13 September 2006
MEDIA RELEASE
Republic Polytechnic Launches New Industry Platform
to Spur Research and Development in
Republic Polytechnic (RP) today launched the inaugural “Republic Polytechnic Technology Series”. This initiative provides a platform for dialogue between institutes of higher learning, research agencies, Government agencies and industry players to promote cutting edge technological advances and applications. The series will host talks, seminars and exhibitions to spur greater collaborative research and development in
“RP grooms talented young people who can apply cutting edge technology in the business world,” said Mr Tan Huan Peow, Director of Technology Development, Republic Polytechnic. “By collaborating with the industry, young people will be given the opportunity to pursue research and development work that drives businesses beyond traditional boundaries. Such industry collaborations give RP staff and students real life exposures which stimulate creativity and innovation critical to the success of our country as a technology hub.”
The first seminar in the series is themed “Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) – New Applications and Opportunities.” RFID is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects by storing a serial number and/or other information on a microchip that is attached to an antenna. The antenna transmits the identification information as digital data to a computer. RFID can be used in a multitude of ways, from tracking pets to triggering equipments in oil wells. It is most frequently used in payment systems such as toll collections and increasingly used to track goods.
The seminar showcases new applications and related technologies in RFID such as supply chain management, embedded systems, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) design and wireless technologies such as ZigBee.
“We launched the series with RFID because the technology has a wide range of applications that are only limited by one’s imagination. The technology has been developed about thirty years ago, and due to recent advances in silicon technology, it is increasingly becoming a viable and cost effective option for many businesses We believe that it is a superior enabling technology that will transform how things are done currently.”
Mr Tan Huan Peow continued, “Today’s launch is just the beginning of an exciting journey. We hope to stimulate interest across a large cross section of industries in
“The RP Tech Series will be a quarterly initiative focusing on different areas of technology applications each time. In the pipeline, RP is planning to introduce forums in the area of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and InfoComm Technology.”
A total of 100 to 150 participants are expected to attend the inaugural seminar, including representatives from leading technology companies such as Agilent Technologies, NEC Solutions Asia Pacific, Renesas System Solutions Asia Pte Ltd and Wavex Technologies Pte Ltd. The event will also see representatives from the retail and logistics companies who are interested to find out more about how they can apply RFID in their operations.
During the event, RP will also sign an agreement with Aussino Home Fashions Pte Ltd and NEC Solutions Asia Pacific to develop Asia’s first RFID-Enabled Electronic Product Code supply chain management solution for the retail industry. (See attached press release)
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For media enquiries, please contact:
Lorraine Chua Vivienne Oh
Rubicon Consulting Pte Ltd Republic Polytechnic
Tel: 9819 9151 Tel: 6510 3239
Email: lorraine@rubicon.com.sg Email: vivienne_oh@rp.sg
About Republic Polytechnic
The first educational institution in
For more information, visit http://www.rp.sg .