The President’s Science and Technology Medal recognises individuals who have made outstanding, lasting contributions and have been instrumental in driving Singapore’s development through the promotion and management of science and technology.
Only 21 of these medals have been presented since its inception, and Ric is only the third Brit ever to receive one.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Swee Leat Heng, gave a speech. He said:
“Professor Richard Parker, Chairman of the Singapore Aerospace Programme at A*STAR, has contributed greatly to fostering public-private partnerships in Singapore’s research ecosystem.”
“Since his days with the Rolls-Royce Group, Richard has brought together corporate and academic expertise to build and anchor mutually beneficial R&D capabilities here in Singapore.”
“Alongside NRF and NTU, Richard spearheaded the Rolls-Royce@NTU Corporate Lab, the first corporate laboratory in a Singapore university.”
“This pioneering effort bridged corporate and academic research expertise, and reinforced Singapore’s value proposition as a partner to innovative global companies.”
“As I mentioned earlier, many other companies have since followed suit with similar collaborations with our universities.”
“Richard also worked with A*STAR to establish the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre, or ARTC, in 2012.”
“Focused initially on aerospace, the ARTC now has over 95 industrial partners spanning several different sectors.”
“Today, Richard continues to lend his expertise to grow our research ecosystem and deepen our talent pool in various domains including low-carbon energies.”
On receiving the award Richard said:
A truly great honour to receive the Singapore President's Science and Technology Medal. It recognises my efforts to put in place structures to promote and encourage industry to academic collaboration. It is the highest accolade for science and technology in Singapore, and only just over 20 have been presented since its inception. Moreover, only 6 of these have been to non-Singaporeans; I feel very special."
Congratulations Richard on this incredible achievement.