Inaugural Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp Unveils Winners
- Press Releases
- September 28, 2018
Inaugural Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp Unveils Winners
The winners of the inaugural Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp were announced and awarded this evening at its Closing Reception. The top winning team was presented with a cash prize of S$5,000 by the event’s Guest-of-Honour, Ambassador of Finland to Singapore Her Excellency Ms. Paula Parviainen.
Supported under the Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Turku (UTU) and the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI), the Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp took place from 23 to 28 September 2018 in Singapore.
UTU and SMI have partnered two key maritime industry players, MacGregor Finland Oy and PSA Corporation Limited, in the Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp. Based on the Innovation Challenges set by both corporate partners, a total of seventeen (17) university students from Finland and Singapore have formed teams to come up with innovative ideas and develop their concepts and solutions. The teams pitched them to a distinguished Judging Panel comprising of members from the academic institute, corporate partners and other organisations.
The Judging Panel was chaired by the Rector of UTU, Prof Kalervo Väänänen. The other members of the Judging Panel included Counsellor, Innovation and Trade Affairs of the Embassy of Finland in Singapore, Mr Riku Mäkelä, President of MacGregor, Mr Michel van Roozendaal, Chief Technology Officer of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Mr Kenneth Lim, Assistant Vice President (Projects) of PSA Corporation, Mr Phinehas Tan and Executive Director of SMI, Mr Toh Ah Cheong.
The teams pitched their concepts and solutions on the final day of the Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp to the Judging Panel. The teams were assessed based on their novelty, benefits, potential and presentation. Team 2, comprising of Mr Jonathan Jie and Mr Lim Wei Da from the National University of Singapore, and Ms Henriikka Hakala and Ms Anni Heiskanen from the University of Turku, eventually emerged as the top winning team. The remaining three teams also received consolation prizes of S$1,000 each.
“We highly appreciate the commitment, enthusiasism and innovativeness of all participating students in dynamic and challenging innovation process during the one-week Innovation Camp. We consider the Innovation Camp a successful showcase of influential and beneficial collaboration established between Singapore and Finland benefiting the wider ecosystem in the maritime sector”, says Mr Antti Saurama, Director of Corporate Research Co-operation at Turku School of Economics in UTU.
Through the Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp, all parties sought to gather greater interest and identify talent among students in Finland and Singapore for the maritime sector. Besides cultivating innovation and entrepreneurship amongst the participating students, the Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp also sought to create value for the corporate partners, MacGregor and PSA Corporation, and their respective value chain partners and stakeholders.
“We are pleased that this Finland-Singapore collaborative initiative has not only provided rewarding experiences for the participants and corporate partners but also supported innovation development as one of the ways of building up a maritime innovation eco-system and create value”, says Mr Toh Ah Cheong, Executive Director of SMI.
**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.
.
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