Held on 27 September 2025, the Symposium brought together more than 130 attendees, to reflect on the theme: The Idea of ‘Home’ @SG60.

Perspectives on belonging

The event opened with a panel discussion moderated by CTPCLC Director Associate Professor Chng Huang Hoon, featuring Guest-of-Honour Mr David Neo, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Senior Minister of State for Education; Ms Chua Weiling, Director of Philanthropy at Chua Foundation and CEO of One Hill Capital Pte Ltd; and CTPCLC alumnus Mr Cheng Tian Wei.

Mr Neo emphasised the importance of balancing individual and collective responsibility in fostering a sense of belonging, noting the symbiotic relationship between the individual and the community. "The 'Me' succeeds because of the 'We', and willingly gives back to the 'We'. Policies and programmes may set the foundation but everyone must work together to build connections, strengthen trust and shape our collective future." he said.

Building on the emphasis on collective responsibility, Ms Chua highlighted that philanthropy should begin at home, noting that individuals can make their impact felt by giving back to Singapore before looking further afield. “If you want to start something, start from home,” she said. Echoing this ground-up ethos, Mr Cheng shared how everyday neighbourliness forms the bedrock of cohesion. He said, “With everyone looking out for their neighbours, and the people around them, we can build a kinder, more compassionate society.”

Together, their perspectives traced a clear vision of “home”, enabled by national structures, nurtured within families and communities, and sustained through compassionate community practice.

From kampung to cloud

Offering a contemporary twist, CTPCLC alumnus and 2023 Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipient, Mr Khoo Yi Feng, delivered a keynote address titled From Kampung to Cloud: Rethinking Home in an Age of Movement and Memory.

Mr Khoo noted that in today’s world, belonging extends beyond physical spaces. “As networked individuals, we fulfil our needs in multiple online communities. This challenges community leaders to design, cultivate and steward virtual spaces. The feeling of ‘home’ doesn’t just happen and is no longer just a physical place.”

Drawing on his experiences with mental health advocacy, he urged students, educators, and partners to co-create spaces—physical and virtual—where people feel safe, seen, supported, and empowered to “make good trouble”.

Diverse pathways to community impact

A highlight of the Symposium was a showcase of four student-led community projects, where NUS students applied classroom learning to tackle real-world social issues.

• Identifying the aftercare needs of families in their post-home ownership journey

CTPCLC students Mavis Chin Jun Qi (Arts and Social Sciences ’25) and Freddy Ow Yong Zhi Long (Arts and Social Sciences ’25) presented a study in partnership with the South Central Community Family Service Centre, to examine the aftercare needs of low-income families who completed the Keystart Home Ownership Programme. Using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the team developed a three-phase aftercare model that focuses on strengthening financial literacy, building home maintenance skills, and deepening social connectedness to support families’ stability beyond the point of purchase.

• Negotiating memory and modernity: A stakeholder-centric redevelopment of Esplanade Park

A team from NUS Ridge View Residential College (RVRC), represented by Hazel Tio (Science ’26), investigated the urban tension between heritage preservation and modern development through the lens of the development of the Padang and Esplanade Park. Grounded in multi-layered historical analysis and the site’s recent national recognition and potential UNESCO status, the study proposed a stakeholder-driven, collaborative placemaking approach for Esplanade Park. By integrating the site’s history, context, and redevelopment needs with interactive installations and curated cultural experiences, the team outlined a path to revitalise the park, renewing civic identity while harmonising memory and modernity.

• Coming home empty: Perspectives of empty nesters who find renewed purpose in art

Partnering with Mama on Palette (MoP), a community supporting mothers’ artistic expression, CTPCLC students Chomel Chan (Arts and Social Sciences ’25), Shannon Foo Shao Wei (Business ’26), Denise Leong En Hui (Arts and Social Sciences ’25), Angie Lim Tze Yii (Arts and Social Sciences ’25) and Isabel Lui Yisha (Arts and Social Sciences ’25) explored the expected and lived experiences of female empty nesters in Singapore. Through semi-structured interviews with eight mothers, the research surfaced themes including spousal relationships, phases of transition, and self-fulfilment. This project highlighted how MoP fosters community and empowerment and pointed to opportunities to deepen support for current and future empty nesters. Recommendations included buddy systems, bonding programmes, and regular collaborative art projects—underscoring the role of artistic engagement in ensuring wellbeing and resilience.

• Nourishing rough sleepers in Singapore

  NUS College student Keicia Seek En-Ting (Arts and Social Sciences ’27) addressed food insecurity among rough sleepers, as part of her team’s Impact Experience project by working with Homeless Hearts of Singapore and food charities to co-develop a sustainable food distribution system. Guided by a needs assessment conducted directly with rough sleepers, the project aims to provide regular, nutritious meals that alleviate financial pressures and improve physical and mental well-being. A key outcome is a replicable distribution model designed to respond to community-identified needs and enable longer-term support.

Recognising achievement and community spirit

The symposium also celebrated the Class of 2025 graduates who completed the Certificate or Minor Degree in Community Development and Leadership. In her valedictory address, Isabel Lui (Arts and Social Sciences ’25) thanked professors, peers, and families for anchoring the cohort’s journey, and urged her classmates to carry that sense of belonging into every space—serving, collaborating, and building communities where others feel they belong. The event concluded with a networking lunch, where students, alumni, partners, and guests renewed connections and exchanged ideas to make the world a little more like home.

The 2025 symposium marked another key milestone in CTPCLC’s ongoing work to cultivate youth leaders who can bridge sectors, mobilise communities, and co-create solutions. With sustained support from the Chua Foundation and strong partnerships across NUS and the wider community, CTPCLC continues to empower students to play an active role in building an inclusive, resilient society, and contribute meaningfully to Singapore and beyond.

By NUS Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre

The NUS Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre offers both a Certificate and a Minor Degree in Community Development and Leadership. To date, 370 students have been awarded the Certificate in Community Development and Leadership and 59 of these students also received a Minor Degree in Community Development and Leadership.

The lively showcase marked the culmination of the 67th edition of NUSSU RAG & Flag Day —one of NUS’ longest-standing student-led traditions, which dates back to 1958. Themed “Connecting Beyond Horizons”, this year’s event paid tribute to two milestone anniversaries—NUS’ 120th anniversary and Singapore’s 60th birthday—while rallying students to build bridges, uplift lives, and give back meaningfully to society to bring hope and transformation to the future.

A legacy of giving

The RAG & Flag tradition started with two Flag Days on 26 July and 2 August, where more than 1,500 NUS students fanned out across Singapore with donation tins to raise funds in aid of critical programmes run by 16 Social Service Agencies (SSAs) that are supported by Community Chest. They raised close to $260,000 this year, with all funds going directly towards uplifting communities in need through the Community Chest. The amount raised would also enable S$1.50 government matching for every dollar donated, yielding even more funds for the beneficiaries.

Over the past 16 years, the initiative has collectively raised nearly S$4.9 million reflecting the enduring impact of student-led service at NUS.

For Sivakumar Nandhana, a first-year student at the NUS Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Flag Day offered a moment of reflection and purpose. “We often focus on our careers and personal lives, rarely stopping to consider what others in our community need. Flag Day is my little way of helping those in my community It is also an opportunity to meet like-minded people who also care for the society,” she said.

Li Jie, from the NUS Faculty of Dentistry, added, “It’s really heartwarming to see people donate so willingly and I enjoy being a part of such a meaningful activity.”

A vibrant showcase of gratitude and sustainability

As part of RAG Day, nearly 2,000 students from across the University staged 14 dazzling performances to express their gratitude to the community for its generous support. Each performance was choreographed and produced entirely by students, featuring handmade costumes, mobile floats, and thematic props constructed primarily from recycled materials—in line with the zero-waste challenge promoting sustainable practices.

Gracing the event as Guest-of-Honour was Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies.

Speaking at the official launch of NUSSU RAG and Flag Day 2025, NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye commended the passion, creativity and dedication of NUS students in upholding this proud university tradition.

“This year’s RAG and Flag keeps alive the time-honoured tradition of student-led fundraising and the exciting showcase of student performances as a vibrant finale to freshmen orientation season. As we continue the fine legacy of giving back to the community and encourage our students to make positive footprints on society, the vivid stories brought to life through the performances remind us that we are vitally connected, and together, we can inspire hope, uplift communities and drive meaningful change. We look forward to starting the new Academic Year with meaningful anticipation and purpose as NUS celebrates our 120th anniversary and Singapore marks 60 years of nation-building. As a university founded in 1905 by the community, for the community, we will continue to serve our country and society with dedication and passion,” he said.

Behind the scenes, each performance was the result of months of planning, collaboration and tireless effort. Student teams poured their creativity into every detail—from float engineering and set design to costume-making and lighting—all while embracing sustainable practices.

Jasper Ang, a Year 2 Computer Science student and Creative Director for this year’s Raffles Hall RAG said, “From floats to costumes, everything was upcycled. Materials that couldn’t be used for design were repurposed for functionality, such as linings and backings. In Hall, we often have events involving cooking, so we incorporated egg cartons that we had collected, to add texture to our float. We also reused fabric from last year, and some hallmates even contributed their old clothes, giving the costumes a unique and personal flair."

For their creativity in transforming discarded material into a float masterpiece, Raffles Hall received a Zero Waste Effort Award, along with Faculty of Science.

The floats and props, crafted largely from recycled and repurposed materials, served as powerful visual anchors for the performances. More than stage décor, they told meaningful stories of resilience, hope and unity. The performers in handcrafted costumes brought each segment to life in a vibrant fusion of artistry, sustainability and purpose.

Speaking of his experience participating in RAG and Flag as a float builder, first-year NUS Law student Matthew Lim said, “You never know where you would go, if you don’t go there. I loved being part of RAG – I found new perspective and friends!”.

A celebration of community

Alongside the main showcase, a lively Flag Carnival brought the campus to life with games, food and handicraft booths run by student groups and hostels. An energetic performance by the NUS Cheerleading Team, Alpha Verve, added to the festive spirit.

Mr Sean Pang, President of the 46th Executive Committee of NUSSU, shared, “Building on this year’s theme, “Connecting Beyond Horizons”, we pushed boundaries and explored new ways to improve RAG and Flag. Leveraging digital payments, we customised 22 PayNow QR codes and collaborated with both NUS Sustainability Strategy Unit and NUS SAVE (Students’ Association for Visions of the Earth) to bolster our recycling efforts. All these would not have been possible without the hard work of our fellow students in each participating body, the RAG and Flag Committee, internal and external stakeholders, and the public who have supported us every step of the way.”

Highlights from RAG & Flag 2025

Overall RAG & Flag winner: 

• Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

Zero Waste Best Effort Award: 

• Pharmaceutical Society

Zero Waste Effort Award:

• Faculty of Science
• Raffles Hall

RAG Gold:

• Faculty of Dentistry
• Faculty of Science
• Raffles Hall
• School of Business
• Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

RAG Silver:

• College of Design and Engineering
• Kent Ridge Hall and Sheares Hall (KRaSheares)
• Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
• Faculty of Law
• Pharmaceutical Society

RAG Bronze:

• Eusoff Hall
• King Edward VII and Pioneer House (KExPH)
• School of Computing
• Temasek Hall

Flag Gold:

• Faculty of Law
• Kent Ridge Hall
• Residential College 4
• School of Business
• School of Computing
• Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

Flag Silver:

• Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 
• Faculty of Dentistry
• Pharmaceutical Society
• Tembusu College

Flag Bronze:

• College of Alice and Peter Tan 
• College of Design and Engineering 
• Eusoff Hall
• Faculty of Science
• Helix House
• King Edward VII Hall
• Pioneer House
• Raffles Hall
• Ridge View Residential College
• Sheares Hall
• Temasek Hall

See full press release here.

These study trips are part of the Global Industry Insights (GII) course organised by the NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates. A credit-bearing course that brings learning to the regional stage, GII trips are characterised by deep industry exposure via immersive company visits, structured networking events with regional employers and practitioners, and cultural appreciation activities to learn about local life and culture. Through these trips, students gain global perspectives, learn about the career opportunities that lie beyond Singapore, hone skillsets that would poise them for success on the global stage, and develop a deeper appreciation for diverse cultures.

Immersive, behind the scenes company visits

A hallmark of GII trips is the chance to visit multiple companies within a short span of time, regardless of the country visited. On each trip, students visited an average of six to eight companies across diverse industry sectors. They also had a unique opportunity to learn about Singapore’s presence in these countries by visiting the regional outposts of homegrown companies.

The highly immersive nature of GII company visits allowed students to go behind the scenes to learn about the inner workings and ground operations of each company. With students across faculties and majors participating in each trip, they broadened their horizons through multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary learning and gained exposure to industry sectors outside their core fields of study.

In China, students toured the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), a visit of timely significance given the 30th anniversary of this inaugural government-to-government project between Singapore and China this year. Besides learning about the SIP, students had the opportunity to visit a number of start-ups housed within the Park. At Qichacha, students gained an understanding on how a business information platform could tap on AI cloud technology and data analytics for live database updating of company profiles with information such as credit scores, risk analyses, benefitting investors and consumers; and at GAREA, a health-tech company, students learnt about medical technology in areas such as telemedicine and chronic disease management.

Over in India, students visited Sula Vineyard, one of India’s pioneer vineyards, located in the city of Nashik in the state of Maharashtra. While touring the grounds of the expansive 2,800-acre vineyard, students gained insights into the wine business and observed the entire winemaking process – from harvesting and crushing the grapes to fermentation, clarification, ageing and bottling of the wines.

Reflecting on his trip to Indonesia, Chan Ger Teck, a Year 2 NUS School of Computing student said, “Being able to glean insights into another market, contrast the differences, and experience and understand various industries through company visits in Indonesia was greatly valuable and special. It was also a great chance for me to interact with students of other majors and seniority.”

Host companies similarly found these visits fruitful. Mr Quek Kwan Yi, the Chief Operating Officer of Q Industries and Trade Joint Stock Company in Vietnam commented, “Through the visit, students got to learn first-hand from a hospitality trading company such as the hotel procurement function and its perspectives, and gain insights into Vietnam’s economic growth and opportunities.”

Airbus Chief Representative to Thailand, Mr Bert Porteman said, “The visit to our Thailand office was designed to expose students to the operations behind one of the world’s leading aerospace manufacturers. Through our partnership with NUS, we offer students unique opportunities to gain industry exposure, interact with aerospace professionals, and participate in Airbus-driven projects. This collaboration aligns with our goal to nurture future talent and equip them with the skills needed in a rapidly evolving aerospace industry.”

Engaging with regional employers and practitioners

Many students aspire to live and work abroad but may have little idea how to realise these ambitions. At the GII networking events, students learnt first-hand from industry attendees about living and working in these countries, deepening their knowledge of what building a career and life overseas might look like. They also heard from senior company executives who shared their perspectives on the local industry, economy, and careers.

Besides meeting industry practitioners, students who participated in the GII trip to China also had the opportunity to interact with students from NUS Research Institute (NUSRI) Suzhou’s “3+1+1 programme”, forging a foundation for continued bilateral exchange as the latter will eventually head to Singapore for their further studies.

Many students gained fresh perspectives about overseas careers through their GII trips, with some forging meaningful connections that became handy as they later sought overseas internships. One such student is Gabriel Chua Ee-An, a Year 3 NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences student who participated in a GII trip to Cambodia earlier this year. During the trip, he visited Profitence, a boutique consultancy firm in Phnom Penh, eventually securing an internship with the company and working on projects in collaboration with organisations such as the World Trade Organisation.

“GII introduced me to opportunities I had not previously considered, such as interning abroad. I gained insights into overseas work environments, which inspired me to pursue an international internship. This decision led to a memorable and enriching internship in Cambodia where I developed both professionally and personally,” said Gabriel.

Building an appreciation for diverse cultures

Besides broadening their career horizons, students participated in cultural activities such as making local crafts, preparing and sampling local delicacies, and guided tours to historic and cultural sites. During pockets of free time, the more adventurous students formed groups to further explore the local cities and culture. With the world becoming increasingly interconnected, students learnt to appreciate the value of cultural diversity and understand how they can thrive and contribute as global citizens.

Avantika Velliyur Nott, a Year 2 NUS Faculty of Science student, said of her GII trip to India: “This course offers a unique opportunity to travel to other countries, experience different cultures, get exposure to multiple industries and interact with a wide range of company representatives; this is something one is not likely to get access to in any other way. This trip leaves you with a larger network, deeper understanding of a country's economic and sociocultural landscape, opening up more future possibilities.”

In pre- and post-trip surveys, students shared that participating in GII trips has not only enhanced their technical skills and knowledge, but also their grasp of and confidence in critical life skills ranging from communication, innovation, curiosity and independent learning to interdisciplinary knowledge and skills.

The GII course was launched in 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with virtual study trips to Indonesia and Vietnam. In 2023, the first physical overseas study trips kicked off, with students heading to Indonesia and Thailand.

“This year, GII has greatly expanded its footprint, with students travelling to Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, and China. We are excited that more students can look forward to benefitting from GII in the year ahead, with the course pioneering trips to countries like Malaysia and Philippines, and several trips broadening to encompass multi-city itineraries,” said Ms Joan Tay, Senior Director, Centre for Future-ready Graduates.

Learn more about the Global Industry Insights (GII) course here.

By NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates

In its second edition, Impact for the Future presents the University’s strides in effecting change in the areas of talent, solutions and society from 2019 to 2023. It details the diverse ways in which the NUS community has made its mark in Singapore and the world.

“Impact is built upon shared passion and commitment,” said NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye. “Reading our stories of impact – from students sharing about how they have grown through service learning, to researchers speaking about the problems they hope to solve – was meaningful to me, and I hope they can inspire others as well.”

Here are some highlights of the report, which can be found here.

Shaping Future Talent: Nurturing changemakers

One of the key areas of impact highlighted by the report is the University’s work in shaping talent, from producing strong graduate employability outcomes, to contributing to larger nation-wide efforts to upskill and reskill.

Exploring the impact of undergraduate education, the report found that 1 in 2 students venture abroad at least once during their time in NUS, while 8 in 10 are enrolled in an interdisciplinary college, where they study across diverse domains and subject areas, gaining a holistic perspective on complex issues.

Moreover, all students have engaged in service learning as part of their curriculum since AY 2021/2022, gaining insight into social issues while working with community partners to advance social services and community building.

One such student is Celest Chiam, who mentored secondary school students as part of the Teach SG programme.

Teach SG equips NUS students with the resources, funding and skills to mentor disadvantaged children and youth. Since its launch in 2021, the programme has empowered nearly 1,650 NUS students to mentor 3,600 beneficiaries. It has also been made available as a practicum under the Communities and Engagement Pillar within the General Education curriculum, which is read by all undergraduates.

“My experience with Teach SG has taught me that there is so much joy in giving, and I have been motivated by my mentees’ eagerness to learn and positive attitude to learning,” said Celest.

Shaping Future Solutions: Tackling real-world problems   

An increase in international collaborations, high-impact publishing, and platforms that address emerging issues like heat resilience and sustainability in medicine: these are some of the highlights in the report’s assessment of how the University is shaping future solutions.

Nearly half of the University’s research publications feature in the top 10 per cent of the most cited journals globally, and its Field-Weighted Citation Impact – which measures how well cited a publication is compared to similar publications – is 2.0, up 13.6 per cent from the last five years.

Over the same period, research funding surged to S$4.3 billion, enabling breakthroughs in areas like quantum technology, sustainability solutions and biomedical science.

The University has also been active in turning research into practical solutions. The past five years have seen 2,369 new patent applications, more than half of which are in the physical sciences. Through NUS’ entrepreneurial ecosystem, researchers and budding entrepreneurs are provided with expertise, funding and connections to realise their ideas.  

Bearing testament to this is BeeX, a start-up founded by NUS alumni Grace Chia and Goh Eng Wei specialising in underwater autonomous robotics solutions.

Grace and Eng Wei had received support from the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme, as well as platforms like Technology Transfer and Innovation—NUS Enterprise’s technology translation and commercialisation arm—and PIER71, an ecosystem of maritime veterans and experts, technology, entrepreneurial know-how and investment opportunities.

“PIER71 provided us with wider exposure to the maritime sector for growth, outside of our core work with energy and infrastructure players,” said Grace.

In 2021, BeeX secured significant seven-figure seed funding from Cap Vista, the strategic investment arm of Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency. Two years later, it received the prestigious Enterprise Singapore-Innovate UK grant. Today, BeeX continues to thrive as it prepares to launch BETTA, its newest hovering autonomous underwater vehicle designed for inspecting offshore wind farms, later this year.

Shaping Future Society: A catalyst for good

NUS’ longstanding legacy of service to Singapore—and the ways in which its students, staff and alumni continue to uplift the communities around them—is also featured.

The University has enhanced access to education, with nearly 3,000 students benefiting from zero tuition fees annually. Additionally, 1 in 2 undergraduates leverage various financing platforms to support their education, totalling more than S$787 million—a 28 per cent increase compared to the previous five years.

Playing an instrumental part in shaping public policy, the University has embarked on 100 collaborative research projects with governmental organisations in Singapore and received more than 13,000 citations related to public policy research.

Such efforts extend beyond home as well, such as with the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health’s initiative in optimising tuberculosis case-finding, treatment and prevention in Cambodia, through which NUS researchers actively engaged local communities. From 2019 to 2022, they screened over 150,000 individuals, diagnosed and cared for more than 3,000 people with tuberculosis, and facilitated preventive treatment for over 3,000 others.

Assistant Professor Yi Siyan, who heads NUS’ health office in Cambodia, emphasised, “Working closely with local partners at every stage of our research helps to foster ownership. It enables us to better translate research findings into policies and actionable steps that can benefit those on the ground who need it the most.”

Shaping a Sustainable Future: Towards a greener tomorrow

The coda of the report touches on a universal challenge: climate change. The University’s drive towards a more sustainable future is propelled by efforts in education, research, innovation and community engagement.  

These touch points are easily accessed by the NUS community – whether it’s in the over 800 sustainability-centric courses that students can choose from, or in the campus that they traverse daily, which features net-zero energy buildings, solar-powered outdoor Wi-Fi and electrified shuttle buses.

The proportion of faculty participating in sustainability-related research has also increased – by 30 per cent – over the past five years.

One such research effort is led by the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, which seeks to harness nature and natural processes to mitigate greenhouse gases.

The Centre is at the forefront of Carbon Integrity SG, a S$15 million research initiative which monitors natural habitats around the region to map nature-based projects that can be developed as potential sources of high-quality carbon credits.

“We have a much better understanding of the value of nature now, and the importance of harnessing nature as part of our solutions against climate change. When it comes to nature-based climate solutions, we are moving very quickly in the right direction,” said Professor Koh Lian Pin, Director of the Centre.

