Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have launched a new digital aviation corporate laboratory designed co-create innovative technologies and solutions to improve the experience for air-travel passengers.
The S$45 million SIA-NUS Digital Aviation Corporate Laboratory is situated in the Innovation 4.0 Building on NUS’s Kent Ridge campus. Featuring state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, such as a cabin simulator and a cockpit simulator with augmented-reality and virtual-reality technologies, the new laboratory will focus on a number of research activities, including the development of intelligent fatigue and alertness models using wearables to improve and enhance safety, performance and productivity, and the development of real-environment cabin simulators to enhance customers’ comfort and sleep quality by optimising areas such as seat design.
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In addition, over the next five years, the SIA-NUS Digital Aviation Corporate Laboratory expects to train more than 70 researchers and PhD students, who it hopes will play a critical role in fostering a resilient and long-term research-and-development, and engineering-talent pipeline for Singapore’s aviation industry.
‘This significant collaboration will tap into NUS’s deep-tech and multi-disciplinary research expertise across artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, operations research and analytics, optimisation, sleep studies and industrial design, to deliver high value and productivity improvements for SIA, our country’s flagship carrier,’ said NUS president, Professor Tan Eng Chye. ‘The innovative technologies developed from the research will redefine the air-travel experience for passengers worldwide, while accelerating the digital transformation of Singapore’s aviation sector.’
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‘By bringing together NUS’s wealth of research expertise and SIA’s knowledge and experience in the aviation sector, this corporate laboratory will strengthen our position at the forefront of digital innovation in the airline industry,’ said Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong. ‘It will lead to even more innovative solutions that can enhance the customer experience and travel journey, optimise revenue generation and increase operational efficiency.’