components and advanced manufacturing. Co-founder Mr Simon Goh is a member of the inaugural Activate Global Fellows – Singapore cohort.

Real-world training data for robotics and physical AI

Ropedia is an NTU spin-off building data infrastructure for robotics and physical AI, which enables AI systems to perceive and interact with the physical world.

Its HOMIE Gen2 head-mounted device captures synchronised first-person video, movement, depth and other sensor data as people perform everyday activities. Its processing platform turns these recordings into structured datasets for training robots and embodied AI models.

NTU Singapore was one of the first academic institutions to trial HOMIE Gen2. 

Ropedia’s key technology was first developed at the University, and researchers from NTU’s College of Computing and Data Science continue to use the device to acquire data and train their embodied AI models.

Ropedia has raised US$30 million in total, including a US$22 million pre-Series A round announced in July 2026. The company says it serves more than 20 robotics and foundation-model businesses across North America and Asia.

Its Academic Partner Program gives researchers access to its data-capture tools. Ropedia lists Princeton University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of California San Diego and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign among its academic partners.

Dr Zhaoxi Chen, co-founder and CEO, will speak at the NTU Tech Summit and Alumni Conference.

Power infrastructure for AI data centres

Amperesand is commercialising solid-state transformer technology developed at NTU’s Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) for AI data centres and other high-power applications, including megawatt-scale charging.

Its medium-voltage systems integrate semiconductor-based power conversion, software and controls to convert and manage electricity in a compact platform.

The company announced a US$80 million Series A funding round in November 2025, co-led by Walden Catalyst Ventures and Temasek, to support commercial deployment and expand its operations.

With engineering operations in San Francisco and a manufacturing facility in Reno, Amperesand offers a perspective on the power-delivery constraints facing US AI infrastructure and the development of alternative power-conversion systems.

Mr Brian Dow, CEO and co-founder, will speak at the NTU Tech Summit and Alumni Conference.

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Read more on the summit and the speaker list here. You can also scan the QR below: