SMA-1 Programmes

After running for a full five years, the MEBCS and CS programmes came to a successful close in June 2005.

Molecular Engineering of Biological and Chemical Systems (MEBCS)

The MEBCS programme is to be succeeded by a new SMA-2 programme with research emphasis on pharmaceutical engineering, aptly named as Chemical & Pharmaceutical Engineering (CPE), which will see most of the previous MEBCS fellows returning for a second five-year term of collaboration on teaching and research.

The MEBCS programme has been unique because it is one of the very few graduate programmes offering molecular engineering. Its course work was designed to underline the importance of fundamental, molecular-level understandings of biological and chemical phenomena and their applications in life sciences and fine chemical industries. Consequently the coursework spans a wide range of diverse topics such as molecular and cellular aspects of biotechnology, genomics, proteomics & bioinformatics, drug design and delivery, materials for nanotechnology and the use of advanced chemical engineering concepts to model phenomena across multiple time and length scales.

The companion research programme of MEBCS, which is open to Ph.D. candidates, emphasises original and innovative research in the abovementioned areas. The close collaboration with the MIT faculty and local research institutes (BTI and IBN in particular) has allowed the students access to state-of-the-art technology and leading-edge research facilities. A faculty consisting of members from chemical engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, materials science and biology promotes cross fertilisation of research areas and inducement of multidisciplinary research. The two flagship projects on the development of addressable protein capture array and DNA guided synthesis of fuel cell catalysts respectively, have generated significant scientific findings. The former project in particular has resulted in patents and further developmental work is in progress.

The MEBCS programme also comes with a unique and mandatory industrial immersion (II) component which is modeled after the MIT Chemical Engineering Practice School concept. Different from the typical industrial internship programme, the students in II role-play consultants to the companies and work on specific operational or research issues, under the supervision of a professional II manager. The programme has drawn accolades from the participating industry.

The MEBCS programme has been able to attract a wide spectrum of graduates because of its context and the burgeoning local life science industry. It has been very successful in retaining talent. The trend is expected to continue for the succeeding CPE programme which has an even stronger emphasis on downstream processing of pharmaceutical products.

Computer Science (CS)

The CS degree programme offers an in-depth understanding of and appreciation for the rapidly growing field of computer science.
The primary goal of the CS programme is to train students to discover and develop new technology with immediate economic impact while providing a solid foundation to enable adaptation. Students are exposed to the broad foundations of computer science, encompassing computer architecture, software systems, algorithms and advanced applications.

One important aspect of the CS programme is the industrial internship programme, in which a student spends five months working parttime as an intern in a company. This internship programme is highly popular with the industry and the CS programme received many more proposed internship projects than available students. The success of the internship programme is evident from the fact that many students end up working as full-time employees at the company they interned with upon graduation.

Through a challenging and rigorous course of study co-taught by MIT and Singapore Fellows and through interaction with industry leaders as well as young entrepreneurs, graduates from the CS programme are well prepared to embark on their careers upon graduation. To date, 103 students have graduated from the CS programme with SM degrees and 1 student has received the Masters (by research degree). Another 24 SM students, 1 Masters (by research degree) and 14 PhD students are currently enrolled in the programme.

The MIT and Singapore Fellows in the CS programme engage in active collaboration, together with students, research fellows and research assistants. To date, more than one hundred papers have been published in journals and conferences.

SMA-2 Programmes

In July 2005, four programmes were launched under SMA-2. These programmes indicate a new direction in SMA’s aspiration to be a world-renowned centre for graduate education and research.

Advanced Materials for Micro- and Nano-Systems (AMM&NS)

The AMM&NS degree programme offers a comprehensive and intensive approach to a field of study that stands at the forefront of modern technologies. Students are exposed to the broad foundations of advanced materials that encompass processing, structure, properties and performance, with a particular emphasis on applications in microelectronics and emerging nanotechnologies. Fundamental understanding of the structure and properties of materials, coupled with system-driven design, fabrication and optimisation of materials comprise the core of the multi-disciplinary coursework that prepares students to lead in the development and exploitation of new materials for future micro- and nano-systems. The AMM&NS degree programme also promotes a practice-based understanding of the paths through which critical advances in the fundamental science and engineering of materials impact, often set the pace for the rapid evolution of information processing, communication and sensing technologies, especially those based on systems of micro- and nano-scale devices. The AMM&NS graduate study also provides an exceptional opportunity for collaborative research between SMA students, world-renowned faculty and industry experts, both in Singapore and in the US. Students have the opportunity to interact with scientists and engineers at a number of research institutes, such as IMRE and the Institute of Microelectronics (IME), as well as all three partner universities NUS, NTU and MIT.

