Engineering problem-solvers of tomorrow: Sir James Dyson officially open doors to the Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios

25 Nov 2022

(Image credit: James Dyson Foundation)

  • The Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios, representing a S$1m commitment, are the James Dyson Foundation’s largest donation to a Singapore education institution yet

  • They form part of the James Dyson Foundation’s S$3m charitable donation to support Singapore’s engineering education

  • The Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios are the Foundation’s first ever community spaces in Singapore to inspire interest in design engineering education

  • The studios will serve as a space where SUTD students, under the mentorship of Dyson engineers, will develop hardware and software-driven solutions to the world’s problems

  • The studios will benefit over 13,000 students across tertiary and secondary school levels over the next five years

Sir James Dyson today officially opened the doors to the Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios. The spaces were jointly opened with Professor Chong Tow Chong, President of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). The opening was witnessed by Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

The Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios, representing a S$1m commitment, are the largest ever donation to a Singapore education institution by the James Dyson Foundation – Dyson’s global charitable foundation. It forms part of the James Dyson Foundation’s S$3m charitable donation to support Singapore’s engineering education, and are the Foundation’s first ever spaces in Singapore engineered to inspire community interest in design engineering education.

Led by Dyson engineers, the studios will play host to activities such as the James Dyson Foundation Prototyping Workshop that provides secondary school students exposure to Design Thinking. In addition, the modular spaces will facilitate STEM educational activities for students in general education – such as the 3D printing challenge and the STEM workshop for scholars in the MOE Engineering and Tech Programme. Guest lectures, innovation forums and workshops related to Engineering Design Innovation, Intelligent Robotics, Smart Manufacturing and 3D Printing, and Machine Learning may also be held there.

Meanwhile, students from SUTD’s Engineering Product Development (EPD) and Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD) pillars will have the opportunity to consult with Dyson engineer mentors in the studios, as they work in teams to develop and contribute solutions to the world’s most pressing problems in a multidisciplinary engineering environment.

The Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios are expected to benefit over 13,000 students across tertiary and secondary school levels over the next five years.

Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education, Singapore, said: "I congratulate the James Dyson Foundation and SUTD in your collaboration. The Ministry of Education looks forward to partnering industry to bolster our national efforts in STEM education. Partnerships like this continue to be crucial in nurturing future engineering and technology talents to take Singapore forward, as we tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow."

Sir James Dyson, Founder and Chairman, Dyson and the James Dyson Foundation, said: "I hope the Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios, will inspire more of Singapore’s brightest young minds to take up the challenge to solve problems, and discover the rewards of a career in engineering. Young engineers are the world's greatest problem-solvers, and the world needs more of them to bring hardware and software together, developing intelligent solutions to sustainability and the other complex problems the world faces."

Professor Chong Tow Chong, President of SUTD, said: "We are very pleased to work alongside such bold and pioneering minds at Dyson to better the world by design. We believe this partnership will continue to inspire future generations of design innovators and provide many opportunities to both the SUTD family and the wider community, to bring ideas out of the academic environment into the real world."

The James Dyson Foundation's investment of S$3m into supporting engineering and STEM education in Singapore over the next five years is expected to benefit over 100,000 students from primary through to tertiary levels. (Image credit: James Dyson Foundation)

The investment supports a range of educational activities by the James Dyson Foundation, and collaborations with the Ministry of Education (MOE), Science Centre Singapore (SCS), and institutions such as the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Earlier this year, the James Dyson Foundation announced an investment of S$3m into supporting engineering and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education in Singapore over the next five years. The investment is expected to benefit over 100,000 students aged 6 to 25 – from primary through to tertiary levels, and aims to nurture interest in engineering, and bolster national efforts in STEM learning among students in Singapore.

The investment supports a range of educational activities by the James Dyson Foundation, and collaborations with the Ministry of Education (MOE), Science Centre Singapore (SCS), and institutions such as the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

In May, the James Dyson Foundation officiated its collaboration with SUTD through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was also witnessed by Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education, Singapore. The MoU is a demonstration of the Foundation’s and SUTD’s commitment to furthering mutual causes, and recognises the Singapore government's strong support for the partnership in promoting STEM education and nurturing future generations of engineers in Singapore.


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About the James Dyson Foundation

Founded in 2002, the James Dyson Foundation supports design, technology and engineering educational work in the UK and internationally in America, Japan, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia. To date, the James Dyson Foundation has donated over S$235m to charitable causes globally.

Each year, it also gives S$240,000 in prize money through the James Dyson Award, an international design competition for university students and recent graduates.

At school level, the James Dyson Foundation offers robotics workshops, led by Dyson engineers, and provides free educational resources. These include its most recent launch, Engineering Solutions: Air Pollution: introducing young people to air pollution and engineering’s role in finding solutions.

The Foundation also supports medical research and the local community in Singapore where Dyson’s headquarters is based. In Singapore, the James Dyson Foundation supports the National Healthcare Group Fund’s "Save Limbs, Save Lives" campaign to support research in prevention of diabetes complications.

The Foundation has a website, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

James Dyson Foundation and Singapore University of Technology and Design Partnership

In a five-year partnership with Singapore’s only STEM-focused university – SUTD – the James Dyson Foundation will launch a new engineering innovation studios at SUTD’s campus at Somapah Road, and support the university’s nation-wide STEM educational activities including outreach programmes for pre-university students on STEAMxD (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics and Design) learning, and other educational STEM activities such as the STEM workshop for the MOE Engineering and Tech Programme Scholarship, and a nationwide James Dyson Foundation-SUTD 3D Printing Challenge.

The Dyson-SUTD Innovation Studios will be a 6,200 sq ft space that offers students from the university’s Engineering Product Development, and Information Systems Technology and Design Pillars the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary engineering environment.

There, Dyson engineers will provide engineering mentorship to students in fields spanning Engineering Design Innovation, Intelligent Robotics, Smart Manufacturing and 3D Printing, and Machine Learning. The Studios will also function as a community space to inspire public interest and participation in STEM activities, hosting workshops that aim to expose the wider community to STEM-related fields.

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