Engineering for Social Impact: Nurturing Global-Minded Innovators at NUS

1. Embracing Social Justice in Engineering Education…what we aim to achieve at NUS ENG SOON CHAN Faculty of Engineering National University of Singapore

2. The State of Engineering Education @ NUS • We have been graduating engineering graduates skilled in specific disciplines, who are capable in analytical thinking and problem solving. • We have broadened engineering curriculum over time to include increasing amount of non-engineering contents. • We have given our engineering undergraduates increasing opportunities for overseas experience, such as SEP and NOC, and early research exposure, such as UROP. • Our students could secure positions in MNCs, top Graduate Schools, other professions

3. What Engineering seeks to offer students at the National University of Singapore

4. Nurturing students for the world • …GLOBAL-ORIENTED EDUCATION • Student Exchange Programme / Summer Programme • Joint Degree and Double Degree Programmes • Global Engineering Programme (GEP) • Overseas Industrial Attachment • NUS Overseas Colleges • Immersion in start-up companies & studyentrepreneurship-related courses at partner universities • Technopreneurship & Industrial Programme Business Trips • International Community Service Projects

5. OPERATION ORION A project led by Civil Engrg Students @NUS Singapore

7. Operation Orion 2005 by Liu Qiulin, Special Projects director Operation Orion 2005, the fifth Overseas Community Service project undertaken by the NUS Civil Engineering Club, lasted from 26th May 2005 till 8th June 2005, taking place in Balapitiya, Sri Lanka. This is in light of the Tsunami disaster on Boxing Day, 26th December 2004. There were two parts to this project. The first part being the Service Project in which we were to build 1 bed and 1 shelf for each of the 131 families allocated to us. In the Learning Project, we interacted with the kids there through various activities The language barrier could not prevent us from sensing the gratitude of the people when we hand-delivered the items to them. It was heartwarming and filled us with a sense of satisfaction while serving as a reminder to us of how fortunate we are. We were further inspired by the people’s bright and optimistic outlook towards life as well as the way they cared for one another. Children orphaned by the tsunami disaster were not left to fend for themselves but were cared for by one and all.

8. What these student-led initiatives have reminded us….. • Valuable outcomes in community service – sense of social responsibility, appreciation of the complexity of real world problems, understanding the effectiveness of solutions, team work and passion in Engineering • Instilling social values should be an integral part of the Engineering Education • Mission to groom Engineers that serve society, raise the quality of life, transform way things are done, preserve core values ! • Working with stakeholders to derive solutions • Opportunity for “Frugal/Affordable” Engineering

9. Need to Transform Engineering Education • Are the current learning outcome and learning experience sufficient enough to get our engineering graduates ready to deal with the much more complex and fast-changing world when they join the work force? • Are we producing in our engineering graduates the correct set of key attributes which future employers and society are looking for?

10. Maintaining the Balance/Differentiation in Engineering Education • How could we maintain depth in engineering fundamentals and embrace social values in engineering solutions ? • How could we prepare our students to have a better hold on real world problems that tend to be multidisciplinary and complex ? • How could we instill social values in the education ? • How could we develop the concept of frugal engineering ?

11. What would be needed • Students need to be empowered to question the norm and able to ask the right questions • Deep knowledge in Engineering fundamentals and skills in solving problems still important • Students need to acquire many other attributes beyond technical depth

12. We hope to achieve these outcomes through a Design-Centric Curriculum (DCC), guided by overarching themes and for a multi-disciplinary group of students ….

13. The Design Centric Curriculum…some key features Integrated solutions in the context of societal needs A Design Spine : 3 - 3.5-year, multi-disciplinary thematic project addressing grand challenges from engineering fundamentals to systems-level complexity Engineering core modules, design centric modules , enrichment programmes, self Learning, Design Summer School, “generational learning”; multi-disciplinary team, research, industry partnership.

14. Overarching Themes • A multi-year project and multi-disciplinary setting centred on grand challenges and broad themes, starting with (but not restricted to) three themes: • future transportation systems • smart and sustainable cities • engineering in medicine Source: shimz.co.jp Source: scienceray.com Source: washedit.com

15. Why Multi-Year Project? • Scope for addressing system complexity and opportunities for • system design and integration • The NUS Formula SAE project and the • NUS eco-car project have produced • engineering graduates highly sought • after by the industry. • The key appears to be the intensity • of learning through the multi-year • involvement in one project.

16. Multi-disciplinary eco-system • Students from different engineering disciplines will work on the same project in the same group for 3 to 3.5 years. • Culture of working as a multidisciplinary team • Ecosystem of research and education • The breaking down of disciplinary walls – a necessary step. This is a significant step for a well-established system with clearly-defined disciplinary lines.

17. “Unleashing the minds” and culture of thinking “out of the box” • Important for students to learn how to ask the right questions, question the norm, understand the constraints, define the broad problem --- design thinking ! • We get them started early and • expect them to continue with this • mindset.

18. Ability to make decisions – breaking away from the culture of being told what to do • Students are empowered to make decisions. • By the end of the second semester, they need to “converge” on a specific problem. They have to learn how to start with independent and sometimes diverse views but move forward with firm decisions guided by rigorous analyses and shared insight.

19. Distributed Design Experience • Working with Autodesk to develop a Distributed Design Platform . • Students on overseas exchange programs and collaborators from partner Universities can work together on the project – this is getting easier. • Key features of this platform are: • Ability to discuss on-line in real time, preferably with video • images • Ability to work on the design software in real time

20. Design Summer School • Objective: to create a platform for students from different schools/communities to work on problems that are unique to the region. • Inaugural Design Summer School (Aug 2012) was centred on: • “Design for Urban Environment: An Asian Perspective” • Students from 11 countries and 17 • universities participated. • Participants benefitted from interacting • with peers with different cultural and • social backgrounds.

21. solving problems which have societal impact e.g.: new ways of recycling; medical technology; energy supply developing technologies that will transform the way things are done today e.g.: next generation aircraft; future phones; intelligent household devices; future transportation technologies Summary Design-Centric Curriculum (DCC) - A pathway offering multi-year projects that students define: • Immersion within a culture that emphasizes: • personal ownership of project direction • challenging of convention • innovative design • multi-disciplinary teamwork • proactive self learning /research • formulation of holistic solutions • social values

22. Students’ experience with DCC • Early success in unleashing their minds and transforming their thinking. • Some comments from the students: • “….. has transformed my thinking” • “…. has definitely changed the way I think about the world” • “…… has made me a systems thinker” • “..EG2201 (Design Thinking module) is a course of self-discovery” • “I am now more able to look at things in a different perspective”

23. DCC @ NUS is still work-in-progress • Since receiving its first batch of students in January 2010, the NUS Design-Centric Curriculum (DCC) has been a learning experience. • There may be other pathways but this is worth pursuing ! • Need a committed TEAM that will “walk the talk” • Success = f (students, teachers, industry, • international partners, IT tools…)

24. Acknowledgements • WEEF organizing committee for the opportunity to share in this forum • Colleagues at NUS for the materials – especially Professors SC Lim and MP Tham • Students who have contributed to the materials and also the development of DCC

25. Thank You