Co-Director's (Singapore) Message

The signing of the SMA-2 MOU marked the milestone for an exciting second phase.

This is my second year as SMA's Singapore Co-Director, having served a full year since 1 March 2002. Built upon a strong foundation by the pioneering Co-Directors, I am thankful to say that most of the operational procedures are already in good shape.

For the last academic year, SMA Office saw some movements of administrative personnel, notably the leaving of Ms Jayashree and the joining of Senior Manager, Dr Chong Wai Keong. Ms Jayashree has contributed well to the operations, and the SMA Office would like to thank her for her fine efforts.

Last year was also the first time that the SMA Commencement ceremony joined the NUS and NTU Commencement and Convocation ceremonies respectively. The SMA students are feeling even more that they are part of the big family of NUS and NTU.

The SMA Office had also learned to cope well with uncertainties as some 40 students were not able to secure their visas to the US last July for the Summer Conference programme at MIT and had to stay back in Singapore. Immediate arrangements were made, thanks to the conscientious efforts of the administrative and IT personnel, the Teaching Assistants and Fellows, and the students continued to receive their classes in Singapore through beaming with very little interruption.

Several new initiatives were launched in the last academic year, the notable ones are:

1. Career and Employment Service Website
The main objective of the career and employment service website is to provide a job portal to facilitate and assist employers in recruiting SMA graduates. At the same time, it also assists our students in their career planning and eases their job search through the various recently implemented services and facilities. The Career and Employment portal is accessible to any interested company which registers with the system by completing an online application form. All SMA students and graduates will automatically gain access with their existing or assigned IDs and passwords provided by NUS.

2. Special Student Scheme
A pilot Special Student Scheme was launched in January 2003. This Scheme allows a small number of engineers and scientists from the industry to audit modules of their choice. Through classroom interaction, the SMA 'Special Students' will be in touch with the most recent theoretical and technical developments and innovations. It also serves as a training and development programme for the industry, thus enhancing our industries' productivity and competitiveness, as well as promoting interaction with the academia.

The other successful event was the Annual Symposium in January, graced by BG (NS) George Yeo, Minister for Trade and Industry. The signing of the SMA-2 MOU in March this year marked the milestone for an exciting second phase, not only renewing the enduring alliance between NUS, NTU and MIT, but also initiating major research collaboration with A*STAR's research institutes.

SMA has completed another successful year; the office would like to pay a tribute to all the students, fellows and supporting staff. All of us are looking forward to seeing greater excitement and challenges ahead.

Professor Andrew Nee Yeh Ching
Co-Director (Singapore)