How does NUS cultivate highly sought-after talents in the workforce of the future?

Find out how the University has developed and broadened our curriculum to better prepare our graduates for the swiftly evolving workplace, and how interdisciplinary learning can help students solve complex issues in our society.

Under the two courses  –  GEN2060 Reconnect SeniorsSG and GEN2061 Support Healthy AgeingSG  – students will first pick up skills such as empathetic communication and active listening to help them connect with seniors through a structured academic programme overseen by the Department of Social Work at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Thereafter, they will be sent out to the community to engage with seniors through AIC’s Senior Befriending and Silver Generation Ambassador (SGA) programmes.  

Students Ashley Gue, Navaraj Rajendran and Kevin Wong are among some 900 students who have served as befrienders or Silver Generation Ambassadors to seniors under the service-learning courses which launched in August 2022. They share how the courses made them more aware of the needs of seniors and why the experience has been both humbling and fulfilling.

Serving as senior befrienders

Third-year NUS Life Sciences undergraduate Ashley Gue is one of the 400 students who signed up to be a senior befriender under the ‘Reconnect SeniorsSG’ course. Through weekly visits to meet the seniors, accompanying them for activities in their neighbourhoods, or helping them run errands, the initiative aims to encourage seniors to remain active and connected to society so that they can age healthily. Over 400 NUS students are currently serving as senior befrienders and the number is expected to increase to 900 next year.

Beyond building a rapport with her senior during their weekly engagement sessions, Ashley and her buddy went the extra mile by bringing their wheelchair-bound senior to different hawker centres after discovering that he was a big foodie!

“When we visited hawker centres, you could tell that he was very happy about it. He would share about how this particular stall was still around, or which stall had good food. So, the trips (to the hawker centres) were always very memorable and I enjoyed it a lot,” Ashley recalls.

Becoming a Silver Generation Ambassador

Despite having a close relationship with his grandmother, third-year NUS Life Sciences undergraduate Navaraj Rajendran signed up to be a SGA as he wanted to learn how to better engage seniors, and in turn, provide better care for his grandmother.

Working with AIC’s Silver Generation Office, students who participate in the ‘Support Healthy AgeingSG’ course are trained to engage seniors in their homes to share relevant government schemes and policies, as well as activities and services that are available in the vicinity. Through these interactions, the volunteers can better understand the seniors’ aspirations and needs, and provide them with the appropriate assistance. So far, more than 500 NUS students have been trained as SGAs and another 1,200 will be trained next year.

When asked to describe his experience in one word, Kevin Wong, a third-year NUS Economics undergraduate shared that it was humbling as it opened his eyes to the bigger picture – that life is more than just grades and academics. As an introvert, he had to make a conscious effort to push himself out of his comfort zone to initiate genuine conversations with the seniors. “When the ‘Support Healthy AgeingSG’ course was made available, I saw it as an opportunity to give back…to do something for the seniors facing challenges – be it in the areas of healthcare or social isolation.”

For Navaraj, the experience was so fulfilling that he chose to continue volunteering with AIC even after completing the course. “Although less frequently than before, since it’s no longer part of the academic programme, I want to continue serving.”

Spending time to befriend seniors, accompanying them for walks, or even sharing information about the relevant Government schemes may seem insignificant to the average person. For the seniors, however, these seemingly small gestures are acts of kindness that go a long way. Through these two courses, students are given a valuable opportunity to think deeper about societal issues, take constructive actions and be a part of the change to build a more caring society in Singapore.

Read the press release here.

Students Nityasree D/O Rajendran, Ng Wesley and Darren Chua Han Yong are among the 430 NUS students who have been trained and matched with ComLink families since the course was piloted in Academic Year 2022/2023. They shared their experiences of building meaningful relationships with their assigned families, understanding the families’ needs and aspirations and partnering with the families on their journey towards social mobility.

Nityasree D/O Rajendran (Nitya): Inspiring young minds

Every fortnight, Nitya, a Year 3 undergraduate student at NUS Business School, together with another befriender Shawn, meet 12-year-old E (pseudonym) at the void deck of E’s rental flat to tutor her in preparation for the upcoming Primary School Leaving Examination.

“We have our tutoring sessions at the void deck, which is more conducive, away from the busyness of the house which E shares with her mother and four older siblings. We typically do homework and assessment papers but sometimes we also do art jamming sessions to inject some fun and bond with E,” said Nitya, whose newfound joy is learning art techniques that she can then teach E.

With continuous encouragement over these sessions, Nitya witnessed as E demonstrated a growing interest in her studies. Now E is attentive in school and motivated to progress on to secondary school where she wants to continue doing sports and arts.

E is not the only family member the befrienders have touched. They have also assisted E’s mother, who has been unemployed, in her job search so that she can better support her family. With the help of Nitya and Shawn, E’s mother was able to polish up her resume and already has an interview lined up for a customer service job.

Having done many community projects in the past, Nitya found this particular experience especially rewarding and eye-opening. “I learnt that every child and situation is unique, so what works for me may not work for them. Instead of imposing my own solutions, I learnt to be open to their ideas first, then provide my thoughts and motivate them along the way. I’ve also seen firsthand how a little empathy and care can motivate someone to improve their circumstances. I guess sometimes all they need is to know that someone cares,” said Nitya.

Ng Wesley: Helping families achieve their dreams

To Wesley, a Year 3 undergraduate student at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the ComLink Befrienders course is a wonderful way to do something meaningful in the community and find respite from the hustle and bustle of school life.

“I’ve always been passionate about causes that support the vulnerable in our community and what I like about this course is that we interact with the same families throughout our service-learning journey. I think it is important because it allows us to really understand the family’s unique circumstances, and see trade-offs through their eyes. We get to navigate real-world complexities alongside them,” said Wesley.

One of the families Wesley befriends aspires to own a flat one day. This dream had to take a backseat when the father suffered a stroke. As a result, his doctor has currently deemed him medically unfit to resume his job as a private-hire driver, putting significant strain on the family’s finances. Determined to do what he can for his family, the father has approached Wesley and his ComLink supervisor about finding suitable employment during his recovery.

“Even though he is struggling with the side-effects of his medication, it is heartwarming to see his determination to contribute to the family’s finances so that they can realise their dream of owning a home someday soon. He also takes such a keen interest in his children’s education, and they are doing very well in school,” said Wesley.

Not only has his befriending experience been emotionally and mentally rewarding, it has also helped the Political Science major in his coursework. “This semester I’m taking a course called Singapore Politics in Comparative Perspective and one of the assignments is to write a policy proposal on a contemporary Singapore policy issue, including issues relating to Singapore’s social service landscape. So, I’m able to directly apply what I have learnt to better shape my policy proposal,” he shared.

While he will be embarking on an overseas exchange next semester, Wesley looks forward to continuing the journey he started with these families once he is back.

Darren Chua Han Yong: In it for the long-haul

A Year 4 undergraduate student from NUS School of Computing, Darren believes that every child deserves a safe and nurturing environment to grow up in. Being able to make a direct and tangible difference in the circumstances of the families and their children is what got him interested in the ComLink Befrienders course.

“Not every volunteer opportunity allows you to work directly with the families,” he shared. “Through this course, we work with the families to come up with realistic action plans that support the families’ goals. For example, another befriender and I are involved in supporting two families take off their home-based food businesses. We created their business logos, designed promotional material and managed their social media accounts. We also meet often to sample their food and plan how to procure ingredients with the vouchers they are given. In October, the families participated in an event to promote some of their dishes. If the businesses successfully take off, it will be a huge step toward the families becoming self-reliant”.

Darren has befriended four families to-date under ComLink. While nurturing these relationships and joining group outings with ComLink families often take up his weekends or evenings, he enjoys the process, especially because he is doing it with two other friends. “It is nice that we still get to hang out with each other and do good at the same time,” he said. When Darren feels pressed for time juggling school work, co-curricular activities and volunteering, he reminds himself why he chose to become a befriender. Seeing the joy on children’s faces when they get to try McDonalds for the first time – a simple meal some may take for granted – or visit places like Sentosa motivates him to keep going.

The experience has also been enriching in ways he didn’t expect. Darren has learned to appreciate and respect cultural nuances that influence or shape people’s behavior and perspectives. He also has a deeper understanding of the various government support systems available – knowledge that will be invaluable as he continues his journey as a public ComLink befriender after he wraps up the course this year.

Making a positive impact through experiential learning

The GEN2070 ComLink Befrienders service-learning course is offered in partnership with Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), as part of the Communities and Engagement Pillar of the NUS General Education curriculum.

“What sets GEN2070 apart is that our students undergo training and reflective learning, on top of training conducted by MSF or a Social Service Officer. This helps to instill skills and values such as empathetic communication, civic consciousness as they embark on their befriending journey.

Our course tutors have also developed additional tools that students can use – for example activities such as Read Aloud and Draw and Count to guide them in helping children prepare for primary school; and we work closely with them to plan excursions with the families to interesting places. Through this, we hope to stimulate community action and do our part to strengthen the resilience for our nation,” said Pamela Yeh, Course Lead (Communities and Engagement), Department of Social Work at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

To-date, NUS students form the largest group of volunteer befrienders from any organisation. In future, the University aims to grow this volunteer pool to 1,000 students every year, providing more opportunity for experiential learning through impactful work that positively influences the community.

To watch the GEN2070 course trailer, click here.

Breaking the silence on legacy planning

When it came to selecting a topic for their Field Service Project (FSP), Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students Koh Ngiap Seng, Chiu Yu Xuan, Jonathan Chin and Mandy Tay jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with legacy, retirement, and eldercare planning start-up Immortalize.

The task? Improve or create a new game to spark interest in end-of-life planning.

Ngiap Seng, a Year 4 BBA student and President of NUS Board Games, said the brief by Immortalize immediately caught his eye. “I’ve ample experience playing board games, from simple games like Codenames to complex ones like Nusfjord. This [project] about creating a game was perfect for my skillset, and I’m glad my teammates were receptive to it.”

Jonathan, a Year 4 BBA student, shared that end-of-life planning used to be a difficult subject for his family to talk about, with his parents broadly stating that everything was “taken care of” whenever the topic was broached. “Looking back, I realise that having a way to break the ice and make everyone feel more comfortable when discussing death and end-of-life planning would have been appreciated,” he added.

The Immortalize project is one of 214 FSPs in Academic Year 2022/2023. The team embarked on the project in Semester 1, with a designated timeframe of 13 to 15 weeks for completion. They strategically divided this period into distinct phases, including research, ideation, game creation, user testing, and evaluation, allocating one to two weeks for each stage.

The team play-tested Immortalize’s existing concept of a conversational drinking game, but found it awkward and difficult to play. They eventually decided to build a game from scratch, with the objective of making it fun, engaging and repeatedly playable. 

To aid the brainstorming process, the team conducted extensive research into the subject matter as well as popular board games. Ngiap Seng said, “We decided to make it a card game to make it easier to play, and also to simplify our game development so that we could easily make changes using a print-and-play format.”

Named ‘Will of Fortune by Immortalize’, the game went through the critical phase of testing with industry practitioners including a doctor, lawyer, financial specialist and funeral planner.  

To make the game interesting, the team created a unique backstory centred around ‘Peter Devan’ – a tycoon diagnosed with a terminal illness who needs help to make plans for his assets. Players assume personas of Devan’s family members, each possessing distinct abilities that can be strategically employed during the game. The objective is to collect as many legacy cards as possible, across insurance plans, estate planning tools and funeral arrangements. The game ends when a player draws the “Peter’s Last Breath” card, and scores are totalled to determine the victor.

Jonathan reflected that the play-testing phase of the card game was one of the most rewarding moments of the project. “I recall the four of us trying to print, cut, and assemble the cards in school. When we finished, it struck me that this was the culmination of many weeks of game development, ideation, card design and planning,” he said.  

This was a sentiment echoed by Ngiap Seng, who play-tested the game at NUS Board Games sessions to gather feedback from experienced and casual gamers. “The positive feedback and laughter we shared while playing the game was extremely gratifying for me. I could see that the team’s hard work paid off, and we had finally created a game about legacy planning that was fun and interesting to play,” added Ngiap Seng.  

Harnessing diverse skillsets to navigate real-world challenges

Both students shared that the interdisciplinary education and learning experience at NUS have played a pivotal role in the project, where flexibility and adaptability were essential. The duo explained that the team applied business concepts and ideas when conducting market research and target group analysis, while design thinking and project management skills came in handy during the game development process.

Having complete creative freedom in game design presented both advantages and challenges. Initially, the team faced difficulty in consolidating their numerous ideas into a cohesive concept, prolonging the ideation phase.  “Fortunately, our team dynamic allowed us to overcome this. As good friends who know each other well, we were able to communicate openly and honestly… This allowed us to better refine our ideas, resulting in a better quality and more focused concept,” added Jonathan.

The team also encountered an additional challenge related to creating a prototype for play-testing and implementing subsequent gameplay adjustments. Fortunately, they came across nanDECK, a software for creating card decks. Ngiap Seng said, “We had to learn how to use and code it, but this was very useful for us to create a print-and-play version of our game for easy play-testing.”

Associate Professor Chaithanya Bandi, a faculty mentor from the Department of Analytics & Operations at NUS Business School, said, “Despite these hurdles, I was extremely impressed with their ability to think creatively and collaboratively. Their commitment to overcoming obstacles and willingness to learn from each other were truly commendable.”

Assoc Prof Chaithanya expressed that collaborative initiatives, like the Immortalize project, are not only unique to NUS Business School, but are an integral part of NUS’ approach to education. “We are committed to offering our students practical opportunities that allow them to apply their knowledge and skills in real-world settings, ultimately preparing them for successful future careers.”

How does NUS cultivate highly sought-after talents in the workforce of the future?

Find out how the University has developed and broadened our curriculum to better prepare our graduates for the swiftly evolving workplace, and how interdisciplinary learning can help students solve complex issues in our society.

This was the sentiment shared by many members of the NUS Centre For the Arts (NUS CFA), including students, artistic directors, and staff, who gathered in-person for the 13th annual Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards ceremony on 28 October at the University Cultural Centre Theatre. The Awards were not held in 2020 due to disruptions from the pandemic, while a smaller-scale ceremony was held in 2021 with social distancing restrictions in place.

Inaugurated in 2009 with the generous support of the Tan Ean Kiam Foundation, the Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards celebrate artistic excellence in NUS, and recognise undergraduate students and alumni who have raised the artistic bar and contributed to the growth of the arts scene in NUS and beyond. A total of eight awards were given out, namely, the Outstanding Community Service of the Year Award, Original Work of the Year Award, Outstanding Alumni Award, Student of the Year Award, Digital Production of the Year (Short Form) Award, Digital Production of the Year (Long Form) Award, Production of the Year Award and Group of the Year Award.

For the very first time, the Digital Production of the Year categories were also opened to the larger NUS community beyond CFA’s 20 Arts Excellence Groups, to spur artistic exploration and expression among students across campus and encourage them to take pride in their original works.

“It has been a truly epic voyage, and I am proud of everyone in NUS CFA, staff and students alike, for navigating uncertain waters with courage, optimism, and good humour,” said Associate Professor Daniel Goh, Associate Provost (Undergraduate Education) and Vice-Dean (Special Programmes) at NUS College.

“Tonight’s nominees embody the best of these traits, exemplifying the excellence and passion for the arts that these Awards hope to encourage,” Assoc Prof Goh added.

Chairman of the Tan Ean Kiam Foundation, Mr Homer Tan Keng Soon, said the  foundation “believes in the importance of the arts in broadening the minds of the youth and sparking their innovation and creativity”.

“We are proud to journey with CFA in enabling young artists to explore new horizons, and constantly push the boundaries of their craft,” Mr Tan said.

Shining stars of NUS’ campus arts scene

One notable award recipient this year was NUS Dance Synergy, who received the Outstanding Community Service of the Year Award for their Design-Your-Own-Module (DYOM) project, Helping Hands, Moving Bodies 2.0. Building on an earlier iteration of the same project, NUS Dance Synergy students experienced first-hand how the arts could go beyond academia and theory to benefit the wider community. Partnering with NUS’ Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies and social service agency Lions Befrienders, the team from NUS Dance Synergy dived into dance pedagogy to better understand seniors’ needs. The students then created a special community dance programme and taught the dance routine to seniors in Lions Befrienders’ various Senior Activity Centres. The choreography was specially designed with the seniors’ physical and cognitive abilities in mind.

“This project was a challenging undertaking, involving many unforeseen circumstances and five-hour phone calls. However, looking back at how far we’ve come, we’re excited to see how NUS Dance Synergy can continue to reach out to the community using contemporary dance as a medium,” said Ms Pu Fangxin, President of NUS Dance Synergy (AY2021/22).

Another notable recipient was Student of the Year Award winner Mr Tan E-Reng from the NUS Electronic Music Lab (EML). Going by the stage name Falling Islands, E-Reng, a Year 4 student from the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, was recognised for his artistic achievements in the electronic music scene. These include his foray into video production for EML’s annual group presentation Omniverse Cyberpunk which was held in virtual format due to the pandemic, and his original compositions for Past. Presence. Future, a musical item staged at the NUS Arts Festival 2021 which fused the art of dance theatre with the power of visual storytelling in photography and film. Beyond serving as EML’s President in Academic Year 2020/21, and Publicity Head in Academic Year 2021/22, he was also recognised for actively encouraging EML members to bond with artistic sub-communities both within and outside of NUS.

When asked about his thoughts on receiving the award, E-Reng shared, “Awards like this are instrumental in helping us keep the faith and reaffirming that we have an audience that is watching and cheering us on. Electronic music can sometimes be a solitary art form to partake in, but thanks to and together with my fellow EML members, I have learnt so much more as a musician.”

Modern Indian dance troupe NUS Naach was the first non-CFA Arts Excellence Group to be awarded the Digital Production of the Year (Long Form) for its production Kiwaad (Door). Through eight uniquely choreographed and themed dance pieces, Kiwaad explored the idea of finding inspiration in a seemingly mundane existence. While some of the pieces were infused with light-hearted elements of comedy and romance, others dealt with heavier, thought-provoking topics such as gender stereotypes.

“All of us at NUS Naach are elated and have worked hard for this win, and it’s a testament to all our years of learning, and of pursuing new creative ideas. This award encourages us to continue to find new ways of storytelling to further the arts scene in NUS,” said Ms Geetali Gupta, President of NUS Naach (AY2021/22).

Impressed by the creativity and resourcefulness of NUS’ student artists, Guest-of-Honour Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov, Director of the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials and Distinguished Professor from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the NUS College of Design and Engineering, said in his speech: “You’re all extremely creative, innovative and bold. Don’t let the boundaries of your courses, of this prize, of this University, or even of this universe, be the limit for you. Your own brain is your only limit…so be bold, dream and explore!”

13th Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards – Full List of Awardees

By NUS CFA

Click here to see highlights of the 13^th Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards ceremony.

After months of deliberation, 21 award recipients earned nods in seven different award categories, namely, Community Engagement, Community Service, Competition (General), Competition (Sports – Sportsman of the Year), Competition (Sports – Sportswoman of the Year), Competition (Sports – Sports Team of the Year), and Leadership. Institution-wide events that have made a tangible impact on community cohesion, social integration and community outreach were also presented with the Campus Vibrancy Award.

True to the theme, “Rhythm of Life!”, the Awards recognised students who have helped to create a thriving and engaging campus culture and encouraged others to be involved in various aspects of student life, such as participating in the arts, community service, sports, and other co-curricular activities, or even taking up leadership positions.

Campus life beyond grades

Speaking at the ceremony, NUS alumna (Class of 2007) and Guest-of-Honour Ms Tin Pei Ling encouraged students to “try new things” and have the tenacity to learn from failures.

“What is important in NUS’ education is not just the grades, but the development of strength in character and leadership qualities. Academic grades give you the foundational knowledge and skills to do your jobs,” she said. “But what determines success is not the class of honours that you graduate with. It is the intangibles such as knowing how to navigate difficult personalities or situations, finding novel ways of solving problems, thinking several steps ahead and leading your team out of uncertainties that will set you apart.”

Taking home Merit Award in the Community Engagement and Campus Choice (Group) category was the team behind the “24th The Dream Composition”, an annual bilingual song-writing competition created by students of King Edward VII Hall.

Recounting their experience, Year 3 students from the NUS Faculty of Science, Wong Wei Ting and Mah Shian Yew Brendan, who were Head and Vice-Head of the competition, said, “At the start of our journey, we were very scared and overwhelmed with the daunting task of executing a large-scale event.” It was through the difficulties they faced, along with their engagements with one another, that they learned the “importance of teamwork and communication”.

Gabriel Lau Rongyang, who recently graduated from the NUS Concurrent Degree Programme, bagged the Campus Choice Award (Individual) and the Distinction Award in the Leadership category. A believer in living life to the fullest on campus, the former President of the NUS Intellectual Games Club said, “University education is transient and ephemeral. Let’s make the most out of the high-quality education NUS offers to flourish holistically and lead a well-balanced student life while making a positive impact on the NUS community and beyond.” “I look forward to giving back all that I have received,” he added.

The Sportswoman of the Year Award went to Aloysa Margiela Atienza, who is currently pursuing her dream of becoming a professional golfer. Aloysa, a former captain of NUS Golf and recent Civil Engineering graduate, said she was honoured to have received the award to cap off her undergraduate journey in NUS. Sharing a word of advice with future student athletes, she said, “Juggling sports with school was never an easy task. As cliché as it sounds, managing your time and knowing your priorities are the most important. Sacrifices have to be made. It’s also a good practice to celebrate the small wins in both academics and your sport so that it keeps you motivated.”

View the full list of awardees here.

Recognising our passionate staff advisors

This year, a new award category was introduced to pay tribute to NUS staff advisors who have made a positive impact on students and paved the way for them to pursue their projects and activities. Two staff advisors – Dr Helen Chai from the NUS Students’ Business Club and Dr Shobha Avadhani from NUS Comedy Club – were presented with the inaugural Staff Advisor Recognition Award. Nominated by students, they were appreciated for their significant contributions to the clubs and their unwavering support to the students.

“Dr Shobha has played a pivotal role in shaping the NUS Comedy Club,” Alec Singh, President of NUS Comedy Club, said. “It is with her caring guidance and thoughtful personality that the Club has become a student organisation that is not only fun and engaging, but also purposeful and meaningful for students.”

