Hyundai Motor Group and Singapore Sign 3D Printing Joint Research Agreement

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have signed an agreement to collaborate on research into hydrogen energy systems, as well as an agreement to jointly develop Industry 4.0 technologies including robotics, AI, and additive manufacturing (AM). As part of the latter agreement, HMG and NTU will establish a research center in collaboration with Singapore’s public R&D institution, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

Although they’re technically separate agreements, the goal of establishing sustainable national mobility ecosystems serves as a natural overlap between the two efforts. In particular, the decarbonization potential of AM technologies strategically aligns them with the development of new energy sources.

Singapore’s unique status as a tiny city-state that, for the most part, lacks its own natural resources means the island nation depends on importing natural gas for about 95 percent of its electricity generation. Two energy sources that Singaporean policymakers are especially interested in exploring via the HMG/NTU partnership are Plastic-to-Hydrogen (P2H) and Waste-to-Hydrogen (W2H), respectively using nonrecyclable plastic and organic waste as feedstocks.

In a press release, Hyun Sung Park, VP and CEO of Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS), said, “HMGICS is a global hub for Hyundai Motor Group’s future mobility innovation. Through this partnership, we aim to accelerate our research in the field of innovative technologies, ultimately enhancing the commercial viability of our sustainable mobility solutions.”

VP of Industry at NTU, Professor Lam Khin Yong, said, “The research partnerships between NTU Singapore and Hyundai Motor Group reflect how close collaboration with industry is vital in developing innovative and relevant solutions to address real world issues, including the race to carbon neutrality. We will continue to build on our long-standing partnership with Hyundai Motor Group, leveraging NTU’s core strengths in areas such as sustainable energy, AI, robotics, 3D printing, and advanced materials, to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for Singapore and the global society.”

Partnerships like this one are exciting news for the AM industry globally, not just for the entities directly involved. To name just one example, the building of public-private consortia in Southeast Asia in the 1970s and 1980s laid the groundwork for the semiconductor boom of the 1990s. Hyundai and NTU were in fact two of the players involved in driving that trajectory, giving them the organizational lineage required to scale supply chains sitting at the intersection between a range of different emerging technologies. The long-term optimism in 3D printing they’re signaling here legitimizes the industry, while also suggesting that significant breakthroughs are realistically on the horizon for the applications they’re targeting.

With the United Nations aiming to triple renewable capacity by 2030 — a goal that the International Energy Agency recently said the global economy is on track to fall short of — supporting the buildup of clean energy infrastructure is arguably the most strategically critical role AM could play right now. In order for that to happen, we need a proliferation of partnerships like the one between Hyundai and NTU, and we need them to be set up to succeed.