Funds Awarded for 5 Projects Supported Under the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge Second Call for Proposals
Successful technologies could lower construction costs and improve residential liveability, potentially expanding development options in Singapore's congested urban areas and supporting more efficient land use.
MND and NRF awarded five research projects S$14 million to pursue underground-development cost reductions of 50% and improvements in residential temperature and noise levels.
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The Ministry of National Development (MND) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore have awarded 5 research projects a total of S$14 million in funding under the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2 NIC) Second Call for Proposals (See Annex A for project details).
The L2 NIC Second Call for Proposals was launched in July 2015 during the Urban Sustainability R&D Congress to challenge the research community to come up with innovative solutions to (a) improve the cost effectiveness of underground developments by 50%, as well as (b) improve human comfort and well-being by reducing ambient temperature by 4oC and ambient noise by 10dBA in residential areas. The call was open to Principal Investigators (PI) from all Singapore-based institutions of higher learning (IHLs), private companies, non-profit laboratories and public sector agencies.
26 White Papers were received at the close of the Call for Proposals in August 2015. All submitted proposals underwent a rigorous evaluation process by international and local technical experts and government agencies.
The awarded projects presented opportunities to use technology to improve the living environment for Singaporeans, as well as push the frontier of possibilities for future development of living spaces. For instance, a project by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will look into developing cool surface materials which can help to reduce the ambient temperature of surroundings when used on buildings or road surfaces.
Another project by the National University of Singapore (NUS) will develop a prototype equipment to help reduce the cost of underground space construction by enabling direct injection of cement into soft ground around corners and obstacles. This is useful for ground strengthening, which is an important yet expensive part of construction in congested underground spaces which exist in dense urban environments like Singapore, and developed cities around Asia.
Professor Yong Kwet Yew, L2 NIC Scientific Lead, said: “The L2 NIC Second Call for Proposals was a targeted call to solicit proposals that address the strategic challenges we face in space creation and liveability. The selected projects are innovative and of high research quality. I am happy to see the research institutes, government agencies and private sector companies work together to develop highly applicable technological solutions to meet our challenges.”
About the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2 NIC)
Led by MND and NRF, the L2 NIC is a multi-agency effort launched in 2013. The programme seeks to leverage on research and development (R&D) to develop innovative technological solutions to expand and optimise Singapore’s space capacity for our long-term development needs, while supporting a highly-liveable environment for our people. Including the 5 new projects awarded under the Second Call for Proposals, L2 NIC has awarded 25 projects since inception, covering key topics such as underground construction, floating structures, ageing-in-place, noise mitigation, environmental modelling and greenery. This includes a multidisciplinary ‘Future of Cities’ foresight study by the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), which examines possible longer-term challenges facing Singapore from the angles of technology, economy, transport and urban environment. (More details of previous projects can be found here).
Under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 Plan announced in January 2016, the research work of L2 NIC is integral to the development of the Urban Solutions and Sustainability (USS) technology domain. L2 NIC will continue to partner with research institutes, private sector companies and government agencies to fund more research projects that will play a key role to innovatively create living spaces while achieving a highly-liveable and resilient city of the future for Singaporeans.