TUMCREATE Launches New Campus

15.11.2012

 

TUM CREATE officially launched its new campus at the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) at University Town during an opening ceremony today. Its new and bigger location paves the way for closer collaboration among its 10 research teams, as they develop and build the first electric vehicles specifically for a tropical city, here in Singapore.

 

TUM CREATE is a joint research programme between Germany’s Technische Universität München (TUM) and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), funded by Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF).

 

Through its research in Singapore, TUM CREATE aims to contribute to the local human, intellectual and industrial capitals by training talents, innovating new technologies, forging partnerships and knowledge-sharing.

 

“The building-up of our scientific community from both countries (Singapore and Germany) brings valuable knowledge and opportunities to the local industry in Singapore. As part of our contribution to this wonderful country, we envision also to train Singaporean talents and develop cutting-edge technologies in cooperation with local partners,” Senior Vice-President of TUM Prof. Thomas Hofmann said.

 

TUM CREATE’s new campus features state-of-the-art laboratories and an automotive workshop that houses more than 100 research scientists and engineers from over 20 countries. With research ranging from the molecule to the megacity, TUM CREATE is at the forefront of inter-disciplinary research in new battery materials, Electric Vehicle (EV) design, computer modelling and simulations, and transportation systems design.

 

With the launch of the campus, research and development are at full steam as TUM CREATE’s scientists are able to access advanced facilities. These include some of the Southeast Asia’s firsts, which will increase Singapore’s profile in the R&D landscape across the region:

 

1. High-power battery tester: This will be the region’s first battery cycler for EV battery packs and modules.
2. Battery Safety Laboratory: The first in Southeast Asia that is capable of safely studying high-energy EV battery cells under various charging conditions.

 

Bridging Ties, Exchanging Views

 

While spearheading sustainable mobility research in Singapore, TUM CREATE will engage and train the brightest local talents. Apart from academic staff from TUM in Germany, there are 23 NTU faculty members who actively supervise and contribute to the research at TUM CREATE. The programme also allows doctoral students from TUM and NTU, who are working towards their PhDs, to conduct their research on different aspects of electromobility. These PhD degrees are jointly conferred by TUM and NTU.

 

With the launch of the Graduate Center TUM CREATE, these doctoral students will be able to further enrich their education with the possibility of attending exchange programmes at the TUM Graduate School in Garching, Germany, a city near Munich. These students are able to share views and experiences with colleagues of various faculties when attending “soft skills” courses offered during these trips. This will prepare them to become future leaders in industry and academia.

 

President of NTU Professor Bertil Andersson said that the launch of the new Graduate Center TUM CREATE is very timely.

 

“It will offer new opportunities for NTU and TUM PhD students here to interact with other TUM doctoral students in Germany,” he said. “At a time where the evolving labour markets around the world require future leaders to hold a holistic outlook that is not just limited to their own disciplines or countries, the Graduate Center TUM CREATE places strong emphasis on interdisciplinary and international programmes that develop team leadership, project management skills and entrepreneurial spirit.”