EADS yesterday inaugurated a new research and technology centre here in Singapore – its first outside Europe.
EADS co-chief executives Tom Enders and Noël Forgeard unveiled details of the scheme at Asian Aerospace, along with Chan Soo Sen, Singapore’s minister of state for trade and industry
The centre, first agreed at 2004 Asian Aerospace, will open its doors in April, with an initial budget of S$3-4 million ($1.8-2.45 million) for its first year and will have a staff of 20-30 Singaporean scientists by the end of that year.
It will expand existing co-operation between EADS and Singaporean agencies such as the Defence and Science Organisation and will also undertake research projects on behalf of Airbus, Eurocopter and other EADS business units.
Its initial focus will be on three main areas: new cryptographic models and methods; high-performance computing for future aircraft; and low-power wide-band radar for homeland security applications.
Enders said at the launch: “This company is strongly committed to staying at the edge of innovation and technology and the launch of our centre in Singapore is a very important contribution to this goal.”
EADS currently has research and development staff in Toulouse, Hamburg, Madrid and the UK, with 600 scientists in Munich and Paris alone.
Enders added: “[The Singapore facility] will give us access to a new pool of talent in Singapore and the region at large, as well as support our bids in the region. We also want to generate intellectual property here in Singapore.”
Denis Gardin, EADS vice-president, science and technology partnerships, will manage the centre and Dr Ulrich Schnaut will act as chief operating officer.
Source: Flight Daily News