Dr. Sarah Lai-Yin Cheah

Associate Professor
Business School
National University of Singapore, Singapore

Major Achievements

An established scholar in innovation, entrepreneurship, and technological capability development, with a strong focus on SMEs, business model innovation, and productivity enhancement.

Extensive experience bridging academia, industry, and policy, with research and consulting spanning corporate innovation, social entrepreneurship, and strategic foresight.

Former Vice President at A*STAR (2009–2014), where she led strategic planning, technology foresight, and commercialization initiatives, contributing to national innovation policy and technology transfer systems.

Has advised major public institutions and organizations, including A*STAR, National Robotics R&D Programme Office, Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF), and Enterprise Singapore.

Provided executive training and advisory services to policymakers and corporations across Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Serves on multiple international editorial and advisory boards, and actively contributes to innovation policy, technology commercialization, and entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Recipient of multiple awards, including the Prime Minister’s Book Prize (Singapore) and international research and presentation awards.

Cheah, S. (2020). Strategic Foresight: Accelerating Technological Change. de Gruyter.
Cheah, S. (2019). Social Innovation: Asian Case Studies of Innovating for the Common Good. Routledge.
Kuratko, D., Cheah, S., & Foo, M. (2019). Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice (Asia Edition). Cengage.
Cheah, S., Ho, Y. P., & Li, S. (2021). Search strategy, innovation and firm performance. Technovation.
Cheah, S., & Ho, Y. P. (2020). Open innovation and industrial policy. Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
Cheah, S., Bellavitis, C., & Muscio, A. (2020). Technology complexity and R&D performance. Journal of Technology Transfer.
Cheah, S., & Ho, Y. P. (2019). Social entrepreneurship ecosystem. Science Technology & Society.

Period	Organization	Position
Present	National University of Singapore	Associate Professor
2024	Hokkaido University, Japan	Visiting Professor
2009–2014	A*STAR, Singapore	Vice President
2013–2014	NUS Business School	Adjunct Associate Professor
2006–2013	NUS Business School	Adjunct Assistant Professor
2007–2009	Hewlett Packard	Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
MBA	Nanyang Technological University	Banking & Finance
BEng (Hons)	National University of Singapore	Electrical Engineering

Editorial Board Member, Asian Research Policy
Editor, Sage Open Editorial Office
Reviewer for Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) and international journals
Advisory roles in innovation policy, technology commercialization, and national R&D strategy