Lay Ping Chua
Mechanical Engineering
School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Summary
I am a versatile professional with a diverse career spanning engineering, education, and management, excelling in each domain through innovation and leadership.
My journey began in mechanical and product engineering with leading companies like Philips Electronics and Flextronics. As a Lead Engineer at Philips, I developed and launched four innovative consumer products, including dry and steam irons, from concept to market. I played a key role in product improvement, optimizing both design and manufacturing processes. My engineering expertise includes plastic part design, sheet metal design, tolerance analysis, FMEA, DFMA, free form modelling and 3D CAD modelling. My work consistently focused on delivering high-quality, user-centric solutions while managing cross-functional teams and collaborating globally.
Transitioning into education, I spent over a decade as a Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at Nanyang Polytechnic. I was part of the pioneer batch of Education and Career Guidance (ECG) Counsellors under the Ministry of Education (MOE), shaping the foundational ECG program to help students discover and pursue their career paths. I developed and delivered career guidance workshops, organized industry engagement initiatives, and helped students align their academic goals with their professional aspirations. My teaching covered modules such as 3D CAD Modelling, Design Projects, Design Thinking, Innovation Entrepreneurship, and Mechanics. I also contributed to curriculum development, experiential learning, and Train-the-Trainer sessions.
Currently, I serve as the Manager of Laboratory Management at Nanyang Technological University’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP). Here, I lead efforts in lab management, safety policy formulation, and operational planning. My work has resulted in SC3DP receiving its first-ever Bronze award for safety in 2023, a milestone that reflects my commitment to creating a safe and efficient working environment.
Key Skills
- Engineering Design CAD Modelling (NX, IDEAS, Solid Designer, Autodesk Inventor)
- Project Management Continuous Improvement
- Curriculum Design Teaching Innovation
- Career Counselling Student Development
- Safety Policy Development Lab Management
- Event Planning Management
- Microsoft office suite
Across all roles, I have consistently focused on improving operational efficiency, nurturing talent, and driving impactful outcomes. Whether in engineering, education, or management, I have remained committed to building environments that promote growth, safety, and excellence.
Featured Skills
Work Experience
Manager, Laboratory Management Apr 2024 - Present
Nanyang Technological University Singapore Singapore• Awardee of Outstanding Extra Mile Award 2024
• Lead in planning and policy formulation of the laboratory
• Establish safety guidelines and SOPs for laboratory management, equipment usage and equipment training
• Issue communiqués on all matters that could affect operational status of laboratory to all stakeholders and provide timeline to resolution
• Provides lab safety updates in monthly management meetings
• Chemical verifier for chemical purchase
• Develop shared lab calendar for SC3DP community
• Liaison Officer (LO) in the ERP (Emergency Response Plan) team
• Approve and process security access for SC3DP facilities
• Space Management of SC3DP – take care of space utilization, renewal and space audit
• PDPA Rep for the Centre
• Safety Rep for the Centre:
-- Won Bronze award for the safety audit in 2023 2024, first award in SC3DP
-- Developing and implementing a comprehensive and effective workplace safety management system
-- Conduct internal audits to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations
-- Inculcate a Safety culture among all laboratory users and all stakeholders
-- Oversee the execution of safety and security procedures, that they are in accordance with NTU policies
-- Development and implementation of standards, procedures and measures to reduce incidents, while focusing continuous improvement efforts in our pursuit of zero incidents
-- Conduct investigations into all accidents and incidents in coordination with the Office of Health Safety and Emergency (OHS)
Lecturer Apr 2009 - Apr 2023
Nanyang Polytechnic SingaporeLecturer (Sch. Of Eng. {SEG} - Biomedical Engineering Materials Group) May 2017 - Present
Education Career Guidance (ECG) Counsellor (Secondment to MOE) May 2015 – May 2017
Lecturer (Sch. Of Eng. - Biomedical Engineering Materials Group) Apr 2009 – May 2015
Job Scope of EGC Counsellor
• Redeployed by MOE to Student Care Guidance Dept. in NYP to provide education career guidance to students:
-- Help students to discover themselves through various assessment tools
-- Resume cover letter critique
-- Mock interviews
• Build partnership with industries, companies, organizations in order to advocate ECG experiences to students; and gather latest industry information
• Organize career fairs, talks, and seminars
• Maintain working relationships with universities in order to provide latest updates on university programs
• Enhance ECG capacity for school personnel by equipping them with basic ECG knowledge
• Develop ECG curriculum for year 1 cohort
• Organized and conducted workshops for students
Job Scope of Lecturer (* Assigned roles from Apr 2009 to May 2015)
