Nitto Denko to start-up prototyping centre in Singapore

Nitto Denko Asia Technical Centre will be expanding its Singapore base to include a prototyping centre in Singapore.

The centre will be pioneered at A*STAR's Institute of Materials Research and Engineering under a unique Lab-in-RI programme. NAT can leverage on existing infrastructure, research expertise, and save cost on facilities and equipment while working to establish the new prototyping centre.

The decision for the new centre stems from IMRE's successful R&D project with NAT on optical waveguide devices, which are cheaper to manufacture and are more sensitive. NAT now wants to explore the biosensing applications of these devices and put them into a new range of low-cost, easy-to-use, home-based, consumer biosensors.

"The optical waveguide devices that were developed will give us the opportunity to create version 2.0 biosensors for future homes", said Dr Su Xiaodi, a Senior Scientist who heads the IMRE research team. She will be working with NAT to put the devices into home-based biosensors that allow users to monitor their health with greater frequency and care, in the comfort of their home, and between visits to the doctor. The targeted users are those with health conditions that could change rapidly or require immediate attention.

"IMRE has been a credible partner since our initial collaboration in 2008, and we would like to continue to draw on IMRE's intellectual resources and excellent facilities to further our R&D activities in Singapore", said Dr Visit Thaveeprungsriporn, Director of NAT.

"The new sensor demonstrates how materials science research can benefit even the biomedical industry", said Prof Andy Hor, IMRE's Executive Director. "The setting up of the new prototyping lab in IMRE is a testament to our expertise and shows how industrially-relevant research institutes can be".

Nitto Denko is one of Japan's leading diversified materials manufacturer and a major producer of optical films used in LCD TVs. It invested S$10 million in setting up the Nitto Denko Asia Technical Centre in Singapore to work on organic electronics research in 2008.

The IMRE-Nitto Denko team will begin R&D development at the new prototyping centre in February 2011 with a prototype expected to be available in early 2012.