MINDEF-NUS COLLABORATIONS STRENGTHENED THROUGH NEW RESEARCH BUILDING

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean officiated at the opening ceremony of the T-Lab Building at the National University of Singapore (NUS) on 20 Sep.

A jointly-funded project between the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and NUS, the T-Lab Building provides an innovative and high-technology environment that is conducive for research and development (R&D).

As a tertiary-level research institute, the T-Lab Building houses the Temasek Laboratories at NUS otherwise known as TL@NUS.

TL@NUS is a joint collaboration between MINDEF and NUS which seeks to conduct research in selected areas of science and technology identified to be crucial in advancing Singapore's defence and security capabilities.

These laboratories specialise in conducting research in aeronautical sciences, cognitive science, electromagnetics, information security, and signal processing.

TL@NUS undertakes the first tier or more generic research work involving the understanding of scientific and engineering issues as well as new phenomenons and materials that can be translated into innovative applications and research tools which are relevant to Singapore's defence landscape.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Teo explained the rationale for collaborations between MINDEF and local tertiary and research institutions. He said: "MINDEF's partnerships with our local universities and research institutes have been mutually beneficial. They not only provide a natural source of scientific and engineering talent and expertise to augment the research and resources of DSTA (Defence Science & Technology Agency) and DSO, but also allow many accomplished researchers to challenge themselves with cutting edge defence work... This convergence of interest between defence science and academia has brought new ideas, innovation and vibrancy to our R&D ecosystem".

Among the projects which have evolved from the TL@NUS collaboration include the development of a small and powerful antenna designed to boost the Republic of Singapore Navy's operational effectiveness and an electrical plasma device capable of enabling unmanned aerial vehicles to be launched with a short take-off distance.

Spanning over 9,100 sq m or the size of about 22 basketball courts, the research facilities of TL@NUS are housed within the North Wing of the 11-storey T-Lab Building while the South Wing is home to other key research units of the university.

The T-Lab building consolidates the defence science laboratories of MINDEF's TL@NUS and the advanced laboratories of NUS under one roof. The NUS laboratories conduct research in areas like environmental science, nanotechnology, water technologies and mechanobiology.

Previously, researchers were working from various schools and laboratories distributed across the university campus. With the coming together of TL@NUS and the other NUS laboratories in one building, researchers are now able to work closely to tap on each other's expertise for the development of new technologies to enhance Singapore's defence.

Explaining the significance of housing TL@NUS alongside key NUS laboratories, NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan said: "The co-location of Temasek Laboratories at NUS, with other NUS research groups will further enhance collaborations between these researchers. This will effectively build upon the sustained and close collaboration in R&D between MINDEF, DSTA and NUS that goes back many years".

MINDEF and NUS also commemorated the 10th anniversary of TL@NUS at the event. TL@NUS was established in September 2000 as part of MINDEF's outreach efforts in harnessing the talents and research networks of NUS researchers.