Singapore Polytechnic And Shimadzu Join Hands To Create First-Of-Its-Kind SMARTLab
Singapore, 30th day of May 2018: Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, the longest-serving global leader in providing analytical solutions, scientific equipment, testing machines, balances and medical equipment, has signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore Polytechnic’s (SP) School of Chemical and Life Sciences (CLS), to create a SMART (Scalable Manageable Automated Regulated Total-Compliance) Lab, where students will receive training on the state-of-the-art innovations in analytical technologies. This is to equip our next generation of lab technologists with a set of skills that will prepare them well for Industry 4.0 and also Singapore’s manufacturing landscape.
This three-year collaboration will see the two organisations bringing their two-decade-old relationship to the next level of partnership. The SMARTLab will provide a much-needed sustainable learning space for students in these challenging times when the economy is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.
SP has a wide range of Shimadzu instruments in their lab and with the implementation of this agreement, all the instruments will now be linked with the industry’s most popular informatics platform – Shimadzu’s LabSolutions CS and LIMS system. LabSolutions CS, which has helped global organisations to face regulatory challenges with utmost confidence, will help to provide hands-on compliance training to the students.
The training programmes will include topics on analytical instrumentations, use of advanced systems to manage data and automation, connectivity of instruments and use of disruptive technology. Hence, upon successful completion of training programmes on Analytical Instrumentation & Laboratory Techniques, students undergoing the Continuing Education & Training (CET) and Pre-Employment Training (PET) will receive certificates that are jointly awarded by SP and Shimadzu. In addition, Shimadzu will offer four internship placements annually, and will train up to two student interns per semester.
Dr Thomas Chai Min Sen, Senior Director, Communication, Mathematics and the Sciences Cluster, Singapore Polytechnic (SP), said that, "Shimadzu is a global brand name, and most of its products can be commonly found in laboratories of companies as well as those in government agencies and educational institutions. Moreover, Shimadzu is known for their dedication in scientific excellence, where it has the expertise and innovation to manufacture a wide range of instruments that cater to the needs of users from various industries. Over the past two decades, we manage to procure lab instruments that cater to the training needs of our students, and the professional development of staff. Besides, such exposure on advanced technologies will give our students that extra edge over their peers from other institutions, and get them ready for their future workplace. We are very fortunate to find Shimadzu as a partner who can cater to our needs in terms of what we want to do for our students."
Dr Adrian Yeo Chao Chuang, Director, School of Chemical & Life Sciences, Singapore Polytechnic, said: “This MoU serves as an important milestone for us to bridge the gap between the expectations of the industries and the training provided in an academic environment. Shimadzu has been one of our key industrial partners for the past two decades. This collaboration on the SMARTLab initiative will further strengthen the relationship, allowing us to stay current and relevant on the technological front. Singapore Polytechnic is happy to partner Shimadzu in turning SMARTLab into reality for the training of laboratory technologists.”
Mr Tetsuya Tanigaki, Managing Director of the Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, said that, “Shimadzu has always followed the philosophy of ‘Contributing to the Society through Science and Technology’ since the past 143 years. Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders and it is our commitment to provide the best training on latest technologies to these future innovators. This milestone agreement with Singapore Polytechnic reiterates our commitment to our philosophy.”
Mr Prem Anand, Executive Officer & Senior General Manager, Analytical & Measuring Instruments Division, Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, which operates across 18 countries in APAC, highlighted that, “This first-of-its-kind collaboration will act as an ideal model for other Academia-Industry partnerships. Not only will the students be trained on the most futuristic Analytical technologies in the SMARTLab but also be provided internships in Shimadzu’s world-renowned Application Development and Support Centre (ADSC). Shimadzu is always here to support our long-standing partners, Singapore Polytechnic, in their quest for providing the best of training and education through Excellence in Science.”
Mr Tetsuya Tanigaki, Managing Director, of the Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, signing historic MoU with Dr Thomas Chai Min Sen, Senior Director, Communication, Mathematics and the Sciences Cluster, Singapore Polytechnic.
About Singapore Polytechnic (SP)
Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is an established tertiary institution in Singapore. It is the first polytechnic that was founded on 27th October 1954, where its mission is to train students well to serve with skills in local industrial landscape. The former campus was originally located at Prince Edward Road and was relocated to its present-day location at Dover Road.
As an industry-oriented alternative to a broader based pre-university education, polytechnic graduates in Singapore are well sought after by industries. Unlike the polytechnics in the United States as well as the UK, majority of the intakes for the polytechnics in Singapore are the students from the secondary schools (‘O’-level). These are the students who have completed their 10 years of formal education. Diplomas in a specialised area of study, for examples, Biomedical Science and Perfumery & Cosmetic Science, are awarded after completing 3 years of studies.
The year 2010 saw Singapore Polytechnic's 50th graduation ceremony and 150,000th graduate. To date, over 200,000 students have graduated from Singapore Polytechnic.
About Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd
Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) is a subsidiary and the Asian headquarter of Shimadzu Corporation, which was founded in 1875 in Kyoto, Japan. The subsidiary was established in 1989 in Singapore as a distribution centre providing analytical solutions, scientific equipment, testing machines, balances and medical equipment to a wide range of laboratories. A fast-paced growth of business in the region has seen the opening of 3 subsidiaries in India, Malaysia and the Philippines with application specialists, technical and sales engineers spreading across 18 countries throughout the region including, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Brunei. Additionally, the company operates via a wide and carefully selected network of local distributors in every country in the region.
The company's instruments are relied upon by researchers across Asia from large multinational organisations to local academic research universities and a long list of local, state and central laboratories. Through adoption of scientific inventions and cutting-edge technologies, Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) provides its corporate clients with the highest quality in product standards and delivers excellent customer support services in accordance with its motto - ‘Excellence in Science’.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Mr Saptarshi Chaudhuri (Bob)
Marketing & Communications
Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd
Mobile: (+65) 9273 6168
Email: saptarshi@shimadzu.com.sg