Centres of Innovation

SPRING’s Centre of Innovation

Launched in August 2006, the new $150 million Technology Innovation Program (TIP) encourages SMEs to grow their businesses by adopting technology. Spearheaded by SPRING Singapore, the TIP is part of the national Science & Technology Plan 2010 to sustain Singapore’s competitiveness for long-term growth. The TIP is designed to help SMEs adopt technology innovation as a competitive strategy. It will be implemented over the next five years, and is built around three strategies:

SPRING will play the role of the technology champion and facilitator for SMEs – raising awareness, providing advisory services and incentive support, as well as setting up the necessary resource and intelligence database. Partnerships would be established between SPRING, the various technology service providers, the SMEs and the industry associations. An Enterprise Technology Fund of $150 mil will be set aside over the next five years to catalyse and support the various initiatives under this Programme.

These one-stop centres offer technology consultancy and advice, and also develop practical, downstream technology platforms that you can quickly adopt. They can also help you to test and develop technology projects.

Homepage: http://www.spring.gov.sg/Content/HomePage.aspx

Food Innovation Resource Centre at Singapore Polytechnic

FIRC was launched on 29 May 2007 by Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Mr Lee Yi Shyan. The FIRC was established a one-stop centre to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) create and test new products, from concept right up to market testing, using the latest technologies.

FIRC will invest some $7 million in state-of-the-art equipment and qualified personnel over the next three years. It is the first Centre of Innovation (COI) to be launched under SPRING’s $150 million Technology Innovation Programme (TIP). The TIP encourages SMEs to grow their businesses by adopting technology to create high value products and services and compete effectively in the global market.

Areas of focus:
Food safety and hygiene, food processing to improve existing product lines, development of new products, and packaging and shelf life evaluation

Contact us:
Jason Ng
(Business Development Manager)
Tel:      (65) 6870 7018
Email: jason.ng@sp.edu.sg

Homepage: http://www.sp.edu.sg/SPweb/appmanager/tic/firc

Marine & Offshore Technology Centre of Excellence at Ngee Ann Polytechnic

The COI (MOT) aims to provide technology consultancy and advice, develop practical and downstream technology platforms for SMEs in marine industries. The centre will work on a collaborative model and form partnerships with industry players and in some cases, with research institutes or centres.

Staff from COI (MOT) has the expertise in marine & offshore technology, mechanical, electrical & electronics, instrumentation & control, industrial automation & robotics and workplace improvement & safety. The COI (MOT) shall be the one-stop center to local companies in marine industries by
• Improving the efficiency, productivity and safety of processes and services in the various sectors of the marine industry through product development and process innovation.
• Assisting SMEs in developing commercially-viable technologies and products so that they can move up the marine value chain with the ultimate goal of creating jobs and growing the nation’s economy.
• Assisting in the human resource development in the marine industry by providing training courses both generic to the industry or company specific.
• Promoting organizational connections and linkages with industry, research bodies such as CORE, ASMI and international collaborators.
• Enhancing and building on the current development of innovation capacity in the Polytechnic, which in turn enhance the quality of polytechnic education.

Areas of focus:
Design and analysis of marine inspection and testing equipment, and offshore construction and processing equipment

Contact:
Mr. Tan Kim Pong
Director
Centres Of Innovation (Marine & Offshore Technology)
Email: tkp@np.edu.sg
Phone: 64606405
HP: 98265456

Homepage: http://soe.np.edu.sg/soe/coi/coi_mot.html

Environment and Water Technology Centre at Ngee Ann Polytechnic

The COI (EWT) was set up on 1 Nov, 2006 and aims to provide technology consultancy and advice, develop practical and downstream technology platforms for SMEs in Environment and Water industries. The centre will work on a collaborative model and form partnerships with industry players and in some cases, with research institutes or centres.
With the existing expertise in water technology, waste management, pollution control, alternative energy and environment protection and green technology, COI (EWT) shall
• Function as one-stop centre to assist local companies in related industries, especially SMEs, in developing commercially-viable technologies and products to push them up the value chain;
• Assist SMEs by offering NP’s expertise and multidisciplinary project teams backed by the polytechnic’s wide range of resources and facilities;
• Improve the efficiency, productivity and safety of operations in environmental and water technology sectors;
• Develop new and improved designs as well as engineering solutions that meet the companies’ specific requirements;
• Provide students with more opportunities in R&D technology development work through short-term attachments and projects.

Areas of focus:
Water and wastewater treatment and remediation, alternative energy and energy management, monitoring and instrumentation control, and air pollution control

Contact us:
Tsang Pui Sum
Deputy Director
Centres Of Innovation (Environmental and Water Technology)
Email: tps@np.edu.sg
Phone: 64606515
HP: 98281785

Homepage: http://soe.np.edu.sg/soe/coi/coi_ewt.html

Precision Engineering Centre of Innovation at SIMTech

Jointly established by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and SPRING Singapore, the Precision Engineering Centre of Innovation (PE COI) was officially launched by Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry on 23 May 2008. Part of the Technology Innovation Programme (TIP) by SPRING Singapore, the PE COI will assist local PE SMEs to adopt technology innovation as enablers of growth.

The centre is hosted at SIMTech and aims to help local industries in three ways. Firstly, the centre will provide resources and capabilities to help PE SMEs develop new products or processes. Secondly, it will upgrade and develop manpower resources for the industry by training engineers and through staff secondment.

An aspect of manpower resources is the PE Consultancy which caters to SMEs’ specific needs and is provided by well-established PE industry practitioners with extensive experience in SMEs and MNCs. Lastly, the centre will provide valuable sources of PE industry intelligence and facilities to tap on.

Areas of focus:
Ultra-precision machining, forming, thin film coating, RFID and intelligent manufacturing systems, mould design and simulation, and automotive, aerospace and medical technologies

For inquiries, please email or contact
Devi from Industry Development Office at:
Tel:      (65) 6793 8388
Email: devi@SIMTech.a-star.edu.sg

Homepage: http://www.pe-coi.sg/