Future of Transportation

About the Future of Transportation Applied Learning Programme (ALP)

With technological advancement throughout the world, transportation is evolving rapidly to cater to the growing needs of modern consumers who have a strong appetite for speed, convenience and diversity. 

As some societies become more affluent and fast-paced, the demand to travel from one location to another at a faster rate grows. Companies are rising and competing with one another to innovate and invent new ways to transport people more efficiently. For instance, some billionaires have entered the space industry and started tech companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, vying for the prestige to pioneer space tourism. One day, when technological breakthroughs allow us to live under the ocean, in the clouds or on the surface of the moon, transportation will need to adapt and change its form to carry people and goods to these extraneous locations.

With the advent of artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles are no longer an impossibility. Another exciting venture is the hyperloop, which aims to transport passengers and cargoes at the speed of 1,000 km/h inside low-pressure tubes.

In some developed cities, certain companies are hoping to leverage the underutilized air space with gyroscopic vehicles to reduce travel time between buildings. Cargo drones are now leading the way into the future of parcel delivery, where our groceries can be dropped in our own backyards. 

The Future of Transportation Applied Learning Programme (ALP) seeks to involve students in shaping the way we move in future. They will amalgamate the concepts of engineering, physics and technology to design new vehicles and transport systems to serve the global population.

For example, they can build a prototype of a submarine bus to transport future tourists from the surface to an underwater resort, or construct a cargo drone that can deliver vital food and medical supplies to remote or inaccessible places after a natural disaster. 

A pedestrian was involved in an accident caused by a self-driving car back in 2018. Students can investigate the case and devise ways to improve the reliability and safety of autonomous vehicles.
With higher life expectancy in developed nations, there may be a rise in demand for personal mobility devices (PMDs). Students can research and explore how these PMDs can be best designed to meet the needs of the ageing population or physically disabled individuals. 

Through the hands-on experimentation in this ALP, our students will have the opportunity to solve some of the future real-world problems today.

 

Back to About Applied Learning Programme