SUTD Prepares Students for Digital Economy with Launch of AI-related Subjects and New Minor and Master Programmes

01 Mar 2018

• All students will have a unique opportunity to take either Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics or Machine Learning subject before graduation

• Five new Minors to complement current undergraduate programmes

• Two new Master programmes to expand graduate offerings/opportunities 

To give them a stronger head-start in the digital economy, students from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will actively incorporate one of the following three subjects – Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics (DA), Machine Learning (ML) – into their undergraduate programmes. This will better prepare students for new jobs that will be created as Singapore and the global economy aligns itself with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where data science and artificial intelligence are the cornerstones for the advancement of modern society. The students matriculating from 2018 will benefit from this enhanced competency.
 
SUTD will also roll out five new Minor programmes and two new Master programmes this year to meet the upcoming diverse needs and challenges of the digital economy. The programmes aim to equip students with multi-disciplinary skills for solving complex issues facing the digital world, with application to people while addressing societal imperatives.
 
The five new Minor programmes are focused on the areas of entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, digital humanities and computational social sciences, and will be added to SUTD’s undergraduate degree programmes. They are:

• Minor in Design Innovation, Ventures and Entrepreneurship (DIVE)

• Minor in Engineering Systems (ES)

• Minor in Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• Minor in Digital Humanities (DH)

• Minor in Design, Technology and Society (DTS). (Please see details in Annex A.)

The unique opportunity for SUTD students to add on a multi-disciplinary Minor to their undergraduate degree not only provides them with a wider range of educational options, but also gives them greater flexibility to pursue their broader interests. Not only would they be equipped with critical skills and knowledge in key strategic growth areas, but the students will also gain a competitive advantage in the workplace by being conversant in areas beyond their pillar specialisations. Students starting their junior year of study (Year 3) can opt to include one Minor of their choice to their undergraduate degree.
 
To continue the learning journey for SUTD students as well as Singaporean adults, SUTD will further boost its graduate offerings by launching two Master degree programmes – the Master of Science in Urban Science, Policy and Planning (USPP) and the SUTD-Chang Gung University (CGU) Dual Masters Programme in Nano-Electronic Engineering and Design (NEED). Both programmes will be taught by highly qualified faculty from the universities, research centres and experienced industry professionals/leaders, giving students strong theoretical foundations as well as exposure to real-world industry-relevant experiences.
 
The USPP is a 12-month intensive full-time programme jointly led by SUTD’s urban solutions research institute the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities and the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) cluster. The programme aims to equip students, analysts and practitioners with skills in data analytics, policy and planning, and to enable them to develop novel solutions to urban challenges such as sustainable mobility¹, inclusive urban growth and new modes of governance for the 21st century. SUTD aim to have 20 students for its first intake.
 
The SUTD-CGU Dual Masters NEED Programme provides students with a unique multi-disciplinary learning experience that encompasses the full value chain of the semiconductor industry. Students will start the 18-month NEED programme by doing nine months of coursework at CGU in Taiwan, a top private university in the field of nano-electronics engineering and semi-conductor technology. This is followed by another nine months of intensive research at SUTD, after which students will graduate with two Master degrees. SUTD and CGU are targeting 15 students enrolled in each university for its first intake. CGU's strength in semiconductor packaging, assembly, reliability, failure analysis and Integrated Circuit design, together with Taiwan's reputation as a powerhouse for semiconductor and Integrated Circuit design, makes it an adept strategic partner for this programme.
 
More information on the two graduate programmes can be found in Annex B and Annex C.
 
SUTD’s Acting President and Provost, Professor Chong Tow Chong said: “As part of SUTD’s growth plans, we are launching a suite of new programmes and enhancements to our current education and research offerings to better prepare our graduates for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. For them to be conversant in the digital economy, we are making subjects such as Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning an integral part of the undergraduate programme for the entire cohort. Thus, our students will be “Industry as well as Future Ready” to take on the challenges of the new economy.”
 
Prof Chong added: “Furthermore, to ensure that our students make a positive impact on humanity, our current human-centric HASS subjects will be enhanced to inculcate high ethical standards in our students as they design and build new technologies for the advancement of society. Through these new developments, we aim to deliver a truly unique educational experience for our students, to nurture them into technically grounded leaders and innovators who will create a better world by design for Singapore and beyond.”
 
Three of the minor programmes, DIVE, DTS and DH will be open to SUTD undergraduates from the 2018 cohort intakes onwards. To benefit current SUTD students, juniors starting Term 5 this year can opt to take up the ES and AI minors. As for the graduate programmes, applications are now open and successful applicants will begin the programme in September this year.