Singapore, 3 June – A*STAR has inked a Master Research Collaboration Agreement (MRCA) with Japan’s IHI Corporation, which will allow the development of efficient and innovative solutions to benefit the chemical, infocomm and media, manufacturing and biomedical industries in Singapore and across Asia.
These efforts will boost Chemical Engineering, Infocomm Media, Manufacturing Technology and Bioengineering & Nanotechnology sectors
Singapore – A*STAR has inked a Master Research Collaboration Agreement (MRCA) with Japan’s IHI Corporation, which will allow the development of efficient and innovative solutions to benefit the chemical, infocomm and media, manufacturing and biomedical industries in Singapore and across Asia.
Based in Japan, IHI Corporation is a multinational leader in providing energy and chemical plants, physical distribution systems and steel structures, aero-engine and space technology, industrial machinery, marine offshore structure engineering and mass-produced machinery.
Leveraging A*STAR’s unique R&D capabilities to drive innovation
The extensive range of R&D activities in science, technology and biomedical sectors will involve A*STAR’s Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES), Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) and Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN).
The areas for research collaboration include the following:
• ICES and IHI Corporation will collaborate to pursue innovative ideas and technologies for commercial applications in the energy and environment-related sectors.
• I2R and IHI Corporation will collaborate in areas of intelligent transport systems, satellite communications, automated image object detection and classification, wireless sensor network, data analytics and predictive analytics, that will boost the infocomm media sector.
• SIMTech and IHI Corporation’s partnership in the manufacturing technology sector will consist of R&D in welding processes and simulation, metal forming techniques, 3D additive layer manufacturing and robotic automation.
• IHI Corporation and A*STAR biomedical research institutes are also in discussions for potential collaborations in the biomedical space.
Prior to the signing of the MRCA, IHI Corporation had already collaborated with ASTAR in the area of catalytic gas conversion with ICES and trial traffic junction warning system with I2R. IHI is also a Tier 1 member of ASTAR’s Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC).
Prof Raj. Thampuran, Managing Director, A*STAR, said, “Our collaboration with IHI Corporation is a long term partnership in areas of mutual interests. We have already achieved good outcomes from our first collaborations in 2011 and 2012. This expansion of our partnership to new areas widens our efforts to attract higher valued R&D activities to our landscape.”
“Our collaboration with ASTAR is a good example of our commitment to open innovation,” said Mr. Degawa Sadao, Executive Vice President of IHI Corporation. ”The IHI-ASTAR collaboration has successfully grown since our first project in 2011. With the establishment of IHI Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (IHIAP) as a regional headquarter in May 2012 to accelerate our business growth in this region, we see IHIAP’s strategic role in advancing Open Innovation-led R&D activities here. For example, the “Traffic Junction Warning system” developed in partnership with I2R, is one of our focus fields for R&D and business development in Intelligent Transport Systems. The system has achieved good results and IHI intends to expand our capabilities to meet regional requirements. We are pleased to have a mutually strong relationship with A*STAR and hope to extend this partnership to activities in other R&D sectors.”
IHI Corporation officially opened its Regional Headquarters (RHQ) in Singapore in May 2012, with more than 50 employees currently.
For media queries and clarifications, please contact:
Doris Yang
Senior Officer, Corporate Communications
for Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Tel: +65 6419 6525
Email: [email protected]
About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR) The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR) is Singapore’s lead public sector agency that fosters world-class scientific research and talent to drive economic growth and transform Singapore into a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation driven economy.
In line with its mission-oriented mandate, ASTAR spearheads research and development in fields that are essential to growing Singapore’s manufacturing sector and catalyzing new growth industries. ASTAR supports these economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry.
ASTAR oversees 18 biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering research entities, located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, as well as their vicinity. These two R&D hubs house a bustling and diverse community of local and international research scientists and engineers from ASTAR’s research entities as well as a growing number of corporate laboratories.
For more information on A*STAR, please visit www.a-star.edu.sg.