NUS Forever music video premiere

This year, the Office of Student Affairs also teamed up with students and staff for a new production of the “NUS Forever” song. Originally written for the 2005 NUS Centennial Celebration by Associate Professor Ho Chee Kong from the Yong Siew Toh (YST) Conservatory of Music and Professor Robbie Goh, former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the remade “NUS Forever” music video was a labour of love. Made possible by the efforts of many in the NUS community, it features NUS alumnus and accomplished local singer-songwriter Marcus Lee as the lead vocalist, musicians and audio engineers from YST, and student film director-producers from Raffles Hall Media. The reconstructed music video premiered at the award ceremony, bringing the celebrations to a rousing and memorable close and heralding many more years of vibrant campus life to come. 

By NUS Office of Student Affairs

The 51-year-old recounted with a chortle his colleagues’ reactions whenever they ask him out for a meal at a Western restaurant. “I’ll say: ‘Why don’t we eat at the hawker centre?’ You’ll see the disbelief on their faces.”     

There is a good reason for this. More than 20 years of living abroad has given him a seemingly insatiable craving for local delights. The self-professed “chicken rice guy” simply loves hawker centres, explaining, “You get to pick everything on a whim – you can’t beat that.”     

There are two other things he cannot get enough of: electronics and education. As Dean of the newly-established College of Design and Engineering (CDE), he is harnessing the best of both worlds for students.

Launched in November 2021, the College is a merger of the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Design and Environment as NUS seeks to offer a new model of interdisciplinary education. This also means encouraging students to push the boundaries – a challenge that Prof Thean relishes.

“The most enjoyable part is working with my students and research groups to explore new ideas,” he said. “How can I inspire students to think differently about a problem, and then look at something that’s never been done before?”

From tinkering to innovating

His passion for electronics was sparked by his father, a self-taught and talented technician who could fix everything from radars to televisions. 

Growing up, his home was always chock-full of gadgets. “We were always tinkering with stuff,” he recalled. “From a very young age, I’ve always been immersed in electronics.”

There is a look of wonder in his eyes as he holds up a vacuum tube – a black, light-bulb shaped device that used to be a crucial component for home appliances like televisions.

Today, these tubes are artefacts that have been replaced by semiconductor switches filling coin-sized computer chips that power almost everything electronic.

The ingenuity behind these inventions has always astounded Prof Thean. “Back in the 1950s, these (vacuum tubes) used to be in big-box televisions. Today, we have billions of semiconductor switches in thumb-sized chips that run our phones. Today, you never see a TV that’s thicker than an inch,” he noted.

It was this fascination that led him to dive into the world of semiconductors. After finishing his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in the United States, he worked for tech giants such as IBM and Motorola, where he helped to take nanotechnology to the next level.

The adventurous nomad

Over the years, work has taken him across the United States; the rolling hill country of Texas, the picturesque Hudson Valley in New York and California’s coastal city of San Diego have all been home to Prof Thean and his family.

“We led a fairly nomadic life,” said the father of one son. “I survived on IKEA furniture for a long time – easy to put together, easy to dispose of.”

They also lived in the Belgian city of Leuven for almost five years after he accepted a job offer at research and innovation centre IMEC in 2011.

Moving from America to Europe came as a culture shock. From a country that was largely monolingual, they suddenly found themselves among people who spoke three languages – Dutch, French and German – but none that they could understand.

“When we first got there, we turned on the radio and nothing was in English,” recalled Prof Thean, who eventually picked up Dutch while his wife learned French.

But after living in four American states and one European city, Singapore beckoned.  “It’s like going away on a very long trip,” he explained. “You start off very enthusiastically, but after a while you start thinking: Maybe it’s time to go home.”

Interesting opportunities also awaited back home. “Singapore has transformed over the years – it’s become a lot more exciting,” he enthused. “The community for technology, research and innovation has grown a lot.”

True to his adventurous spirit, Prof Thean sought a new challenge even as he returned to familiar surroundings in 2016. “Since I’m coming home, I wanted to try something different,” he said, explaining his switch from industry to academia.

A perfect pairing

As Dean of CDE, his priority now lies in developing young minds rather than technology.

Like how chicken and rice make a delectable pairing, Prof Thean pointed out that human connection is an indispensable ingredient of success. 

He cites the analogy of NASA assembling a diverse, synergistic team of engineers, scientists and astronauts that made it possible to break the frontier of space. “No man is an island. You have to work in teams. You have to work with people with different skill sets and backgrounds,” he said.

With the fields of design and engineering converging at CDE, the school is a perfect platform for such productive collaborations.

“That ability to get people comfortable about working across boundaries will prime them later in life to be open-minded and use ideas from other disciplines,” he added. “Besides, life and work are so much more interesting across boundaries; we hope our students will be inspired to be adventurous with their learning experience. That is something I hope we can inculcate through our programmes.”

Here are six recent notches in the belt.

National Law Institute University - International Academy of Dispute Resolution International Mediation Tournament

At the 10^th National Law Institute University - International Academy of Dispute Resolution International Mediation Tournament, NUS Law students Celester Tan, Chloe Kho and Melvin Seto went up against 33 teams from all over the world and came out as the Champion Negotiation team as well as 1^st Runner-Up for Mediation.

The NUS Law team was the only team to have advanced into the finals for both the client-counsel and mediation categories. In addition, Chloe bagged the Best Counsel and 2^nd Best Mediator in the preliminary rounds, while Melvin bagged Best Client in the preliminary rounds. Both Chloe and Melvin were also named the 2^nd Best Client-Counsel Pair in the preliminary rounds.

Hosted by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Cell and National Law Institute University, Bhopal, the Tournament was held virtually from 24 to 27 March. 

Virtual International Mediation Competition

NUS Law students Ashley Ong, Lee Hilman and Darius Lee bested 44 teams to emerge champions of the 2^nd Virtual International Mediation Competition, held from 24 to 27 March. Organised by international Alternative Dispute Resolution  awareness centre MediateGuru, the competition provided a unique opportunity for students to learn and practise mediation and negotiation skills with experienced mediators and practitioners. 

NUS Law Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club x Sydney University Law Society Bilateral Mediation Competition

NUS Law students Beatrice Yeo and Tan Yin Xuan joined their first ever competition and came away as the champion team at the inaugural NUS Law Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club x Sydney University Law Society Bilateral Mediation Competition, held virtually from 26 to 27 March.

The NUS Law Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club co-hosted the competition in collaboration with the University of Sydney Law Society, Allen & Gledhill LLP and the Society of Mediation Professionals (Singapore). A total of 24 teams tested their skills as mediators while being judged by professional mediators and negotiators from Singapore and Australia.

The Advocacy Cup

Once again, NUS Law students secured the top three spots in the Advocacy Cup finals, held on 31 March. Karthik Vyas emerged champion, the first runner-up was Jolene Gina Abelarde and the second runners-up were Mavis Zhang and Zephan Hwang.

The Advocacy Cup is the only moot in Singapore focusing on trial advocacy, wherein participants prepare a witness for an examination-in-chief and cross-examination. Sponsored by Drew & Napier, the 2022 Advocacy Cup competition rounds dealt with the tort of negligence and the criminal offence of Murder under section 300(a) of the Penal Code.

University Central Florida Conciliator Mediation Tournament

NUS Law students Samuel Tay Zi Bin, Clement Yew Yee Han and Muhammad Syazwan Bin Ramli achieved exceptional results at the first annual University Central Florida Conciliator Mediation Tournament, held in-person at the University of Central Florida from 1 to 2 April. The NUS Law team was the only team from outside the US to compete.

Overall, the team achieved 1^st Place in the Team of Mediators category and 3^rd Place in the Advocate/Client Team category. Individually, Samuel achieved 5^th Place (Individual Mediator) out of 27 individual mediators, while Syazwan and Clement achieved 3^rd Place (Outstanding Advocate/Client Pair) out of 27 pairs.

The team underwent three rounds of mediation, mediating and negotiating disputes across a wide variety of topics such as family matters, workers’ rights and compensation, and business-consumer negligence.  With only 30 minutes of preparation afforded for each round, the team had to lean on their technical abilities and teamwork to come to the fore.

vLex’s International Law and Technology Writing Competition

Following an extremely close competition with entries from students all over the world, NUS Law student Rahul Vyan Nayar was announced as the overall winner of vLex’s 2022 International Law and Technology Writing Competition on 8 April. vLex is one of the world’s leading legal technology companies. The previous iteration of their international writing competition had students from over 400 universities competing.

Rahul shared that his participation in an earlier moot competition on the issue of Artificial Intelligence and patent rights had helped him in his research for the vLex competition. Read Rahul’s winning article on Thaler, Artificial Intelligence and the Law here.

How does NUS cultivate highly sought-after talents in the workforce of the future?

Find out how the University has developed and broadened our curriculum to better prepare our graduates for the swiftly evolving workplace, and how interdisciplinary learning can help students solve complex issues in our society.

For 10 seconds it stays that way, loud rumbling filling your ears, and you feel an immense urge to crouch down and hide. Then, as quickly as they came, the tremors gradually die out.

Upon taking off your headset, your turbulent surroundings dissipate and you find yourself back on safe and stable ground at NUS – thankfully.

Through the use of virtual reality (VR) technology and a vibrating platform, also known as a shake board, students will soon not only learn about earthquakes through slideshows but get to experience them too.

This is particularly eye-opening for students in Singapore where earthquakes are non-existent, said Associate Professor Feng Chen-Chieh from the Department of Geography.

While the city-state sits outside of the Pacific Rim of Fire and is hence spared natural hazards like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, NUS undergraduates can now experience the tremors first-hand through the project supported by the Learning Innovation Fund - Technology (LIF-T).

The VR-based learning environment not only plugs a gap in earthquake education, where fieldwork is limited, but also simulates the earth processes that lead to earthquakes, such as plate tectonic movements.

“Fieldwork involves visiting specific sites, but the best thing you could see is a crack in the land surface, a fault line, or a volcano. So, there is some indication of an earthquake, but it is static because, of course, you don’t want to be there when the ground is shaking,” said Prof Feng.

But getting to this point has not been easy, he shared, with COVID-19 delaying the project by close to a year due to supply chain disruptions.

The team also had to surmount another obstacle – creating virtual scenarios that they, and in some cases, all humanity, have not witnessed personally.

How to shake: Re-creating unseen events

As a Taiwanese, Prof Feng has encountered several earthquakes, the most recent being just last December when he was on vacation back home, which had him grabbing onto the desk for 10 seconds during a Zoom meeting with colleagues.

While he knows how earthquakes occur, he has not seen the many earth processes that either happened millions of years ago or take place at areas inaccessible to humans.

Take the formation of mid-ocean ridges as an example. They occur along divergent plate boundaries deep underwater, where tectonic plates spread apart, creating new ocean floor. As the plates separate, molten rock from within the earth rises to the seafloor, producing volcanic eruptions and in turn, earthquakes.

Representing a divergent plate boundary in deep water in VR is challenging, as “no one has actually seen this in reality, so we had to imagine how they look based on published materials,” he said, adding that the team had many discussions on how the phenomenon could be portrayed to facilitate learning earthquake concepts. Eventually, they settled on mimicking the experience of diving to the ocean floor.

There was also the issue of ensuring the domain knowledge experts – the NUS team – and the graphic designers understood each other. This required various refinements along the way to make sure that the depictions were accurate yet engaging.

Technology-enhanced learning: The future of education

The project was Prof Feng’s first involving VR, but he learned the ropes quickly. Through the LIF-T grant, he was connected to John Yap, a senior manager of NUS IT department who not only helped him with the technicalities of VR, but also advised him about potential pitfalls. These included the risk of students losing concentration, feeling uncomfortable, or experiencing vertigo if the programme exceeds three minutes. 

He was also connected to Prof Marcelo and Dr Lee of Mechanical Engineering, who assisted on system integration, especially the synchronisation of VR, which provides perceptual feedback, and the vibration board, which provides physical feedback. Now, with these hurdles crossed and the system built, the team will soon be testing the system on students to evaluate the effectiveness of the VR environment in improving learning.

While there are no concrete plans to expand the project yet, the team has some preliminary ideas to create new scenarios. They include simulating cascading natural hazards such as an earthquake followed by a tsunami, or how natural hazards affect the built environment.`

Although such VR environments will not completely replace slideshows, they will certainly make learning more immersive.

“Our ultimate goal is to enhance our students’ experiences in the classroom, adding a touch of realism to earth science concepts that can sometimes be hard to visualise especially when they happen over millions of years. We compress that into a matter of seconds,” he said.

New programmes from the NUS College of Design and Engineering (CDE), NUS Faculty of Science, NUS School of Computing, and NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences will cover areas such as Artificial Intelligence, technology, data science, sustainability, globalisation. They will add on to the interdisciplinary offerings by the flagship NUS College, Singapore’s first honours college welcoming its first cohort in August – as well as those by the College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS).

“The overall goal of all our education reform efforts is to advance a university curriculum that prepares students well for a Fourth Industrial Revolution world and workplace,” said Professor Bernard Tan, NUS Senior Vice Provost (Undergraduate Education).

“Our education, focused on both breadth and depth, ensures that our graduates are held in high regard by employers. Last year, more than nine in 10 NUS graduates secured a job within six months of their final examinations.”

New majors and minors

Bachelor of Engineering (Infrastructure and Project Management)

Offered by CDE’s Department of the Built Environment, this degree will equip graduates with the knowledge and interdisciplinary skills to excel in the multifaceted built environment. This is the first interdisciplinary full-time undergraduate programme to cover engineering, design, management, technology, building science and law modules.

Major in Anthropology

Offered by the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences to all CHS students, this major will study the range of human diversity, accounting for how people in different times and places have developed into distinctly different societies. The degree will expose students to a vast variety of different beliefs and health practices, economic and political systems, material culture, and even different notions of beauty, the environment, food, family, and the good life.

Anthropology is much sought after for the sort of training it offers its students – a ground up approach to developing deep understanding on just about every aspect of the human condition. Students will be equipped to better understand and deal with the chaos, uncertainty, and ambiguity that characterises the contemporary age.

Second Major in Sustainable Urban Development          

Offered by CDE’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, it aims to train the next generation of urban problem-solvers. They will be equipped with interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to create sustainable urban environments in the context of the changing climate. Open to all NUS undergraduate students, this major is stackable to students’ primary major in their chosen field, and can be completed in four years with no additional academic workload.

Second Major in Nutrition

This will be offered by the Faculty of Science to all CHS students, including those reading Food Science and Technology as the primary major. It is designed to equip students with knowledge in human nutrition, providing them with the necessary foundation to develop a cross-disciplinary perspective along the food supply chain – from farm to fork to health.

Minor in Interpreting

Multilingualism is a defining characteristic of Singapore’s multi-ethnic, immigrant society. With four official languages and with English as the working language, translating and interpreting between each of the mother tongues and English has always been a prominent feature of Singapore society. Against this backdrop, the NUS Department of Chinese Studies has placed as one of its core objectives, the training of graduates with strong Chinese-English bilingual skills who can become leaders in the translation and interpreting arenas.

This new Minor will allow students a related alternative to translation, or as an affiliated Minor to Translation which is already being offered at the Department.

New specialisations

Three new specialisations will be offered by the NUS School of Computing:

Specialisation in Digital Product and Platform Management

This will be offered to students pursuing the Bachelor of Computing (Information Systems) Degree. They will build up a repertoire of knowledge and skills sought after by both technology companies and the digital immigrant companies that are fast adopting the product- and platform-centric technology and business operating models.        

Specialisation in Intelligent Systems Solutioning

Students pursuing the Bachelor of Computing (Information Systems) Degree can also take this new specialisation to learn to implement and apply intelligent system solutions buttressed by the new technologies of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and Augmented Reality. They will learn to apply these new technologies in software engineering, and to implement and manage intelligent system solutions. Graduates will be able to take on job roles in intelligent systems engineering and solutioning.

Specialisation in Machine Learning-based Analytics

This new specialisation for Bachelor of Science (Business Analytics) students will enable students to tap into the analytics capabilities of Machine Learning, a sub-field of Artificial Intelligence. They will learn to rapidly and automatically develop models that can quickly and accurately analyse massive, complex data sets, in order to help businesses unlock the value of corporate and customer data and enact decisions that keep them ahead of the competition. Graduates will be able to take on careers in the rapidly-growing business and data analytics field, among others.

New modules

Aside from the new majors, minors and specialisations, a number of new modules are being offered. For instance, the NUS School of Computing is starting a Digital Ethics and Data Privacy module to educate students on this pertinent and pressing issue.

The NUS Faculty of Law is introducing two modules – one on Law & Technology and one on Data Literacy – as technology and data are increasingly being key drivers for the legal industry.

Find out more about the courses offered by the University, and explore this year’s Open House. Here are four things to look out for at the Open House.

The physical event will take place on Sat, 5 Mar from 9am to 6pm across NUS’ campuses in Kent Ridge and Bukit Timah. This will be preceded by a comprehensive line-up of informative activities during the week leading up to the physical Open House.

Including the online segment, NUS Open House 2022 takes place from 26 Feb to 5 Mar. Here’s a heads-up on four things to check out:

 1.       Exciting interdisciplinary offerings

NUS College, Singapore’s first honours college, brings together the best elements of the University Scholars Programme and Yale-NUS College. Offering an immersive, experiential and interdisciplinary educational journey, it will welcome its first batch of students this year. Students will have a home college or faculty, say, Business or Engineering, while simultaneously being enrolled at NUS College. There, they will have the opportunity to enjoy a holistic interdisciplinary curriculum that is complementary to their major.

Another option for interdisciplinary learning can be found at NUS College of Design and Engineering. The College offers a programme that prepares students for the future through interdisciplinary learning and robust research in the fields of engineering and design. At the College, students are given the flexibility to build and design their own learning experience.

The NUS College of Humanities and Sciences, the enhanced undergraduate experience for students of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science, is accepting its second intake this year. The College offers 13 Common Curriculum pillars consisting of modules such as scientific inquiry, humanities, digital literacy, design thinking, artificial intelligence and many more exciting options. These are complemented by majors and minors spanning the arts, humanities and sciences, such as global studies, philosophy, theatre and performance studies, quantitative finance, data analytics and pharmaceutical science. Students can pick and choose modules to create a customised curriculum that matches their interest and aspirations.

To ensure that graduates are ready to take on leading roles in the New Economy, NUS constantly develops new courses. Here are this year's new offerings. 

 2.       Meeting you in person - again

After two years of meeting virtually, the NUS community is excited to get together in real life with prospective students once again!

You can look forward to an enlightening schedule of in-person activities including a tour of the Centre for Healthcare Simulation by NUS Nursing; tours of residential living options such as Tembusu College, CAPT (College of Alice & Peter Tan), and RC4; a live demonstration of a moot court session and tour of the NUS Bukit Timah campus by NUS Law; tours and a showcase of NUS College; as well as a live question-and-answer session with Duke-NUS Medical School. 

3.       Webinars, talks, live chats, hotlines and more

Get a taste of life as an NUS student, even before the physical event. A host of insightful webinars, talks, question-and-answer sessions, live chats, hotlines, and virtual tours have been arranged starting 26 Feb to give you a head start on topics such as admissions, student life, and on-campus living, as well as programmes offered by NUS College, the College of Design and Engineering, the College of Humanities and Sciences, Business, Music and many more.

Obtain behind-the-scenes knowledge from NUS student ambassadors and the NUS Students’ Union on the rich student life available at NUS, and be serenaded by NUS Choir and NUS Jazz Band.

Professors will be on hand to share information on their respective programmes, and you’ll even have a chance to sit in on classes. Have a question that is not covered by the briefing? No sweat! There’ll be chat sessions with NUS Admissions, professors and students from selected programmes during which you can get your queries addressed.

Click here for the list of virtual and in-person activities for NUS Open House.

 4.       Exciting student life

NUS offers myriad options for a rich student life, and NUS Open House is the perfect place to start exploring the possibilities. Many alumni recall their NUS days fondly, remembering not only the academic progress they made, but the camaraderie forged with friends from clubs, societies and on-campus residences.

Throughout the period of the online Open House and during the physical event, representatives from various student-led groups will speak on topics including hall life, clubs and societies, as well as campus performing groups. Take part in a live session with music and dance groups, embark on a virtual residential tour, and more.

We’re looking forward to seeing you online from 26 Feb and in-person on 5 Mar!

In addition, full-time Singaporean undergraduates at NUS who are from households whose PCI does not exceed S$690 will receive additional financial support for living expenses, on-campus stay and overseas exposure.

To do this, the University plans to set aside an additional funding of S$15 million per year to strengthen financial assistance for Singaporean undergraduate students who are from families with PCI not exceeding S$1,000. Both incoming and existing Singaporean full-time undergraduate students who meet the PCI criteria are eligible for the enhanced financial aid.

NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said, “Education is a driver for social mobility, and NUS has helped transform the lives of generations of students since our founding. It is a role we take very seriously. We are committed to providing a transformative educational experience for every NUS student, regardless of their financial background.”

He added, “While students from low-income backgrounds may already receive financial assistance from various sources, the funding they receive may not cover all of their university costs. Some students may also shy away from study abroad as well as residential programmes due to financial constraints.

The new Enhanced Financial Aid Scheme will fill the financial gap for students who are most in need of support. It provides additional funding to Singaporean students from low-income backgrounds on two fronts: by fully funding tuition fees and covering part of their living expenses; and enabling access to a more well-rounded and richer university experience that would include an on-campus stay and overseas exposure. We are grateful that some donors have come forward to help the University to realise this important initiative. We hope more will support us.”

About 3,300 Singaporean undergraduate students from low-income backgrounds are expected to benefit from the University’s latest enhancement of its financial assistance for students.

Ms Melanis Tai, a financial aid beneficiary who had recently graduated from NUS Arts and Social Sciences, said, “Financial aid has really helped me as an NUS student - I had more time to focus and excel in my studies, and the bursary also covered part of my expenses during my Student Exchange Programme to the University of Sydney. With more financial support, current and future batches of NUS students with a similar background as myself will not need to worry about their tuition fees. They could also enjoy studying at partner universities across the world or stay on campus to experience the vibrant NUS student life, without much financial stress.” 

“Education often opens doors to opportunities and success. And college is often seen as such a door of opportunity for those from a humble background. Some find it difficult to pay for tuition, much less for hostel and overseas exchange. With the Enhanced Financial Aid Scheme, more students will have equitable access to such opportunities,” said Mr Lee Yat Bun, President of the NUS Students’ Union.

The University is raising philanthropic support to build an endowment to provide sustainable funding for this new initiative. Several donors have pledged their support, including Quantedge Foundation, the philanthropic arm of a local fund management firm Quantedge Capital, as an anchor donor. 

Quantedge Foundation Board member Mr Suhaimi Zainul-Abidin said, “Social mobility is a key priority for our foundation. It is key to building a dynamic and cohesive society – one where our young have a fair shot at achieving their full potential and a reason to be optimistic about the future.

