Singaporean Delegation Visited Turku Strengthening Maritime Research Co-operation
A delegation from the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) visited the University of Turku on 9-11 October. The visit was a continuation to last year’s co-operation that aimed to improve the University’s sea and maritime research and development.
Front row: Jason Lin (SMI), Lance Lim (Singapore Polytechnic), Executive Director of SMI Toh Ah Cheong, Vice Rector Kalle-Antti Suominen, CEO of Turku Science Park Niko Kyynäräinen, and Director of Centre for Collaborative Research Antti Saurama.
SMI’s visit to Turku was a continuation to Vice Rector Kalle-Antti Suominen’s visit to Singapore last autumn. During that visit, the University and SMI signed a Memorandum of Understanding that created a base for international co-operation in sea and maritime research.
Vice Rector Suominen says that sea and maritime research are one of the University’s strategic thematic collaborations.
– Sea and maritime is a growing, multidisciplinary field, in which we have recognised the categories of environment, economy and culture. Our operations are accelerated with the research profile funding granted by the Academy of Finland. Co-operation with SMI and the four leading universities of Singapore opens new possibilities for internationalisation and developing our operations. In Southwest Finland, we carry out development work together with higher education institutions and Turku Science Park.
For the past year, the Centre for Maritime Studies, Department of Future Technologies, and Centre for Collaborative Research (CCR), have worked together with SMI. During SMI’s visit, a new area of co-operation was recognised in the Faculty of Law and especially in the research of maritime law.
– The setup for research co-operation between the University of Turku and Singaporean universities works well, because multiple leading maritime companies have units in both the Turku region and Singapore. As a result, achievements from the research co-operation can be utilised faster by the companies. The University of Turku and the Singaporean universities are all well networked and have good connections to business world. The universities also share many similar research themes, such as autonomous ships, AR and VR technology, and boosting container traffic, says Director of CCR Antti Saurama.
During the visit, a plan was made for organising a maritime-related and problem-centred Business Innovation Camp in Singapore. Eight students from the University of Turku and eight from the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University will be invited to the international camp.
>> The MoU was signed last November
Text: Heikki Kettunen
Photo: Antti Tarponen
Translation: Jenni Maja