25 Years of MIT: A Journey of Innovation and Collaboration in Singapore
Mission and Vision of SMART
SMART MISSION
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Support the MIT mission to advance knowledge and education in ways that best serve the world in the 21st century and assist CREATE to achieve its mission
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Be a world-class research centre maintaining the same standards of excellence as at MIT.
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Identify and carry out research on critical problems of societal significance of interest to Singapore.
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Develop robust collaborations with researchers from local Universities and Institutions. Co-advise local doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers.
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Be a magnet for attracting and anchoring global research talent to Singapore.
SMART VISION
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Serve as a major anchor point for MIT in Asia; a place for innovation and industrial engagement for MIT in Asia.
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Serve as a magnet to attract excellent people and ideas to MIT and Singapore in a seamless manner.
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Become a globally branded research center with a Singaporean focus - With diversity in sponsorship oriented around a stable core.
SMART VALUES
Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs)
Headed by senior MIT faculty members, research projects are organized into Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs). SMART aims to engage over 800 MIT and Singaporean researchers, comprising faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students, to work and collaborate in the IRGs:
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Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) IRG is a unique translational research and entrepreneurship program that aims to solve the growing threat of resistance to antimicrobial drugs.
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Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized Medicine (CAMP) is an Interdisciplinary Research Group in Singapore
and at MIT focusing on innovations to produce and harness living cells as medicine to treat and prevent diseases. CAMP launched in June 2019, and now in its second term, conducts cutting edge R&D to develop novel bio-analytical tools and processes for improving the manufacturing of cell therapy products including stem cells and adoptive cellular immunotherapies. By leveraging interdisciplinary expertise and integrating with Singapore’s and MIT’s science, engineering and clinical teams, CAMP develops innovations on improving scalability, reproducibility, quality and safety attributes of cell therapy products.
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Disruptive & Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) IRG aims to revolutionise how food is produced to meet the demands of a growing population in an increasingly resource-constrained world.
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Mens, Manus and Machina (M3S) IRG aims to promote AI and machine use for practical applications through an intersectional approach. The research at M3S addresses critical questions concerning the design of technology, the development of human skills, and the adaptation of institutions and social structures to effectively navigate the transformative impact of AI, automation, and robotics.
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Wafer-scale Integrated Sensing Devices based on Optoelectronic Metasurfaces (WISDOM) is an Interdisciplinary Research Group at SMART focused on developing next-generation 3D sensing technologies by integrating optical metasurfaces, optoelectronic emitters and detectors, and CMOS electronics on a single wafer-scale platform. By leveraging advanced materials and semiconductor manufacturing processes, WISDOM aims to create ultra-compact, high-performance sensing systems for applications in autonomous vehicles, robotics, augmented reality, healthcare, and aerospace. The programme brings together leading researchers from MIT, NTU, NUS, Stanford, and UIUC to pioneer new paradigms in optoelectronics and scalable manufacturing.
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Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care (WITEC) is Singapore’s first research centre dedicated to foundational R&D of the world’s first wearable ultrasound imaging platform. This platform aims to enable continuous monitoring and personalised diagnosis of chronic conditions, transforming elderly care and establishing Singapore as a global leader in wearable imaging technologies. WITEC integrates soft materials, ultrasonic transducers, low-power electronics, and advanced algorithms to advance real-time, non-invasive imaging from hospital to home-based care.
SMART Innovation Centre
Similar to the highly successful Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT, the SMART Innovation Centre aims to bring the market definition closer to technology development, by having each selected project worked on by a team that, in addition to the researchers, includes either an entrepreneur or a
venture capitalist right from the start.