Polymer Education in Singapore

Abstract

Singapore has a relatively high per capita consumption of polymers (85 KG for plastics), but its polymer industry only represents approximately one percent of the global picture. Nevertheless, the Singapore polymer industry embraces the total spectrum from naphtha cracking, monomer preparation, polymer production and a diverse fabrication segment. In addition many multinational companies have established polymer technical service and or research facilities in Singapore to support their activities in the Asia Pacific Region.

Polymer education programmes started at the Singapore Polytechnic in 1967 which were then oriented towards rubber. Today these courses are oriented to plastics reflecting the industry situation. There are several places of learning which offer a range of education programmes at most levels, and or carry out research on polymer science and technology.

Planned expansions in the petrochemical and plastic resin manufacturing sectors, the growing number of multinational companies establishing laboratory facilities in Singapore, and the increasing complexity of both polymer materials and fabrication processes indicate that there will be an increasing demand for personnel with qualifications in polymer science and technology.

This paper describes the Singapore polymer industry, examines the types of polymer education available at the various institutions, and makes some comments on the congruence of the education programmes and the current, and future, demands of the industry.