Second Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp Winners Unveiled

The Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) and University of Turku (UTU) announced the winning team of the second edition of the Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp at the Closing Reception held this evening. Guest-of-Honour Ms Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, presented the award to the top winning team. The winning team received a cash prize of S$4,000.

The Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation Camp, supported under the Memorandum of Understanding between SMI and UTU, took place from 11 to 16 January 2020 in Singapore. Organised in close collaboration with three maritime industry corporations, namely Jurong Port, MacGregor and The China Navigation Company, the Innovation Camp strives to cultivate maritime innovation among university students in Singapore and Finland, while creating value for industry partners and to grow the maritime innovation ecosystem in both countries.

The Innovation Camp is a facilitated innovation process designed to solve challenges set by the corporate partners. 16 university students from Finland and Singapore (eight from each country) were shortlisted for participation in the intensive week-long camp where they formed teams to generate innovative ideas in the area of efficient break bulk handling and related solutions. The teams pitched their proposal to an esteemed Judging Panel which comprised of members from academia, corporate partners and other organisations.

The members of the Judging Panel included the following:

• Ms Ritva Naumanen, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Finland in Singapore
• Dr Sanjay C. Kuttan, Executive Director, Singapore Maritime Institute
• Professor Markus Granlund, Dean of the Turku School of Economics, University of Turku
• Mr Michel van Roozendaal, President, MacGregor
• Mr Parikshit Kulkarni, Senior Manager, Operations and Technology, Jurong Port
• Mr Rasmus Nagel, General Manager, Customer Service and Business Systems, The China Navigation Company
• Mr Kenneth Lim, Chief Technology Officer, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
• Mr Kenneth Chia, Executive Director, Singapore Maritime Foundation

The teams were assessed based on the relevance and perceived benefits of the concept/solution, potential impact to business and operations, novelty, potential for scale-up and presentation. Team 3, comprising Ada-Maria Wäck and Oula Huttunen from the University of Turku, Huang Yuxi from Newcastle University, Singapore, and Antonio Ng Yeow Hwee from the National University of Singapore, impressed the  judges with the quality and creativity of their proposal – ‘Cargo in the Clouds’, and emerged as the winning team.

“The latest edition of the Innovation Camp demonstrated once again the potential of the talented students in generating highly valid ideas for the global maritime sector. Given the challenge and intensive process, we saw all the students performing in truly innovative, determined and committed ways”, said Professor Markus Granlund, Dean of the Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku.

Dr Sanjay C. Kuttan, Executive Director of the Singapore Maritime Insitute, said, “The Innovation Camp aimed to interest, excite and enable students to gain deeper insight and perspective into the maritime industry while taking on real-world business challenges. It also offered them the opportunity to work with and be mentored by academic and industry professionals. We are grateful to University of Turku for partnering us on this meaningful and innovative collaboration. More importantly, we hope that this platform has helped to create value for our corporate partners, bringing fresh ideas to pressing challenges, and collectively build the innovation ecosystem in the maritime sector.”

**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.