NTU and Rolls-Royce sign multi-million dollar collaboration in Research

NTU and Rolls-Royce Coperation

Eight years after their first research partnership, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Rolls-Royce are taking their research alliance to greater heights with a new multi-million dollar collaboration.

The centrepiece is the Rolls-Royce@NTU Corporate Lab, which was launched today at a joint investment of S$75 million by NTU, Rolls-Royce and the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore.

This unique research tie-up will kick start 32 new projects over the next five years, tripling the existing number of projects between Rolls-Royce and NTU.

The Rolls-Royce@NTU Corporate Lab is the first of its kind in the world with a university, focusing on three core research areas – Electrical Power and Control Systems, Manufacturing and Repair Technologies and Computational Engineering.

It is also the first lab to be supported under the National Research Foundation’s newly launched Corp Lab @ University scheme.

Research in these fields are aimed at inventing more efficient and reliable energy delivery systems, developing innovative manufacturing technologies to complement more robust power systems, and extracting information from equipment and processes so that operators can make timely and informed business critical decisions.

NTU President Professor Bertil Andersson said this latest joint lab with Rolls-Royce is a milestone for NTU, although the two have been ramping up their alliance over the years since their first engagement in 2005.

“It is fantastic that NTU, the fastest-rising university in the world’s top 50, is strengthening our partnership with Rolls-Royce, one of the world’s leading power systems companies,” says Prof Andersson.

“This lab will combine the strengths of both organisations – NTU’s cutting-edge research in engineering and science plus our world-class professors, students, and infrastructure, with the strong industrial capability of Rolls-Royce'  leading engineering and services activities for civilian and military customers in over 80 countries.”

The lab will work closely with the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) as well as the university’s four engineering schools: the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering; the School of Materials Science and Engineering; the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; and the School of Computer Engineering.

“Rolls-Royce has a long and proud history of delivering engineering excellence and innovation to support our expanding global customer base especially in the Asia Pacific region’s aerospace, marine and energy markets,” said Professor Ric Parker, Director of Research and Technology, Rolls-Royce.

“We are deeply committed to supporting Singapore’s innovation and education goals and extend the Group’s world-class skills, technology and expertise to this unique initiative. NTU and Rolls-Royce share a common vision and awareness of the need to support research and development in fields closely aligned to Singapore’s core strengths. The Rolls-Royce@NTU Corporate Lab is a practical step toward this goal, and we are very pleased to partner with the National Research Foundation and NTU in this exciting and unique opportunity.”

As a testament to Singapore’s reputation as a research and development hub in Asia, this new collaboration also aims to build Singapore’s human capital in the aerospace and maritime sectors, in addition to offering new job opportunities in research.

The lab will have a team of more than 300 top-level talent comprising research staff and technical experts. This includes Rolls-Royce staff and NTU faculty, as well as the training of up to 70 researchers, 40 PhD and 25 Master’s students, in addition to a number of NTU undergraduates.

NTU is no stranger to Rolls-Royce, having forged a close partnership with the leading global power systems company in the last 8 years, when research collaborations were initiated in the domains of power generation, power electronics and control systems.

In 2009, the Rolls-Royce Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) was set up at NTU, and which is now recognised as a key source of innovation within Rolls-Royce. The same year, NTU embarked on a five-year research partnership with Rolls-Royce to conduct research in the areas of manufacturing process technology and power electronics.

In September 2011, NTU launched the joint Master of Science degree programme in Project Management with the University of Manchester (UOM) along with Rolls-Royce, which aims at developing core competency skills in project management.