Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp to create value and grow the maritime innovation ecosystem

Supported under the Memorandum of Understanding between University of Turku (UTU) and the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) established in November 2016, the inaugural Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp will be held in the third quarter of 2018 in Singapore.

This was announced by the Ambassador of Finland to Singapore HE Paula Parviainen at this evening’s maritime reception jointly hosted by the Embassy of Finland in Singapore, Turku Business Region and MacGregor.

UTU and SMI will be partnering two key maritime industry players MacGregor (Finland) and PSA Corporation (Singapore) in this initiative. Based on the Innovation Challenge set by both corporate partners, university students from Finland and Singapore will be forming groups to generate innovative ideas and accelerate their concepts before pitching them to a distinguished judging panel.

“We have run and carefully developed the Innovation Camp concept during the past years, especially with many maritime sector companies, and now the innovation concept takes next steps becoming an international and multi-partner initiative. We are very proud to co-operate with both SMI and corporate partners MacGregor and PSA Corporation”, says Mr Antti Saurama, Director of Corporate Research Co-operation at Turku School of Economics in UTU.

Through the Innovation Camp, all parties hope to gather greater interest and identify talent among students in Finland and Singapore for the maritime sector. Innovation and entrepreneurship will be cultivated within participating students, which will also create value for the corporate partners MacGregor and PSA Corporation and their respective value chain partners and stakeholders.

“We are pleased to collaborate with UTU and our corporate partners for the Innovation Camp. This collaboration will foster closer ties, create values for the maritime sector and further grow the maritime innovation ecosystem in Finland and Singapore”, says Mr Toh Ah Cheong, Executive Director of SMI.

“MacGregor is no stranger to industry and university collaborations, and we have multiple ongoing collaborative projects”, says Mr Magnus Sjöberg, Senior Vice President of MacGregor Cargo Handling. “Research collaboration is important because of the wider perspectives it provides. Students can consider a wider, more general, cross-industrial view without limitations in their ideas”, adds Mr Janne Suominen, Manager, Offering Development of MacGregor Cargo Handling.

“Mechanisation and automation are two of PSA’s key thrusts to provide a productive and safe environment for our staff. We look forward to working alongside MacGregor to challenge young minds to think out-of-the-box and solve real-life problem statements provided by us. As the students deepen their exposure to the maritime industry through this Innovation camp, we are excited to see the ideas that will be generated,” says Mr Alvin Foo, Head of Engineering, PSA Corporation.

More details will be available in the coming weeks when the Innovation Challenge jointly issued by MacGregor and PSA Corporation is announced. Further information will be progressively released and made available on the Innovation Camp webpage at www.maritimeinstitute.sg/InnovationCamp.

**End of Release**

About University of Turku (UTU)

The University of Turku is a multidisciplinary higher education and research university in Southwest Finland. Turku is the oldest city in Finland, first mentioned in writing in 1229. The University was established in 1920 and currently it is a community of 20,000 students and 3,300 staff members. Southwest Finland is a major port and ship-building region on the Baltic sea, and the University of Turku plays the leading academic role in this region. With seven faculties including natural sciences, law and business, its profile builds on interdisciplinary research. The strategic theme “Sea and maritime studies” covers environmental research, cultural aspects of sea and coast, and especially ship-building, logistics and port operations.

For more information, please visit www.utu.fi.

About the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI)

The Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) is a joint effort by the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

Established in April 2011, the SMI develops strategies and programmes to achieve its mission with key focus areas in sectors such as port, shipping and maritime services. The SMI charts the maritime research strategy and promotes greater industry-academia R&D collaborations to be undertaken in Singapore.

As a whole-of-Government approach, the agencies work together in initiatives driven through the SMI. The formation of the SMI will strengthen Singapore’s research manpower and capabilities as a global maritime knowledge hub to enhance the overall positioning and competitiveness of the maritime industry.
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For more information, please visit www.maritimeinstitute.sg.

For media clarification, please contact:

Jason Lin (Mr)
Singapore Maritime Institute
DID: (65) 6270-2824
HP: (65) 9365-4522
Fax: (65) 6270-2885
Email: jason@maritimeinstitute.sg