The Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios on the campus of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have been officially opened by Sir James Dyson.
The Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios represent a S$1million commitment – the largest-ever donation to a Singapore education institution by the James Dyson Foundation, Dyson’s global charitable foundation. It forms part of the foundation’s S$3million donation to support engineering education in Singapore. The aim of the studios is to inspire community interest in design-engineering education.
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The studios are expected to benefit more than 13,000 students across tertiary and secondary school levels over the next five years. Led by Dyson engineers, they will play host to activities such as the James Dyson Foundation Prototyping Workshop, which provides secondary school students with exposure to design thinking. In addition, the modular spaces will facilitate STEM educational activities for students in general education – such as a 3D-printing challenge and a STEM workshop for scholars in the Ministry of Education’s Engineering and Tech Programme. Guest lectures, innovation forums and workshops related to engineering design innovation, intelligent robotics, smart manufacturing and 3D printing, and machine learning may also be held there.
Meanwhile, students from SUTD’s Engineering Product Development and Information Systems Technology and Design pillars will have the opportunity to consult with Dyson-engineer mentors in the studios, as they work in teams to develop and contribute solutions to the world’s most pressing problems in a multidisciplinary engineering environment.
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‘I hope the Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios will inspire more of Singapore’s brightest young minds to take up the challenge to solve problems and discover the rewards of a career in engineering,’ said Sir James Dyson, founder and chairman of Dyson and the James Dyson Foundation. ‘Young engineers are the world’s greatest problem solvers and the world needs more of them to bring hardware and software together, developing intelligent solutions to sustainability and the other complex problems the world faces.’
‘We are very pleased to work alongside such bold and pioneering minds at Dyson to better the world by design,’ said Professor Chong Tow Chong, president of SUTD. ‘We believe this partnership will continue to inspire future generations of design innovators and provide many opportunities to both the SUTD family and the wider community, to bring ideas out of the academic environment into the real world.’
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Earlier this year, the James Dyson Foundation announced an investment of S$3million to support engineering and STEM education in Singapore over the next five years. The investment is expected to benefit more than 100,000 students aged six to 25, from primary through to tertiary levels, and aims to nurture interest in engineering and bolster national efforts in STEM learning among students in Singapore.