We share NUS’ belief that education is a powerful social leveller and that every student who qualifies, by merit, to attend university should not pass up on the opportunity to do so due to their financial situation.

We are excited to seed-fund NUS’ game-changing initiative to guarantee full funding of tuition fees and defray the costs of living expenses and overseas programmes for all Singaporean students with demonstrated financial need. This NUS guarantee assures prospective students of a rich, diverse and transformational university experience. This is a major step forward in our continuing push for all deserving Singaporeans to have access to a truly need-blind university education across all autonomous universities in Singapore.” 

Full coverage of tuition fees for full-time Singaporean undergraduates from households with PCI ≤ S$1,000

NUS will expand its financial aid for full-time Singaporean undergraduate students from households with PCI not exceeding S$1,000. These students will receive a higher quantum from the NUS Bursary to top up the existing Government Bursary for full coverage of tuition fees.

Additional financial support for full-time Singaporean undergraduates from households with PCI ≤ S$690

Singaporean undergraduate students from households whose PCI does not exceed S$690 will receive S$4,000 from the NUS Bursary to cover living expenses. The newly established Opportunity Enhancement Grant will also provide S$10,000 over four years to top up existing financial aid available for on-campus stay and overseas programmes.

Comprehensive range of financial assistance for eligible full-time NUS undergraduates

NUS will continue to provide a comprehensive range of financial aid for students, in the form of loans, bursaries, grants, work-study scheme, and more.

But for Ms Melanis Tai Jing En, an NUS Arts and Social Sciences alumna who graduated in Dec 2021, such enhancements to the NUS experience were initially a distant dream due to the financial difficulties her family faced.

Growing up, Melanis faced the challenge of her family’s financial situation that required her to sacrifice time and energy and compromise on her interests and studies. The oldest daughter of a single mother and cancer survivor who single-handedly raised her three children, Melanis had to play her part in taking care of her younger siblings at home, while juggling part-time jobs like working as a front desk staff at a yoga studio for about three years.

As a result, she sometimes had to stay up late to complete school assignments, and forgo optional school activities.

Opened doors thanks to financial aid

All this changed when Melanis received financial aid in the form of the Chia Siew Wong Bursary during her time at NUS.

For three academic years, the Bursary helped to offset her tuition fee loan and some of her living expenses, lightening her financial burden. It also opened doors for her, for along with the time freed up from working part-time less, it gave her the opportunity to focus on her studies as well as immerse herself in a diverse range of activities during her three and a half years at NUS.

She took on varied work experiences, such as interning at the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group, and many student life experiences made possible by the Bursary.

One of the most memorable experiences that the Bursary empowered her to have during her undergraduate years was the opportunity to take part in the Miss Singapore Beauty Pageant 2019, where she clinched the position of 2^nd runner-up.

She then went on to represent Singapore in an international pageant at Jeju Island, South Korea, as World Miss University Singapore 2019.

There, she spent two and a half weeks with about 50 contestants from other countries, attending various forums to present their thoughts on social issues such as the environment, peace, and gender equality, volunteering at an orphanage, and visiting various locales to try Korean cuisine. The contestants were also appointed World Miss University Peace Ambassadors.

“It was honestly a dream come true for me to represent Singapore in an international pageant,” Melanis recollects fondly. “This is one experience that I’m really grateful for; not only was it an honour for me to be able to represent Singapore on the international stage, I was also thankful to be able to make so many friends from around the world.”

“I got to learn and experience so much from that international pageant experience; for instance, I learnt a lot about how the other contestants’ countries tackle social issues during the forums,” she added.

She also had the chance to go on a SEP to the University of Sydney (USyd) in Feb 2020, with the Bursary funding some of her expenses such as plane tickets and the student visa. During the exchange, she befriended many other NUS students from various faculties, along with other international students at USyd.

“Even though I only managed to go over to USyd for one month of my SEP before it was suspended due to COVID-19, it was a wonderful experience. I was initially hesitant about the SEP due to my financial situation, but as my bursary could offset some of the costs, I took the leap and went!” Melanis said.

More students set to benefit

More financial aid is in the works for students from low-income households. The University has announced that from Academic Year 2022/23 full-time Singaporean undergraduates will have their tuition fees fully covered if they are from households with Per Capita Income (PCI) S$1,000 or less.

In addition, undergraduates from households whose PCI of $690 or less will receive additional financial support for living expenses, on-campus stay and overseas exposure.

“With the enhanced scheme, I hope that future batches of NUS students with similar backgrounds will be able to fully experience studying at partner universities across the world, without any worries,” said Melanis.

“It was truly an unforgettable experience that I believe every hardworking student deserves.”

In fact, inspired by the Bursary, Melanis has gone into the public service in order to give back to society, deploying the skill sets she has picked up from her Communications and New Media major and from her internship experience at the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group.

Asked what words of advice she has for juniors in similar financial situations, she said, “I’m sure many of you are juggling part-time jobs and studies as well. I used to even spend more time working part time jobs than I spent in school — but the Bursary has helped a lot and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the bursaries from NUS and the donors.

“It may be tough for us, but NUS and the donors do care for us – so remember to care for yourself too. Aside from excelling in school, try to get as many experiences as we can while we’re young – go for the SEP, join competitions, have a fulfilling student life and try to be the best that we can be.”

Read more about how NUS’ Enhanced Financial Aid Scheme for needy students will help students like Melanis make the most of their University experience here.

Read more about the details of the Scheme and other financial aid avenues available here, or contribute to the NUS legacy of giving by donating to the Enhanced Financial Aid Scheme here.

The products, Shiokamala and Sesame Miso Flounder, showcase key ingredients from Hakodate – shiokara seasoning, a powdered flavouring made from salted, fermented squid, and fresh flounder respectively. The NUS students developed these products as part of their projects for an FST module on food product development and packaging. The module provides an opportunity for students to develop commercially-feasible food innovations, at times in collaboration with local and overseas enterprises. This collaboration with Hakodate City is a first undertaken by FST.

Hakodate, located at the southern part of Hokkaido, is a city by the sea well-known for high-quality seafood including squid, kelp, sea urchin and a variety of fish. The city has an extensive network of resources that support food-related industries, including wholesale markets, academic research centres and trade-support organisations. It is also home to food processing businesses that utilise Hakodate’s natural produce to create original food products.

Introducing an iconic Japanese flavour to local tastebuds

Shiokamala – the name reflects two flavours married into one snack. The 75-gram snack pack comprises commonly eaten mala hotpot ingredients - broccoli, mushroom, lotus root and peanut - and, another popular snack ingredient among Singaporeans, fish skin. These are vacuum-fried and coated in an innovative blend of shiokara and mala seasoning. Shiokara, a Japanese delicacy made from dried salted squid, has a cuttlefish-like aroma, while mala is a spicy and numbing Chinese flavour made from a combination of Sichuan peppercorn and chillies.

FST students Paulie Teo and Frederick Oon were part of the team that developed Shiokamala. They worked with Dainibussan, a business that produces and exports Japanese snacks, which sought to produce a shiokara-flavoured product for the Singapore market using the company’s vacuum-frying technology. “As most Singapore consumers are not familiar with the taste of shiokara, we decided to complement it with a locally popular flavour. Besides its popularity, mala was selected because its fragrant aroma and unique tingly effect on the tastebuds can balance out the strong flavour of shiokara,” said Paulie.

Through working on the project, the team learnt about current food trends and products within the Japanese market, Japanese taste preferences and how shiokara was consumed in Japan. “We benefitted from the exchange of ideas from different cultures. We also learnt to adapt the company’s product to reach international markets, while tactfully preserving the authentic flavours of shiokara,” said Frederick.

Fresh and flavourful flounder from sea to table

Another student team worked with Sakai Shoten, a fish-supply company passed down through generations. The team aimed to create a product from fresh flounder fillets that would be well-received in the Singapore market, while preserving the freshness and quality of the premium ingredient.

Armed with insights from their consumer survey done in Singapore, and after discussions with the company, the team developed frozen Sesame Miso Flounder, a vacuum-packed sashimi-grade, sesame miso-marinated flounder product that can be consumed both raw and cooked. The sesame miso marinade provides a sweet-salty flavour that accentuates the natural sweetness of the flounder when eaten raw. As a pan-fried dish, the miso caramelises to give an umami flavour to the fish.

“From our market research and consumer survey, we found that there is growing demand for Japanese foods in Singapore. Thus, we decided to incorporate mainly Japanese elements in the marinade, such as miso, mirin and bonito flakes, to develop a product with an authentic Japanese flavour,” explained Christopher.

The team also worked closely with Sakai Shoten to understand the company’s priorities for product development. Christopher elaborated, “Sakai Shoten’s determination to keep the processing methods of seafood as simple as possible to enable to natural taste of the product to shine is something that we have grown to appreciate. This is in contrast with our usual mindset where feasibility and consumer acceptance tend to be prioritised. It is a challenging but enjoyable journey for us to develop a product that is both in line with the company’s requirements and the local palate.”

Food for thought

“An important part of our food science students’ education is to understand the key elements of food product development. Through working with Hakodate’s reputable businesses, our students acquired invaluable lessons and practical experience in balancing business and market requirements, marketing skills, as well as technical innovations in food science,” said Dr Leong Lai Peng, a Senior Lecturer with NUS Food Science and Technology.

“It is also important for Singapore to expand food supply chains – working with overseas businesses is a way of achieving that. Japanese products are known for their consistently high quality, and we are delighted that Hakodate City is keen to tap on the skills and creativity of our students to develop foods that have the potential to be brought to market,” Dr Leong added.

“In the last seven years, Hakodate City had launched various food promotional sales activities in Singapore and recognised that Hakodate's food export does not fit the local palate in terms of taste and packaging. This time, FST students developed two creative products with ideas, taste, ingredients and packaging that Japanese would not think of. The two participating companies and Hakodate City were both grateful and amazed by the students' effort on hygiene control and export regulation in developing such high-quality products,” said Ms Tanaka Maiko, Manager of the Food Industry Promotion Section, Economy Department, Hakodate City.

The Shiokamala and Sesame Miso Flounder products are in the midst of being fine-tuned for potential commercial production and distribution in Singapore.

In line with its mission to empower learners to adapt to the changing needs of various industries, as well as to support Singapore’s Continuing Education and Training (CET) initiative, the NUS School of Continuing and Lifelong Education (SCALE) has curated and launched an innovative, tech-enhanced suite of deep-skilling and broad-skilling programmes that learners from all walks of life can look forward to.

Designed to be accessible and with flexible pathways to facilitate bite-sized learning and upskilling at one’s own pace, the courses develop skillsets pertinent to the 21^st century, including computational thinking, design mindsets, and social intelligence.

Listen in as NUS Vice Provost (Masters’ Programmes and Lifelong Education) and Dean of SCALE Professor Susanna Leong shares about the plethora of postgraduate and lifelong learning initiatives offered by NUS. The podcast is hosted by Dr Dujeepa Samarasekera, Director of the NUS Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL).

This is the sixth instalment of CDTL’s Teaching Connections Podcasts – a series launched in conjunction with the anniversary of Teaching Connections, CDTL’s e-platform for the NUS community to advance discussions about teaching and share effective pedagogical practices and innovative ideas.

Find out more, or listen to the podcast on your favourite app.

The INC is the oldest and most renowned competition focusing on international legal negotiation for law students from all over the world. Due to the pandemic, the competition went online this year and comprised both INC International Rounds 2020 and 2021, and it was hosted by NUS Law from 28 Jun to 3 Jul 2021.

Despite working on their preparation entirely online during Singapore’s circuit breaker period, Isabella and Nikhil won the Singapore National Round in May 2020, and they went on to represent Singapore in the International Round in which 28 teams from over 19 countries participated.

We catch up with Isabella and Nikhil after their victory to find out more about their experience at the INC.

Tell us more about the INC and the competition scenarios you faced!

Isabella: There are two different types of competitions – moots, which usually involve mock arbitrations or litigations, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which usually involve mock negotiations or mediations, such as the INC.

In terms of the competition scenarios, there were three rounds, all centred on the construction and operation of a moon base.

Round 1 was a multi-party round concerning four space agencies from four different countries. We had to decide how to split the various roles and responsibilities, in terms of managing and operating the various facilities and projects of the moon base.

Round 2 was between the space confederation consisting of these four space agencies, and a wealthy billionaire who intended to travel to space and conduct mining operations there. This billionaire was about to commence legal proceedings against the space confederation for tortious interference and defamation as each party had very different ideologies pertaining to how space should be used, such as for the larger public interest or for commercial gain.

Round 3 was between two companies contracted by the space confederation to construct the moon base. We had to work out several items, such as timeline and payment terms.

What were some of the challenges you faced competing in the INC?

Isabella: The challenging part is coming up with a strategy which involves considering our parties’ interests, pre-empting how we will drive the conversation to get what we want in the larger scheme of things, preparing for possible obstacles, and knowing how to respond and deal with them.

Nikhil: Most of the subject matter was quite foreign to us! So initially, Isabella and I had to do some background reading, especially about how intellectual property is managed in space projects.

But once we had a basic grasp of the issues, the challenges became constructing a strategy (as Isabella mentioned) and pre-empting what our counterparties might bring up during the round itself. To prepare ourselves, we spent time going through and playing out scenarios we anticipated might be more delicate should they arise in the negotiation.

Another challenge we faced was coming across as seasoned lawyers, instead of just law students. Maybe it was our young faces or lack of experience in practice, but our coaches had to keep reminding us to “remember you are real lawyers!”

Given your past experiences in moot competitions, what were some of the lessons learnt that really impacted your performance at the INC?

Isabella: My experiences with moots and ADR competitions have helped hone my resilience. There were always ups and downs during the training periods for both types of competitions. Occasionally, I did feel like I was not performing or progressing up to my expectations, but I realised that it was important to take my coaches’ comments, reflect and learn from my mistakes and pick myself up for the next round.

Nikhil: Two big lessons I have learnt from previous competition experiences are defining what “success” means and the importance of being teachable.

I used to believe that there was only one measure of success when competing – the final result achieved. But there is so much more to it, such as the skills you hone, the people you meet, the teammates you become closer to, the fun you have, just to name a few.

And I have had my share of disappointing training sessions, where the comments and feedback are painful to swallow. I grew to recognise that the coaches and seniors are not there to fight you but build you, even if it might not seem apparent in the moment. Taking on just one or two key points from every training session will result in many improvements over the long term!

How does the INC differ from your previous international moot competition experiences?

Nikhil: Really different! Aside from not being able to travel for the competition, we had to adapt to rounds being held online. An important part of any negotiation round is reading the room, something which is harder to do through a screen than in person.

Another new encounter for me was the multi-party negotiation aspect of the competition. Before INC, I only had experience with two-party rounds. Learning how to navigate a four-party round was equal parts daunting and exciting, and it showed me some of the intricacies of deal-making when multiple stakeholders are at the table.

Isabella: One of the best parts about international moot competitions is the travelling and networking with people from all over the world. We participated in INC at a very different time, and it was my first competition held entirely online so we faced a new set of considerations in terms of our tech set-up, how we presented ourselves through a [computer] screen and using a virtual whiteboard instead of a physical one. (We usually use a whiteboard to set the agenda during mock negotiation sessions).

Why do you participate in these competitions?

Isabella: For me, my reasons are threefold: first, the travelling; second, I get to meet a lot of interesting people and learn about their unique experiences and cultures; third, I love challenging myself. Through these competitions, I feel that I am constantly improving on my public speaking, writing and ability to work in a team.

Nikhil: Two main reasons for me! First, the skills you pick up from these competitions are very helpful. Speaking, drafting, quick thinking, asking good questions, just to name some. All of these are useful whether in school, at work or even in daily life.

Second, I enjoy the process of working together with friends to look at a case, strategise and see it through to the very end. After the many weeks of preparation together, everyone in the team becomes closer and the fulfilment at the end of the journey is immense.

What are your thoughts upon winning the INC?

Isabella: Pleasantly surprised! We faced many talented negotiators. It was a very humbling experience for Nikhil and myself.

Nikhil: Incredibly grateful. Isabella and I would never have experienced success if not for our amazing coaches Professor Joel Lee, Chia Lyn Lynn (NUS Law ’02) and Lin Wenrong (NUS Law ’08). The victory is a testament to their time, effort, and dedication.

At the end of the day, more important than winning the competition is improving from where you first started. In fact, Isabella and I talked before the awards ceremony of INC, and we agreed that even if we were to crash out of the competition there and then, we were both still extremely grateful for the experience, our progress and our coaches.

Both of you have already graduated so do you still have plans to coach your juniors?

Nikhil: Both Isabella and I are currently part of the coaching team for NUS Law negotiation and mediation competition teams, and we even coached a team together last year. We want to give back to the ADR community in NUS Law, where our seniors have generously invested much time and effort in training us. There is no better way to honour that than by paying it forward.

Isabella: In terms of coaching, the ADR competition network in NUS Law is quite close-knit. Nikhil and I were both part of the Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club which helped to facilitate training sessions for new competitors. We have coached several teams during our time in NUS, such as the International Chamber of Commerce Commercial Dispute Resolution Competition. Coaching has been one way we have contributed to the ADR community and spread our love for this subject to our juniors!

Just ask the incoming batch of freshmen, who have given a thumbs-up to the University’s recent interdisciplinary initiatives – specifically, the setting up of the College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS), and the new Common Curriculum for the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Design and Environment.

During the admissions exercise this year, 71 per cent of those who had applied to these programmes as the first choice accepted the offer. Among the incoming batch of freshmen, over 4,000 will be exposed to an interdisciplinary education. By August 2022, NUS hopes to push this number to more than 6,000.

“We are quite heartened that the applicants have responded very well,” said NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye, as he spoke on the new changes in NUS’ curriculum. “They are receptive to the flexibility that they will have. No more are you confined to one discipline.”

Prof Tan noted that the world faces many wicked problems that cannot be solved with only one discipline.

He cited COVID-19 as a wicked problem, requiring more than just medical sciences to solve. “Even with the right medical knowledge, many countries had difficulties handling COVID-19 and its spread,” he noted.

The pandemic, in fact, prompted NUS to ramp up efforts in remodelling its educational philosophy and pedagogies to prepare its graduates for this dynamic reality.

At the centre of these reforms is the push for lifelong learning, as well as the shift towards interdisciplinary education to ensure students are adaptable and future-ready.

A lifetime of learning

While universities used to prepare their graduates for a single job, this approach is fast becoming obsolete. Today, graduates will change jobs at least 10 times over the course of their lifetime.

In line with this trend, NUS has been future-proofing its education to prepare students for lifelong learning.

“A student’s enrolment is valid for 20 years from the point they enter the university,” Prof Tan explained. “We want to remove the conception that university is only for four years. You can always come back to (NUS) to learn new skills and knowledge.”

For instance, the NUS Lifelong Learners (L3) programme upskills alumni through a wide array of skill-based, industry-relevant courses, carefully tailored to focus on emerging skills identified under SkillsFuture such as data analytics or digital literacy.

The process of returning to NUS for further studies is also made seamless. If a student does not complete a second major or degree in their initial four years, they are welcome to return to the university to read the necessary remaining modules even after graduation.

Towards interdisciplinary learning

Recognising the benefits of interdisciplinary learning, NUS is rolling this out to more students.

This started with the launch of CHS, which brings together the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science.

In the upcoming semester, CHS will admit 2,200 students and they will take a new Common Curriculum within their first three semesters – consisting of integrated modules with a problem-based pedagogy.

Similarly, a Common Curriculum has been introduced for the Faculty of Engineering and the School of Design and Environment to encourage knowledge transfer between the two complementary disciplines.

For instance, NUS’ very own net-zero energy building at SDE4 is a product of melding both architecture and engineering – the first of its kind in Singapore.

“The building’s beautiful architectural design alone doesn’t contribute to it being net-zero energy. What you have is a lot of deep engineering work embedded into it. It shows that architects have to work very closely with engineers in order to achieve this,” explained Prof Tan.

With interdisciplinary learning, the proportion of Unrestricted Elective modules a student can take has also been increased to up to 30 per cent, encouraging students to have two or more specialisations.

In the four faculties that now have an interdisciplinary common curriculum, this works out to more than 700 possible double major pairings, 1,700 major-minor pairings, and 100,000 major with double minor combinations.

Expanding choices for students

Ultimately, these educational innovations create greater flexibility for students to curate their own curriculum.

They will no longer have to make an immediate commitment to a single discipline. Instead, they are given time to decide on their academic calling through the common curriculum.

These efforts are central to NUS’ flagship role as a creator, integrator and propagator of knowledge.

Looking ahead, the structural barriers between faculties will further dissolve, allowing students to build even broader connections between disciplines.

“Right now, we have 70 majors and 80 minors, but we may actually have more as we go along. We start with a minor. If there’s enough interest, we push it to a second or full major. The possibilities are endless especially as we move online,” said Prof Tan.

In line with keeping an NUS education relevant to the rapidly changing work environment of the 21^st century, NUS has reformed the existing GE curriculum to include three new pillars, including Communities and Engagement, Data Literacy, and Digital Literacy.

Encouraging students to engage with and contribute to the community in meaningful partnerships, the Communities and Engagement pillar will provide opportunities for students to use innovative and interdisciplinary perspectives to understand and solve community problems.

The Data Literacy and Digital Literacy pillars, both grouped under “21^st Century Competencies”, will equip students with the fundamentals to face the challenges of an increasingly data-driven and technology-centric world in the future. The former will hone students’ ability to collect, analyse, and interpret data and transform it into actionable knowledge and practices, while the latter aims to teach students to use computational tools to analyse and solve problems in various disciplines and contexts.

Listen in as NUS Senior Vice Provost (Undergraduate Education) and Shaw Professor in Information Systems and Analytics, Professor Bernard Tan, shares about these upcoming enhancements to the NUS GE curriculum with Dr Dujeepa Samarasekera, Director of the NUS Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL).

This is the fifth instalment of CDTL’s Teaching Connections Podcasts – a series launched in conjunction with the anniversary of Teaching Connections, CDTL’s e-platform for the NUS community to advance discussions about teaching and share effective pedagogical practices and innovative ideas.

Find out more, or listen to the podcast on your favourite app.

In this series, NUS News profiles the outstanding educators who have inspired generations of students at the University.

When she was 17, Associate Professor Stella Tan was told that she had a brain tumour. Sitting on her optic nerve, it caused her to lose her eyesight temporarily, and she was rushed to the ICU as doctors raced to save her life. The unpredictability of life hit home – at a time when she was supposed to be looking forward to university, she was struggling for her life.

