SIT and BeeX Launch Autonomous Marine Foundry at Punggol Digital District
Source: CRN Asia
The Singapore Institute of Technology and underwater robotics company BeeX have unveiled the Autonomous Marine Foundry at SIT's Punggol campus, a joint lab designed to accelerate the development and deployment of maritime robotics and autonomous underwater systems for industries including oil and gas, defence, and offshore infrastructure.
The Singapore Institute of Technology and autonomous underwater robotics company BeeX have launched the Autonomous Marine Foundry at SIT's Punggol campus, a dedicated facility aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of maritime robotics and autonomous underwater systems. The foundry will serve as a joint lab and demo facility where researchers, enterprises, and government stakeholders can test-bed, develop, and field solutions for infrastructure inspection, environmental monitoring, and defence applications.
Located at SIT's waterfront campus within the Punggol Digital District, the facility offers easy water access for running underwater demonstrations on-site, eliminating the need to travel to remote testing sites. BeeX Chief Technology Officer Goh Eng Wei said the company aims to provide services covering the entire AI stack — from robotic control and navigation systems to path planning — noting that full computer-controlled intelligence is 'completely absent' from the current marine industry. The foundry will also support Singapore's Coastal Protection and Flood Management Research Programme, with BeeX's underwater drones serving as sensor platforms for automated monitoring and anomaly detection of coastal structures.
The collaboration extends beyond infrastructure into talent development. SIT students will gain hands-on experience through capstone projects, attachments, and mentorship programmes with BeeX engineers. The partners also plan to co-develop technical workshops, hackathons, and applied learning opportunities. Professor Susanna Leong, SIT's deputy president and provost, said the foundry 'brings together strategic industry partnerships, applied research, and authentic learning on a single platform to co-create solutions that address real-world challenges.'
Why it matters for Singapore: The Autonomous Marine Foundry strengthens Singapore's position in the fast-growing maritime robotics sector at a time when global demand for autonomous underwater systems is rising across defence, offshore energy, and environmental monitoring. By embedding the facility within the Punggol Digital District's innovation ecosystem and tying it directly to national programmes like coastal protection, the initiative demonstrates Singapore's strategy of using targeted academic-industry partnerships to build deep tech capabilities while training the next generation of engineering talent. For BeeX, which has carved out a niche in autonomous underwater vehicles, the foundry provides a crucial test-bedding bridge between research and commercial deployment.