SMA

include optoelectronics, manufacturing IT, micro-machining and fabrication, Augmented Reality Applications in Assembly, Micro and Nano-Patterning, Product Lifecycle Development analysis etc.

Currently, the IMST programme has fifteen Ph.D. students. The research topics are relevant from both the global and Singapore perspectives.

High Performance Computation for
Engineered Systems (HPCES) programme

The research themes in the HPCES programme are simulation and optimisation. The emphasis is on the new and effective numerical techniques and methodologies for microsystems that utilise High Performance Computing (HPC) technology like cluster and grid computing. In particular, the development of codes based on molecular dynamics to particle dynamics to continuum mechanics has become the mainstay of current technology. One of the major research areas is the marrying of simulation and optimisation for such diverse applications ranging from the use of fast multipole methods and model order reduction techniques for micro-arrays in MEMS (Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems) to traffic network flow and port management. A major thrust is in Bio-MEMS where HPC is becoming an increasingly important tool for simulation and optimisation.

Currently, the HPCES programme has six Ph.D. students. Four have graduated. The computing facilities available for research and teaching include a 72-node cluster of Pentium III computers for distributed computing. Another 60 nodes of Itanium II processors have been added for the researchers within SMA and related organisations.

Innovation in Manufacturing Systems
and Technology (IMST) programme

The IMST programme takes cognisance of the fact that a modern enterprise is a complex network comprising suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, retail stores and customers in which merchandise must be produced and distributed in such a way as to minimise overall cost and provide services of standard. The research objective is therefore to propose models and efficient solution methodologies for a variety of frequently occurring supply chain management scenarios, using a broad set of mathematical approaches. Various manufacturing processes are also investigated and optimised, in particular with reference to the context of global competitiveness.

Some of the Theme Projects undertaken by S.M. students, which are jointly supervised by staff of participating companies, MIT and Singapore SMA Fellows have developed to become full-scale research projects for more in-depth investigation. Currently, the research activities in Manufacturing Systems and Physics are gathering momentum and research initiatives in Manufacturing Physics