Keysight Technologies signs MoU with SUTD, opens new measurement tech lab

Source: Keysight Technologies. From left: Gooi, Minister Iswaran, and Professor Magnanti with a cheque for S$10 million, being the total investment from Keysight for a Measurement Technologies Laboratory at SUTD and research grants for manufacturing, analytics and IoT security.

Keysight Technologies and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for research collaboration.

Singapore is a key strategic operational site for Keysight. Apart from being the company’s global centre for high value business services and regional centre for sales, marketing and customer support, Keysight Singapore is also one of the company’s centres of innovation for advanced manufacturing, data analytics and IoT security.

Keysight also opened a new Measurement Technologies Laboratory, which was officially opened by guest-of-honour S. Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry. The electronic test and measurement equipment specialist donated S$8 million worth of equipment to the lab, coupled with another S$2 million in research grants to accelerate research and development (R&D) in the domains of advanced manufacturing, data analytics and IoT security.

Gooi Soon Chai, President of Keysight’s Electronic Industrial Solutions Group and Senior VP, Keysight Technologies said: “Today’s convergence of technology domains and the explosion of electronic content everywhere is driving the entire industrial ecosystem into a whole new dimension. Organisations are facing tremendous pressure to keep up with the accelerating pace and complexity of today’s advancements. Keysight, as the world’s leader in electronic measurement, is collaborating with SUTD, with its multidisciplinary research talents, to reimagine innovation that will help the world’s organisations today face these challenges and deliver their products and services, faster, better and safer.”

The collaboration with Keysight is part of SUTD’s strategy in partnering industry partners to drive research and innovations that contribute to Singapore’s Smart Nation initiatives.

SUTD’s President, Professor Thomas Magnanti said: “Such an industry-academia collaboration is mutually beneficial as through research, new innovations in measurement and testing will arise. Meanwhile, the lab gives our students, faculty and researchers access to state-of-the-art testing and measurement technology, which will enhance their industry relevant knowledge and skills, to become technically grounded innovators who can help create a better world through technology and design.”

At the lab, researchers will leverage Keysight’s equipment and software solutions, and also tap on the company’s global technology and industry expertise as they work on R&D projects for the smart factories of tomorrow (also known as Industry 4.0). These projects, incorporating the latest developments in security, big data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT), aim to result in better-quality products, smarter utilisation of resources, improved efficiency, productivity and security. The projects will:

 Address the diminishing test access of printed circuit boards (PCB) and advance the development of fault detection and fault isolation;

 Harvest Industry 4.0 manufacturing big data, develop advanced predictive and machine learning algorithms, and advance anomaly detection and identification; and

 Strengthen the cyberphysical security of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices and systems against malicious threats.

Lim Kok Kiang, Assistant MD, Singapore Economic Development Board, said: “The establishment of the Measurement Technologies Lab brings Singapore another step forward in our ambition for advanced manufacturing. As the pace of digitalisation continues to accelerate, this partnership between Keysight and SUTD will not only help transform and optimise manufacturing operations, but also pave the way for Singapore to innovate and export advanced manufacturing capabilities to the world.”

“As the world's leading technology company with solutions for advanced technology sectors, Keysight has always taken an active role in supporting and contributing to research communities worldwide,” said Gooi. “Our culture of innovation spanning nearly 80 years drives us to create and reimagine innovation with a strong forward focus. We are excited by the opportunities and the positive impacts that our collaboration with SUTD will generate for Singapore and around the world.”