Many years later, Assoc Prof Tan recalls this episode with a sanguine air, one that suggests she has fully embraced this crisis as a part of who she is. “I have learnt that life is so fragile and you must live everyday as if it’s your last. When I talk to someone, I believe it could be my last time talking to that person. When I give my lectures, I always believe it’s the last lecture,” she chimes.

This warmth and sincerity has not been lost on the many students who have been taught by Assoc Prof Tan in the fields of law and science. Prof Tan’s teaching lies at the particular nexus between the two fields – what she terms a beautiful marriage – where the quest for the empirical in science complements the law’s search for truth. “Fireworks between science and law emerge when you can use the rigour of science to solve a question in court,” she says.

While highly exacting, this quest for answers also takes its seekers on an exhilarating ride. In the field of forensic science, Assoc Prof Tan animatedly explains, approaching a crime scene requires drawing on perspectives from diverse disciplines spanning entomology, psychology, chemistry, and botany, among many others. Insects can be used to tell the time of death, while eyewitness testimony can be scrutinised through the lens of forensic psychology.

This encompassing of multiple perspectives is central to Assoc Prof Tan’s approach to learning and teaching. As one who studied both law and science at a time when multiple degrees were less common, she had experienced the value of inter-disciplinary thinking and seen the synergy that can result from relating one body of knowledge to another. This was further reinforced in her time as a Deputy Senior State Counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers, where she was lead prosecutor for a wide range of cases, including murder, sexual assault and drugs.

“The world is always team-based. The perspective of other disciplines is very important,” she reflects, sharing that she strives to help her students realise these other perspectives for themselves.

One key instance is the moot court sessions she holds, where the case argued is not just based on a scenario on paper but a physical crime scene that she had created. The law students and forensic science students meet in this space, speaking from their areas of expertise and learning from each other in the process.

“For our students, it comes alive,” Assoc Prof Tan says. “It’s no longer a distant hypothetical scenario. Now, you go down to the mock crime scene, don your robes, step into court, and do a proper cross-examination. Our students tell us this makes them feel empowered.”

“This,” she gushes, “excites me even more than anything else I do in life.”

Assoc Prof Tan started the Forensic Science programme in 2005, effectively juggling it with her work at the Attorney General’s Chambers for 13 years before joining NUS full-time in 2018. In 2020, the Master of Science in Forensic Science programme was launched, the first and only one of its kind in Singapore.

The popularity of the forensic science programme is arguably attributable not just to the intriguing nature of the topics (poisons and fingerprinting, anyone?) but importantly to Assoc Prof Tan’s teaching, which she makes engaging through building scenarios, integrating technology, and giving students hands-on exposure.

Peruse the evidence, though, and it appears that there is one more thread explaining the popularity of the Forensic Science programme – Assoc Prof Tan herself. The dedicated educator is cherished by her students for her warm, caring ways, and the way she seeks to nurture their confidence to explore new worlds.

“Prof Stella teaches with a genuine purpose to build her students up, and wishes fervently for every student to succeed. Learning from her has been a privilege, but getting to know her is invaluable,” says Mr Benedict Cheong, a former Forensic Science minor student who is now a prosecutor at a statutory board.

In describing her approach to her students, Assoc Prof Tan borrows a singular concept: family. “This is why the Forensic Science programme has been so popular for the past 16 years,” she says. “Family is not a word we use lightly. Family means that you have to care for the person, know their aspirations and hopes, and support them.”

This support extends not just to those she teaches in forensic science and law, but all the students under her purview as Assistant Dean (Undergraduate Studies and Student Life) in the Faculty of Science, Associate Provost of Student Conduct, and Hall Master at Raffles Hall.

While these roles require invoking rules and discipline, Assoc Prof Tan points out that is but the tip of the iceberg. “Yes, I am very strict when it comes to rules. I believe there are no exceptions, but I also believe in compassion. I like to see if we can temper justice with mercy,” she says, sharing that her role is not just to look at penalties for students who have erred, but how these students can be helped to change for the better. This also applies to students who have been expelled, with the school ensuring they are linked up with a network of counselling programmes. “We don’t just let them go,” she says plainly.

The more important thing, she reflects humbly, is to be journeying with students wherever they may be in their lives, and helping them with their problems. “It’s always about walking through it with them, whether they have done wrong or not. I believe in the value of second chances,” she says.

With this, Assoc Prof Tan’s heart for her students becomes clear, as well as that valuable belief in second chances, and the possibilities beyond – much like the ones she glimpsed when she was 17.

This is the tenth and final instalment in A Class Of Their Own. 

Read about Associate Professor Soo Yuen Jien from the School of Computing and how he seeks to share the fascinating world of computer science with his students. 

Read about how Associate Professor Eleanor Wong from NUS Law School draws from her rich, varied career experience to prepare her students for whichever path they choose. 

Read about Professor Jochen Wirtz from NUS Business School and the synergies that invigorate his work in education, research and industry. 

Read about Associate Professor Lakshminarayanan Samavedham of the NUS Faculty of Engineering and his vision of nurturing independent, just-in-time learners. 

Read about how Dr Clayton Miller from the NUS School of Design and Environment strives to empower his students to be forward-thinking visionaries and trailblazers.

Read about Mr N. Sivasothi from the NUS Faculty of Science and his unique blend of education and environmental advocacy – an ecosystem in which every element feeds into another. 

Read about how Professor Seah Kar Heng from the NUS Faculty of Engineering utilises creative methods to engage his students, with the goal of teaching them to learn for themselves.

Read about how Associate Professor Kelvin Foong from the NUS Faculty of Dentistry combines good old-fashioned mentorship with the latest technological innovations, all to help students learn better.

Read about Dr Susan Ang Wan-Ling from the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as she shares her experiences teaching English Literature, and her hopes and dreams for students as they move through life.

The RSM STAR Case Competition is an opportunity for sixteen teams from top business schools worldwide to compete with one another by presenting their solutions for real-life business cases.

The seventh edition of the Competition took place from 16 to 23 Apr. The topic this year focused on Future Growth where students had to present innovative solutions for future growth and development for case competition partner companies.

The road to victory was not a smooth-sailing one. The team was off to a discouraging start when they placed second last in their division in the first round, which involved cracking a case based on Coca Cola within 12 hours.

Undaunted, the team resolved to turn things around. The second round held a higher weightage, so the team knew they still stood a good chance.

The comeback kids

They were raring to go. The task was to analyse the business position of Docubird, a Dutch document management start-up, and within 24 hours recommend how to grow the business.

This time, the team made sure to allocate enough time for creative brainstorming. Being finance majors, the team leveraged their strengths in data analysis and projections to identify Docubird’s key pain points.

They concluded that Docubird had to emerge as the thought leader to truly succeed. The team developed strategic solutions that aligned with Docubird’s strengths and put forth ideas that could be implemented by the company. Each recommendation was also paired with animated mock-ups to highlight its feasibility. Underpinning these recommendations was a set of robust financials that mapped out growth for the client in several scenarios.

The hard work paid off. The team topped their division this time, earning them a spot in the finals.

In the final round, the team faced strong competition from Copenhagen Business School, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the Rotterdam School of Management as they argued their case for Docubird. Confident of their ideas, the team stood their ground, defending their position with unwavering conviction.

Hard work and preparation pay off

In a unanimous vote by the judging panel, the team was named overall Champion. Their win was due to the strong analysis of the case company fundamentals and creative recommendations that were backed by robust financials. The judges from Docubird were extremely impressed by the detail of work produced, and were excited to begin implementing the team’s strategy for their global market expansion.

Despite arguing their case remotely from their own spaces due to COVID restrictions, each team member felt a collective and overwhelming sense of pride, having come a long way to attain victory.

Reflecting on the entire process, Clarisse said, “I think the excitement from the competition kept the team’s energy levels high despite little sleep. It brought out the best of our ideas and helped pushed us to the limits of our creative thinking. We also devoted a lot of time and effort preparing for this competition, and I am glad it has paid off.” Indeed, to prepare for the competition, the team sacrificed many weekends to build team camaraderie, problem solving abilities, and presentation skills. They also received valuable feedback from the NUS Business School Case Consulting Group’s club members and faculty mentor Associate Professor Tan Soo Jiuan during the case trainings.

Assoc Prof Tan observed, “During our training sessions before the competition, the students never failed to surprise me with their good learning attitude and they were very committed in wanting to excel in the competition. Hence, I was not surprised that they really bounced back from their defeat during the preliminary round. I am very happy and proud of them for winning the Docubird case, which was a very challenging case to solve.”

She added, “To me, the most notable part of the team’s win was that they earned praises from the Commercial Lead of the company who was very impressed by how strategic and practical the recommendations were. This speaks volumes about the team’s achievement and underscores the importance of having our students compete in international case competitions. My heartiest congratulations to the team!” 

Ernest concluded, “The diversity of thought and character that each team member brought to the competition played an important role in our win. All of us in the team share a passion for case competitions, and I think this was the key ingredient that allowed us to give our best effort. The experience is truly a memorable one and I speak for us all when I say the valuable lessons learnt in this process will define our future careers.”

In this series, NUS News profiles the outstanding educators who have inspired generations of students at the University.

Having a conversation with Associate Professor Soo Yuen Jien from the NUS School of Computing is almost like chatting with the resident uncle in one’s neighbourhood – there is an instant ease, and conversation and laughter flow easily. It is no wonder that he is known as Uncle Soo to his students and colleagues, although the moniker hadn’t originally come about because of his easygoing nature.

“This name came about maybe ten years ago, when my first son was born. I started it as a reminder to myself that I was no longer a youngster, and that I needed to take more responsibility,” Assoc Prof Soo chortles, laughing heartily. “So I asked my students to call me Uncle Soo. And somehow it just stuck, to an interesting level now.”

Origin stories aside, the moniker “Uncle Soo” is arguably as good a representation of Assoc Prof Soo’s personality as it is of his status as a father to two boys. The affable educator, who is Deputy Head of the Department of Computer Science, is beloved for his down-to-earth manner and approachability – as aptly encapsulated by a recent student comment: “Explains like a poet. Friendly like uncle.” (It was, not incidentally, his favourite feedback of the semester.)

Assoc Prof Soo’s ability to engage his students, as well as his passion for teaching, has seen him earn numerous recognitions over two decades of practice as an educator. These include the Outstanding Educator Award in 2018, NUS’ highest recognition for teaching, as well as the Honour Roll for the Annual Teaching Excellence Award and the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, having won both over multiple years.

Assoc Prof Soo’s classes can be described as a finely honed balancing act, the result of intense behind-the-scenes planning and content creation, brought to life in an engaging manner that encourages participation. The latter, while seemingly effortless, is something that he takes pains to create.

When classes were moved online in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Assoc Prof Soo decided to help his students feel connected by designating the Zoom chat as their private space to talk about anything under the sun, one which he promised not to look at. Serious questions were to be posted on a separate online platform, Archipelago, which he had created in 2016 as a live interaction platform for large classes, and that has seen more than 300,000 student users to date.

He would also start his online lectures 15 minutes early, getting his students to doodle on the slides as they pleased. This approach unearthed not a few surprises, he reflects, including a Pikachu that would make a guest appearance at every lecture. “After a while, we realised there was an artist among us – everyone was in awe and we would just stop drawing and watch him draw,” he shares with a laugh.

The light-heartedness of such an experience, which some might dismiss as mere frivolity, is perhaps the very thing that distinguishes Assoc Prof Soo’s lessons. To him, interaction is the only thing that stops online lectures from devolving into mere recordings.

“I think we actually recaptured the feeling of interacting in a classroom,” he reflects. “This was really memorable because it was probably the first time in the COVID situation that I found that I really reconnected with the students. As instructors, we tend to just think about how we’ve lost contact with the students, but we forget that the students have also lost contact with each other.”

While they sound fun, Assoc Prof Soo’s lessons and assessments can also be notoriously difficult, for a simple reason: he strives to go beyond imparting knowledge, seeking to nurture higher-order thinking skills instead. “One comment from my student that I remember is ‘The only thing I don’t like is that your mid-term feels like an IQ test’,” he chuckles, sharing that one of his greatest challenges lies in designing a proper question that tests one’s thinking process.

Besides his examinations, Assoc Prof Soo’s lessons are labours of love as well, with much time going into their planning. “All this is unseen,” he observes plainly. Despite his years of experience lecturing, he still needs four to five hours to prepare for a two-hour lecture.

Mr Sriram Sami, Assoc Prof Soo’s former student, attests to the painstaking effort put in by the dedicated educator. “Whenever possible, he tries to use live demonstrations of concepts despite the difficulty of doing so. In fact, I can still remember (almost four years later!) those live demos. He definitely had to practice them, because live demos aren’t easy to pull off, and that effort is clearly visible,” Mr Sami says, adding that Assoc Prof Soo’s teaching style has influenced his own career as an educator.

As Assoc Prof Soo recalls the various episodes that have influenced his path – from being exposed to coding in an enrichment class when he was 9, to being inspired by his PhD supervisor – his love for computer science is palpable. “I was just fascinated that you had to solve a problem and once you figured out how to do it, you could instruct the computer to do the hard part for you,” he says as he recalls his first brush with computing.

Today, Assoc Prof Soo derives enjoyment from sharing this passion for computer science with his students. He describes it as a positive feedback loop – when he sees his students become curious and interested in computer science, it reinforces his own enjoyment of the topic, which in turn helps him to teach it better and keeps him going.

“You have seen a world that you want to share with others, and when you see the light go on for them, there is a sense of satisfaction.”  

This is the ninth instalment of a series on outstanding educators at NUS.

Read about how Associate Professor Eleanor Wong from NUS Law School draws from her rich, varied career experience to prepare her students for whichever path they choose. 

Read about Professor Jochen Wirtz from NUS Business School and the synergies that invigorate his work in education, research and industry. 

Read about Associate Professor Lakshminarayanan Samavedham of the NUS Faculty of Engineering and his vision of nurturing independent, just-in-time learners. 

Read about how Dr Clayton Miller from the NUS School of Design and Environment strives to empower his students to be forward-thinking visionaries and trailblazers.

Read about Mr N. Sivasothi from the NUS Faculty of Science and his unique blend of education and environmental advocacy – an ecosystem in which every element feeds into another. 

Read about how Professor Seah Kar Heng from the NUS Faculty of Engineering utilises creative methods to engage his students, with the goal of teaching them to learn for themselves.

Read about how Associate Professor Kelvin Foong from the NUS Faculty of Dentistry combines good old-fashioned mentorship with the latest technological innovations, all to help students learn better.

Read about Dr Susan Ang Wan-Ling from the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as she shares her experiences teaching English Literature, and her hopes and dreams for students as they move through life.

The Finance major won top spot in the local edition of the “Ernst & Young (EY) Corporate Finance Woman of the Year” competition, propelling her to the international round where she competed with 21 other global finalists – who had themselves been whittled down from 289 participants.

Clarisse’s performance continued to impress, earning her second place in the international round and the chance to embark on a 12-month mentorship programme with Ernst & Young. 

The road to victory

Contestants in the prestigious competition were assessed on their critical-thinking ability and creativity in solving complex problems, through a mixture of individual and group challenges.

Clarisse certainly met the mark. The judges in the global finals noted the exceptionality of her presentation style; commenting on how she was engaging and asked good questions. They were also impressed by Clarisse’s thoughtfulness and how she showed an appreciation of the views of others while being passionate about a more equitable workplace.

In what she described as a transformative experience, Clarisse shared, “The competition has been eye-opening and enriching. It gave me an opportunity to meet and collaborate with like-minded peers who share a passion for corporate finance. Excelling in this competition has been of special significance as I aspire to make an impact in what is traditionally a male-dominated space.”

The experience, which allowed Clarisse access to the wisdom and journeys of top EY female leaders over networking and sharing sessions, was also deeply inspiring for her. Through these sessions she received practical tips on how to seize opportunities and make her opinions heard, and was encouraged to lead by example and be guided by a sense of purpose.

At the peer-to-peer level, Clarisse valued the chance to exchange leadership experiences and learnings with like-minded finalists from all around the world.

Indeed, one of Clarisse’s greatest takeaways is learning to be a better leader.

During the global finals, she was grouped with three other finalists from different countries, backgrounds, and work cultures to work on a simulation of a client case study. With such a dynamic and diverse group, they had to strike a fine balance between their different opinions and ways of working to complete the task efficiently.

She observed, “My group was very creative with a lot of ideas, and it was important for everyone to be heard.” Taking the lead, she proposed strategies to guide the team’s decision-making process while allowing the project to be completed in a structured and efficient manner – a move well-received by her group mates.

The NUS Business School edge, and finding her calling

Clarisse attributes her success in part to NUS Business School’s Finance modules which imparted critical and holistic-thinking skills. She is also glad she took a second specialisation in Management and Organisation, where she learned the importance of people management, leadership, and how it is key to achieving success.

The EY Corporate Finance Woman of the Year competition, which aims to inspire the next generation of exceptional female talent to pursue a career in strategy and transactions, has certainly achieved that for Clarisse. It has cemented her interest in corporate finance and she is resolute in pursuing a career in this field.

“This competition has helped developed my passion in the topic and crystallised a career pathway in this field. I aspire to someday establish myself as an industry leader and I hope to inspire future generations of women after me to do the same.”

Clarisse’s runner up prize is accompanied by a 12-month mentorship opportunity with a senior female partner from EY-Parthenon – one of the largest consulting organisations worldwide. She intends to learn from her mentor’s career journey, how the mentor manages her team with today’s work-from-home arrangements, and ways to achieve work-life balance – with the last being an important topic for Clarisse personally.

Although her competition journey has come to an end, a grand new adventure awaits for Clarisse. 

Named after one of Singapore’s most prominent poets and the Department’s Emeritus Professor, the Edwin Thumboo Prize seeks to encourage excellence in the study of Literature at the pre-university level by recognising outstanding literary works by A-level and International Baccalaureate (IB) students of English Literature in Singapore. Established in 2019, the annual Prize is administered by the Department with support from the Ministry of Education (MOE), and is funded by generous donors including patrons of the arts and former winners of the Angus Ross Prize.

The joint winners of the Edwin Thumboo Prize 2021 are Ms Suneeti Sreekumar from National Junior College (NJC) and Ms Wong Shao-Yi from Raffles Institution (RI), who will each receive a monetary award of $200.

Ms Sreekumar’s essay explored the themes of inadequacy and the quest for affirmation in J.M. Coetzee’s Age of Iron and Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; while Ms Wong’s essay examined the liminal qualities of sleep and imagination in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The winners were thrilled and honoured to have won the award, and thanked their teachers, parents and friends who inspired and motivated them in their love for literature.

Ms Sreekumar said, “I owe it all to my parents for impressing upon me, from a young age, the value of reading widely and also for supporting all my endeavours. I have always been surprised by Literature’s deceptive simplicity and how it has taught me many life lessons.” She also thanked the NJC English and Language Arts Departments, particularly her teachers, Ms Carmen Ng, Ms Sylvia Soh, Mrs Marianne Tan, Ms Eleanor Neo and Mr Chua Chin Yang for fostering her love for the written word across six years of studying literature.

Ms Wong expressed her gratitude to her teachers at RI, Ms Lye Su Lin, Mrs Nicola Perry and Ms Melissa Tan, sharing “They taught me to appreciate the poem, the play, the novel, in all their beauty and they helped me to grow into a more confident writer and perceptive reader. Most of all, they put their faith in the earnest dorky kid who loved and will always love literature. I can’t thank them enough. I’m also thankful to my parents for reading to me before I could and reading next to me ever since then. Every family has a special place and I’m so glad my parents made ours the bookstore.”

Two Merit Prizes will also be awarded to Ms Elise Lauw from Temasek Junior College and Mr Nyang Ying Zhi from Hwa Chong Institution. They will receive monetary awards of $100 each.

The Edwin Thumboo Prize winners were selected through a rigorous process. The competition attracted entries from 12 pre-university institutions, including those offering the IB Diploma Programme.

Candidates were assessed by a selection panel, comprising representatives from NUS and MOE, as well as former Angus Ross prize-winners. The selection panel for this year’s Prize included Associate Professor Anne Thell from the Department and the 1997 Angus Ross Prize Winner, Mr Aaron Maniam.

Said Mr Maniam, “The Edwin Thumboo Prize was established to celebrate outstanding achievements in the study of English Literature at the pre-university level; this year’s winners have truly lived up to these aims. Even being nominated is an achievement in itself, since each school is asked to nominate only their top performer. The interviews involved analysing two unseen poems, discussion of an essay submitted by each student, and an exploration of general issues regarding literature and its role in societies. While every candidate was strong, the judges were particularly impressed by our four winners’ combination of lucid analysis and deep enthusiasm for their subjects.”

He added, “Their analysis of the poems and depth of argumentation in their essays shone through. We hope that all four of the top students realise that they are working at an intellectual level that is rare even in university settings, showing remarkable agility of mind and rich, spontaneous responses in the wide-ranging literary discussions we engaged in. Their conviction, poise and rigour made them truly phenomenal and a pleasure to interview."

Associate Professor Michelle Lazar, Head of NUS Department of English Language and Literature said, “We continue to be impressed by the quality, the range of intellectual approaches to understanding the literary texts, and the sophistication of the students’ writing and analysis. We thank our partners from MOE and the pre-university institutions for working with us to promote the study of and love for literature.”

About Professor Edwin Thumboo

Emeritus Professor Edwin Thumboo is one of Singapore’s pioneering poets. An accomplished literary practitioner and critic, he dedicated his life to the composition and study of English Literature. His work is studied in schools, both locally and abroad, and featured in public places in Singapore. At NUS, Professor Thumboo had served as Head of NUS Department of English Language and Literature, Dean of NUS Faculty Arts and Social Sciences, and Director of the NUS Centre for the Arts. He has also received numerous awards, including the Book Award for Poetry in English (1978, 1980 and 1994), Southeast Asia Write Award (1979), The Cultural Medallion (March 1980), ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award for Literature (August 1987), Public Service Star (August 1991), the Meritorious Service Medal (2006), and Distinguished Service Award (2008).

NUS has launched new tools to do just that. geNiUSworld is a new teaching and learning initiative at NUS which comprises geNiUSchannel and geNiUSbooks.

geNiUSchannel includes engaging videos on a wide range of topics while geNiUSbooks features ebooks which students can customise, annotate and tag for their own learning.

Teachers and students are encourage to create their own geNiUSbooks and videos on geNiUSchannel. The tools complement the vibrant learning community at NUS where staff and students learn from each other.

Listen in as NUS Vice Provost (Teaching Innovation & Quality) Associate Professor Erle Lim shares about these exciting developments with Dr Dujeepa Samarasekera, Director of the NUS Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL).

