Singapore, 31 January, 2013 -(ASIA TODAY)- A*STAR’s Institute of Microelectronics has signed an agreement to collaborate with Petroleum Geo-Services (OSE:PGS), a focused geophysical company headquartered in Oslo, Norway, to develop a high performance Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) based sensor for deep sea seismic oil and gas exploration. The MEMS sensor is targeted for incorporation into a PGS commercial streamer system to acquire more precise seismic data during seismic survey to locate and estimate the size of offshore oil and gas reserves.
The collaboration leverages IME’s rich experience in designing high performance MEMS sensor, MEMS process platform and in-house packaging capability, and PGS’s expertise in seismic exploration. The project will demonstrate a MEMS sensor and provide guidelines for the packaging and integration with ASIC in the next phase.
“Collaborating with an industry leader provides an opportunity for us to further our research in sensing technology for oil and gas applications,” said Prof. Dim-Lee Kwong, Executive Director, IME. “IME’s integrated capabilities and deep understanding of different sensing technologies in MEMS will enhance our partner’s technology development capabilities and shorten the product development time.”
“Our earlier partnership in developing sensing technologies has given me the confidence that our partnership will be yet another success. With IME’s core competencies and our core technologies, we believe our collaboration will enable us to speed up the development and commercialisation of our product,” said Rune Tenghamn, Vice President, Innovation and Business Development, Data Processing Technology, PGS.
About Institute of Microelectronics (IME)
The Institute of Microelectronics (IME) is a research institute of the Science and Engineering Research Council of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Positioned to bridge the R&D between academia and industry, IME's mission is to add value to Singapore's semiconductor industry by developing strategic competencies, innovative technologies and intellectual property; enabling enterprises to be technologically competitive; and cultivating a technology talent pool to inject new knowledge to the industry. Its key research areas are in integrated circuits design, advanced packaging, bioelectronics and medical devices, MEMS, nanoelectronics, and photonics. For more information about IME, please visit http://www.ime.a-star.edu.sg.
About Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation-driven Singapore. A*STAR oversees 14 biomedical sciences, and physical sciences and engineering research institutes, and seven consortia & centre, which are located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis, as well as their immediate vicinity. A*STAR supports Singapore's key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry. It also supports extramural research in the universities, hospitals, research centres, and with other local and international partners. Please visit www.a-star.edu.sg
About Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS)
Petroleum Geo-Services (OSE:PGS) offers a broad range of products including; seismic and electromagnetic services, data acquisition, processing, reservoir analysis/interpretation and multi-client library data. We help oil companies to find oil and gas reserves offshore worldwide. PGS has a presence in over 25 countries with regional centers in London, Houston and Singapore. Our headquarters is in Oslo, Norway and the PGS share is listed on the Oslo stock exchange (OSE:PGS). For more information on Petroleum Geo-Services visit http://www.pgs.com/
Media Contact:
For IME:
Cindy Chew
DID: +65 6770 5375
Email: chewwfc@ime.a-star.edu.sg