PhD in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering
Current position: Chief Technology Officer at Conny Tech Pte Ltd, Singapore
Research focus: design considerations and process options for drinking water systems
Victor is tapping into Industrialisation 4.0 where digitalisation enables the interaction of multiple layers of data to generate insights and predictions.
He honed his technical and engineering skills when he was CH2M Singapore’s (now Jacobs Engineering) lead process engineer for design considerations and process options for drinking water works (Choa Chu Kang and Woodleigh Waterworks) where he specialised in process option trade-off with disinfection criteria and by-products formation, equipment life-cycle analysis, and chemical systems. He also supported the construction of Singapore’s third seawater desalination plant and Kranji NEWater Factory Expansion.
CV as submitted for the Green Talents award (2011):
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore
Research focus: desalination and water re-use
As groundwater becomes increasingly depleted and surface water deteriorates due to climate change, desalination and water reuse technologies will become more important for providing sufficient, affordable drinking water to the world’s population. Victor Sim, a PhD candidate at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, is working on a process that could reduce the costs of using reverse osmosis membranes for desalination.
As part of his doctoral studies at the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre (SMTC) at NTU, Victor Sim is developing novel monitors for early detection of fouling in reverse osmosis systems. Specifically, he is working with Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and Ultrasonic Time Domain Reflectometry (UTDR) to provide a real-time, non-invasive method for detecting membrane biofouling.
Mr Sim, who is studying on a scholarship from the National Research Foundation with the support of the Environment and Water Industry Development Council, presented a paper on the novel monitors he is developing at the 2011 World Congress of the International Desalination Association. He was awarded “Best Paper Presentation for the Young Leaders Program.”
Impressed with Mr Sim’s work developing a sensor to monitor membrane fouling, the jury said his research could lead to critical solutions for improved membrane technology for seawater desalination that would also be cost-effective.
Mr Sim looks forward to utilising the sensory techniques developed in his PhD in other research fields and to learn more about membrane biocatalysis. “While in Germany, I am looking forward to further inspiration in the field of desalination and water reuse from Germany's strong engineering know-how,” he said. In addition, Mr Sim will be checking out Germany as a potential place for postdoctoral studies.
