ATLANT 3D and A*STAR Join Forces to Launch AI-Driven Materials Discovery Hub

Danish deep-tech company ATLANT 3D has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore's A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC) to establish an Advanced Materials Development Hub — or A-HUB — in Singapore. The facility will combine ATLANT 3D's proprietary Direct Atomic Layer Processing (DALP) technology with A*STAR IMRE's materials science expertise and NAMIC's innovation ecosystem to accelerate AI-driven materials discovery.

The A-HUB aims to function as a high-throughput materials innovation foundry, focusing on advanced packaging, silicon photonics, and semiconductor manufacturing — three areas critical to Singapore's position in the global chip supply chain. By integrating atomic-scale additive manufacturing with AI-powered materials discovery, the partners aim to dramatically shorten the timeline from materials research to commercial deployment. A*STAR IMRE Executive Director Prof. Loh Xian Jun noted that DALP technology brings "cutting-edge atomic layer processing capabilities into our materials development workflow," enabling faster discovery and optimisation of functional thin film materials.

For Singapore, this partnership strengthens sovereign advanced manufacturing infrastructure at a time when global supply chain resilience has become a strategic priority. NAMIC CEO Dr. Ho Chaw Sing described the A-HUB as "a shared platform bringing research, industry and ecosystem partners closer together" to accelerate novel materials from lab to factory floor. The initiative falls under Singapore's RIE2030 research agenda and is supported by the National Research Foundation.

Why it matters for Singapore: Materials science is the foundation of semiconductor manufacturing, and Singapore has invested heavily in positioning itself as a critical node in the global chip supply chain. The A-HUB directly supports this strategy by creating a dedicated facility for AI-driven materials discovery, where machine learning models can predict material properties and guide atomic-level fabrication. This type of closed-loop, AI-powered R&D infrastructure is exactly what differentiates leading semiconductor hubs — and Singapore's partnership with a frontier deep-tech company like ATLANT 3D signals that it intends to stay at the cutting edge of materials innovation, not just chip assembly.