Singapore, January 21, 2025 ⎯ The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) (Sea) today officially announced the opening of two new buildings, Sea Building and Sea Connect, to boost innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and computing at the NUS School of Computing (NUS Computing). Together, the two new buildings provide dynamic and versatile spaces, spanning a total area of 21,570 sqm, to drive NUS’ bold ambitions in cutting-edge research, education, and collaboration, advancing the rapidly evolving fields of AI, computing, and beyond.
The naming of the buildings is in honor of the S$50 million gift from Sea in 2021. The donation, the largest corporate gift received by NUS Computing to date, is used to fund scholarships, fellowships, and grants that will enhance the School’s ability to attract talent and pursue advanced research.
Mr. Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education, attended the official opening of Sea Building and Sea Connect as the Guest-of-Honor, together with Mr. Forrest Li, Chairman & CEO, Sea and Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS President.
Minister for Education Mr. Chan Chun Sing said that NUS’ partnership with Sea goes beyond the donation and “can define the competitiveness of Singapore”. Adding that, “If we can have more partnerships between industry and academia, with leading ideas from industry flowing into academia, and leading, cutting-edge ideas from academia flowing into industry in a fast and seamless way, I am quite sure that, notwithstanding our size, the Singapore ecosystem will continue to shine across the world.”
NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said, “We are deeply appreciative of the generous gift from Sea in 2021, which has been instrumental in expanding the resources at the NUS Computing to foster innovation, enhance education, and support cutting-edge research in AI, computing, and related fields. The Sea Building and Sea Connect have enabled us to expand considerably our learning and teaching facilities, research labs as well as collaborative and leisure spaces for students within and beyond the School. We are excited to fully leverage the gift and our longstanding partnership with Sea to build human capital, harness the power of technology and drive meaningful impact."
Beyond the enhancement of physical infrastructure, the gift from Sea has also already benefited more than 700 students through scholarships and awards for undergraduate and postgraduate students and provided seed funding for several cutting-edge research projects.
Sea Chairman & CEO Mr. Forrest Li said, “The local tech ecosystem was a key enabler of our growth from a small startup in 2009 to a global company today. With the success we achieved, we want to give back to our community and help ensure that Singapore continues to produce some of the best tech talent in Asia and beyond. We chose to partner with the NUS School of Computing because we believe that it shares our mission of pushing the boundaries of technology to advance humanity and uplift communities around the world. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with NUS in the coming years, working together to transform research into meaningful solutions that improve lives everywhere.”
A dynamic hub that drives high-impact research and synergistic industry collaboration
Sea Building and Sea Connect are home to 12 research labs, including NUS AI Institute, Health Informatics Research Lab, Information Systems & Analytics Research Lab, and more. Research conducted in these labs is expected to foster start-ups and innovations that will make a positive and transformative impact on the industry and society.
Additionally, Sea Building and Sea Connect are set to catalyze long-term, fruitful collaborations between academia and industry by providing cutting-edge facilities, fostering cross-disciplinary interactions, and facilitating real-time innovation and knowledge exchange. Some collaborative initiatives with industry hosted here include the Singapore Blockchain Innovation Program, National Cybersecurity R&D Laboratory and NUS Fintech Lab.
