In Singapore, people are the nation's greatest resource. With limited natural resources, Singapore has long invested in education, innovation and workforce development to drive its economic success. Preparing young people with the key skills to thrive in the jobs of tomorrow is essential for Singapore’s continued progress.

Since Shell NXplorers launched in Singapore in 2019, Shell Singapore has been working alongside partners across the education ecosystem to support this ambition – helping students build the critical skills and confidence needed to navigate an increasingly complex world.

The challenge

Singapore’s education system is globally recognised for its academic excellence and world‑leading performance in creative thinking. However, while students may be highly capable, many lack confidence in their creativity – a significant gap between ability and self-belief.

At the same time, industries are evolving at remarkable speed. The rise of AI, sustainability transformation, and tightening global competition mean young people will need:

• creative problem‑solving

• innovation mindsets

• systems thinking skills

• teamwork and communication

These skills are becoming the foundation of Singapore’s future economic resilience.

Shell introduces a new way to think

Shell’s early conversations with Science Centre Singapore and Nanyang Polytechnic revealed a shared challenge: students have the ideas but need deeper real‑world support to turn them into working prototypes.

What began as an informal collaboration – polytechnic lecturers and students helping Secondary school NXplorers students with prototyping skills alongside Shell mentors and Science Centre educators – evolved into something much bigger.

Polytechnic teaching staff discovered how Shell NXplorers could potentially strengthen multidisciplinary learning and all rounded thinking for their own students and engaged with Shell and Science Centre Board about trialling a deeper pilot – the journey towards a new tertiary-level pathway.

Bedok View Secondary School team pictured with their teacher and Shell mentors. The students received great support from Nanyang Polytechnic students and staff during NXplorers to create their working prototype – a functional robot that can collect waste in water bodies.

A first-of-its-kind partnership

After one year of pilot and careful curriculum design between the three parties, in late 2025, Shell Singapore, Science Centre Board, and Nanyang Polytechnic signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding to embed Shell NXplorers directly into formal tertiary education. This was a first in Singapore.

Within Nanyang Polytechnic’s Diploma in Sustainability in Engineering with Business, Shell NXplorers now meaningfully complements the existing Design Thinking curriculum to form a new Human-Centric Thinking for Sustainability curriculum. The collaboration is intentionally integrated and each of the multiple partners plays a valuable role:

• Science Centre Singapore delivers selected classes, quality-assures learning, and exposes students to a wider understanding of global challenges.

• Nanyang Polytechnic lecturers weave Shell NXplorers tools into the curriculum, supports students in deepening their understanding through real‑world, hands-on assignments.

• Shell mentors bring industry relevance through sessions, such as the upcoming Bubble Tea with Shell sessions, to introduce students to STEM career pathways and share the real‑world importance of STEM related skills.

This partnership aims to reach approximately 400 students over five years, with discussions underway to further enrich students’ learning via learning journeys, internships etc.

The people behind the partnership

This collaboration works because each partner brings something essential:

• Science Centre Board’s deep expertise in STEM engagement.

• Nanyang Polytechnic’s commitment to innovation‑ready talent.

• Shell’s global methodology, mentoring culture, and long‑term investment in Singapore’s future workforce.

Together, the parties are shaping an ecosystem where learning is hands‑on, future‑focused, and grounded in industry reality.

The impact on students and educators

Shell NXplorers has become a key example of Shell’s long‑term commitment to strengthening Singapore’s future talent pipeline. By bringing together educators, institutions and industry mentors, the programme is helping shape a generation of adaptable, curious and future‑ready problem solvers.

Educators are already exploring how to expand the impact beyond the initial programme. The first showcase in early 2026, Innovation & Enterprise (I&E) Fest, became a powerful demonstration of the programme’s influence – showcasing students who could articulate their ideas confidently, test solutions iteratively and take ownership of their innovation journey.

The young people shaping the future

Students describe Shell NXplorers as a programme that widens their thinking, helping them explore career pathways with greater confidence, understand problems from multiple perspectives and reflect more meaningfully on their own ideas.

Standout projects include:

• Polytechnic team – Waterloop: When a student’s mother complained about her family’s water bills, the team worked to find a solution. They built a greywater system that diverts shower water to flush toilets, installed it at home, and proved it reduced water use.

• Secondary school team – Team Springfield: The team tackled an issue bothering their classmates – high humidity and mosquitoes disrupting student comfort and focus. They created an eco‑friendly mosquito‑repelling candle using coffee grounds and orange peels, testing it over several weeks with feedback from 20 peers.

These projects tell a clear story: Shell NXplorers is not abstract learning – it is real‑world problem‑solving rooted in students’ everyday experiences.

Nanyang Polytechnic NXplorers Team, Waterloop, pictured with Shell Singapore leader and Cluster General Manager, Southeast Asia, Shell Lubricants, Nordarlina Mohd Sib, upon winning a prize for their team

Reaching more young people across Singapore

Since 2019, Shell NXplorers Singapore has reached more than 900 students, across secondary and tertiary levels.

The focus now is to scale impact meaningfully and to help students close the gap between classroom learning and the real world.

As Shell continues investing in Singapore’s talent pipeline, Shell NXplorers is equipping young people with the creative confidence, systems thinking and innovation capability needed to thrive in an ever-changing landscape.

And as Singapore prepares for the next era of skills and innovation, it is its young people, supported by strong partnerships and a shared belief in their potential, who are lighting the path forward.