Lloyd’s Register (LR) and A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) have officially opened a joint laboratory, which will deliver innovative technological solutions to address the challenges faced by the marine, energy and offshore sectors.
This initiative is realised as part of LR’s US$35million investment in its Global Technology Centre (GTC) set up in Singapore in 2012. It is also pursued under LR’s agreement with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to collaborate on R&D projects as a key part of the centre’s activities.
The joint laboratory will leverage on IHPC’s capabilities in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and engineering mechanics to develop computational modelling and simulation, and bespoke technical solutions for businesses in the marine, energy and offshore sectors. Some of the joint projects, which rely on numerical modelling using CFD tools, include wave-in-deck impact analysis on offshore structures, floating offshore wind turbines’ operating in deep water areas and the enhancing of virtual wave tank and deep ocean basin capabilities.
Both the joint laboratory and IHPC are co-located within A*STAR premises at Fusionopolis to facilitate close and seamless exchanges between researchers from both parties. Over 10 researchers are now carrying out projects in the laboratory. Dr. Claus Myllerup, Senior Vice President of Energy Technology and Managing Director of LR’s Singapore GTC, and Professor Alfred Huan, Executive Director of A*STAR IHPC, jointly officiated the opening.
“This opening of the Joint Lab with IHPC is an important step in realising our global technological vision of creating a long-term centre of excellence for technology, innovation and research. The end result will not only benefit Singapore, but also our industry and society as a whole. The encouraging progress we are making with A*STAR and on the various collaborative agreements we have in place with NUS and NTU (Energy Research Institute @ NTU or Eri@n) prove that setting up our Global Technology Centre here was the right choice,” said Dr. Claus Myllerup.
“We have received encouraging feedback from clients who recognise the strength of joint capabilities we have obtained by bringing together subject matter experts from across LR and appreciate that we are recruiting young and bright talents to work on industry-relevant research projects with us as part of their PhD studies. Equally importantly, our work is also enabling us to engage local Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), either as partners in joint industry projects or suppliers of specific services. This is helping to further improve the technological infrastructure of the local offshore and marine sector. Singapore GTC is part of a global R&D network which comprises the LR GTC at the University of Southampton coupled with 48 other Lloyd’s Register Foundation-sponsored academic and technical institutions. Such a strong global network not only enables us to acquire vast global knowledge and expertise, but also remain sufficiently versatile to act locally,” added Dr. Myllerup.
Said Prof Alfred Huan, “The investments by Lloyd’s Register in the GTC is a major boost for R&D activities in our marine and offshore sector, which will translate into opportunities for more value-add and business to our local partners. IHPC is excited to embark on joint projects with Lloyd’s Register, being a leading authority on safety in the global energy and maritime arenas. We are confident that our strengths in modeling and simulation, combined with LR’s expertise in these domains, will catalyse innovations and ideas to benefit the industry on the whole and present development mileage to companies to equip themselves for new challenges in these sectors.”
Singapore’s marine and offshore industry has grown significantly over the last few years, recording an output increase of more than 30% from 2006 to 2011, contributing to 5.8% of Singapore’s manufacturing output.
A*STAR’s cooperation with Lloyd’s Register, the world’s first classification society, provides a strategic platform to develop key research capabilities in this important sector.