05 August 2019

About 20 students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic were recently given a tour of the Power System Control Centre of the Energy Market Authority (EMA).

Students had the opportunity to view the operations in the centre’s highly secured control room, where energy flow across Singapore is monitored and regulated. They were also provided with an overview of Singapore’s power system and the functions of the EMA.

During the tour, students applied concepts from physics to understand why electricity has to be transmitted at a higher voltage through Singapore’s energy system.

The EMA programme, known as the Powering Lives Trail, includes visits to facilities such as the Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal on Jurong Island, where gas to power Singapore is imported, and the Pulau Ubin Micro-grid Test-bed, which assesses the reliability of electricity supply in a micro-grid set-up using intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar energy.

03 August 2019

Former cabinet minister Lim Chee Onn has been appointed the chancellor of Singapore Management University.

SMU has announced that Mr Lim will take over from Mr J Y Pillay, who has served as chancellor since 2015. Mr Lim’s appointment for a five-year term took effect from Thursday (Aug 1).

Mr Lim and Mr Eddie Teo, who is the new pro-chancellor, will share the role of presiding over all major formal university ceremonies, and will officiate at its commencement and academic year opening ceremonies.

Mr Lim graduated with first class honours in Naval Architecture from Glasgow University and earned his Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University. He chairs the Singapore-Suzhou Township Development and is a member of the Council of Presidential Advisers.

Mr Lim Chee Onn was also a Member of Parliament from 1977 to 1992, and served as secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress from 1979 to 1983.

01 August 2019

A National University of Singapore research study on its entrepreneurship programme has demonstrated that entrepreneurship is a quality that can be nurtured.

The research study found that students who participated in the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme are 10 times more likely to go on to start a business within a year of graduation, compared with other NUS graduates.

One in three NOC students set up their own technology-based businesses after one year of studying and working in start-ups in business nodes of the world, such as Silicon Valley in California.

More than half of the NOC alumni surveyed also reported having gone to work in start-ups.

To date, more than 3,000 NUS students have gone to colleges in 12 locations around the world, including New York City, Toronto, Munich, Tel Aviv and Jakarta.

30 July 2019

Kaplan Higher Education Academy and Kaplan Higher Education Institute have achieved renewal of the Four-year EduTrust Certification that is conferred by the Committee of Private Education under SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).

Private Education Institutions are assessed across seven criteria, which include the institution’s management commitment and responsibilities, student protection and support services, academic processes, student assessment, and achievement of student and graduate outcomes.

Kaplan Singapore provides over 300 degree and 25 diploma programmes.

One of its recent initiatives was to set up six Kaplan Industry Advisory Boards in 2016, involving over 40 senior executives and entrepreneurs from multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups. Collectively, they provide perspectives on the latest industry trends to align programmes offered at Kaplan.

28 July 2019

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu recently gave a speech to graduands from the Chinese, English, History, Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, and Philosophy programmes at the convocation ceremony for Nanyang Technological University’s School of Humanities. Bachelor’s degrees were awarded to 390 graduands, while 55 received higher degrees at the Nanyang Auditorium.

Ms Fu recounted after her own graduation from the National University of Singapore in 1985, many of her accountancy course mates had difficulty finding jobs.

She said: “A small, open economy, Singapore is susceptible to global forces. Increasing trade frictions, anti-globalisation, protectionism, technological advancements, demographic shifts — these are the words that we hear these days and they are changing our economy, our jobs, the nature of our industry. You might be asking yourself, ‘Am I prepared for what lies ahead?’. I had the same question when I graduated.”

“Change, rapid transformation, and anxiety affect every cohort of youth. It might sound nonchalant. But believe me, every generation will find their own way to discover new opportunities. And there’s every reason to believe that your generation can do, too.”

According to a recent graduate employability survey 7 in 10 NTU graduates managed to secure jobs before graduation last year.

25 July 2019

A preliminary survey has revealed that about seven in 10 Nanyang Technological University students this year secured jobs before graduation.

Around 5,000 NTU graduates were polled in the survey.

Some of this year’s graduates are choosing to further their studies.

Valedictorian Edward Yee secured the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and will be heading to the University of Oxford in September to pursue a master’s degree in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation.

At the ceremony, President Halimah Yacob, who is the NTU chancellor, conferred honorary doctorates on Mrs Margaret Lien, 77, and Sir Keith O’Nions, 74, in honour of their contributions to NTU and the community in Singapore.

25 July 2019

Mr Soumik Chakraborty is a graduate of James Cook University who studied at its Singapore campus. He credits James Cook University (JCU) with giving him a well-rounded education and equipping him with the tools necessary to be an entrepreneur.

Mr Chakraborty graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Information Technology and in 2011 with a Master of Business Administration. During his undergraduate days with JCU in 2006, Mr Chakraborty was involved in various entrepreneurial initiatives, including being part of a founding group tasked with bringing the Computer Society Singapore and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Student Chapter to JCU.

Mr Chakraborty has also teamed with students to start a partnership with the University to create the Business Entrepreneurship and Mentorship (BEAM) programme, which aims to give JCU students the opportunities to network and learn from the professionals.

Mr Chakraborty said the diversity in JCU’s pool of students and academics appealed to him when he was choosing a university. Its student population is not just diverse in nationality, language or race, but also in age and life experience, offering a global learning experience in Singapore.