Computational Engineering (CE)

The CE degree programme is a collaboration between MIT, NUS, NTU, and IME, Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) and Defence Medical & Environmental Research Institute (DMERI). It is one of the most technologically advanced and critically acclaimed computational engineering programmes available in the world today.

Intensive computation for simulation and optimisation has become an essential activity in both the design and operation of engineered systems, where the terminology “engineered systems” includes complex systems in engineering science as well as man-made systems for which simulation, optimisation and control are critical to system success. In applications as diverse as aircraft design, materials design and micro-machined device design optimisation engineers need computationally-tractable modelling systems that predict and optimise system performance in a reliable and timely manner. Effective computation allows for shorter design cycle times, better product quality and improved functionality. One cannot overstate the importance of computational engineering and optimisation in the global industrial economy, particularly as the systems we use grow more necessary and more complex. Revenues from simulation and optimisation software products for such systems are only in the billions of dollars, but the overall economic impact of these tools is trillions of dollars. The next decade will experience an explosive growth in the demand for accurate and reliable numerical simulation and optimisation of engineered systems. CE will become even more multidisciplinary than in the past.

The customised numerical algorithms in the latest generation of commercial engineering design software oint to a significant trend: researchers and professionals in computational engineering need a strong background in sophisticated numerical simulation and optimisation, but must also be skilled in marrying the application formulation to the numerical methodology. The ever-accelerating rate at which new technology becomes available creates the additional demand that computational engineers be discipline-flexible in their skills, for while numerical methodology is of growing importance, a major demand still lies in providing tools for overcoming the manufacturing yield issues that have hindered Bio-MEMS commercialisation.

The programme combines applied general methodology courses, discipline-specific electives and industrial experience in a manner that, concurrently trains professionals for industry while preparing doctoral students to participate in the flagship and inter-university research projects. The CE programme is focused on educating professionals who will model, simulate, optimise and design the important engineered systems of the next decade.

Manufacturing Systems and Technology (MST)

The MST programme is a comprehensive education and research effort that concentrates on enabling manufacturing systems and technologies for emerging industries. Emerging industries are defined as those based on new technologies that are just beginning to be considered for commercialisation. Currently, this includes a host of new concepts in micro-and nano-technology such as molecular diagnosis, advanced drug screening, new ideas for photonic devices, micro-robots, nano-scale optical devices and a multitude of potential products employing micro-and nano-scale fluidics. At the commercial

manufacturing-level, these industries will be characterised by micron-scale product dimensions, high value-added, extreme quality requirements, mass customisation, time sensitive distribution and entirely new business structures. Currently the research will focus on an emerging industry that is now at the point of large-scale commercialisation, namely: microfluidic devices for chemical, biomedical and photonic applications.

While specific in nature, the manufacturing issues for this emerging industry will have manufacturing process, systems and business issues that are common with many other industries which have yet to emerge - such as fluidic devices computation, advanced drug delivery systems and advanced health maintenance systems. The research themes focus on critical issues enabling high volume, low cost, high quality products in these industries. In addition, as commercial viability is a key issue, it is necessary to address the business economics of the new operations in these emerging systems. In MST, these topics are treated as an integrated set, sharing common performance metrics such as cost, quality, rate and flexibility in all aspects of the system.

For the MST programme, there are three inter-related components:

• An Educational Programme comprising Dual Masters degree and a Ph.D. degree
• An Inter-university Research Programme (IUP) on critical system-level problems with these emerging industries
• A Flagship Research Programme (FRP) on critical manufacturing process issues for commercial scale production of microfluidic devices for biomedical applications.

Computation and Systems Biology (CSB)

The CSB degree programme is a partnership between the worldrecognised Computational and Systems Biology Initiative (CSBi) programme at MIT and the visionary biology, bioengineering, and biotechnology programmes at NUS, NTU and the A*STAR Research Institutes.

Students with backgrounds in biology (with strong mathematics skills), physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, or engineering are encouraged to apply. Students must be attracted to the interdisciplinary nature of the CSB degree programme and have a strong interest in systems and computational approaches to stem cell and tissue biology. Students accepted into the CSB track take a selection of modules offered in Singapore and MIT, including five MIT/CSBi courses beamed live from MIT— a signature feature of the high degree of integration between the Singapore and MIT/CSBi Ph.D. courses. The CSB programme courses will cover topics in computational biology, systems biology, genomics, proteomics and imaging theory and technology, some of which will be team-taught by faculty members from Singapore and MIT. As part of the CSB degree programme, concepts emphasised in the classroom will be applied in research projects that are closely linked to the education programme.

CSB research projects focus on the development of advanced technologies in biological probes, imaging and computational biology and the application of these technologies to medically relevant problems in tissue biology, including stem cell differentiation, tissue morphogenesis, infectious disease models and tissue physiology.