On 16 March, AHRI ASEAN signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the College of Design and Engineering at the National University of Singapore (CDE, NUS), through its Department of Mechanical Engineering, to strengthen collaboration in advancing data centre certification, sustainable cooling, and talent development across the region.
The key areas for collaboration are:
- Standards & Certification:Exploring how AHRI standards and certification programmes can support heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) related data centre standards in Singapore, with NUS faculty engaging in AHRI technical committees and working groups.
- Curriculum & Talent Development: Partnering on curriculum input, guest lectures, internships, career fairs, innovation programmes, and student capstone projects to nurture the next generation of HVACR talent.
- Sustainable Cooling for the Tropics: Supporting NUS ME’s Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed (STDCT) at Kent Ridge, which targets over 25% energy savings, 30–40% water-use reduction, and lower carbon emissions, while exploring collaboration on STDCT 2.0, a multi-megawatt pilot project with NUS and JTC at Jurong Island.
Associate Professor Teo Chiang Juay, Vice Dean of Undergraduate Programmes at CDE, and Professor Lee Poh Seng, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, signed the MOU. Assoc Prof Chee Kong Chui, Deputy Head of Undergraduate Programmes, and Assoc Prof Md Raisul Islam, both from the Department of Mechanical Engineering; were also present at the signing ceremony.
Assoc Prof Md Raisul Islam said, “This MOU between NUS and AHRI marks an important step in strengthening collaboration between academia and the Air Conditioning, Heating, Ventilation and Refrigeration industry. Through joint initiatives in curriculum development, research, internships, and standards development, this partnership will help nurture future engineering talent and advance sustainable cooling solutions for the tropics and data center applications.”
We look forward to turning this partnership into practical standards, impactful solutions, and meaningful opportunities for students and industry across ASEAN.
Original article: https://cde.nus.edu.sg/news/cde-ahri-mou-to-strengthen-regional-data-centre-collaboration/
