HP has joined with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), and with the National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF), to open the HP-NTU Digital Manufacturing Corporate Lab to drive innovation, technology, skills and economic development considered critical for the advancement of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This is HP’s first university laboratory collaboration in Asia.
The $84m lab supports Singapore’s push toward industry transformation in the areas of digital manufacturing and 3D printing technologies. Located at NTU, the HP-NTU Digital Manufacturing Corporate Lab was launched by Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Finance and chairman of the NRF.
The NRF facilitates the setting up of corporate labs via public-private partnerships. The HP lab is the thirteenth supported by NRF and the seventh such lab at NTU.
The lab’s 100 researchers and staff will focus on digital manufacturing technologies, specifically in areas of advancing 3D printing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, new materials and applications, cyber security and customisation.
The partnership was signed today by NTU vice president (research) Professor Lam Khin Yong and HP chief technology officer and head of HP Labs Shane Wall. It was witnessed by Keat, NTU president Professor Subra Suresh, and HP Inc. CEO and president Dion Weisler.
NRF CEO, Professor Low Teck Seng, said: "The HP-NTU Digital Manufacturing Corporate Laboratory is significant to our long-term competitiveness in the advanced manufacturing sector, and ensures that we stay relevant in the Fourth Industrial Revolution that is evolving and growing rapidly worldwide.”
Suresh added: “NTU has established deep capabilities and is a recognised leader in the areas of machine learning, data science and additive manufacturing. These cutting-edge technologies are now an integral part of NTU’s education and research ecosystem, and the NTU Smart Campus serves as a test bed for them. This is aligned with Singapore’s vision of transforming into a Smart Nation.”
“The World Economic Forum estimates more than $100 trillion in value will be created by digital transformation across all industries in the next 10 years,” said Weisler. “HP is helping lead the development of the underlying technologies that will enable the benefits of this transformation. Singapore is one of our key worldwide technology development and manufacturing centres in print technology. The HP-NTU Digital Manufacturing Corporate Lab will significantly deepen our involvement here and serve as a nucleus for this ecosystem. We are proud to collaborate with NTU and we are looking forward to this becoming a blueprint for innovation, collaboration and economic progress.”
At launch, the new lab will prioritise 15 projects to better understand: new materials and applications, such as advanced polymers for manufacturing applications, the development of bioprinting models toward printing viable tissues, and 4D printed smart systems that adapt shape with temperature change; artificial intelligence and machine learning to help printers autonomously predict and resolve issues; cyber security research to improve end-to-end point security infrastructure and malware mitigation.
The collaboration will also include developing educational curriculum on designing for additive manufacturing, covering areas such as data management, security, user experience and business models.
“One out of every three jobs worldwide, more than 30% of global GDP, and nearly one-third of carbon emissions are related to manufacturing,” added Weisler. “We are committed to innovating with purpose, not only driving the technology breakthroughs that improve HP’s business but also contribute to creating economic opportunity and improving people’s lives.”
HP began its presence in Singapore in 1970. Now, Singapore is home to its Asia Pacific and Japan regional headquarters, global supply chain control towers, and print manufacturing.
