SINGAPORE, March 10 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Good news for users of mobile devices who enjoy accessing multimedia content and social networking applications on the move!

Researchers at NTU are exploring ways to bring the speed and quality of wireless network communications up to par with that of wired [...]]]> 2010-03-10 14:28

SINGAPORE, March 10 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Good news for users of mobile devices who enjoy accessing multimedia content and social networking applications on the move!

Researchers at NTU are exploring ways to bring the speed and quality of wireless network communications up to par with that of wired communications. Better yet, their goal is to develop wireless devices that offer ultra-high-speed mobile broadband services at virtually zero cost to the user!

All these could become possible as Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National Instruments (NI) join hands to develop the next-generation wireless communication technologies which are cheaper, faster, more reliable and more pervasive.

Both parties formalised the partnership by inking a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) at NTU today.

Under the NTU-NI Wireless Research Programme, NI will provide $2.07 million worth of equipment that will be installed at the Positioning and Wireless Technology Centre (PWTC), a centre under NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE). One key goal of the NTU-NI Wireless Research Programme is to develop future wireless communication protocols. The research team will be using the equipment to research into the practicality and performance of various wireless techniques.

PWTC’s Programme Director for wireless network research, Assistant Professor Ting See Ho, explained, “One of the major problems faced worldwide currently is the increasing shortage of usable frequency spectrum, which is further aggravated by current spectrum allocation regulations. My research team aims to address these issues by developing the next generation of wireless communication technologies that are able to relay radio signals and scan for available ‘holes’ in airwaves without interfering with the incumbent users. This would mean that users can enjoy the highest quality, best performance and most cost-efficient networks.”

“This project will not only bring about a technology breakthrough; it will also have a profound impact on current business models and inspire new designs for various wireless applications for the benefit of both mass-market and military users,” added Assistant Professor Ting.

“Wireless communication research is gaining tremendous interest from the industry and NTU is a top-notch technological university with strong international standing in this field,” said Chandran Nair, managing director for NI ASEAN. “We are pleased to equip PWTC with NI’s technologies and support NTU’s research efforts towards developing wireless technologies that will impact everyday life.”

“This partnership demonstrates NTU’s active collaboration and sharing of resources and expertise with our industry partners,” said Professor Kam Chan Hin, Chair of EEE, NTU. “We look forward to leveraging on NI technologies in our research centre to expand our research and training capabilities at NTU. We will also make good use of the equipment for teaching purposes to prepare our graduates for professional careers in high-tech industries and to expose them to advanced research.”

“The NTU-NI collaboration is a testament to our long-term community engagement. We look forward to helping enhance science, technology and engineering education and research through partnerships that will take academic research to a whole new level,” said Victor Mieres, NI’s vice president of sales for Asia.

About Nanyang Technological University

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a research-intensive university ranked among the world’s top 100 universities. The Yunnan Garden campus, NTU’s main campus, is located in the south-western part of Singapore and will be the Youth Olympic Village of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010. The NTU@one-north campus, home to educational and alumni clubhouse facilities, is located near Singapore’s biomedical research hub, Biopolis; and the new engineering and physical sciences hub, Fusionopolis. For more information, visit http://www.ntu.edu.sg

About National Instruments

National Instruments (http://www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 5,000 employees and direct operations in over 40 countries. For the past eleven years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Media contacts:

National Instruments
Jessie Lee
Marketing Communications Specialist
Tel: +65-6226-5886
Email: jessie.lee@ni.com

Nanyang Technological University
Esther Ang
Manager, Corporate Communications Office
Tel: +65-6790-6804
Mobile: +65-9113-9654
Email: estherang@ntu.edu.sg

Rice Communications
Donna Garcia
Senior Consultant
Tel: +65-9734-8808
Email: donna.garcia@ricecomms.com

SOURCE Nanyang Technological University (NTU); National Instruments

I say, why not start an annual Orang Utan Run — modelled after the famed Polar Bear Run of the University of Chicago — in our universities? Better this than let our undergraduates run foul of the law by streaking unauthorised along the corridors of the university hostels.

Horror of horrors, [...]]]> Source: http://singcitizen.com/portal/2009/03/why-not-start-an-annual-orang-utan-run-in-our-universities/ Retrieved 21 Mar 2009

I say, why not start an annual Orang Utan Run — modelled after the famed Polar Bear Run of the University of Chicago — in our universities? Better this than let our undergraduates run foul of the law by streaking unauthorised along the corridors of the university hostels.

Horror of horrors, some might say. This is Singapore not the USA!, others might scream. Let’s not make a monkey out of this whole thing, I say.

But, we can sanitise this a little by making this event open for viewing by students and staff of the universities only. Which means the public can still get to keep their higher-than-high noses wholesome by not being able to partake in the naked run or view it.

So the idea would be to let the undergraduates and faculty members of the universities run along a specified route within the grounds of a university. These participants would be free to choose how they want to be attired for the event — scantily clad or dressed in their birthday suits. And there would be a mascot, dressed in an orang utan suit.

To get an idea of how the run would play out, let’s view a video of the recent University of Chicago’s annual Polar Bear Run, complete with a polar bear mascot:
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/biking.naked.run.2.632879.html

Instead of the universities carrying out their own runs, why not make it a joint affair, with each university taking turns to organise the annual run. Are our universities ready for such forays? I don’t think so. Will they be ready in my lifetime? I don’t think so too. It’s wishful thinking on my part. Like most Singaporeans, I tend to think aloud but end at that. NATO! No Action Talk Only. Most of us Singaporeans have been brought up this way — to be totally reticent. Which means of course, the occasional naked runs along the corridors of our universities in the middle of the night may be one of the few ways for our undergraduates to let off some steam from their pressure-cooker environment.