A couple of weeks ago, Lesley Millar, our director, and Svetlana Sowers, visiting tech manager, took a trip to Singapore to take an inside look at the University’s relationship with the ADSC research center and A*STAR, as well as to help commercialize technology and discuss the potential for disclosure in the United States.

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore’s principle center for research and innovation. The University of Illinois and A*STAR work together through their partnership of Illinois’ Advanced Digital Sciences Centre (ADSC) located in Fusionopolis. Through ADSC, Singapore and Illinois have joint ownership on intellectual property, and professors and researchers from both areas work together.

While in Singapore, Lesley and Svetlana had the chance to see some new projects under development. Building a relationship with research groups in Singapore is important for comprehending the projects when disclosures come to the United States. One project, known as Smart Grid, uses sensors to estimate and control the power grid, which ensures smooth and uninterrupted flow of power to those who need it. The sensors in Smart Grid also monitor and control buildings, and even the environment of objects inside those buildings.

Another project within Smart Grid is reliable cognitive radio networks, which are needed for smart appliances and smart homes. The radio networks need to continue to deliver consistent performance even under noncompliant behavior, and be responsive to existing load conditions, including frequency bands in use by other oblivious systems.

Some of the researchers involved with the Smart Grid include: Professors David Yau and Richard Ma, Professor Zbigniew Kalbarczyk, Professor David Nicol, Professor Yih-Chun Hu, and others.

Additionally, the Interactive Digital Media (IDM) group is a series of projects seeking to incorporate audio, video, and Web data to provide a human sixth sense in networked systems for augmented reality and other applications. This technology enables computer vision recognition, faster information processing, and more realistic teleconferencing through audio and video. Some of the researchers on this project include: Professor Kevin Chang, Professor Deming Chen, Professor Pierre Moulin, Bing Bing Ni, Professor Yi Ma, and others.

Many Illinois professors contribute to ADSC, including Marianne Winslett, who is the director of ADSC and a professor in the Department of Computer Science.

According to Lesley, Fusionopolis is quite a sight to see, and it is said to be Singapore’s research and development hub for info-communication technology, media and physical sciences and engineering.

A view of Singapore from Lesley's hotel room.

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