Aerospace giants to co-develop innovative solutions in sustainability, productivity, and digitalisation with startups and SMEs through inaugural Aerospace Open Innovation Challenge

The challenge is part of a line-up of efforts to bolster Seletar Aerospace Park’s sustainability initiatives.

JTC and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) have jointly unveiled the Aerospace Open Innovation Challenge (AOIC) 2024 to foster collaboration in innovation between industry players and promising startups and SMEs within the aerospace industry.

As the first-ever aerospace-focused innovation challenge of this scale, AOIC marks a significant industry-wide effort in uniting prominent players, including those in Seletar Aerospace Park, to spearhead the transformation of the industry.

A total of seven global corporates – Airbus, Bell Textron, Collins Aerospace, GE Aerospace, Jet Aviation, Singapore Component Solutions, and ST Engineering – will launch 12 challenge statements in the areas of sustainability, productivity, and digitalisation to crowdsource ideas to address global aerospace challenges (see Annex A). Industry leaders have committed to setting aside more than S$500,000 to support the co-development and piloting of solutions, providing the expertise and resources to nurture promising SMEs and startups in the aerospace field.

Ms Lim Ai Ting, Director for Aerospace & Marine Cluster, JTC, said, “We are taking the first step to facilitate collaboration, bringing together industry players and technology solution providers for a collective push towards a greener aerospace industry. If proven viable, the solutions emerging from AOIC stand to benefit not only the participating corporations but also empower other companies facing similar sustainability challenges, catalysing the transformation of the industry. With industry giants leading by example, this concerted effort has the potential to propel Seletar Aerospace Park beyond its status as a regional hub for aviation and aerospace and position it as a leading force in driving sustainability across the industry.”

“Innovation can deliver outsized impact by accelerating sustainability and operational efficiency for the aerospace industry and adjacent sectors. By matching startups and SMEs with aerospace corporates through AOIC, EnterpriseSG aims to catalyse more of such novel solutions that address industry demands and pain points quickly. Startups and SMEs can leverage such win-win partnerships to build their track record and scale beyond our shores.” said Mr Tan Boon Kim, Executive Director, Innovation Eco-system Development, EnterpriseSG.

The inaugural AOIC was announced by Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, during the Singapore Airshow 2024. It is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and key industry partner, the Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore) (AAIS).

JTC also announced plans for JTC aeroSpace Four (AS4), the first standard factory at Seletar Aerospace Park which will include green infrastructure solutions to support sustainability goals (see Annex B). These include EV charging infrastructure, and more green spaces within the development. To further enhance current solarisation efforts, JTC AS4 will also include solar-ready buildings and linkways, contributing to the total energy generated that could power JTC’s industrial developments and common areas at Seletar Aerospace Park.

Annex A: Aerospace Innovation Challenge 2024

S/N	Demand Drivers	Challenge Statements
1	Airbus	1. [Productivity] How might we develop an autonomous loading and unloading solution for aircraft baggage/cargo?
2	Bell Trexton	2. [Productivity] How might we develop an end-to-end system to automate the work card generation process for our daily operations? 3. [Productivity \| Digitalisation] How might we build an intelligent and predictive compliance management system?
3	Collins Aerospace (GASCA)	4. [Productivity \| Digitalisation] How might we develop a real-time Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO) Predictive Production Planning System that can analyse, prioritise, and predict our MRO schedule? 5. [Productivity] How might we build a fully automated robotic sanding solution that can deal with contoured surfaces with pinpoint precision to support our aerospace MRO operations?
4	GE Aerospace	6. [Sustainability] How might we recover waste heat from our electric furnace operations to enhance energy efficiency?
5	Jet Aviation	7. [Sustainability] How might we find novel ways to recycle jet fuel that is drained from aircrafts to produce affordable blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)? 8. [Productivity] How might we find a solution for bird infestation in our hangars?
6	Singapore Components Solutions (SCS)	9. [Sustainability] How might we improve the way we segregate, manage and dispose waste? 10. [Sustainability \| Productivity] How might we improve the management and re-usage of our equipment transportation boxes to achieve more circularity?
7	ST Engineering	11. [Sustainability] How might we capture (and store) CO2 emissions arising from our engine test cell activities? 12. [Sustainability] How might we design, construct and deploy Mobile Solar Photovoltaic (PV) platforms to optimise our available land areas for renewable energy generation?