My research focuses on the history of information technologies and the history of the life sciences. I have written widely about the impact of data and data-driven technologies on science and society. Over the last few years I have worked to develop the NTU Institute of Science and Technology for Humanity (NISTH), an institute aimed at fostering the ethical, responsible, fair, and just use of technology.

I am currently pursuing two ongoing research projects. The first examines different possibilities for understanding what our online-digital world might have become. We too often, implicitly or explicitly, accept the idea that our online worlds, tools, and platforms (such as the World Wide Web) are the best, most natural, or inevitable forms of these technologies. But exploring the histories of other platforms that “might have been,” I hope to open up thinking about alternative possibilities for doing and living digitally.

The second project aims to understand the role that these Singaporean and Southeast Asian operations played in the globalization of the microelectronics industry more broadly. Alongside operations in Latin America, semiconductor plants in Singapore led the way in the globalization of microelectronics and ultimately transformed that industry. Now the vast majority of the world’s electronics – including microelectronics devices – are produced in the People’s Republic of China. This has significant implications for the global distribution of expertise, jobs, and the balance of global trade. This project aims to better describe and situate the role of Singapore and Southeast Asia in such knowledge transfers.

I am interested in supervising PhD students on topics related to the history of the life sciences, the history of information technology, and science and technology studies.