Singapore consumed about 50 TWh of electricity in 2020. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

SINGAPORE - What do fluorescent lamps, air-conditioning units and portable defibrillators all have in common?

They were all made possible through the use of a little known device called an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) semiconductor.

Invented in 1979 by Professor B. Jayant Baliga, an electrical engineer in India, IGBTs are commonly used as switching devices to convert direct currents (DC) to alternating currents (AC), and also to drive motors of various sizes.

Prof Baliga will speak for the first time at this year's Global Young Scientist's Summit, a gathering in Singapore of young scientists and researchers from all over the world.

The summit will take place virtually from Jan 17 to 21, and is organised by the Singapore National Research Foundation, a department within the Prime Minister's Office.

Speaking to The Straits Times, Prof Baliga said: "Young scientists of this day are more entrepreneurial than when I was at their age as they have more opportunities for starting companies now compared with the 1980s."

But he also called on young scientists to be passionate about their ideas and "to pursue them with benefits to humanity in mind rather than purely for personal financial gain".