Nicholas Tan grew up in Singapore, obtained an ScB in Chemistry from Brown University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, funded by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

After working in several research labs, he feels that commercialisation is vital to showcase the true value of scientific research. He is extremely passionate about the commercialisation of new and disruptive technologies and is trying to encourage students in Cambridge and in Singapore to take their research out of the lab and bring them into the market.

As the President of Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE), he organises a business creation competition that not only supports outstanding student entrepreneurs with over £50,000 of prizes, but also pairs them up with experienced mentors and offers free training events led by established entrepreneurs.

Nicholas has also recently founded Terawand Systems, a company developing a new security device for use in airports. Born out of technology developed during his PhD, Terawand is currently working on the development on a prototype device to use in feasibility studies. Despite being relatively young, the company has had the honour of winning the inaugural Cambridge Elevator KickStart business plan competition and was named in Business Weekly’s ‘Ones2Watch’ list in 2012, which highlights the most promising start-ups coming out of Cambridge.

He is looking forward to meeting all the delegates at the MIT GSW 2013 and learning how to better encourage student entrepreneurship and develop his business.