Singapore, 14 September 2007 – Republic Polytechnic today signed a Collaboration Agreement with Xilinx, the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic solutions. Mr. Eden Liew, Deputy Principal, Republic Polytechnic and Mr. Wim Roelandts, Chairman, CEO and President, Xilinx Inc. signed the agreement during the official launch of RP and Xilinx’s Programmable Logic Solutions Laboratory earlier today.

The partnership marks the most comprehensive relationship to-date between an institution of higher learning and Xilinx in the whole ASEAN region. On top of providing all the necessary tools required, Xilinx and their distributor, Avnet, will also provide training to help advance the capabilities of School of Engineering, Republic Polytechnic in using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) for  applications such as audio/video quality enhancement, hardware acceleration for innovative human-machine interaction, telecommunication switching network and portable multimedia devices. Besides, this joint laboratory will value add to the industry through educational workshops/seminars and R&D project collaborations in the novel applications of FPGA to achieve miniaturization, highly flexible programmability and quick turn around time of system design.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Eden Liew, RP’s Deputy Principal said, “The inking of this agreement with Xilinx adds value to RP as an institution that is actively working with key industry players. Increasingly, partnership such as this is no longer limited to knowledge sharing and resources. The trend now is for partners to co-invest, develop a joint-curriculum and establish new grounds through the mutually beneficial cooperation.”

 “The inauguration of this new joint lab at the Republic Polytechnic is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia,” said Patrick Lysaght, Senior Director of the Xilinx University Program (XUP).  “The new lab, consisting of Xilinx FPGA development systems and CAD tools, is a perfect complement to the ‘problem-based learning’ philosophy practised at RP.  Students will be able to develop their engineering skills by using the industry’s leading silicon and software tools to tackle realistic audio and video design projects for digital entertainment applications. This kind of practical experience will inspire and motivate students and faculty of RP, bringing immediate short-term benefits. Longer term, this will lead to substantial benefits to local industry,” Mr Lysaght added.

The joint lab is sponsored by Xilinx with the latest silicon, software, and demo boards, valued at US$100K. The lab is capable of training and grooming over 150 students each year, contributing to growing demand for engineering talent in today’s market place. Embedded systems are playing an increasingly important role within the digital entertainment world. As consumer demand continues to rise for more complex systems, RP-trained engineers will be able to take advantage many job opportunities in the future.

Also announced at the launch is a new diploma programme in Digital Entertainment Electronics (DDEE) by School of Engineering, Republic Polytechnic.  The new diploma aims to groom knowledgeable and enterprising young professionals in the electronics field to meet the current manpower need of companies engaged in the fields of consumer electronics and entertainment systems. 

The new diploma will start admitting as many as 150 students in April 2008.

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About Republic Polytechnic

The first educational institution in Singapore to adopt the Problem-Based Learning approach for all its diploma programme, Republic Polytechnic has five schools and two centres offering twenty nine diploma courses in Information & Communications Technology, Engineering, Applied Science, Technology for the Arts, Sports, Health & Leisure, Innovation and Enterprise, and Culture and Communication. Republic Polytechnic is committed to nurturing innovation and entrepreneurial learning in an environment that develops problem-solving process skills and a life-long learning attitude. Its holistic, broad-based curriculum, covering culture, enterprise development and cognitive processes, prepares students for an active and meaningful role in society. Republic Polytechnic strives for excellence by achieving various national and international accreditations, including People Developer Standards, ISO9001, ISO14001, OHSAS 18001, Singapore Quality Class, Singapore Innovation Class, and the Singapore Health Awards (Gold). For more information, visit http://www.rp.sg

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic solutions. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.