RFP Magazine

Singapore’s fourth university, the Singapore University of Technology and Design (officially abbreviated to ‘SU’), will forward Singapore’s environmentally friendly intentions by devoting one of its first degree courses to Sustainable Architecture and Design.  The university’s programmes will initially be based on four pillars leading to separate degree programmes tentatively named: (i) Architecture and Sustainable Design, (ii) Engineering Product Design, (iii) Engineering Systems and System Design, and (iv) Information Engineering and Design. Design as an academic discipline cuts across all four pillars.

Leading the development of curriculum and development before the first intake of 500 students in 2011 will be Professor Thomas Magnanti, Institute Professor1 of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and former Dean of the School of Engineering, serving as SU’s first President.

According to the Ministry of Education each degree programme will be undergirded by an integrated foundation of mathematics, sciences and the humanities. Interdisciplinary courses and projects will bring together students from all pillars to exchange ideas, learn to work in teams, and experience hands-on learning. As the university evolves, its curriculum will be adapted to integrate the best new technologies and to reflect the latest advances in design theory and methodology. Key to the growth of the university include

With, the university may also introduce innovations in the organization of the university. The team is exploring doing away with traditional academic departments and organizing the university according to technology and science clusters instead to support the interdisciplinary nature of its programmes and encourage collaboration across disciplines.

It is not just in the content of courses that Singapore’s commitment to green education extends. In a speech by Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education, at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of United World College of South East Asia’s Second Campus in June 2009 said “Singapore has always been concerned with our environment, and the need to be a lively and liveable city with sustainable growth. In April this year, the Government unveiled a blueprint of new targets and initiatives to improve our resource efficiency and enhance Singapore’s urban environment. Efforts will be made to further improve our air quality, expand and open up green and blue spaces, conserve biodiversity and enhance the energy efficiency of our buildings and industry. These efforts will ensure that our urban environment remains attractive, even as Singapore continues to grow and develop”

Over the longer term, the SU is envisioned to be a world-class research-intensive university with a focus on design education that is holistic, systematic and anchored in the foundations of science and technology. It will produce technologically-grounded leaders that serve the vital needs of the nation and world.

In announcing the appointment of Prof. Magnanti, Mr. Philip Ng, Chairman of the SU’s Board of Trustees and CEO of the Far East Organisation, said, “Prof. Magnanti’s exceptional record as a researcher and academic administrator, his familiarity with Singapore, and his understanding of the purpose and vision for the university, make him the best person to lead the SU at this crucial phase in its inception.”

Sitting with Ng on the Board of Trustees are other heavy weights from the building industry such as: Cavinder Bull, Director, Drew and Napier LLC, Choo Chiau Beng, Chief Executive Officer, Keppel Corporation Limite, Mrs Fang Ai Lian Chairman, Great Eastern Holdings Limited, Tai Lee Siang, Director, DP Architects, amongst others drawn from a broad range of sectors to provide the expertise and experience required to start up a new academic enterprise, all who have been actively involved in the development of the SU over the past few months. The board was announced in August 2009.

As announced by the Ministry of Education in May 2009, discussions with MIT are ongoing for a collaboration that will see a core team of experienced professors from MIT play a lead role in the development of the SU curriculum with the SU also in discussions with a top Chinese university on a possible collaboration, thus opening up graduates and students to opportunities in the potentially lucrative China green building market.