The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has set up a Maritime R&D Advisory Panel, the second to be established, to continue promoting maritime R&D and developing Singapore into a centre of excellence for port and maritime R&D. The 1st Advisory Panel was set up in March 2002 for a two-year term, which has since ended its term of service. Mr Peter Ong, Chairman, MPA presented Letters of Appointment to the 17 new Advisory Panel members at a lunch held at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel today. The tenure of the appointment is two years.
Speaking at the event, Mr Peter Ong said, "In our drive to develop Singapore as an International Maritime Centre, we have identified maritime R&D as one of the key driving forces that could contribute to the growth of the maritime industry in Singapore. To be a centre of excellence for maritime R&D, we need to foster a culture of maritime research and innovation in our academic institutions as well as in the maritime industry. The collaboration of the academia and industry on maritime R&D will lead to the development of useful technology, products and services."
The 2nd Advisory Panel will be chaired by Mr. Sven Ullring, Chairman of the Fridtjof Nansen Institute. The Norway-based Institute conducts research on the international environmental energy, and resource management issues from a multi-disciplinary approach with emphasis on political science, economics and international law. The Advisory Panel will comprise members drawn from the maritime industry, academia, the MPA, as well as other related government agencies. They are leaders from cross-disciplinary fields including science, engineering, logistics, shipping, environmental technology and information technology (IT) (Refer to Annex for List of Members).
Mr Ong commented that the composition of the 2nd Maritime R&D Advisory Panel reflect the strong involvement of the maritime industry. With the strong private sector representation, Mr Ong was confident that the Panel would be able to generate more industry relevant R&D ideas and collaboration.
With the diversity in the members' expertise and knowledge, the Advisory Panel is well positioned to promote maritime R&D efforts, establish the latest technological trends and facilitate collaboration among the academia and industry.
Over the next two years, the Advisory Panel will look into the following areas:
(a) Advise on technological developments, advances and requirements with R&D potential;
(b) Facilitate the development of R&D areas and links between local and overseas project partners;
(c) Provide assistance to promote, evaluate and monitor projects under the MINT Fund programmes.

Mr Ong also thanked the outgoing members of the 1st Maritime R&D Advisory Panel, chaired by Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, Deputy President of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), which drew up the Maritime Technology Cluster Development Roadmap and developed the Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT) Fund, established last September.
The Maritime Technology Cluster Development Roadmap and Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT) Fund
The Maritime Technology Cluster Development Roadmap was established to enhance the maritime R&D capability in Singapore tertiary and research institutes, and to develop a strong technology cluster in the port and maritime industry, and was unveiled in September 2003. A S$100 million Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT) Fund was set up to support the various programmes and schemes under this Roadmap over the next 10 years. S$50 million would be used to fund programmes that enhance maritime research capabilities in Singapore, while the remaining S$50 million would be used to develop a technology cluster in the port and maritime industry.
Since the launch of the MINT Fund, there have been several R&D and test-bedding projects approved under it. One of them is a pilot project by the MPA, NTU, Surbana Technologies and a start-up company NewEarth Pte Ltd to test the results from a joint NTU-MPA R&D project to convert dredged and other waste materials into value-added construction products. Another project, which is led by THISS Technologies, is the Test-Bedding of a Satellite-Based System for Vessel Tracking Service. Its objective is to demonstrate vessel-tracking service together with Long-Range functionality that could potentially meet the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)'s requirements.

Attached:
Annex - List of Members