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Georgia Tech, in collaboration with The National University of Singapore, officially launched the Center for Next Generation Logistics on July 24, 2015 in Singapore.  The inauguration ceremonies were attended by 150 industry and government representatives and included presentations by the provosts of both universities.  The Center will serve as an open logistics innovation platform to:

• Identify and pursue pre-competitive and industry-focused research inspired by significant promise for economic and social impact and contributions to the body of knowledge,
• Accelerate and de-risk the path from knowledge discovery to innovation and commercialization,
• Nurture and develop the Next Generation supply chain & logistics workforce,
• Provide up-to-date business intelligence to better understand today’s competitive landscape.

During the inaugural ceremonies, Georgia Tech Provost Rafael Bras noted, “Logistics is a major player of the U.S. economy comprising over eight percent of the U.S. GDP, and Georgia, in particular, is a U.S. logistics hub.  In parallel, Singapore and its container port thrive on expert logistics know-how. The new generation of logistics must integrate supply chains, movement of goods, manufacturing innovation, data analysis for predictive logistics, and growth of urban regions and megacities. It represents the future, and we are thrilled to define that future together with our Singaporean partners.”

Chelsea C. White III, Schneider National Chair in Transportation and Logistics and Professor in the Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering, has spearheaded Georgia Tech’s participation in this initiative and is co-leader of the center with the NUS principal investigators, Professors Lee Loo Hay and Chew Ek Peng. 

“We are delighted to be collaborating with NUS in an area of research and innovation that has such potential societal and economic impact for both our countries. Next Generation technology, data availability, customers, manufacturing innovations, and demographic trends will shape Next Generation logistics and supply chain systems, and it is critical that both nations are leaders in these areas to insure sustainable economic growth and prosperity,” said White, who presented the Center vision during the inaugural ceremonies.

Georgia Tech has collaborated with NUS for more than 15 years as the co-founders of The Logistic Institute – Asia Pacific, and the new Center will further expand this collaboration. 

The Center has received seed funding from Georgia Tech and NUS over a two-year period to develop the Center concept and expects a 5-year initial funding commitment of $3 million annually from collaborating government agencies and industry partners to support approximately 25 faculty and graduate researchers.