This is the second episode of CDTL’s Teaching Connections Podcasts – a series launched in conjunction with the anniversary of Teaching Connections, CDTL’s e-platform for the NUS community to advance discussions about teaching and share effective practices and innovative ideas.

Find out more, or listen to the podcast on your favourite app.

The icing on the cake was the first runner-up spot achieved in the 2021 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the world's largest and oldest competitive moot court event. This year, a staggering 574 teams from 90 countries competed over six weeks in 2,036 virtual matches.

The team comprising Abhishek Srivastava, Arjit Pandey, Bay Jia Wei, Rebecca Loo and Timothy Chong went through a gruelling competition to emerge as finalists in the Championship Round on 17 Apr - where they fought a close match against the University of Sydney Law School.

Among the individual accolades, the Best Oralist of the Championship Round went to Jia Wei, while Abhishek was named Best Oralist in the Preliminary Rounds.

The Championship Final was judged by three sitting judges of the International Court of Justice. This year's competition case concerned a dispute about border closure during a global pandemic, a desperate whistle-blowing rogue scientist seeking asylum in diplomatic premises, and the State's responsibility for a suspicious aircraft explosion.

This latest showing continues the strong mooting tradition of NUS Law. The Faculty has participated in the Jessup competition for over 30 years and has an outstanding record which includes having clinched the World Championship four times, achieved the runner-up position eight times, and also won the Baxter Awards five times, the Evans Awards four times, the Best Oralist titles four times, and Best Finals Oralist titles seven times. The Baxter and Evans awards are team awards given for excellence in certain aspects of mooting.

Jia Wei said, "Behind every word that was spoken were copious amounts of legal research put together by a frantic yet capable team and the brilliant minds of five very inspiring yet humble coaches. We have faith in each other, unspoken hunger, and quiet resilience -- I'd like to think that the team's every step towards the World Finals was a culmination of those."

Abhishek added, "It is truly humbling to join the ranks of distinguished NUS Law alumni that have performed exceedingly well in the Jessup Competition and achieved the Best Oralist awards. This could not have been possible without my incredibly talented teammates, our superhuman coaches, and the unwavering support of our professors, seniors and loved ones."

The strong tradition of mooting has also fostered a culture of giving back and camaraderie within the NUS Law community, as each generation of its student mooters return to coach, advise and support their juniors. This year's Jessup team benefitted from coaches who included members of the team that placed top at Washington, D.C. in the 2016 international rounds - Joshua Hiew, who was placed first in the Oralist Rankings and was also the Best Oralist in the National Round; and Victor Leong, who clinched second in the Oralist Rankings.

In these few months, NUS Law has also recorded stellar performances in other international and local competitions. In March alone, it won the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot, the Ian Fletcher International Insolvency Law Moot Competition, and the Advocacy Cup.

The Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot

NUS Law students Nicholas Chia, Ng Wei Qi, Shayna Robinson and Yeoh Su-Jane defeated 43 teams from 21 countries to emerge champions in the 2021 Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot. Held from 8 to 19 Mar, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious student competitions in the area of investment protection law.

This year, the case study was Les toits de Paris, which concerned a historical dispute over a mining concession that was set in the 1840s which takes place in the neutral territory of Moresnet and involving governments of Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Prussia.

The Ian Fletcher International Insolvency Law Moot Competition

NUS Law students Lim Jia Ren, Rachel Chan, Sia Bao Huei, and Samuel Teo became the first NUS team to win at the 2021 Ian Fletcher International Insolvency Law Moot Competition, which was held from 15 to 21 Mar 2021. Their team was the top seed during the knock-out rounds and was awarded a prize for being the highest-ranked team after the preliminary rounds. During the preliminary rounds for the individual oralist ranking, Samuel was placed first and was awarded as the Best Individual Mooter. In the final oral round, Jia Ren was named Best Individual Mooter.

A renowned mooting competition dealing with international insolvency litigation, it saw a record participation of 34 teams in the written round, with the top 12 schools advancing into the virtual oral round. The teams had to deal with a fictional case that took place in a hypothetical jurisdiction that had adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-border Insolvency and the UNCITRAL Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency.

The Advocacy Cup

NUS Law students scored a hat trick in the finals of the Advocacy Cup 2021 on 31 Mar, securing the top three spots in the competition. Noah Lim emerged champion, the first runner-up was Suraj Lingaraj Bagalkoti and the second runners-up were Teo Jin Yang and Vishnu Menon. 

The students were looking forward to hone their mooting skills after taking the Trial Advocacy module. They shared that the preparation for this moot allowed them to inject creativity in using the facts provided to their advantage as well as to come up with distinctive questions for opposing witnesses.

Preserving the goodness of vegetable juices

Cold pasteurised juices are gaining popularity, but most juices in the market are more commonly preserved by thermal pasteurisation. Chew Ding Xiang’s final-year project examines the effect of High-Pressure Processing (HPP), which is an industrial non-thermal process involving the application of high pressure to inactivate microorganisms in food, on the nutrient preservation of vegetable juice.

“Vegetable juices are popular as a low-sugar alternative to fruit juices and for their reputation as ‘detox drinks’,” said Ding Xiang, as he explained the context of his project.

Based on his research, Ding Xiang found that the bok choy juice he prepared using HPP not only preserved nutrients well, it also retained the ideal sensorial properties of the juice. The colour of the juice was a fresh-looking green, compared to the dark, less appealing green of the thermally processed version.

“This means that HPP could be a viable option to produce and distribute vegetable juices on a large scale, and consumers can enjoy greater convenience and accessibility. Furthermore, as vegetables are susceptible to spoilage, juicing is one way to help reduce wastage,” said Ding Xiang.

Adding texture to cultured meat

Observing and growing animal muscle cells in a lab is what FST student Yap Wee Swan’s project is all about. She is working on growing cultured meat at a micro level on 3D-printed scaffolds that look like thin, translucent sheets

“Scaffolds are important as they help the muscle cells to grow in a way that replicates the features of real meat,” shared Wee Swan. She grows cultured mammalian muscle on the 3D scaffolds which enables the cells to stretch, mimicking those in the muscles of animals. “The parallel alignment of the cells is responsible for the streakiness of meat, and hence crucial for the textural imitation of conventional meat products,” she elaborated.

Wee Swan’s research contributes to the growing developments in the cultured meat sector. Current cultured meat products in the market are being typically minced, so they do not have the proper form or structure of meat. Culturing meat on the 3D scaffolds will therefore bring food scientists closer to producing lab-grown meat that imitates the texture of traditional animal meat.

Using probiotics to improve freshness and nutrition of cut fruits

Compared to whole fruits, cut fruits usually lose their nutritional quality and moisture faster over time. To improve the shelf life and add to the nutritional quality of cut fruits, FST student Ian Mak developed an edible probiotic coating. His research involved dipping apple slices into the probiotic coating solution he developed and then testing for shelf-life characteristics.

With the probiotic coating, Ian observed a reduction in the growth of spoilage microorganisms such as mould, and rate of moisture loss which allowed the apples to remain fresh and retain their texture. He also found that adding the coating could allow cut apple slices to last two to three days longer than those without.

The probiotic solution also added another aspect of nutrition not originally present in the apple slices – two slices of apples coated with the probiotic solution would contain the same amount of probiotics in a bottle of commercially available cultured milk drink.

“I am interested in developing novel applications of probiotics in food products. Most people would associate probiotics with dairy products like cultured milk drinks or yoghurts. Hence, the application of probiotics in mainstream foods would not only be novel and intriguing, it also increases the number of people consuming probiotics,” he shared.

Equipping students to impact our world

The projects undertaken by Ding Xiang, Wee Swan and Ian are but a glimpse of what FST students embark on in the course of their undergraduate studies.

“These creative projects attest to how our students are equipped with relevant skills to contribute effectively as they prepare for careers in the area of food science. By encouraging students to explore ways to improve the nutrition and quality of everyday foods, we hope to give them the opportunity to push the boundaries of food research and development,” said FST Head Professor Zhou Weibiao.

In this series, NUS News profiles the outstanding educators who have inspired generations of students at the University.

Precision and authority mark Associate Professor Eleanor Wong’s demeanour in class, from the ring of her voice to her hand gestures emphasising a point. Watching her guide students in discussion, one is almost reminded of a conductor directing an orchestra in an unfolding, enriching process.

It is perhaps no wonder that NUS Law’s Assoc Prof Wong sees her job as an educator as designing an intricate experience. She draws on her rich experience outside the classroom – investigating commercial and securities fraud with the Commercial Affairs Department, practising corporate law in New York and Singapore, managing a leading local TV production company, establishing herself as a playwright and poet. She has seen first-hand that life can take you in many different directions, and one need not take the tried-and-tested career path assumed in popular consciousness.

Returning to NUS as an educator after having studied here as a law undergraduate, Assoc Prof Wong re-thought how one learns fundamental legal skills, such as reasoning, researching and communicating. “A few things became quite clear,” she recalls, “the first was that learning skills is different from learning content.” She thus set out to craft experiences requiring each skill to be attempted and learned. Her approach is methodical and meticulous. “Ultimately,” she notes, “it is about designing the exercise or the task in such a way that it targets the actual skill you want, and that is harder than it seems.”

The main challenge, Assoc Prof Wong shares, is in getting students to think things through for themselves and not take the easy way out. Because the modules she is responsible for are not trying to teach students the substantive answer, each year the Legal Skills Instructors come up with new fact patterns to prevent students from short-circuiting the learning with cheat sheets inherited from seniors. “It’s understanding where the students are coming from,” she muses, “respecting that it’s not stupid, ordinarily, to try and find a cheat sheet, but disincentivising them so that they undertake the real learning we want them to undertake.” This spirited approach to education has been noticed and applauded, and Assoc Prof Wong has been recognised with the Annual Teaching Excellence Award and the Centre for Development of Teaching & Learning Honour Roll.

Despite Assoc Prof Wong’s scrupulous attitude towards education, she does not hold excessively onerous expectations of her students. Rather, she credits them for their attempts at reasoning, even when they do not get the ‘correct’ answers. Her ex-student Ms Ruth Tang, a law graduate, playwright and theatre artist, recalled that she was “both the most intimidating and the most patient and open teacher – intimidating because she truly would not take any nonsense, and was very good at spotting it, but she was always patient if it became clear you just didn't know or didn't understand.”

Helping students build and improve themselves means much to Assoc Prof Wong. She relates, “Sometimes there is a moment where I can see that I helped one or two students to make a breakthrough for themselves. When that happens, it is a truly amazing moment, and that’s the joy of it – when you see that the skill has actually taken root.” She finds fulfilment when students can derive their own answers in a world where law does not stay static.

Assoc Prof Wong feels that independence begins in the university, where students must take responsibility to determine how to make the most of their legal education. “We offer a very high-quality, challenging, stimulating menu of choices,” she says, pointing out how the NUS curriculum strikes a balance between fundamental topics which help students appreciate how law operates in different spaces and plenty of electives which students can curate themselves.

“Let's get that foundation, and then look into yourself and take responsibility and ownership of designing something that will make you flourish, because for sure in this law school, there will be enough of those options made available to you,” she suggests.

Indeed, opportunities to grow extend outside the classroom. “At the end of the day, to be a good lawyer, you know the head knowledge is only so much.” Subtle things, like understanding people or grasping why certain laws came to be, cannot just be learned in the classroom. “You get that from being a real human being, having friends, doing things,” she adds. This perspective informs her other roles as Vice Dean for Student Life and Global Relations at NUS Law, and Associate Provost (Special Projects) in the NUS Office of the Senior Deputy President and Provost.

To Assoc Prof Wong, success as a law graduate veers away from the ‘one size fits all’ definition of being a good lawyer, with many pathways one can take within law and in wider society. “Law permeates everything and so law-trained people are valuable for their knowledge almost anywhere else that they go to.”

She proposes that people with an understanding of how things are regulated can contribute greatly to policy-making, administration and law-adjacent industries like banking, for example. “Because law essentially tells us how we live when we bump up against each other,” Assoc Prof Wong articulates, “so you can imagine that in society, as long as we touch each other, someone with an appreciation of law has something useful to contribute.” She describes how a law education exposes one to ways of resolving differences, such as mediation, arbitration and negotiation.

The fluidity in Assoc Prof Wong’s perspective of law and the world may be rooted in how she sees herself beyond the categories of her external roles, which in turn may be linked to her own life experiences.

“I don't like labels, so I think that it is artificial to say, oh, you're an educator, you’re a playwright, you're a lawyer. There are no fences between those parts of myself. We're always wholly where we are, who we are,” she maintains. Having reached a point at which she can make a coherent life for herself which comes together in a way that makes sense and does not short-change who she is, Assoc Prof Wong likewise hopes to help her students find their own meaningful road and value themselves for that.

“The thing that sticks with me is that moment when I know that something has clicked for a student,” Assoc Prof Wong smiles. “And sometimes it doesn’t happen during school, sometimes it happens afterwards when someone writes to me and says, it all clicks and now it fits. To have been even a small part in that journey for a student, that I think is what I value the most.”

This is the eighth instalment of a series on outstanding educators at NUS.

Read about Professor Jochen Wirtz from NUS Business School and the synergies that invigorate his work in education, research and industry. 

Read about Associate Professor Lakshminarayanan Samavedham of the NUS Faculty of Engineering and his vision of nurturing independent, just-in-time learners. 

Read about how Dr Clayton Miller from the NUS School of Design and Environment strives to empower his students to be forward-thinking visionaries and trailblazers.

Read about Mr N. Sivasothi from the NUS Faculty of Science and his unique blend of education and environmental advocacy – an ecosystem in which every element feeds into another. 

Read about how Professor Seah Kar Heng from the NUS Faculty of Engineering utilises creative methods to engage his students, with the goal of teaching them to learn for themselves.

Read about how Associate Professor Kelvin Foong from the NUS Faculty of Dentistry combines good old-fashioned mentorship with the latest technological innovations, all to help students learn better.

Read about Dr Susan Ang Wan-Ling from the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as she shares her experiences teaching English Literature, and her hopes and dreams for students as they move through life.

Helmed by the NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates (CFG), the pilot course of the Women’s Professional Development Programme ran from 8 Feb to 24 Mar. It saw 30 final-year students going through experimental sessions on human-centred design, personal branding, advocacy, managing difficult conversations, and building a support network.

“Recognising the challenges often faced by young women entering the workforce, CFG developed a pilot programme to equip final-year female students with the most critical skills, attributes and mindsets to excel in the first one to two years of their careers”, said Ms Camilla Tam, Head of Learning & Development at CFG.

Before launching the programme, the Centre conducted a survey and in-depth interviews with several young NUS alumna in July 2020. According to these alumna, challenges upon embarking on their first career included reticence in putting themselves forward for opportunities, and the fear of taking risks and advocating for themselves.

Learning from trailblazers

In first session, Design Thinking and Challenge, facilitated by Girls in Tech Singapore, students collaborated to answer the problem statement "How might companies create an enjoyable and meaningful virtual onboarding process for employees?". In quick-fire rounds, they brainstormed, pitched, and delivered constructive criticism, developing their confidence to experiment, take quick decisions and deal with feedback.

In the finale event, participants met with inspirational young alumni Ms Nisha Rajoo (NUS Class of 2014), Manager at the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), and Ms Adriana Rasip (NUS Class of 2016), Manager at the National Council of Social Services (NCSS).

They also met with trail-blazing female leaders, including Ms Pauline Tee, Head of Transformation Asia, Standard Chartered Bank; Ms Yvonne Mak, Associate at Withers KhattarWong LLP and EXCO of the Young Women's Leadership Connection (YWLC); Ms Sabrina Ho, Founder & CEO, half the sky®; and Ms Seow Hui Hong, Healthcare Innovation & Commercialisation; Venture Builder, MiRXES.

In small group discussions, the young women sought the advice of the female leaders who shared their stories and challenges they had overcome to reach great heights in their careers.

Toh Mei Jun, a particpant from NUS Life Sciences, said it has been an eye-opening experience. Another, Calissa Man En Qin, an NUS Political Science student, hoped more female undergraduates could join the programme to learn from each other as well as from female mentors and role models.

 “Being a part of this women’s programme really helped me to broaden up my perspective on how to navigate into the workplace. It was very informative and insightful, with great real-world examples that made the lessons easy to understand and apply,” summed up Cai Yuqian, an NUS Information Systems student.

By the NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates

NUS Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) Year 3 Economics major Daryl Lim would know. He experienced this while helming his first computer distribution startup selling business-to-business automation solutions during his polytechnic days. In 2019, to help smaller firms left behind the technology curve, Daryl co-founded Augmentus – a robotics software startup that offers the first code-free robot programming platform for people with zero robotic experience to develop deployable robotic systems at a fraction of the cost; and on an iPad to boot.

We sat down with the intrepid student who shared about his passion for entrepreneurship and the support he has received from the NUS Entrepreneurship Society (NES), NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme and NUS Enterprise. He also spoke about his hopes for an inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and plans to nurture young talent in robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

What is the idea behind Augmentus? What does your team seek to do in the robotics industry?

Daryl: Programming robots to perform specific tasks typically requires massive amounts of code, as well as programmers with very specific, in-demand skill sets to accomplish.

Different robot manufacturers require the use of their respective proprietary languages and require high coding expertise. Existing automation processes require system integrators to develop custom solutions due to the fragmented modules, such as machine vision, cloud computation and storage, and programmable logic controller integration.

This results in the high difficulty and heavy fragmentation of conventional robot programming. About 70 per cent of the lifetime costs of each robot are software and programming related.

A chance meeting with my co-founders Chong Voon Foo (NUS Engineering Year 4 student) and Leong Yong Shin at a hackathon in 2019 made me realise I was not alone in my views. We shared similar experiences from commercial projects done previously.

We thus started Augmentus to address the pain points and level the playing field for smaller players and non-technical users. We do this by enabling them to affordably programme industrial robots in minutes instead of months through an intuitive graphical interface on an iPad, thereby eliminating the need for coding and computer-aided design files in robot teaching.

Our software is currently used by companies in the aerospace, automotive and electronics industries for industrial surface treatment, pick and place, and inspection applications.

Singapore company Abrasive Engineering, for instance, is using our software to automate surface treatment processes in a high-mix manufacturing environment – something that would be deemed impossible using conventional programming methods.

I understand that Augmentus is looking at developing more local talent in robotics manufacturing?

Daryl: There is currently a shortage in robotics talent and this is a growing problem faced by developed countries looking toward automation as a path towards sustainable productivity improvement. My team and I want to help nurture local talents in this field.

Currently, Augmentus is a team of 15 staff comprising 70 per cent NUS alumni and students and many of our new hires do not possess deep robotics expertise. However, we have dedicated mentoring sessions to upskill and train them in the necessary robotics skillsets, and this allows them to contribute to our product development.

Our robot programming software has also seen increasing interest among robot training educators, where they see it as a means to lower the skills and knowledge barrier for students to learn robotics, AI, and Industry 4.0 in a more intuitive and hands-on manner. We are currently in advanced discussions with educational institutions across the region to deploy our software in classrooms.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?

Daryl: Growing up, I was always curious about tech stuff. Building my first computer at the age of 12 got me hooked. The euphoria from materialising concepts and theories into real-world devices captivated me.

My entrepreneurial inclinations were borne in my teens when I saw how my friends’ smartphone screens often broke within weeks of unboxing. Phone repairs were expensive. I wanted to help my friends so I imported the parts from China. Eventually I set up a phone and PC repair business called Infofix, which I transformed into a computing distribution business. It grew to become the largest blockchain-based encryption solutions provider in Southeast Asia.

This experience deepened my interest in entrepreneurship, and as cliché as it may sound, it nurtured my desire to help people and make an impact in the world. Augmentus melds my twin passions of tech and entrepreneurship perfectly.

How has your NUS education helped you in your startup journey?

Daryl: At NUS, I naturally gravitated towards NES and the NOC programme. I made many lifelong friends there and we bounced off countless startup ideas. It was exhilarating and this formalised my interest in entrepreneurship and gave me the courage to take a leave of absence and start Augmentus. The NOC programme has been incredibly helpful as I grew Augmentus and made significant strides to commercialise and deploy our technology. We have received invaluable support and guidance from the NUS Enterprise team and the NOC modules were relevant and practical to the execution of a deeptech business like Augmentus.

As an FASS student, I had the opportunity to learn modules from different disciplines, namely, Sociology, Global Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, and my major, Economics. Studying such a diverse set of modules was exhausting but it has broadened my perspective on many things. I realised how different key stakeholders with different incentives can behave very differently given a similar scenario.

Studying economics and taking NUS Computing modules in particular, has also taught me key hard skills in computational thinking, logical reasoning and statistical analysis which I use often to make strategic decisions, giving me the necessary traits to grow my business. I truly believe that being hyper rational is an important trait to succeed in business.

Augmentus was recently recognised at the Singapore Digital Techblazer Awards. What are your feelings about the achievement?

Daryl: Yes, the company recently won gold in the Student Techblazer category at the 2021 Singapore Digital Techblazer Awards, which recognise Singapore’s best in tech innovation.

The award validates the incredible work behind our team at Augmentus, and proves that age is not a barrier for purposeful innovation, as long as you stay focused and do things that have great impact to society. We are thankful for the support of our customers, as well as the guidance that we’ve received from everyone at NUS.

We will continue to work hard to achieve our vision, and bring pride to those who have believed in us.

2021 Lex Infinitum VI

For a third time, NUS Law secured top place in the Mediator category and clinched second place or better in the Negotiating Team Category at the 6th VMSCL-AIDR International Dispute Resolution Competition (Lex Infinitum VI).

The competition took place virtually amid COVID-19, over a week from 21 to 27 Feb. Sarfaroj Ahmed Malik emerged as champion in the Mediator category and the team of Ong Hui Wen and Kaezeel Yeo took first runners-up in the Negotiating Team category. This excellent performance was the result of nine intense rounds of mediation and negotiation against 35 other international teams from countries such as India, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The 2021 Lex Infinitum VI was organised by VM Salgaocar College of Law (VMSCL), India in collaboration with the Association for International Dispute Resolution (AIDR). Students globally had the opportunity to interact with experienced mediators, negotiators and were able to showcase their mediation and negotiation skills at this competition. 

The trio are from the NUS Law Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club and were coached by competition alumni Nikhil Angappan, Utsav Rakshit, and Samuel Wittberger and advised by Victoria Tay. Victoria and Nikhil were the champions of Lex Infinitum 2020. 

The team was touched by the dedication of their coaches and seniors in organising multiple training sessions and patience whenever they encountered problems.

Kaezeel pointed out that another valuable win was the friendship forged with teammates and coaches during countless brainstorming and late-night practice sessions. "Having Hui Wen negotiating alongside me taught me to trust in my partner and to be transparent with each other about how we can grow. After each round of the competition, we would write down the things we needed to improve and encourage each other to do better. The rapport we built up over time brought us through the competition."

