SCIENCE

SINGAPORE -- The Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), National University of Singapore (NUS), IBM Singapore and Dassault Systemes have announced a major research initiative that will revolutionalise the way engineering and R&D work processes and collaboration are carried out in Singapore and the region. At the core of the partnership is the creation of the Product Lifecycle Management Competency Centre (PLMCC) which will promote adoption product lifecycle management (PLM) as a strategic tool for their product development activities in Singapore and beyond. The four parties announced plans to spearhead projects and research activities in the area of PLM and internet-based collaborative product commerce. PLM technology enables product content to be developed and integrated with all business processes throughout the extended enterprise. IBM's PLM solutions based on Dassault Systemes' CATIA and ENOVIA technologies provide users with a diverse set of knowledge management tools that enable them to capture, distribute and reuse information. PLMCC will disseminate new engineering design and analysis, and share visualisation technology and best practices with industry through the organisation of workshops and seminars. The Centre will also foster academic collaboration in engineering design and analysis through joint supervision of postgraduate projects between NUS, IHPC and Dassault Systemes, as well as undertake manpower development through the training of post-doctoral research fellows whom IHPC will hire to work on PLMCC-related and other projects. The four partners are pooling together over $4 million in hardware, software and manpower resources to champion Internet-enabled collaboration for engineering and R&D activities, and are buoyant about the pivotal role PLMCC will play in promoting e-Engineering and product development in Singapore. Via IHPC's e-Engineering portal, launched concurrently with PLMCC, industry users will be able to subscribe to leading engineering solutions over the web using software suites - CATIA and ENOVIA. "IHPC's pool of experienced computational researchers and scientists can focus on critical areas in virtual product development to help create an impetus for collaborative online product development in Singapore," said Professor Lam Khin Yong, CEO & Director, IHPC. "Through this collaboration, we will provide local enterprises new business processes with configured digital mock-ups available across the enterprise." CATIA Version 5 Release 7 addresses a diverse range of user requirements from the simplest designs to the most complex processes for companies of all sizes working in small teams or across the extended enterprise. When combined with IBM's e-business solutions and comprehensive service and support, CATIA Version 5 Release 7 benefits customers striving to create innovative products, streamline the product development process, reduce cycle times and get new products to market faster. ENOVIA Portal Solutions address engineers and non-engineers alike to make 3D and other enterprise PLM data available through easy-to-use web-based products. "IBM PLM Solutions are widely deployed across industries all around the world," said Associate Professor Wong Yoke San, Director of the Laboratory for Concurrent Engineering and Logistics at NUS. "By training our students on CATIA and ENOVIA, we are better preparing them for the workplace. Being skilled in industry-proven digital enterprise solutions, consulting and services is a definite advantage for students and businesses alike." "Our customers tell us that IBM PLM strategy and implementation, with its strong focus on extended enterprise collaboration and business process innovation, are well-aligned with their business needs. Users of the PLMCC can look forward to dramatically boosting innovation, lowering operating costs and accelerating time to market with our best-of-breed PLM solutions built on CATIA and ENOVIA technology," said Raoul Van Engshoven, Director, Product Lifecycle Management, IBM Asia Pacific. "Today's announcement reaffirms IBM's commitment to delivering continuous process improvement practices to industries and underscores the relevance of our PLM solutions to Singapore's plan to become an e-Engineering hub. As the leader in e-business, we present premier solutions to companies of all sizes seeking to maximise leverage over their resources and competencies spread across their value chains." "Dassault Systemes is proud to be a partner in this initiative to establish and operate the digital Product Life Cycle Management Competency Centre in Singapore. Enabling the Digital Enterprise by providing strategic technologies for companies engaged in collaborative product R&D is a major focus of our ongoing efforts. The relationship we create today will leverage the power of our joint knowledge, expertise, know-how and innovation to enhance the competitiveness of local industry," said Francis Bernard, executive committee advisor and member of board of Dassault Systemes. IHPC, a national R&D institute funded by the National Science & Technology Board, was established in 1998 as the result of a merger between the National Supercomputing Research Centre (NSRC) and the Centre for Computational Mechanics (CCM). The Institute places great emphaisis on scientific computing and manpower development. It also aims to help Singapore-based companies gain competitiveness through the promotion, development and application of HPC technologies. With a current staff strength of 170 research scientists and engineers, IHPC is well placed to spearhead the use of advanced computational techniques and high performance computing resources across a broad range of disciplines, such as manufacturing, electronics, chemical applications, precision engineering, data-mining, virtual reality and advanced product design. More information about the Institute can be found at http://www.ihpc.nus.edu.sg Acknowledged as one of the finest universities in the Asia-Pacific region, NUS is a comprehensive university which offers a broad-based curriculum underscored by multidisciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. It has 10 faculties, with an enrolment of 22,000 undergraduate and 8,600 graduate students. NUS actively promotes innovation and entrepreneurship, both in the classroom and research facilities. It enjoys a close teaching-research nexus with 10 national-level institutes, 14 university-level research institutes and more than 50 faculty-based research centres. The University is strongly committed to its realisation as a global knowledge enterprise dedicated to the imparting, creation and utilisation of knowledge.