American giant Johnson & Johnson impressed by SP students
29 Jun 2016
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was inked with Johnson & Johnson at the recent CLS Connection Day. This MOU opens up more scholarships and internship placement opportunities for our students.
Mr Adam Ricciardone, Vice President, Research & Development, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Asia Pacific, shared, "Johnson & Johnson views Singapore Polytechnic as a strategic partner in helping us to create innovative solutions that will allow our consumers to live healthier, happier and more vibrant lives. Johnson & Johnson's relationship with Singapore is long and deep, and we will continue to partner local talents and expertise in mutually beneficial areas."
(Left to right) Jessie Tong, Senior Lecturer, CLS; Dr Adrian Yeo, Director, CLS; Mr Adam Ricciardone, Johnson & Johnson; Dr Loy Chong Jin, Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson started working with SP about two years ago and the collaborations have mainly involved CLS, UXC (consumer insights projects), and TIE (R & D projects). Johnson & Johnson has been offering internship placements for the enhanced internship programme since 2015, and they have been very happy with the internship duration as it works really well for them.
Research Associate Director at Johnson & Johnson, Dr Loy Chong Jin, shares about the collaborations with SP, "Besides the nine-month internships (this is our second consecutive year of taking in two interns), we have completed a product ideation competition with the Diploma in Perfumery & Cosmetic Science (DPCS) third year students and a consumer insight project with UXC involving teenager consumers. We have also introduced a Johnson & Johnson scholarship scheme for DPCS second year students to encourage excellence in learning and developing themselves. We also see lots of opportunities to partner with staff and students across multiple disciplines at SP to co-develop new ideas and innovation that are mutually beneficial."
On the topic of working experience with SP, Dr Loy says, "We have been very impressed with the quality of student interns and the collaborative mind-set of SP staff."
The inaugural CLS Connection Day held on 23 June was an internal networking and appreciation event for CLS staff and industry partners working with CLS. A Certificate of Appreciation was also presented to the industry partners in the chemical and energy, biomedical and health sciences, and food manufacturing sectors for their continual support to our internship programmes. Industry partners from EDB and SPRING Singapore were also invited as guest speakers to share their outlooks on the respective industry – biomedical, chemical, and food sectors.
This article was published on SP Vine on 28 June 2016.