Fraunhofer's Munich HQ.
The Fraunhofer Project Centre for Integrated Digital Media at NTU (Fraunhofer IDM@NTU), located on the grounds of Nanyang University, will focus on interactive digital media research. This will include, among other things, the development of software for Internet-ready mobile phones.
The agreement setting up the centre, which has €7 million in funding for the next five years, was signed on Monday in the presence of Germany’s Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan. “Fraunhofer’s entry into Singapore is a success for the European research landscape,” Schavan said. “The direct contact to the Asian market and Asia’s leading scientists in the area of interactive digital media offers a great opportunity for profitable cooperation.”
Other branches of research will include visual computing, computer graphics, computer vision and virtual and augmented realities.
The Fraunhofer’s mandate to pursue research on problems facing the economy will apply equally to Fraunhofer IDM@NTU. “Asia’s leading scientists in the field of interactive digital media will be conducting research at the NTU,” said Wolfgang Müller-Wittig, Director of the Fraunhofer IDM@NTU. “The Asian market is known for its products in this sector. This will open up a broad new sphere of activity.”
Fraunhofer IDM@NTU starts out with 20 researchers, with the team expected to grow significantly in the coming years.
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