Report Title: Transport Electrification: Singapore Integrated Transport & Energy Model (SITEM)

Dr. Qin Zheng is the Director of the Systems Science Department at the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC). The department has three capability groups: Complex Systems,

 Multi-Scale Optimisation, and Energy Systems. Key projects of the department include the Maritime AI Research Programme and “Singapore Integrated Transport & Energy Model (SITEM)” 

on vehicle electrification, which received the Ministry of Trade & Industry (MTI) Firefly Borderless (Silver) Award 2022.  

Dr. Qin Zheng has research interests in urban mobility, maritime, agent-based simulation, and system of systems modelling. He served on the Editorial Board of IEEE Transactions on Parallel 

and Distributed Systems (TPDS) and was the Program Committee Chair of the 24th IEEE International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems (ICPADS) 2018. He received 

the 2021 IEEE TPDS Awards for Editorial Excellence.

Abstract: Singapore aims to phase out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2040. This vision would involve a large-scale multi-agency effort to provide adequate charging infrastructure, electrify public vehicles, promote private vehicle transition and upgrade the electrical grid to accommodate the new demand. The Singapore Integrated Transport & Energy Model (SITEM) is the first high-fidelity, island-wide simulation of EVs in Singapore. Developed as a collaboration between A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) and TUMCREATE Ltd, SITEM integrates multiple aspects of mobility and energy modelling to deliver insights on how Singapore could efficiently deploy and manage infrastructure for EV charging. These insights have resulted in significant savings on infrastructure upgrades and allowed public agencies to enhance overall charging experience of EV drivers.

Report Title: Twenty years of graphene: Are we ready for large-scale applications?

Prof. Shen is a Professor of Harbin University of Science and Technology, Foreign Member of Russian Academy of Sciences. His research involves the study of graphene, 2D materials and Perovskites 

using ultra-Low wavenumber Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence and time-resolved spectroscopy in combination with high pressure and low temperature. He also works on graphene-based 

composites for energy storage. He is winner of NTU Nanyang Award for Research and Innovation, Gold Medal for Research Excellence by Institute of Physics Singapore, Honorary Professor of Moscow State University. He was awarded Outstanding Immigrant Award in 2019. He is a Global Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics, with more than 56,000 citations and H index 112.

Report Title:Introducing Specific Strategies for Designing Safer Li-ion and Na-ion Cells

Dr. Palani Balaya works as an Associate Professor at National University of Singapore. His research area includes developing safer lithium-ion battery and sodium-ion battery. He serves as Editorial Board Member of Journal of Power Sources (since 2025) and Ceramics International (since 2022). Elected as an Academician by the World Academy of Ceramics (WAC), Italy (2019) and Fellow of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) in 2019. In 2025, he has been appointed as the Board of Directors to the ACerS and Advisory Board Member to the WAC. Delivered more than 160 talks (Plenary/Keynote/Invited) at international conferences/meetings and published 120 articles. 

Abstract: Though Li-ion batteries are mostly used in a wide range of applications, their safety aspects are not fully addressed. Li-ion batteries are generally safe under standard operating conditions; however, they are known to undergo thermal runaway when subjected to a few operating abusive conditions such as mechanical (shock and vibrations), thermal (local heat generation at high rates) and electrical (exceeding cut-off voltage or lithium plating at high charge rates) etc.,  Similar observations are noted in the emerging direction of Na-ion batteries. Prolonged operation of the Li-ion or Na-ion cells at these abuse conditions results in poor energy efficiency which in turn is related to both the coulombic efficiency as well as voltage efficiency during charge/discharge cycles.  These phenomena cause local heating in the cells which result in micro-shorting leading to thermal runaway. 

The voltage polarization responsible for the observed heat loss of the cells includes reversible loss due to entropy changes and irreversible loss due to internal resistance. Among several factors responsible for internal resistance of the cells, charge transfer resistance and Li or Na chemical diffusion at the positive electrodes are found to be the predominant contributors.   

We discuss here several design strategies to suppress thermal runaway by improving voltage efficiency of Li-ion and Na-ion cells.   

1. Negligible voltage polarization is reported in LiFePO4 up to 20C due to enhanced 2-D Li chemical diffusion process caused by excess anti-site disorders.

2. Mg2+ substitution at Fe-site of the LiMnFePO4 substantially minimizes the voltage polarization due to enhanced Li chemical diffusion. 

3. Use of glyme-based electrolytes in Na-ion cells favors non-flammability, higher thermal stability, and lower SEI resistance compared to carbonate-based electrolytes.  

4. Zn substitution at V-site of Na3V2(PO4)3 reduces charge transfer resistance and increases Na chemical diffusion by an order of magnitude. 

5. Use of solid electrolytes avoids solvation/de-solvation processes commonly known in liquid electrolytes, however poor ion transfer at the electrode/electrolyte boundaries introduces additional resistance causing inefficient charge transfer process compared to liquid electrolytes.  

This talk thus highlights several critical factors for designing Li-ion and Na-ion cells with enhanced safety features to suppress their thermal runaway.

Report Title: Advanced Pressure Signal Monitoring Technologies for Improved Safety in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Prof. Caiping Zhang is a Professor and Ph.D. supervisor at Beijing Jiaotong University. She is a recipient of the Excellent Young Scientists Fund from the National Natural Science Foundation 

of China (NSFC). She currently serves as a member of the Energy Storage Systems and Equipment Committee of the China Electrotechnical Society (CES) and Deputy Leader of its Women 

Scientists Working Group. She is also an Executive Board Member of the IEEE PES Technical Committee on Battery Technologies. Prof. Zhang is a Young Editorial Board Member of Green 

Energy and Intelligent Transportation (a high-profile new Chinese journal) and eTransportation (SCI-indexed journal). 

Her research focuses on safety management and optimal control of power and energy storage batteries. 

She has led two General Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and three subprojects of the National Key R&D Program of China. Over the past five years, she has published 

48 SCI papers as the first or corresponding author, with a single paper cited up to 410 times; four of her papers have been selected as ESI Highly Cited Papers. She has also published one English 

monograph, led the drafting of one group standard, and participated in the formulation of two national standards. Prof. Zhang has received the Second Prize of the National Science and 

Technology Progress Award (ranked 4th) and the First Prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award from the China Electrotechnical Society (ranked 1st). She was selected for the Beijing 

Science and Technology New Star Program. She is the Co-Chair of the 2024 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo, Asia-Pacific (ITEC-AP 2024).

Report Title: High-Efficiency High-Performance Propulsion Motor System for All-Electric Aircraft

He is a National High-Level Young Talent, a Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Harbin Institute of Technology.

He also holds several key positions, including Associate Director of the Institute of Advanced Electrical Technology at HIT, Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory of Electric Drive and Electric 

Propulsion of the Ministry of Education, and Council Member of the Chinese Electro-technical Society. Furthermore, he serves as the Vice Chairman of the IEEE PES Electric Vehicle 

Technology Committee (China)-Power Battery System Technology Subcommittee and Secretary-General of the Energy Storage Systems and Equipment Committee of the Chinese 

Electrotechnical Society.

His main research interests focus on multi-electric/all-electric aircraft energy and power motor system technology, and battery characteristic detection technology.

To his credit, he has published more than 70 academic papers, over 40 of which are indexed by SCI, and has been granted more than 30 Chinese invention patents.