ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- A group of Singaporean researchers met with representatives from the RDECOM Research Laboratory, the Army's corporate research laboratory (ARL), at the Rodman Materials Research Laboratory and the Adelphi Laboratory Center during a two-day coordination visit Jan 8-9.

Dr. Jeff Zabinski, the lab's director of the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate, welcomed four academics from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

"As part of our Open Campus initiative, we seek out ways to increase opportunities for technology advancement and transfer of research knowledge," Zabinski said.

NTU and the Army have a cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, on the development of novel and emergent nanomaterials beyond graphene. NTU is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore.

The United States and Singapore have a "comprehensive relationship with productive cooperation on economic, political and security issues," according to the U.S. State Department.

The lab's Dr. Govind Mallick, a WMRD research chemist who attended the meetings, spent two years living in Singapore and working side-by-side with Singaporean researchers through the Army Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program, known as ESEP.

"We have a great relationship with Singapore," Mallick said. "They are one of the front runners in nanomaterials development research."

The researchers are participating in presentations and briefings on various topics of joint interest.

The United States recognized Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965 and has had formal diplomatic relations with Singapore since 1966.