Temasek Poly’s new F1 simulator lab for data analytics

SINGAPORE – Now students at Temasek Polytechnic can drive a Formula 1 simulator and compare their results to F1 driver Max Verstappen’s lap times.

A new life-sized racing cockpit has now been installed for students from the School of Informatics & IT at TP, at the newly launched DRIVE (Data-Driven Racing Intelligence & Virtual Experience) Lab.

Currently, the lab is hosting outreach programmes for secondary school students visiting TP. Visitors at TP Open House in January 2027 will also be able to experience the lab’s features.

Launched on Oct 6, 2026, the lab is meant to teach students data analytics skills through hands-on learning and a sport they may be interested in – from April 2027 onwards.

How it works: Students drive around a virtual version of the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Three monitors in front of the cockpit display data – one in the middle for the F1 simulator racing game, two at the sides for the data generated from the race.

The data shows students their performance throughout the race in terms of steering and speed, using Verstappen’s real-world performance as a reference point.

The steering wheel reacts to the game in real-time, shaking vigorously when a player accelerates too fast.

Separately, a feature that used to be at TP’s Data Science Hub has been rehomed to the lab: an interactive 3D globe known as SPHERE that lets students visualise geographical data and track weather patterns, such as Hurricane Katrina.

One of the electives offered to students from the School of Informatics & IT – Data Analytics for Environmental Sustainability – allows students to explore data from around the world using the globe.

Approximately 550 to 600 full-time students per year from the School of Informatics & IT will have the opportunity to use these features as part of their Year One common subject, Data Visualisation & Analytics.

Previously, students visited the TP Advanced Manufacturing Centre to learn how data analytics is applied in the manufacturing industry. The new simulator enhances these hands-on lessons.

The course chair of the Diploma in Big Data & Analytics Nami Imanishi said: “For each drive, the students can look at the data and compare their lap times and then analyse how to improve their performance.

“After that, they can try again and check whether their performance has improved or not. This is a very simple, but practical way for the students to understand how data helps people to improve their performance as well as make better decisions.”

The F1 simulator was donated by TP’s longtime partner, Oracle Corporation.

Imanishi, 52, said: “Through experiential learning, students can train their critical thinking skills.”

She said that the simulator will help students visualise telemetry data, which is the automated collection and transmission of data from a device to an IT system, and trace the analytics workflow.

Two second-year Big Data & Analytics students, Billy Lim Xiao Xi and Khant Thu John, gave a demonstration of the simulator.

Lim, 19, said: “As a student and F1 fan, I think (the simulator) makes learning much more interesting.”

He said that his experience at the lab would help him and his peers contextualise how data analytics can be applied in the real world.

“Data can be applied to so many more different industries, like engineering and the sciences. So, this project sort of showcases how versatile data truly can be,” he said.

John, 18, added that datasets used in their modules are typically given to students by their lecturers.

“The process of how (data) is created is a bit difficult to know. But the fact that now we are actually the ones creating our own datasets, I think that’s really cool and interesting,” said John.