Collaborations with industry leaders are significant as they open up meaningful opportunities for developmental work between our partners, staff and students. To date, RP has signed MOUs with 43 partners from various sectors of the industry, allowing for joint projects under the auspices of the six Technology Development Centres as well as between the Centres, Schools and our partners.

Apart from projects, our partners also provide the bridge between the commercial and the academic realms. The Adjunct Academic Scheme offers a platform for companies to offer their expertise within RP. We also work with partner firms towards Staff Associateship for the long-term development of our staff resource. Other initiatives include networking sessions for our staff to keep abreast of industry trends and invitations to our partners to participate in staff and student activities.

Collaborations with Industry

The School of Information & Communications Technology (SIT) has successfully tapped on industry expertise in its curriculum and developmental work. It currently has a Senior Network Consultant from CISCO Systems Inc as an Adjunct Associate who works with the School to craft problems in the Wireless Lan Security module, bringing real life scenarios and applications of the concepts and technologies to staff and students. Within the Wireless LAN module, a staff member from Agilent Technologies is on attachment with the School to help value add to the module with his field experience and know-how in testing Wireless LANs.

Together with Internet Security Systems (ISS), SIT has set up the Information Security Laboratory to provide a conducive environment for learning about internet security. Besides conducting workshops and updates for staff and students, RP staff will be able to access research data via ISS’s research facility, X-Force.

Another centre set up by SIT is the Security Management Centre in collaboration with IBM Singapore to provide opportunities for staff and students to learn first-hand state-of-the-art technologies in security management, such as the Tivoli technology.

The School of Engineering too ensures the continued relevance of its curriculum and academic staff by forming partnerships with various industries. During the year, it launched the Industry Associate Scheme with SembCorp Logistics, Data Storage Institute, a renowned research institute specialising in data storage solutions, and iWOW Communications, an Original Design Manufacturer for wireless communications products.

Within the School of Applied Science, partnerships with key industry players ensure that the School remains relevant in its educational efforts. Currently the School has ties with Baxter Healthcare, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Parkway Group Healthcare, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Pfizer.

International Collaborations

RP pursues academic collaborations with overseas universities in the areas of information exchange, academic visits, staff and student exchanges, joint project development and articulation agreements. To date, we have established more than 20 agreements with overseas universities on advanced standing and collaborations, and are in various stages of discussions with 60 other universities from UK, Australia and USA.

Visits by academics to learn about RP and our learning pedagogy are popular and often result in repeat visits by different faculty members from the same university. During the year, several overseas delegations visited RP, including Wuhan Technical College, Zhengzhou City provincial, Hebei Education Dept, Hong Kong Inst of Vocational Education, National Productivity Council of China, 15 Principals from the Beijing Vocational & Technical Institutions, and 20 Secondary School Teachers from Malaysia.