S'pore's 1st Research Institute For Air Traffic Management Established

SINGAPORE, Feb 6 (Bernama) -- The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to establish the Air Traffic Management Research Institute (ATMRI). It will be Singapore’s first institute dedicated to research and development (R&D) in air traffic management (ATM), both parties said in a statement. Over the next five years, CAAS will provide S$50 million to fund ATM R&D activities undertaken by the ATMRI, as well as ATM experts for the research projects, while NTU will provide in-kind contributions of S$22 million, including research manpower and facilities. The ATMRI is a key element of CAAS’ larger effort to build Singapore as a Centre of Excellence for ATM2. Yap Ong Heng Director-General, CAAS, said that ATMRI will develop innovative solutions to catalyse ATM transformation in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region as well as contribute to progress towards seamless ATM in the region. Professor Freddy Boey, Provost of NTU, meanwhile said that NTU has established globally recognised strengths in engineering and science and is well placed to lead in this area of ATM Research. He said that through the new Institute, NTU will be able to translate more of fundamental research - "what we call yet-to-be applied research - into feasible applications in the real world, not only generating knowledge and know-how but also providing critical manpower needed for research in ATM." NTU is a world-renowned research-intensive university with deep and diverse research expertise, including in the areas of human factors, operational research, and information management system design and development, all of which are highly relevant to ATM R&D. -- BERNAMA