Tactile Transmutations

Lecture by Professor Pooi See Lee (Singapore), followed by a conversation with artist Chok Si Xuan (Singapore)

Will electronics become flexible and soft? As technological advances shrink systems and transition from hard robots to soft machines, how will this affect the way we understand and relate to the devices we interact with?

Professor Lee Pooi See, whose research delves into  human-machine interface, hybrid materials for soft robotics, and nanostructures, will share about the influences and current trajectories of material sciences and human-machine interfaces articulating her insights into the future of a softer and smaller world of technology. In conversation with Chok Si Xuan, the scientist and the artist will discuss the implications of a world driven by mechanisms that escape human vision and they will exchange ideas about the relational qualities of interfaces and the rise of biomimicry in the realm of technological innovation.  

This event is generated by Chok Si Xuan within Communities of Practice. Techno Diversions, a research programme that aims to propel a transformative understanding of technology through artistic practices and transdisciplinary encounters.

Professor Pooi See Lee is the President’s Chair Professor in Materials Science & Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Her current research focuses on soft electronics and energy devices, human-machine interface, sensors and actuators, soft robotics and healthtech. Professor Lee received the Nanyang Research Award in 2016, the Nanyang Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award in 2018. She was an awardee of the NRF Investigatorship 2016. She received the SNIC – AsCA2019 Distinguished Woman Chemist Award 2022.  She was elected National Academy of Inventors Fellow in 2020, RSC Fellow 2022 and the MRS Fellow 2022.