EVEN when she was a teenager in China, Dr Yang Huiying had already wanted to be a cut above the boys when it came to aceing her favourite subject, physics.

Fascinated that humans could devise useful tools, the top physics student at Tianjin First High School told herself that she would one day invent something special, yet inexpensive, for all to use.

More than a decade on, Dr Yang, 30, now a Singapore citizen, is a Lee Kuan Yew postdoctoral fellow in Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and is on her way to fulfilling her dream.

She is working on energy-saving, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps that will replace filament lightbulbs for everyday use – a market with an estimated potential of $14.5 trillion.

Yesterday, she was among three women feted at the L’Oreal Singapore For Women In Science National Fellowships awards ceremony at Fusionopolis.

The fellowship programme, created by L’Oreal and Unesco 12 years ago and introduced to Singapore last year, celebrates the efforts of brilliant women scientists whose research contributes to changing the world.

“My dream is to find a way to commercialise the LED lamp such that everybody can buy it for $2 at the nearest supermarket,” said the mother-of-two who is married to a fellow scientist.

LED lamps emit 90 per cent light and only 10 per cent heat, making them more energy-efficient than filament bulbs, which emit 90 per cent heat and 10 per cent light energy. She is applying for a patent to protect the process of creating the nanomaterial critical to her success.

The other two fellowship recipients are Dr Madhavi Srinivasan, 34, who was born in Chennai, India; and Dr Low Hong Yee, 39, who is from Kuala Lumpur. Both are mothers and Singapore permanent residents.

Dr Madhavi, an assistant professor at NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, wants to make printable and flexible batteries that may reduce the thickness of electronic devices.

Dr Low, a senior scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering under A*Star, is leading a consortium to develop an anti-reflective nano-imprint material that mimics the way a moth’s eye works.

Each fellow receives a nostrings- attached grant of $20,000 to support her research.