MOS S Iswaran at the SMA Annual Symposium 2007

KEYNOTE SPEECH BY MR S ISWARAN, MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE SMA ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM 2007 ON 23 JANUARY 2007 AT 9.30 AM AT THE AUDITORIUM, SCHOOL OF ART, DESIGN AND MEDIA, NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

Good morning. I am very pleased to be here with you today for the seventh Annual Symposium of the Singapore-MIT Alliance.

The Singapore-MIT Alliance was established in 1998 as a new paradigm in global graduate education in science and engineering. As a collaboration of the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SMA provides outstanding students and researchers with the opportunity to experience an academic and research environment spanning Asia and the US, and opening new avenues in their respective fields of study.

National R&D Drive

Research and innovation underpins growth in the global knowledge economy. And Singapore is committed to making significant investments in R&D to build a sustainable competitive advantage for itself.

The Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (or RIEC) was established last year, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, to give strategic impetus to our national research and innovation effort. The National Research Foundation (or NRF) was also formed to provide an articulate overview of R&D at the national level, and to fund longer term R&D programmes. The NRF will identify and invest in strategic areas of R&D, striking a balance in the funding accorded to basic and applied research within these areas. It also aims to provide resources and support to encourage private sector research, and to strengthen links between public and private R&D. Three areas of focus have been identified, namely Biomedical Sciences, Environmental and Water Technologies, and Interactive and Digital Media. The goal is to increase national R&D spending to three percent of GDP by 2010.

This is a major undertaking which, if it is to yield productive outcomes, will need the participation and collaboration of our research, academic and business communities – and this includes SMA.

SMA’s role in the National R&D drive

Indeed, SMA’s vision to be a premier educational and research enterprise that attracts the very best engineering and life sciences graduate students and researchers, fits aptly with our national R&D effort. Through world-class educational programmes and high-impact research initiatives, SMA attracts top talent, which is the very essence of research and innovation.

To date, 702 students have graduated from the SMA, with a total of 710 degrees awarded. There are 8 more degrees awarded than graduating students because eight SMA graduates received dual degrees. This is an attractive feature of the SMA programme, which allows its graduates to be awarded degrees from both MIT and either NUS or NTU.A survey of SMA graduates also shows that about two-thirds of the respondents are residing in Singapore - 57% employed in Singapore and a further 10% are pursuing further education here. I am glad that these SMA graduates have chosen to work in Singapore, and I hope that we will see many more of them in the coming years.

I am also happy to learn that SMA research has not only yielded some 500 journal articles, has it has also given rise to 26 patents applications of which three have been granted. As we deepen such R&D capabilities, we must also strengthen the links with industry, as the private sector is best placed to align R&D with market opportunities, and to realize optimal commercial value where appropriate.

SMA recognizes the need for closer linkages with industry, and has placed greater emphasis on engaging the industry in its second phase. SMA should persevere in these efforts as a means to identify market needs, test-bed and commercialize new technologies as well as to provide opportunities for its graduate students to be interned and guided by corporate mentors.

Further Collaboration with MIT

Further plans are underway to intensify R&D collaboration between Singapore and the MIT beyond SMA. The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (or SMART) Center will be the first establishment under the NRF’s proposed Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (or CREATE).CREATE will serve as a hub for world-acclaimed research universities to set up research centers and attract some of the best research talent to Singapore, to collaborate with Singapore-based researchers in academia and industry. The SMART Centre will build on the foundation of the strong relationship between MIT and Singapore that commenced with the SMA.

Achievements in Innovation and Research

We must continue to build on and develop our capabilities in R&D and innovation. Between 1990 and 2005, our gross expenditure on R&D grew from 0.85% to 2.36% of GDP, with the private sector accounting for two thirds (66.2%) of total expenditure. Over the same period, the depth of our R&D manpower has also increased from 28 to 90 Research Engineers and Scientists (or RSEs) per 10 000 in the labor force. Patenting activity has also increased. The number of patent applications from the private sector increased 50.2% from 777 in 2004 to 1,167 in 2005.

I am also encouraged by the successes of Singapore teams at the Asian Innovation Awards[1], organized by the Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ). Most recently in 2006, our home-grown biotechnology firm Veredus Laboratories edged out more than 200 other contenders to receive the top Gold award for its diagnostic test kits for diseases such as bird flu, dengue and malaria. In previous years, teams from Singapore have also won Gold Awards for innovations ranging from a biodegradable plastic mesh for patients undergoing reconstructive surgery for head injuries, to a groundbreaking diagnostic method that offers 95% accuracy in the diagnosis of childhood leukemia sub-types.

Singapore-based international researchers too have won international recognition. For instance, several have been identified in the MIT Technology Review’s listing of “Young Innovators”. These are young innovators, below the age of 35, whose inventions and research were judged by the MIT Technology Review to be most exciting. They include Prof Adekunle Adeyeye of NUS for his work on spin electronics, Prof Lee Der-Horng of NUS for his traffic micro simulation methodologies, and Dr Han Yu of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) for synthesizing Nano scale particles for the controlled delivery of drugs.

Singapore registered companies have similarly done well. For instance, Health Stats International, a medical devices company, and Cygenics, known for its cord-blood bank, received the prestigious Technology Pioneer status awarded by the Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF) last December, for developing and applying the most innovative and transformational technologies in their respective fields.

SMA students have also done us proud. Melvyn Sim and Karthik Natarajan won the George Nicholson Student Paper Competition – an international competition which honors outstanding papers in the field of operations research and the management sciences. The international Materials Research Society Graduate Student Award was also clinched by SMA students Gan Chee Lip and Shirley Meng Ying.

It is heartening to see our students, researchers and companies receive such international acclaim. Whilst such accolades cannot be the sole measure of the success of our national R & D effort, they serve as useful short term catalytic indicators of our progress and augur well for the future.

Conclusion

The theme of today’s symposium - “Opportunities in Emerging Technologies and Markets” - is both pertinent and timely. As Singapore steps up its efforts in research and innovation, we must develop strong instincts to seek out new technologies, applications and niche markets, where we can build a sustainable competitive advantage. I am confident that SMA will rise to the challenge.

In conclusion, I would like to commend SMA on its achievements and contributions to Singapore’s efforts in education and research. I wish all of you an enjoyable and productive Symposium.

Thank you. 

[1] The 8th and 9th Asian Innovation Awards in 2005 and 2006 respectively were organized by the Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) while the previous years’ awards were organized by the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER). The awards are organized annually.