Press Release - ITE to Launch State-of-the-Art User Experience Hub

ITE collaborates with seven industry partners to set up high-tech immersive digital facility

ITE students from selected courses will soon be able to use the latest technologies and software to create, develop and broadcast virtual productions, thanks to the new User Experience Hub (UX Hub) at ITE College Central. The $2.6 million facility was set up together with seven partners – Alibaba Cloud (Singapore) Private Limited and its partner SCash Global; Blackmagic Design Asia Pte Ltd; Cgangs International Pte Ltd; Electronics & Engineering Pte Ltd; HP Singapore; and Quantum Corporation. The seven partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 17 February in conjunction with the UX Hub launch.

2          With this multi-disciplinary partnership, ITE has established a unique, high-tech ecosystem comprising software providers, hardware providers, production and content productions, and e-commerce service providers. The UX Hub is where ITE can tap on its partners’ expertise and focus on workflow innovation, and where interested companies and businesses can come to discover new ways to make technology work for them. ITE students can also build their skill capabilities and work on real world projects and solutioning with the support of ITE staff and industry mentors provided by the seven MOU partners.

Empowering Creators in use of Creative Technology

3            “Technology has made media production more exciting in recent years. Where previously, effects had to be rendered in post-production, we can now do so in real-time using Unreal Engine (a game engine) with faster graphics processing and real-time camera tracking capabilities. Thus, there is a need to educate the next generation of media students on this game-changing production workflow. The UX Hub Production Studio, a first in an Institute of Higher Learning, is equipped with the latest Virtual Production technology, which would enable ITE students to pick up skills in new media technology that would give them an edge in the media industry,” said Alvin Lim, Business Development Director, Cgangs International Pte Ltd. Cgangs is a key player in the setting up and running of the UX Hub Production Studio.

4            “Applying my skills in an actual Production Studio has helped me to better understand what I’ve learnt in the classroom. The equipment here allows us to make changes in real-time, which allows me to better visualise and make changes to my work quickly. This is very helpful in experimenting with all the techniques I learnt. Not many students in my field are able to train in such an environment while in school so the current students are very lucky to get this chance!” said 20-year-old Ahmad Adham B Anuar, a Year 2 Higher Nitec in Visual Effects student from ITE College Central. Ahmad interned at Cgangs International in the UX Hub for three months in 2021 creating 3D virtual sets.

5          As part of the collaboration, staff and students mainly from ITE’s School of Design and Media will have opportunities to work with the seven partners at the UX Hub. These companies will also conduct training in the use of their products and services to help staff and students keep abreast with the latest industry offerings.

6            “This is a very exciting collaboration for us. Not only do we get to work with the latest technology – the equipment and software here will be updated frequently because technology advances so quickly these days – we will also develop new workflows as we deploy the latest technologies and make these accessible to the industry. So, we have these established industry players coming here, imparting their knowledge not just to our full-time students and staff, but also offering certification programmes that the public can gain access to,” said Ms Low Khah Gek, CEO/ITE.

7            More information on the UX Hub and the seven MOU partners can be found in the attached Fact Sheet.