Vision
As engineering challenges grow more complex — spanning sustainability, infrastructure renewal, advanced manufacturing and circular resource systems — Singapore requires engineers who can prototype, test and refine solutions in realistic environments.
The Engineering Innovation Spark initiative aims to reshape engineering learning and innovation by creating hands-on, real-scale engineering laboratories where students, young engineers and researchers engage directly with authentic engineering systems.
Instead of observing technology, participants build and test it. Instead of working purely in conceptual models, they experience the full chain of engineering practice: design → fabrication → integration → testing → optimisation.
This AESS initiative will expand Singapore’s innovation capacity by cultivating practitioners who can close the gap between research ideas and deployable engineering solutions.
Mission
1.Enable Practice-Driven Engineering Education
Provide realistic engineering environments where individuals learn through experimentation, prototyping, iteration and system assembly.
2.Strengthen the Innovation–Industry Translation Pathway
Create mechanisms for transforming lab concepts into functional prototypes, and subsequently into deployable solutions tested in real operational settings.
3.Promote Cross-Disciplinary Engineering Collaboration
Integrate mechanical, civil, electrical, materials and systems engineering with data science, design thinking and sustainability principles.
4.Develop Engineering Leadership and Solution Ownership
Build engineers who can diagnose system-level issues, lead multi-stakeholder projects and deliver real, quantifiable engineering improvements.
Key Programme Components
1. Real-Engineered Laboratories (RE-Labs)
AESS will establish several engineering laboratories that simulate true operational environments, such as:
Smart Water Systems Lab — for testing adaptive water distribution, leak detection and flow-optimisation technologies.
Modular Construction Lab — focused on prefabricated structural systems, robotics-assisted assembly and quality-monitoring methods.
Circular Manufacturing Lab — for prototyping resource-recovery processes, recyclable materials and low-energy production systems.
Each lab allows participants to complete the full engineering cycle using industry-grade tools and testbeds, generating measurable performance data.
2. Innovation-to-Prototype Bridge
A development pathway designed to help promising engineering concepts evolve into operational prototypes.
Key supports include:
Technical mentorship from senior AESS Fellows
Funding for prototyping and testing
Access to industrial-scale equipment and measurement tools
Partnerships with companies for field trials
Solutions demonstrating strong feasibility will progress to pilot-deployment collaborations, enabling participants to see their work implemented in industrial or municipal settings.
3. Engineer Practitioner Fellowship
A 9-month applied training programme for early-career engineers (1–5 years experience) and high-performing graduates.
The fellowship includes:
Systems engineering and applied design
Cross-disciplinary project work
Prototype-building workshops
Operational testing and performance evaluation
Presentation of engineering results to AESS and industry partners
The programme’s goal is to cultivate engineers who can move from “working on a task” to owning an engineering solution.
4. Industry–Lab Collaborative Workshops
AESS will run thematic workshops connecting industry challenges with laboratory teams.
Typical topics may include:
“Digital fabrication in modular construction”
“Resource-circularity optimisation in manufacturing”
“Smart micro-utility systems for dense urban districts”
Industry partners identify real operational needs, while lab teams design and validate solutions.
Selected breakthroughs receive support from the Innovation-to-Prototype Bridge.
Expected Outcomes & Performance Indicators
Establish multiple full-scale engineering laboratories, each delivering validated prototypes or system-level improvements.
Train at least 60 Engineer-Practitioner Fellows, with a significant proportion taking on design-lead or innovation-lead roles.
Develop 8 or more prototypes with demonstrable application potential, at least two of which undergo on-site industry or municipal testing.
Produce peer-reviewed papers, engineering case reports and patent applications arising from lab work and prototype testing.
Demonstrate quantifiable engineering improvements, such as:
15–25% reduction in assembly time for modular components
10–20% improvement in resource-recovery efficiency
measurable reduction in operational system failures or energy losses
Partnership Structure
AESS will work with:
Government agencies (e.g., Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Education, municipal services)
Academic institutions and research centres
Infrastructure and technology companies
Engineering solution providers and equipment manufacturers
AESS will oversee programme governance, standards, quality assurance, evaluation and dissemination of engineering results.