• Conduct lectures, tutorials and laboratory; review, design and develop course materials; supervise students in assignments and projects; assess students in coursework and examinations; supervise students in their final year projects; provide pastoral care for students
• Involve in RD projects with hospital Industrial, with compliance of ISO13485
• Involve in various activities:
-- Learning Journey (LJ) Coordinator (NYP Rep) for the Future City Programme – LJ Team (http://futurecity.sg/)
-- Cluster Communication Champion for the SEG Staff Engagement Committee
-- Member of ECG Taskforce in SEG
-- Member of Open House Taskforce in SEG – training of student helpers (2018)
-- Lab-in-charge: to plan, layout and set up new lab for ELP; provide support to the operations for the lab
-- * Chief Planner in Semester Timetable Planning Committee, planned 2 diplomas’ timetable with zero error
-- Provide course advising during Open House, JAE and school promotional events
-- * Duty Officer for Student Webchat Service during JAE
-- School Internship Mentor for students undergoing Internship Programs
-- * A member of WITS term
Senior RD Engineer (Mechanical) Jul 2007 - Mar 2009
Wincor Nixdorf Pte Ltd Singapore• Responsible for the design and development of cash/non-cash transaction systems from concept to mass production
• Responsible for customization, design improvement, and cost reduction activities for projects
• Responsible for system and mechanical design related documentation
• Performed troubleshooting, analysis, and problem resolution of existing systems
• Involved in joint project with assignment to work in Germany to design LCD Display for information kiosk
Senior CAD Engineer Sep 2005 - Feb 2007
INCAT Singapore SingaporeCustomer Service Provision. Scope of work included:
• Providing training, CAD support, design services
• Mechanical product design; assisted Philips Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd and STELOP Pte Ltd in product design, prototype evaluation, CAD modelling
• Training and customer support in the use of UG software
Mechanical Engineer Jun 2004 - Sep 2005
Flextronics Design Asia Pte Ltd Singapore• Worked with customers to define design specifications and product datasheet.
• Provided conceptual and detailed mechanical design for printing and product imaging
• Supported in the evaluation and analysis of design prototype working towards resolution of identified issues
• Prepare and support production activities such as managing suppliers to get parts on time, checking BOM, coordinate with production on product related issues, etc.
Lead Engineer Jul 1998 - Jun 2004
Philips Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd SingaporeLead Engineer (Jan 2001 to June 2004)
Development Engineer (Apr 1999 to Dec 2000)
TIDE Engineer (Jul 1998 to Mar 1999)
Joined this consumer electronics firm and went through intensive training on Training for Industrial and Development Engineers (TIDE). This training program was aimed at training a group of graduates for a period of 9 months to equip them with essential management and technical skills.
As TIDE graduate, worked as Development Engineer involved in designing products including:
• Product study and benchmarking
• Communication with Marketing Managers, Industrial Designers, Project Team Members and suppliers to ensure product specifications meet customer expectations
• Conceptual designs, parts layout (the interfacing of parts structure construction)
• Design concepts and ideas generation
• Plastics parts designs which involve CAD modeling, tolerance analysis, parts to parts interfacing
• DFA/FMEA Analysis
• Setting up of equipment to perform experiments on prototypes and products
• Provide support to the production for the running products, including products that produced in Batam
• Managing external designers
Promoted to Lead Engineer in 2001 and has successfully launched four new products (dry and steam irons) in the market. Managed a project in pre-development stage and development of another new project concurrently. Besides the role of Development Engineer, also supported “running” products and was assigned to be a member of an on-going improvement team (OIT).
Technical Specialist Jul 1993 - Jul 1995
Hewlett Packard Singapore Pte Ltd SingaporeThis position provided technical support to production. The job scope included troubleshooting, maintaining repairing of machines on the production lines; provision of training to operators; and management of projects.
Other duties:
1. Modification of the tape dispenser machine to improve reliability.
2. In charge of dismantling a production line (Quicksilver line) within a deadline.
3. Involved in two production line setup (Voltaire and Rocky Lines).
4. Work area planning and layout design.
Education
Graduate Diploma In Business Admin (Business Administration) Jul 2000 - Oct 2001
Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) SingaporeB. Eng. (Hons) in Mech. And Prod. Eng. (Mechanical Engineering) Jul 1995 - Jun 1998
Nanyang Technological University SingaporeDiploma in Manufacturing Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) Jul 1990 - Jun 1993
Singapore Polytechnic SingaporeOther Skills
Careers Lay Ping favourited
Lay Ping Chua's Skill Profile
Lecturer @ Nanyang Polytechnic
When I was working at Nanyang Polytechnic (Apr 2009 - Present), I demonstrated the Career Counseling skill when I was tasked to do Education Career Guidance. To tackle this challenge, I proactively engaged with students to talk about their education and career choices. As a result, I managed to positively affect students to make informed decision about their education and career choices.
Q&A with Lay Ping Chua