Sarfaroj concluded, "Preparing for Lex Infinitum VI taught me that no man is an island. Having never done mediation, I could never have gone so far on my own without the guidance and support of my coaches and friends. I'm happy I could do justice to their efforts at the end of the competition."

NLIU INADR International Mediation Tournament 2021

In its ninth edition, the NLIU-INADR competition is Asia's oldest and most prestigious mediation tournament. Students from the NUS Law Collaborative Dispute Resolution Club were on top of their game at yet another dispute resolution competition. The Client and Counsel Team made up of Jolene Gina Abelarde, Joshua Lim Jing Kai and Edwin Chan emerged champions in the 9th National Law Institutional University and International Academy of Dispute Resolution (NLIU INADR) International Mediation Tournament which was held virtually from 10 to 14 Mar.

With a strong turnout of 42 skillful international teams such as India, Lithuania and the United States, the competition provided an opportunity for students to be a part of disputes akin to actual altercations witnessed by legal professionals. After five intense days, the team entered the Grand Finals to emerge as the winner after defeating Boston University.

The winning team recalled that the final negotiation problem had 10 pages full of numbers about how universities have dealt with COVID-19 restrictions, and they only had one hour for preparation. But their training had prepared them well, and they emerged victorious.

The team felt honoured to represent NUS Law on the international stage and relished the good learning experience and the privilege to mediate against teams from around the world. The team also extended their appreciation to their coaches for their invaluable advice.

Listen in as NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye shares his thoughts with Dr Dujeepa Samarasekera, Director of the NUS Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL).

This inaugural episode of the Teaching Connections Podcasts is being launched in conjunction with the first anniversary of Teaching Connections, CDTL’s e-platform for faculty members, students, administrative staff, and alumni to advance discussions about teaching and share effective practices and innovative ideas.

Find out more, or listen to the podcast on your favourite app.

 “We are well aware of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, that’s something that has come upon us in recent years. We are also being impacted by technology, especially its usage. Now COVID-19 came along last year and hastened digitisation – not just across the universities, but across industry,” shared NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye on 5 Apr, at the 100^th anniversary celebrations of China’s Xiamen University.

 “It is important to make sure that in a fast-changing world, our graduates are more agile and more adaptable. They have to be very adept at solving complex problems by being able to integrate knowledge from various disciplines. They should continue to learn – in fact, to learn for life – so that as they progress through their careers they will always be able to re-skill and up-skill,” added Prof Tan, who was joined at the virtual celebrations by university leaders from around the world.

Interdisciplinary approach

The first part of the NUS strategy is an interdisciplinary approach to learning.

“We seek to nurture broad intellectual foundations that emphasise synthesis, integration and insight between intellectual domains. To do so, we have revamped our learning models,” said Prof Tan.

A central pillar of interdisciplinary learning is the General Education curriculum, which builds deep foundations in reading, writing, critical thinking and numeracy. New modules in Design Thinking and Artificial Intelligence have also been introduced to ensure that students are digital-ready.

In December 2020, the University launched the College of Humanities and Sciences, with a common curriculum to ensure students receive a strong grounding in both the humanities and the sciences. These will in turn provide a strong foundation for fostering creative and original thinking and ideas.

The same approach has been adopted for the engineering and design disciplines, with a new Common Curriculum that bridges these two domains. The intention is to cultivate students who can think, design and problem-solve in an integrated fashion.

Hands-on learning

One aspect of interdisciplinarity is to use a problem-based approach. This ties in with the second prong of the strategy, which is to emphasise experiential, entrepreneurial and cross-cultural learning.

“In future, work and learning have to be intertwined. Currently, we already have internships and apprenticeships, but we are also mindful that there’s a possibility that there can be work-study integration as we move forward,” said Prof Tan.

Immersive technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality will also support experiential learning. Experiential learning, being active learning, provides more real-world experience and facilitates teamwork and experimentation.

There will also be continued emphasis on providing overseas exposure.

“We continue to encourage our students to study or work abroad during their time at the University – of course, as soon as it is safe to do so. We have established partnerships with more than 300 universities in over 40 countries. Students may choose from an extensive list of exchange or immersion programmes,” said Prof Tan.

Budding entrepreneurs, and students enthusiastic about innovation and enterprise, can also enrol in the NUS Overseas Colleges programme.

Lifelong learning

The third major initiative is about enabling lifelong learning.

The University’s Lifelong Learners programme offers students enrolment for 20 years, from the point of admission as an undergraduate. NUS alumni would be automatically eligible for the University’s skill and training courses upon graduation. This makes lifelong learning seamless, through integration between pre-employment and continuing education.

“To stay relevant and dynamic, our students and alumni will need to constantly upskill and reskill,” said Prof Tan.

“The message we are giving to students is that at NUS you don’t have to stop after four years. You can continue on, for as long as you want… And NUS will always be here for you.”

Xiamen University's links with Singapore and NUS

At NUS, there is an award named after the founder of Xiamen University, Mr Tan Kah Kee. The Tan Kah Kee Medal and Prize for Chinese Studies is given to the best student in Chinese Studies at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

The Singaporean businessman and philanthropist was born in Xiamen before moving to Singapore at the age of 16. He also started The Chinese High School (now Hwa Chong Institution) and was one of the founders of Tao Nan School.

In this series, NUS News profiles the outstanding educators who have inspired generations of students at the University.

For this "accidental professor", as Professor Jochen Wirtz wryly describes himself, teaching was never part of the plan.

Prof Wirtz, who is Vice Dean for MBA Programmes and Professor of Marketing at NUS Business School, initially began his career as a services marketing consultant in London. In 1992, when his wife found a job in Singapore, Prof Wirtz moved here with her. At the time, teaching and research at NUS was the most attractive job on offer, and he took it. "It was a bit of an acquired taste initially," Prof Wirtz quips when recalling how he felt about academic life, "like the weather."

Prof Wirtz soon came to enjoy the teaching and academic work. Although he had only planned on staying for one year, that soon stretched into a prodigious career of 29 years. Prof Wirtz has been recognised as an accomplished educator; he was founding director of the UCLA-NUS Executive MBA (EMBA) Programme, founding member of the NUS Teaching Academy, and has received a host of teaching awards and accolades from NUS and global institutions alike. Besides teaching a number of MBA and EMBA degree modules and short executive educations courses every academic year, he also plays a crucial role in maintaining and improving the quality of education at the business school.

Alongside his work at NUS and his active career as a management consultant, Prof Wirtz is also an avid hiker, skier, theatre-goer, and most recently a fan of The Crown, but he balances hobbies, travel, and work with apparent ease. "The key word", shares Prof Wirtz, "is synergy" — the energy that invigorates and connects his work in education, research, and industry. As he points out, the university is itself a service organisation, and at NUS Business School, "we teach business, we do research on business, and we ourselves run a service business… that allows us to test and run and experiment."

At NUS Business School, students and staff alike benefit from Prof Wirtz’s organisational work. For instance, he encouraged his MBA admissions and marketing team to take courses in Robotic Process Automation to boost their productivity and employability, allowing them to better serve students. Equipped with these skills, the team went on to create the university’s first external facing chatbot for the MBA Programme, built completely in-house. Clearly enthused, Prof Wirtz recalls: "I was so happy. With a test run of two weeks, we launched it, and we had 20,000 unique conversations in the first month. We don't have a big team, so can you imagine how many emails and calls were saved?"

Much of Prof Wirtz's work is centred on the MBA programme, which comprises a diverse cohort of industry professionals. Prof Wirtz is dedicated to helping each student reach their fullest potential. The strategic direction of the MBA programme, he says, is transformational education. He emphasises, "We want to change you as a person, and we want to help you make yourself the best you can be in your chosen area."

To achieve this, Prof Wirtz has spearheaded the curation of a rigorous academic syllabus, accompanied by a range of electives graded on a pass/fail basis, allowing students to prioritise self-improvement over gunning for top grades in areas they are already proficient in. Complementing this is an experiential core curriculum and the MBA Club Ecosystem, which give students opportunities to "test-run" careers in various industries, learn the lingo, understand key issues and, critically, build a network of connections with NUS alumni and future business partners. These experiences, Prof Wirtz highlights, are what set the NUS MBA apart, and cannot be replaced by the online classroom. He is therefore fiercely committed to maintaining the quality of the MBA programme, and is currently working tirelessly to create viable and safe face-to-face learning environments.

When asked what he enjoys about teaching, Prof Wirtz remarks that learning from class discussions and project presentations is what makes teaching rewarding for him. Commenting on his teaching philosophy, he says, "You have to be humble because your students know their field better than you do, and that's also why I enjoy it." He also shares that many of his publications originate from class discussions, research projects, or collaborations with former students from the MBA and EMBA programmes.

If you ever face Prof Wirtz in the classroom — be prepared. Prof Wirtz divulges that he compiles a brief dossier on all his students, tagging them with yellow sticky notes so he knows who to call on for specific topics. "There is no escaping!", he warns humorously. Above all, he shares, he prizes intellectual curiosity, positivity, and a gung-ho attitude.

When asked for advice on staying relevant in the job market today, Prof Wirtz joked that none of his own children listened to his advice anyway. "I told them their jobs are all going to be largely automated, but they don't care," he says blithely, before bursting into laughter.

Jokes aside, he says reassuringly, "There is always going to be room for people who are good at their jobs." He emphasises that it is important to be reliable, adaptable, and forward-thinking in order to stay ahead, but to stay focused on one's own area of expertise.

"Nobody hires you because you're okay at everything," he says, "so get enthusiastic about something, and then do it well and stay at the cutting edge of your field." 

This is the seventh instalment of a series on outstanding educators at NUS.

Read about Associate Professor Lakshminarayanan Samavedham of NUS Engineering and his vision of nurturing independent, just-in-time learners. 

Read about how Dr Clayton Miller from the NUS School of Design and Environment strives to empower his students to be forward-thinking visionaries and trailblazers.

Read about Mr N. Sivasothi from the NUS Faculty of Science and his unique blend of education and environmental advocacy – an ecosystem in which every element feeds into another. 

Read about how Professor Seah Kar Heng from the NUS Faculty of Engineering utilises creative methods to engage his students, with the goal of teaching them to learn for themselves.

Read about how Associate Professor Kelvin Foong from the NUS Faculty of Dentistry combines good old-fashioned mentorship with the latest technological innovations, all to help students learn better.

Read about Dr Susan Ang Wan-Ling from the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as she shares her experiences teaching English Literature, and her hopes and dreams for students as they move through life.

When one explores uncharted territory, things can go wrong. Training undergraduate students to solve complex challenges is precisely the aim of the iDP at NUS Engineering. It was established in 2009 to give students a holistic education, and the opportunity to collaborate with industry partners to work on real-world problems.

Indeed, everything seemed to be going wrong for iDP student Michael Sutanto one night. He was alone in his room trying to debug a piece of software in a robot that makes phone calls over wi-fi, and he was facing difficulties. He almost wanted to give up when, suddenly, he was startled by an incoming call on the robot.

“I just tapped the reject button out of surprise,” said Michael, who majors in Mechanical Engineering. “At that point, no one was supposed to be able to call the robot except one of my team-mates, who told me he did not make the call. I never found out who or what was on the other end of the line. It seems our robot worked too well!”

Michael is in a team of iDP students working on “Ah Bot”, a moving robot with a touch screen that keeps an elderly person company. It has functions like videos, music and “memory jogging”, where the user is shown old family photos or the like. It also helps family members monitor and communicate with the elderly user remotely. The robot has a 3D laser scanning device that detects the user’s presence, and motorised wheels that allow the robot to steer towards the user.

Developed in collaboration with Sengkang General Hospital, Ah Bot helps fill in when a human companion is unable to be physically present. Dr Puneet Seth, a Senior Consultant at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the hospital, said that family members he spoke to in the course of his duties were increasingly concerned about their elders being alone for extended hours as the younger ones were out working.

Interdisciplinary learning as the way forward

The iDP welcomes undergraduate students from different disciplines in NUS, not just Engineering. That is exemplified by Ah Bot team member Shirley Wang, who majors in Theatre Studies at NUS Arts and Social Sciences.

She was tasked to design the elderly-friendly user interface for Ah Bot, which is simpler and more interactive than a smartphone. As the team puts it, the user engages the smartphone, but this robot engages the user. On how her experience in theatre helped with this, Shirley explained, “From applied theatre practices, you can see what kind of interaction you could possibly devise with the robot that might be effective for seniors.”

Meanwhile, another group of students has invented a wearable device that could save lives in hospital emergency rooms.

Many critical emergency patients need constant monitoring of their heart condition using electrocardiogram (ECG) machines. But this is not always possible, as hospitals have limited numbers of these bulky and expensive machines.

To address this, the iDP students invented a wearable ECG machine not much bigger than a smartphone. Instead of processing the data within the device, which would make it bulky, it sends the data through the Internet to a cloud server that analyses it using machine learning. The computers can detect subtle patterns in the ECG that indicate abnormal conditions requiring immediate medical attention, and automatically alert the doctor.

Team member Joshua Seetoh, who majors in Chemical Engineering, said they worked closely with doctors at the National University Hospital and as a result, they were able to quickly discover and fix problems.

For example, they discovered early on that the ECG signal was being drowned out by electromagnetic interference from hospital equipment, so they thickened the shielding on the device and improved their signal processing algorithms to filter out the noise.

They also modified the wiring from being hard-soldered to the device to being detachable with crocodile clips. This prevented tangling and cut the time needed to put on the device from five minutes to two minutes.

The students are planning to apply the same concept to acoustically monitor patients’ breathing rate.

The virtues of community involvement

At the iDP, giving back to the community is a key theme. One project that is very much in that mould is a hydroponics system that is high-tech, yet accessible to non-commercial users.

The system has three levels of kang kong, caixin, lettuce and other vegetables growing in a liquid medium, with a moving camera that takes pictures of the crops and sensors to monitor environmental conditions and nutrient levels via an app. The students said hydroponics kits for individual consumers currently do not offer this degree of automation and customisation.

It was an opportunity for NUS Computer Engineering student Benjamin Chong to learn practical skills in mechanical engineering, such as the uses of items called countersunk hex nuts. At the same time, NUS Mechanical Engineering student Nicol Lam explored the unfamiliar realm of horticulture through experimentation with the growth requirements of different plants.

There were also memorable episodes, such as spending the night of Christmas eve on the rooftop of Block E2A, with a beautiful panorama of Singapore’s harbour, while frantically trying to rescue the hydroponics from a computer crash.

But ultimately, the greatest satisfaction came from working with people living in the residential district of Teban Vista to grow the hydroponic crops in their neighbourhood.

One resident who was originally sceptical of hydroponics was impressed that it actually worked, while others enthusiastically posted photos on social media after harvesting and cooking their very own hydroponic vegetables.

Lending a helping hand to animals

Some iDP projects give animals a helping hand. One instance is the mysterious black dome-shaped object that suddenly appears one day in an enclosure housing Javan Mynas at the Singapore Zoological Gardens. This mysterious object is for monitoring the health of birds.

A tasty morsel of food sits in an opening on the side of the dome. Suspicious at first, the bird stays clear of the setup until its human handlers leave the enclosure, and then the automatic camera takes a picture as it alights on the perch in front of the food bait.

Unbeknownst to the bird, the perch is a weighing scale, while a sensor scans the radio frequency identification (RFID) tag on its leg. If the bird’s weight is more than 30 per cent lower than when it was last measured, the door of the cage surrounding the dome system snaps shut, and an alert is sent to the bird keeper’s smartphone app, warning that that bird’s health needs attention.

The students said this kind of system will save zoos considerable labour to manually catching and weighing animals and could reduce keepers’ exposure to dangerous animals.

However simple the system may seem, it was not easy putting it together. In the beginning, the group was plagued by erratic data and sometimes complete failure of the detector to register a reading. Team member Benjamin Chan, who majors in Computer Engineering, said, “The results were on and off and we didn’t know why. It can work one day, and when we come back the next day it doesn’t work!”

This went on for a month before they finally fixed it by redesigning the system with separate components that each performed a particular operation, which made it easier to trace and fix problems.

But that was not the end of their troubles. One day a rogue Macaw got into the myna enclosure and broke the bird perch that had taken the students seven hours to 3D-print.

Yet, it is through these experiences that iDP students at NUS gain valuable experience in tackling the real-world problems they will face after they graduate. The director of iDP, Associate Professor Loh Ai Poh, said, “iDP students all have their fair share of ups and downs. It is through these cycles of success and failure that they grow to be confident and to believe that success will always triumph if they persevere. We have a great programme that nurtures students, not just in multi-disciplinary learning, but also in providing a safe environment for self-discovery, and at the same time, learn good engineering skills. Not many engineering programmes around the world facilitate engineering education in this manner!”

In the tumultuous 2020, the NUS Arts & Social Sciences alumnus graduated from Geography and minored in Geographical Information Systems, with a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours (Merit).

At the beginning of his final semester, he had already kick-started his job search in the ongoing tepid job market. Nonetheless, his early attempts were unsuccessful. The NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates continually encouraged Desmond; offered him useful career advice, interview tips, and suggested he expand his search to explore the SGUnited Traineeship programme launched in 2020 to support jobseekers. His friends echoed the same and he decided to cast a wider net.

"Initially, I was only searching for public sector jobs, but gradually I felt the need to diversify my search to include the private sector and even in the fields that I did not think to consider in the first place. In the end, I was glad of my decision as I was offered the traineeship by a company in the private sector through the SGUnited Traineeship programme."

His training in GIS captured the attention of the employer and helped him greatly to secure the traineeship. "GIS is an advanced technical skill that I anticipated will apply to a wide range of industries. To hone my GIS skills, I took all the modules offered by the Geography Department. I even took an internship in Cambodia in June 2019 to the Marine Conversation Cambodia (MCC) for three months focusing on GIS-related assignments."

To further broaden his horizons, he proactively joined the three-month Student Exchange Programme at Loughborough University, the United Kingdom. This programme further introduced him to an intercultural environment and allowed him to pick up useful soft skills such as holistic analytical and problem-solving skills which set him apart in the job market.

Reflective of his own job search experience, Desmond reminds incoming students not to get disheartened by rejections that are common in the job search process. Instead, it is important to keep track of each application and learn from every interview session. All these experiences will help in securing a job in good time.

Currently, Desmond has started his traineeship with DHI and it has been a positive experience. "The company has provided many opportunities for me to learn and explore areas that I am interested in. My colleagues have been very helpful and patient with me. At present, GIS is my main task but I am also part of the Modelling Department which exposes me to various projects and new knowledge. The future holds many possibilities, I'm positive and keeping my options open."

According to the Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey 2020, close to 94% of NUS graduates secured jobs within six months of their final exams, an increase of three percentage points over the previous year. Read the press release here.

How does NUS prepare students to be highly sought after talent in the workforce of the future?

Find out how the University has developed and broadened our curriculum to better prepare our graduates, and how interdisciplinary learning can help students solve complex issues in our society.

An architect developing a net-zero energy building must not only understand aesthetics and design, but also green technology, data and artificial intelligence.

As job requirements change, the skills that workers need are also changing – paving the way for interdisciplinary learning where specialisation in a subject is accompanied by a broad range of relevant skills.

Recognising this trend for lateral learning to solve complex issues, NUS has restructured the curriculum of two faculties with converging skills.

Incoming freshmen to the NUS Faculty of Engineering (FOE) and the NUS School of Design and Environment (SDE) will read a new Common Curriculum that integrates knowledge and skills from both schools, starting from August 2021.

They will also be able to take courses from the two schools and across the university to develop competencies across different fields – enjoying greater choice, breadth and flexibility in their learning journeys.

“In our everyday life, we are witnessing a convergence of engineering and design – sleek smart phones and consumer electronics, electric vehicles, as well as current net-zero and emerging net-positive energy buildings, just to name a few,” said Professor Ho Teck Hua, NUS Senior Deputy President and Provost.

This means learning must be updated, “taking students out of their silos to embrace the intersection of different disciplines”, he added.

Students will then be able to prepare themselves for diverse career paths such as management consultancy, AI engineering, and med-tech entrepreneurship. Aspiring architects, industrial designers and built environment professionals will also be equipped with the latest skills to develop future-ready solutions.

What industry needs

The Common Curriculum was developed by a task force comprising 10 NUS academics and six industry leaders who provided the employers’ perspective on shaping the skills of the future workforce.

“There is great urgency in ensuring that we develop a more sustainable world,” said task force member Dr Cheong Koon Hean, a veteran urban planner and architect who is Chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities and a member of the NUS Board of Trustees.

“We need a new generation of engineers, designers, urban planners, architects and built environment professionals who can work collaboratively across disciplines to find effective, integrated urban solutions that will secure and raise the living standards of Singaporeans and the global community.”

Commenting on the changing engineering landscape, task force member Mr Cheong Chee Hoo, Chief Executive Officer of DSO National Laboratories, noted that the new curriculum, designed in consultation with the industry, will “create stronger synergy and capabilities in our science and technology ecosystem”.

“Engineering is the key driver of innovation. I am confident and look forward to its graduates developing impactful technologies and solutions for the community and the nation,” he said.

Professor Wong Mun Summ, task force member and Co-Founding Director of award-winning architectural practice WOHA, observed that technology and issues such as climate change will shape the future of design and innovation.

“It is therefore timely that NUS introduces an integrated curriculum that allows SDE students, who are city-makers of tomorrow, to build bridges between design objectives, inspiration and technology,” said Prof Wong, who is also Professor in Practice at the NUS Department of Architecture.

“This, in time to come, can stimulate a fundamental mindset shift in the entire creative industry.”

Learning without silos

The new interdisciplinary curriculum is designed to be flexible to enable students to design their own degree and offer customised career paths to undergraduates.

Students require 40 modules to graduate, comprising:

• 15 modules in the Common Curriculum
  • 6 General Education modules
  • 7 modules imparting engineering-design interdisciplinary skills
  • One Integrated Project which is equivalent to 2 modules
• 15 modules in the selected major
• 10 modules as Unrestricted Electives, where students could use to increase depth in their selected specialisation or breadth by pursuing a second major, minor or courses of their interest.

For instance, an engineering student may choose to major in Civil Engineering as well as pursue a minor in Project Management and another minor in Architectural Studies, and complete the Bachelor’s degree in four years.

“This is a great opportunity to reimagine engineering education to nurture engineers who can go ‘broad’ and ‘deep’,” noted Professor Aaron Thean, Dean of the NUS Faculty of Engineering. Prof Thean is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and one of the National Research Foundation’s Returning Singaporean Scientists.

