Universities are hotbeds for ideas, where pioneering solutions that tackle society’s challenges are often seeded and even commercialised. It was exciting to see the good work being done in the National University of Singapore’s innovation hubs during my visit earlier this week.
At the NUS Innovation 4.0 space, I met with some alumni of the Graduate Research Innovation Programme, a venture creation programme that helps PhD students and researchers launch their start-up companies while studying or working full-time. I had a first-hand look as well at the office of AI Singapore, which brings together Singapore-based AI researchers, start-ups, and companies to develop AI products and spur Singapore’s AI efforts. Also visited several start-ups at The Hangar, a co-working space where NUS’ start-ups and entrepreneurs can tap on resources like expert mentoring and test-bedding capabilities.
Such initiatives support NUS’ entrepreneurial and research talent with space and facilities to nurture and incubate their ideas before they take flight. This is an excellent example of how we can facilitate knowledge transfer from research to industry, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of NUS’ efforts to support a vibrant innovation and enterprise movement flourish and bear fruit.