Building Blocks

For decades, chemistry labs have looked almost exactly the same — manual, slow, and heavily dependent on human trial and error. While biology rapidly automated, chemistry quietly fell behind. In this episode of Building Blocks: Living Machines, we go inside one of the world’s first fully AI-powered chemistry labs with Sean Lin, Founder & CEO of ChemLex, a next-generation contract research orga...

What makes the world’s best airport tick? Beyond the architecture, shopping, and gardens lies a hidden engine — a living system of automation, robotics, and human ingenuity working in perfect sync. In this episode of Building Blocks: Living Machines , we go inside the future of Changi Airport with Li San Poh , Senior Vice President of Terminal 5 Planning at Changi Airport Group, and Jixun Foo , Se...

How do you automate one of the world’s busiest ports — without losing the human touch? In this episode of Building Blocks: Living Machines , host Rita Yang visits PSA International , a leading global port operator and trusted supply chain partner. She’s joined by Ong Kim Pong , Group CEO of PSA, and Jixun Foo , Senior Managing Partner at Granite Asia and PSA board member, to reveal how PSA's...

Can a robot save lives — or learn from a spider? In this episode of Building Blocks – Living Machines , host Rita Yang sits down with Prof. Mohan Rajesh Elara , Provost Chair Professor at SUTD  and Co-founder of LionsBot , Singapore’s home-grown robotics company. From a dragonfly robot that traps dengue-carrying mosquitoes to a spider-inspired machine that crawls, rolls, and climbs walls , Prof. M...

Shipping keeps the world moving — but it also contributes nearly 3% of global carbon emissions. The surprising culprit? Biofouling : the buildup on ship hulls that drives fuel use up by as much as 40%. In this episode of Building Blocks: Living Machines , host Rita Yang speaks with Elizabeth Chan , CEO of Neptune Robotics , and Jixun Foo , Senior Managing Partner at Granite Asia , about how roboti...

Forget robots that vacuum your floor or fetch you coffee. What if the next big machine in your life was built just to love you? In our very first episode of Building Blocks: Living Machines , host Rita Yang sits down with Kaname Hayashi , the creator of LOVOT — a wide-eyed, huggable robot designed to melt hearts. Think warm body, expressive gaze, playful coos… and zero productivity. Also joining i...