From classroom curiosity to entrepreneurial brilliance: NUS students embark on a journey from ideas to impact
Over 300 students from across NUS gathered for “Building an Innovation Mindset” on 20 August 2025, a dynamic half-day event under the NUSOne initiative, hosted by NUS Enterprise in collaboration with the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) and the Office of the Provost. More than a theoretical introduction to entrepreneurship, the event offered an experiential journey, showing students how curiosity can be transformed into action, and how ideas can drive tangible, real-world impact.
Engineering innovation with entrepreneurial thinking
In the “Ideas to Innovation” lecture by Associate Professor Khoo Eng Tat, Assistant Dean (Research & Technology) at CDE, students were encouraged to view engineering (and learning) not just as calculations and prototypes, but as a platform for innovation and enterprise. His message: Entrepreneurial mindset is not innate – it is cultivated through questioning assumptions, embracing experimentation, and most importantly, learning from failure.
Luis Olguin Reyes, a Year 4 student at NUS Business School, aptly shared: “Failure is part of success, like in everything, but especially in entrepreneurship.” The sentiment captured the spirit of the lecture, reminding students that setbacks are not endpoints, but stepping stones for learning.
Founders’ fireside chat: Turning passion into purpose
A highlight of the afternoon was the panel discussion on “How Founders Bring Passion to Life”, moderated by Remi Choong, partner at deep-tech venture capital firm Elev8.vc. Three NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) alumni also shared their journeys:
· Grace Chia, Co-Founder & CEO of BeeX Autonomous Systems
· M. Ibnur Rashad, Founder & CEO of Ground-Up Innovation Labs for Development (GUILD)
· Chang Qingyang, Co-founder & CEO of ConcreteAI
Their stories were not polished pitches but honest reflections on long nights, bold pivots, and repeated failures. Through these raw insights, students saw how resilience, curiosity and adaptability are the real engines behind innovation.
Students left inspired to take bold actions, embrace diverse perspectives, and approach challenges with creativity. For Leonard Goh, Year 2 student at NUS School of Computing, he found the session eye-opening and quoted M. Ibnur Rashad: “Failure is the norm in entrepreneurship, and it should be expected, not avoided.”
For Reiner Ong, Year 2 student at NUS CDE, this was an eye-opener. She reflected, “I’ve always been afraid to start my own entrepreneurial journey because I feared setbacks. But after today’s panel, I’ve learned that failure is just part of the journey, and we must embrace and learn from it.”
Building mindsets, block by block
The event closed with “Problem Solving Piece by Piece”, a hands-on challenge using the SOMA cube, a classic spatial puzzle made of interlocking pieces. The activity sparked laughter, collaboration, and creative problem-solving, teaching participants the value of persistence, teamwork, and breaking complex challenges into manageable steps, key habits for building an entrepreneurial mindset.
Neryss Ho, Year 2 student at CDE, shared, “We were tasked to build the tallest tower using just a few 3D blocks, and it was so much fun thinking of creative ways to solve the problem. It was definitely my favourite activity.”
The activity underscored a vital truth: complex problems can be tackled when broken into parts - mirroring the process of entrepreneurial problem-solving in the real world.
Key takeaways: Planting the seeds of an entrepreneurial future
By the end of the event, one thing was clear: Entrepreneurship isn’t just about launching start-ups – it is a mindset. It is about cultivating curiosity and courage to ask “What if?”, and about embracing failure as a learning opportunity. It is about turning problems into possibilities, and taking the first small step toward something bigger.
Many students walked away with concrete goals, from solving one real-world problem a month to forming project teams with peers from different faculties.
“Building an Innovation Mindset” was more than a typical classroom lesson. It offered students not only a window into how ventures are built, but also personal growth in building confidence, skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset to take their first steps toward launching their own innovations and turning ideas into tangible impact.
By NUS Enterprise
