Global engineering company Rolls-Royce and the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (NTU) have launched a new laboratory costing $75 million.

A key purpose of this laboratory is to develop local scientific and engineering talent. The laboratory can accommodate 70 researchers and 165 graduate and undergraduates, about half of whom are expected to be from Singapore.

The new tie-up will see 32 new projects in aerospace and maritime in the next five years focusing on three core research areas- electrical power and control systems, manufacturing and repair technologies, and computational engineering.

The new lab is also the first under the Corp Lab@University scheme established by the National Research Foundation, which supports universities in industry-relevant research. Research at this lab will help Singapore "gain in terms of enhanced competitiveness in aerospace and transportational sectors", said Minister of State (Transport and Finance) Josephine Teo at the launch of the laboratory. Rolls-Royce employs more than 2,200 people in Singapore and accounts for more than 15 per cent of the country's aerospace output.