NUS Appoints Electrical Engineering Professor Chua Kee Chaing as New Dean of Engineering
Incoming dean is an international expert in wireless, underwater and optical networks
The National University of Singapore (NUS) announced today that it has appointed Professor Chua Kee Chaing as the new Dean of its Faculty of Engineering. Prof Chua currently heads the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at NUS. He will take over from Professor Chan Eng Soon from 1 July 2014 as the 12th Dean in the Faculty.
Prof Chan has served as Dean of NUS Engineering since 2008. During his tenure, the Faculty has grown to be a top Engineering school globally, and continues to attract students of high calibre to both its undergraduate and graduate programmes. He will be appointed as Vice Provost (Special Duties) with effect from 1 July 2014.
Among other duties, Prof Chan will oversee industry engagement, a new undergraduate internship policy, and career preparation programmes for students. Prof Chan, a highly respected Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Keppel Chair Professor, will continue to chair the Working Group to develop a Deepwater Ocean Basin and to build up the team of domain experts.
Said Professor Tan Eng Chye, Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost of NUS: “Under Prof Chan Eng Soon's leadership, NUS Engineering has been revitalised and has grown tremendously. Academic rankings have been impressive. Two landmark programmes, the Global Engineering Programme and the Design-Centric Programme were launched and they are gaining much traction. Research has blossomed in broadness and depth. Among other notable contributions, Prof Chan has also strengthened student life and alumni relations. We record our deepest gratitude to him for steering this very important Faculty so well.”
Prof Chua has considerable experience in leading and managing research both within and outside academia. He served as the Deputy Director of the Centre for Wireless Communications (now the Institute for Infocomm Research of A*STAR) from 1995 to 2000, and was the founding Head of the Mobile Core R&D Department at Siemens Singapore from 2001 to 2003. He was also the first academic to be seconded to the National Research Foundation as the Director of its Projects Office from 2006 to 2008. Prof Chua's research expertise is in communication networks. He has published more than 200 papers in internationally refereed journals and conferences, and holds five patents in the areas of wireless and broadband networks.
Among other milestones, Prof Chua chaired the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Robotics and Smart Devices in 2011, and spoke on the role of robotics and smart devices in shaping new models of development at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2012.
Said Provost Tan: “Having been with NUS for over 20 years and served in a national centre and the National Research Foundation as well as in the industry, Prof Chua Kee Chaing not only knows the Faculty and University well, but he also has a good understanding and appreciation of the Singapore landscape which is critical for tertiary education in the Engineering field. I am confident that Prof Chua will continue Prof Chan's excellent work, and bring NUS Engineering to an even higher level of excellence.”
Prof Chua, who takes over ahead of NUS Engineering's 60th anniversary in 2015, said: “I am deeply honoured to be given the opportunity to serve the Faculty as its Dean. I will work with my colleagues to further enhance the excellent international and national reputation of the Faculty in impactful research and high-quality Engineering education. I also aim to increase our engagement with industry and to provide our students more opportunities for industry exposure and experiential learning. Through these efforts, I hope we can better prepare our Engineering graduates to be future-ready and nurture them to be outstanding engineer-leaders who can positively impact our society and economy.”
Please refer to the annex for a brief biography of Prof Chua.