Currently, doing a second major or a minor across disciplines is only done by a small group of engineering students. “With the new curriculum structure, we are making such ‘hybrid’ training accessible to more students,” said Prof Thean.

Professor Lam Khee Poh, Dean of the NUS School of Design and Environment, added, “To educate the next generation of professionals who will envision, create and manage a resilient city of tomorrow, we need to start imbuing the drive and attitude of interdisciplinary and collaborative learning at the undergraduate level.”

The unique partnership with FOE to broaden and enrich students’ learning experience will open doors to new opportunities, added Prof Lam, who is also Provost’s Chair Professor of Architecture and Building.

Read more about the new Common Curriculum.

See press release.

Nicholas is one of the fresh NUS graduates whose career plans were derailed by the pandemic, but who adapted quickly to the changing economic landscape and found success in new areas.

He started applying for jobs in January 2020, a few months before the end of his course. At first, he submitted several applications for aerospace jobs. When those were unsuccessful, he cast his net wider.

Charting a new career path

Fortunately, the variety of modules he studied at NUS gave Nicholas the versatility to move into other sectors. For example, he enrolled in modules on project management and the Internet of Things (IoT) in addition to aerospace-related topics. In particular, the IoT module deepened his understanding of the important role of the semiconductor industry that he would eventually work in - almost every device connected to the IoT contains semiconductor chips.

Nicholas knew that career advisers at NUS were there to help if it took him too long to get a job, but he did not need it in the end. He got his job offer in July 2020 – as a Field Service Engineer at Applied Materials, a California-based company in the semiconductor industry with a research facility at NUS. At around the same time, he received his Bachelor of Engineering with Honours (Highest Distinction) degree.

Nicholas’ job requires him to interact with the company’s clients almost every day. A project module he did at NUS taught him the necessary communication skills and the virtues of giving back to the community - he was second-in-charge of a team of engineering students that designed a portable wheelchair ramp and tested it with patients.

Nicholas said, “coming from an Aeronautical Engineering specialisation and working in the semiconductor industry was extremely challenging. I experienced a steep learning curve at the workplace, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented me from going overseas for training on the specialised equipment that my company uses for semiconductor fabrication. However, my colleagues and mentor have been a great help in guiding me as well as integrating me into the company.”

Turning the pandemic into a positive force

Meanwhile, the Faculty of Science on the other end of campus has been nurturing its own graduates to thrive in the rapidly changing world. One of them was Cheryl Leong Jia Hui, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences with Honours (Distinction), with a specialisation in Biomedical Science and Minor in Philosophy.

Cheryl wanted to be a doctor at first, but she did not get selected for graduate medical school when she applied in her fourth year of undergraduate studies. This prompted her to consider alternative careers. And the COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

After sketching out a Venn diagram of her interests, she realised that public policy, international relations and strategic planning appealed to her. It so happened that the COVID-19 pandemic was at its height, and she took the opportunity to learn how policymakers addressed the medical, societal and economic problems caused by the coronavirus. She eagerly signed up for webinars, including some by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, and even a COVID-19 policy hackathon. She found it satisfying to synthesise different kinds of information into a coherent whole.

A diverse and supportive environment

She emailed the career advisers at NUS, who conducted mock interviews for her and empowered her with the courage to make the career switch. She applied for a few SG United Traineeships (SGUT). She credits the SGUT programme for helping her make the leap from science to policy as a fresh graduate with little experience.

Cheryl landed a traineeship with the policy department at the Land Transport Authority and started work in November 2020. Her job included calculating the cost-efficiency of autonomous vehicles using mathematical models, as well as international relations. It was right in the sweet spot of her Venn diagram of interests.

NUS gave Cheryl the skills to do well in the workplace. The diversity of topics she was exposed to at the university made her less prone to being overwhelmed by the new and unfamiliar information that she faces at work every day. The two research projects she did as a student (a research project on rapid detection of bacterial infection and final year project tracing the development of the human brain) also gave her the scientific rigour and logical reasoning that produces good policy analysis.

Cheryl said, “I enjoy teamwork in an intellectually stimulating environment, such as at my present workplace. As the future is uncertain, I want to remain adaptable to change and continue to be interested in a wide variety of issues.”

According to the Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey 2020, close to 94% of NUS graduates secured jobs within six months of their final exams, an increase of three percentage points over the previous year. Read the press release here.

Applying for jobs early

Deepak began applying for jobs in late December 2019, more than half a year before graduation. He did get some early offers but had to turn them down as he needed more time to explore the job market.

During the virtual NUS Career Fest in March 2020, career advisers provided tips on how to make himself more visible to employers and how to showcase his skills in interviews. They also shared plenty of data on which companies were hiring, and introduced him to an online tool to improve his resume. As a result, the number of callbacks from prospective hirers increased dramatically.

Like Deepak, Dalson also started his job search early. Towards the end of his stint at the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme in Peking University, Beijing, in mid-2019, Dalson felt it was the right time to speak to a career advisor on his next move after university.

He started applying for jobs as early as June 2019, as his career advisor told him that companies hired very early on. He looked for a job to challenge him and give him purpose. To get on top of things, he regularly went for one-to-one career coaching talks which were arranged for NUS students, which he found very insightful. At the same time, he also wanted to position himself differently from other candidates, to show employers that he was willing to take on more responsibility.

Securing jobs during the pandemic

Deepak eventually accepted an offer from PayPal Singapore and soon after graduation, he began working there in August 2020. Due to the pandemic, he has not set foot in his office even as early as February this year.

As a full-stack software engineer, his job is to ensure every part of the PayPal system – from the underlying databases to the front-end customer experience – runs smoothly. He also fixes software problems and implements new algorithms. It is a lot to ask of someone new, but Deepak felt it was not only a chance to prove himself but also a valuable learning opportunity.

Meanwhile, Dalson managed to clinch a spot in the highly-coveted Technology Associate Programme in the Government Technology Agency (GovTech). He started in the job in May 2020 during Singapore’s circuit breaker period, once he had completed his final-year project.

His start in the workforce was both interesting and challenging. For the first few months, he couldn’t physically interact with colleagues due to remote working measures. But being resourceful, he engaged them and got to know them well.

At GovTech, one of his first roles was being part of a COVID task force designing distribution platform SupplyAlly, a multipurpose platform which helps users keep track of whether a person receiving an item has received it before. The platform helped to distribute masks, TraceTogether tokens, and more recently, the SingapoRediscovers vouchers.

The value of a future-ready NUS education

Dalson quickly discovered that the software and hardware used at work was different from what he had learned on in school. But with the mental agility that his fast-paced classes cultivated, he soon adapted and overcame the challenges.

“I feel my courses at NUS helped build mental resilience as students had to think on their feet – especially during project work – and bring to bear on the problem all that had been taught. Crucially, that required a great of mental acuity, resourcefulness and agility, qualities which I credit the classes at NUS for instilling,” Dalson shared.

For Deepak, one of his modules at NUS required him and his teammates to develop a useful software product, and they created an app that helps busy parents schedule appointments while coordinating them with their children’s calendars.

In 2019, in his third year at NUS, he spent a semester as an internship with PayPal – who would eventually become his future employer – where his colleagues treated him like a full-fledged employee.

Through these projects, he was exposed to the rigours of an actual working environment, and given opportunities to prove himself that would help him land his future job with the firm.

Looking ahead with hope and optimism

Despite their varied beginnings, and the turbulence of the job market, Deepak and Dalson both expressed hope and optimism for the future.

“I hope to be at the forefront of innovation in my field and to also give back to society by volunteering my software engineering skills with non-profit organisations, so as to enable digital technology to be put to good use,” Deepak shared.

Meanwhile, Dalson continues to relish the challenges that his job puts forth to him, and he wants to continue being an active contributor to his company.

According to the Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey 2020, close to 94% of NUS graduates secured jobs within six months of their final exams, an increase of three percentage points over the previous year. Fresh graduates from Computer Engineering and 18 other courses achieved higher starting salaries. Read the press release here.

The rankings, compiled by QS, provide independent comparative analysis on the performance of 13,883 individual university programmes, taken by students at 1,440 universities across the world. The programmes are across 51 academic disciplines and five broad Faculty Areas.

NUS’ programmes in the areas of Computer Science, Engineering, Science, Arts and Social Sciences, Design and Environment, and Law were placed in the top 10 in the 2021 rankings.

NUS Senior Deputy President and Provost, Professor Ho Teck Hua, said, “We are delighted by the recognition that NUS continues to be among the top universities in Asia and the world. It is also heartening that the University was also placed among the world’s top-10 in all of the Engineering and Technology programmes it was ranked in, for the 2021 subject rankings. This is a wonderful achievement by our talented faculty members.”

Overall, NUS was placed in the top 20 for 28 out of the 37 programmes in which it was ranked.

Mr Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President of Professional Services at QS, said: “The consistent improvements made by Singaporean institutions in our rankings are the result of a decade of investment and strategising. NUS has the largest endowment of any university in Asia today. Advantaged by Singapore’s long-term preparation in their financial futures, and by a relentlessly international outlook, Singapore’s higher education is going from strength to strength.”

He added, “The QS rankings continue to demonstrate the relationship between funding, international outlook, and research performance – and Singaporean successes are entirely coherent with those established correlations.”

Building on the University’s world-class and diverse academic programmes, NUS continues to offer high impact programmes that will equip students with a wider range of problem-solving skills, and enhance their value in the workplace and the community at large.

In this respect, the University has launched the College of Humanities and Sciences to provide an enhanced undergraduate experience for students by building on the expertise of two of the largest and most established faculties in Singapore – the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the NUS Faculty of Science.

NUS has also announced a Common Curriculum for incoming freshmen to the NUS Faculty of Engineering, and the NUS School of Design and Environment. Students will be able to take courses from both schools seamlessly, and choose from new major-minor and double-major combinations that bridge the domains of engineering as well as design and the environment.

“Our goal is to nurture our students to be all-rounded and well-grounded individuals who can lead positive changes in society. These interdisciplinary programmes will emphasise the ability to think, synthesise and integrate knowledge and insights across disciplines,” said Prof Ho. 

List of NUS programmes in top 20 for the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021

Part of the University’s expanding focus on developing interdisciplinarity and diversity, the change will give students greater flexibility to chart their NUS education and prepare them to excel in an ever-changing workforce.

“The two disciplines (engineering and design) are converging,” said Professor Ho Teck Hua, NUS Senior Deputy President and Provost. He noted that many of the complex problems in the world require knowledge from both fields.

“For example, if you want to build a net zero-energy building, it will involve sensors, it will involve the design and ambience being properly structured.”

Prof Ho also cited smart phones and electric vehicles as other examples of products where engineering and design converge.

“All this suggests that the two schools should get together. Graduates of the future should learn from both schools. In the Common Curriculum, we worked really hard to get the two schools to create modules that are relevant for the future.”

With that, the incoming freshmen - over 1,500 engineering students and some 330 students pursuing programmes in architecture, industrial design, landscape architecture as well as project and facilities management - will undertake a Common Curriculum. It will feature General Education modules, modules imparting engineering-design interdisciplinary skills, and an Integrated Project.

The Common Curriculum was developed by a task force comprising six industry leaders and 10 NUS academics. It included acclaimed urban planner and architect Dr Cheong Koon Hean, Chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities and a member of the NUS Board of Trustees; Mr Cheong Chee Hoo, CEO of DSO National Laboratories; and Professor Wong Mun Summ, Professor in Practice at the NUS Department of Architecture and Co-Founding Director of award-winning architectural practice WOHA.

“The way you connect to people is through form. Engineers have previously in the past been focused on function. We build capabilities, we build new technology. In the evolution of things, I think you need both,” noted NUS Engineering Dean Professor Aaron Thean.

“Bringing these two disciplines together is very important. It will also allow us to (develop) engineers that speak both languages. They can speak to designers, they can speak to other engineers. This forms a core unique capability of integrators, other than specialists. We need both for successful engineering projects.”

NUS Design and Environment Dean Professor Lam Khee Poh noted that although there is a preconceived notion of a separation between architecture design and engineering design, there was no such differentiation throughout most of human history. “We need to learn from that, to see how civilisations of the past have accomplished great breakthroughs. For example, the Renaissance period was the outcome of this synergy and this interdisciplinary work. To me, it’s an artificial divide between design and engineering. They should be integrated,” he said.

Students will be able to design their own education and prepare themselves for diverse career paths such as management consultancy, AI engineering, and med-tech entrepreneurship. Aspiring architects, industrial designers and built environment professionals will also be equipped with 21st century skills and be well-poised to create future-ready solutions.

The revised curriculum adds to NUS’ recent initiatives such as the setting up of the College of Humanities and Sciences, and shortlisting more students for admission to NUS Law.

Enhanced General Education curriculum

NUS has also announced a greater emphasis on service learning for the General Education curriculum, enabling about 7,000 incoming freshmen to contribute to community projects and gain a deeper appreciation of social issues.

The enhanced General Education curriculum will have a new pillar, Communities and Engagement. Students will learn about project management, community asset mapping, people management, and design thinking before putting these principles into practice, by participating in existing community engagement projects or designing their own projects.

Freshmen enrolling from Academic Year 2021/2022 onwards will need to take a module under this pillar. The modules will also be available to current students.

“A lot of our students have been involved in service learning for a while, and the goal of this new pillar, Communities and Engagement, is to scale up so that every student can be involved in community engagement. This is a big change, because it is about changing mindsets and getting our students to be engaged with the community. At the same time, we are hoping that this will inspire them to have a heart for the community,” said Prof Ho.

“While it’s a requirement that they take this module, there is a lot of choice and freedom,” he said, adding that students can choose which community they want to serve.

Students can explore topics such as climate change and environmental degradation; disadvantaged or marginalised groups; access to healthcare or education; caring for an ageing population; mental health and wellness; or food sustainability.

Communities and Engagement will form the sixth pillar under the General Education curriculum, with the others being Cultures and Connections; Singapore Studies; Critique and Expression; Data Literacy; and Digital Literacy.

Professor Bernard Tan, NUS Senior Vice Provost (Undergraduate Education), said that NUS students have for many years been undertaking projects to serve the community. The Communities and Engagement pillar will enable a learning component to be added to formalise the learning process, so that students can contextualise their efforts based on the learning objectives.

“When students get into NUS, we want to cultivate this quality of empathy in them, so that when they eventually become successful in life, it is not just about themselves and their families. It is also about serving the community,” said Prof Tan.

See press release.

Enhanced General Education Curriculum

The General Education (GE) curriculum, which was first introduced in 2001 and most recently revamped in 2015, is an important foundational component of NUS’ undergraduate curriculum. It aims to foster breadth of learning by preparing students to think deeply, ask critical questions, make logical inferences, and debate issues related to the diverse and changing cultural landscape. GE complements the regular academic curriculum, which helps students develop knowledge and abilities required in the specialisation of a particular discipline or profession.

As part of the university’s continual review of its offerings, NUS will be enhancing its GE curriculum with the introduction of a new pillar – Communities and Engagement.

Professor Ho Teck Hua, NUS Senior Deputy President and Provost, explained, “At NUS, our goal is to nurture our students to be all-rounded and well-grounded individuals who can lead positive changes in society. To grow social consciousness in our young leaders, we want every NUS student to experience a service element in their educational journey with us. It is therefore timely to introduce the Communities and Engagement pillar in our General Education curriculum to deepen social responsibility and social action among students through service learning.”

Under the Communities and Engagement pillar, NUS students will learn about project management, community asset mapping, people management, design thinking, and then put these principles into practice by participating in existing community engagement projects or designing their own projects to address issues such as climate change and environmental degradation, disadvantaged or marginalised groups, access to healthcare or education, caring for an ageing population, mental health and wellness, food sustainability, and more.

For example, the NUS Office of Student Affairs currently runs a community-based tutoring and mentoring programme where NUS students are trained to become mentors who serve as tutors, life coaches and role models to secondary school students. Students reading a module under the Communities and Engagement pillar could participate as a volunteer in this community programme and they could mentor youths through activities such as trips to museums, sports and arts activities, science experiments, and talks about time management and future aspirations.

The enhanced GE curriculum comprises:

• Three pillars on ‘Generalist Core Competencies’
• Two pillars on ‘21st Century Competencies’
• One pillar on ‘Communities and Engagement’

All students (except those from Faculty of Law, Faculty of Dentistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Yale-NUS College) are required to read GE modules.

Please refer to Annex 1 for an overview of the new GE curriculum.

Greater choice, breadth and flexibility for students enrolling in Engineering as well as Design and Environment

In the new academic year, students enrolling in the Faculty of Engineering (FOE) as well as the School of Design and Environment (SDE) can seamlessly take courses from both schools to develop competencies across different fields. In this way, students in both schools get to enjoy greater choice, breadth and flexibility in charting their learning journeys.

For instance, an engineering student may choose to major in Civil Engineering as well as pursue a minor in Project Management and another minor in Architectural Studies, and complete the Bachelor’s degree in four years. Students who prefer the traditional professional tracks will continue to have the option of developing deep expertise in their chosen fields. The two schools are also paving the way for emergent subject combinations (such as Electrical Engineering and Industrial Design) that are not available now.

This is made possible through a significant restructuring of the undergraduate curricula of FOE and SDE. One key change is the introduction of a Common Curriculum that integrates knowledge and skillsets relevant to the professional training offered by both schools. Students from FOE and SDE (with the exception of Real Estate) will read the Common Curriculum.

Prof Ho said, “The FOE and SDE have a lot in common. In our everyday life for instance, we are witnessing a convergence of engineering and design – sleek smart phones and consumer electronics, electric vehicles, as well as current net-zero and emerging net-positive energy buildings (such as SDE4 on NUS Kent Ridge campus), just to name a few.”

“Therefore, our training for engineers, designers and built environment professionals must evolve. Leveraging their synergies, FOE and SDE collaboratively created a distinctive Common Curriculum that takes students out of their silos to embrace the intersection of different disciplines. An architecture student, for example, will learn about artificial intelligence which will add value to his/her professional training. We foresee many exciting possibilities,” he added.

The Common Curriculum was developed by a task force comprising six industry leaders and 10 NUS academics.

Acclaimed urban planner and architect Dr Cheong Koon Hean, who is Chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities under the Singapore Ministry of National Development and a member of the task force, said, “There is great urgency in ensuring that we develop a more sustainable world. We need a new generation of engineers, designers, urban planners, architects and built environment professionals who can work collaboratively across disciplines to find effective, integrated urban solutions that will secure and raise the living standards of Singaporeans and the global community. The new interdisciplinary approach undertaken by NUS FOE and SDE will make a significant contribution towards this vision.” Dr Cheong is also a member of the NUS Board of Trustees.

"Engineering is a key driver of innovation. This new curriculum, designed in consultation with the industry, will create stronger synergy and capabilities in our science and technology ecosystem. I am confident and look forward to its graduates in developing impactful technologies and solutions for the community and the nation," said task force member Mr Cheong Chee Hoo, Chief Executive Officer, DSO National Laboratories.

Another task force member Professor Wong Mun Summ, who is the Co-Founding Director of award-winning architectural practice WOHA, said, “Climate change is the greatest threat to cities and humanity. Technology is shaping the future of design and innovation. It is therefore timely that NUS introduces an integrated curriculum that allows SDE students, who are city-makers of tomorrow, to build bridges between design objectives, inspiration and technology. This, in time to come, can stimulate a fundamental mindset shift in the entire creative industry.” Prof Wong is also Professor in Practice at the NUS Department of Architecture.

New interdisciplinary modules

New interdisciplinary modules will be specially designed and offered through the Common Curriculum for FOE and SDE students.

For example, FOE and SDE students will read a module within the “Sustainable Futures” pillar under the tutelage of Professor Khoo Teng Chye, former Executive Director for the Centre for Liveable Cities under the Singapore Ministry of National Development, and a leading expert in sustainable urbanisation. This pillar raises students’ awareness to issues in the area of sustainability, highlighting the impacts of technology on the environment and society in both a local and global context. They will also be exposed to related liveability issues such as diversity, accessibility, vibrancy, and resilience.

Another new interdisciplinary module called “Creating Narratives” aims to help students communicate competently and confidently in the various professional communication situations they encounter.

Flexible, student-centric curriculum structure

FOE and SDE will adopt a new undergraduate curriculum structure for students enrolled in the new academic year starting in August 2021. This student-centric curriculum structure is developed to be flexible so that students can have more space to design their own degree programmes based on their passions and aptitude.

Students from FOE and SDE will read a total of 40 modules, comprising:

• An equivalent of 15 modules in the Common Curriculum (comprising 6 General Education modules and 7 modules imparting engineering-design interdisciplinary skills and 1 Integrated Project, which is equivalent to two modules)
• 15 modules in the selected major
• 10 modules as Unrestricted Electives (students could use this space to increase depth in their selected specialisation or breadth by pursuing a second major, minor or courses of their interest)

Students typically complete 40 modules required for a Bachelor's degree in four years, of which they are recommended to complete most of the Common Curriculum in 1.5 years.

The new intake of over 1,500 engineering students and some 330 students pursuing programmes in architecture, industrial design, landscape architecture as well as project and facilities management will benefit from the new curriculum structure. The curriculum structure for Real Estate students remains unchanged.

Please refer to Annex 2 for information on FOE’s new undergraduate curriculum and Annex 3 for information on SDE’s new undergraduate curriculum.

Engineering education reimagined

“This is a great opportunity for us to reimagine engineering education to nurture engineers who can go ‘broad’ and ‘deep’. We are increasing the learning pathways for students and also injecting non-traditional engineering courses for our students to develop new skills that are required to solve complex real-world problems,” explained Professor Aaron Thean, Dean of NUS Faculty of Engineering.

Prof Thean added, “Currently, doing a second major or a minor stretching across disciplines is only undertaken by a small group of academically ambitious engineering students. With the new curriculum structure, we are making such ‘hybrid’ training accessible to more students. We will also be enhancing academic and career counselling for students so that they can get appropriate guidance when charting their own paths.”

Future-ready designers and city-makers

Aspiring architects, industrial designers and built environment professionals will also be equipped with 21st century skills and be well-poised to create future-ready solutions for planning, building and managing sustainable and healthy cities.

Professor Lam Khee Poh, Dean of NUS School of Design and Environment, explained, “Singapore is one of the most liveable cities in Asia and the world. To educate the next generation of professionals who will envision, create and manage a resilient city of tomorrow, we need to start imbuing the drive and attitude of interdisciplinary and collaborative learning at the undergraduate level.”

“At SDE, our students will continue to receive high quality professional training in their chosen discipline. This unique partnership with FOE to broaden and enrich our students’ learning experience will open doors to new opportunities,” he added.