Energy sector can fuel Singapore manufacturing growth

Singapore just needs intellectuals with adaptable skills: Warwick director
Oh Boon Ping, Business Times 21 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE is well-placed to take advantage of the sustainable energy sector to fuel future manufacturing growth.

'It does not require millions of workers, but a pool of intellectual people with highly adaptable skills,' a breakfast dialogue session at the Singapore Institute of Management heard yesterday.

Singapore already has the necessary intellectual base as there is a sizeable talent pool here, said Kumar Bhattacharyya, director of the Warwick Manufacturing Group and chairman of the Economic Development Board's Manufacturing Excellence Awards.

Prof Bhattacharyya also highlighted three developments that present opportunities and challenges.

The first is terrorism, which has spurred the growth of the security industry to US$200 billion in the developed world, he said.

And beyond terrorism, the security industry 'now has a much wider role to play in areas such as identification and information'.

Second, Prof Bhattacharyya cited growing concern about climate change and a focus on renewable energy.

As a result, many countries have raised spending on R&D, while new sectors such as solar energy have been created.

Third, life expectancy is increasing, and consumers demand better primary health care.

This, said Prof Bhattacharyya, will determine the type of diagnostic devices that need to be produced to meet people's needs.

Also at yesterday's breakfast session was Lee Kwok Cheong, CEO of SIM Private, who emphasised the importance of nurturing 'thinking' engineers in Singapore.

For this reason, SIM has partnered A*Star's SIMTech and the Warwick Manufacturing Group - from Britain's University of Warwick - to run a master's course that trains students in operational excellence, business strategy and how they affect business profitability.

To stem the outflow of engineering talent, EDB assistant managing director Manohar Khiatani suggested that more 'non-traditional' engineering courses be introduced to make the curriculum more interesting.

Meanwhile, Singapore's Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO) yesterday called for R&D proposals to develop roof-mounted solar energy harvesting devices and systems for the tropics, under the $50 million Clean Energy Research Programme (CERP).

With this grant call, Singapore aims to develop expertise and know-how that can contribute to the acceleration of solar adoption in the tropics.

'The tropical region holds exciting market potential for solar energy, especially with the many fast-growing urban centres and its rich solar energy radiation,' CEPO said in a statement.

CERP was launched in 2007 to accelerate research and development efforts to help drive the growth of a clean energy industry in Singapore.

The initiative supports upstream and downstream commercially relevant R&D efforts through a project funding approach.