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The Singapore University of Technology and Design has opened for application. Application can be made via the following link:
http://www.su.edu.sg/ -
The collaboration with MIT is a selling point. Zhejiang University, its Chinese partner is also offering Elective subjects.
The duration of the course is 3.5 years. -
so the university will start operating this year?
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It will start in April 2012 and graduate its first batch in August 2015.
For those who just complete their ‘A’ Levels, though starting in April 2012, the graduation in August 2015 is only 3 months difference from students studying in other local Universities. -
SUTD would be having an Admissions Briefing on 19 & 20 March 2011 at Mandarin Orchard... Do register yourself for it at their website!! http://www.sutd.edu.sg
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The closing date of application for admission to Singapore University of Tehnology and Design is on 3 April 2011.
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Can anyone share more about SUTD and the 4 pillars?
Any current students or alumni here to share about academic life, cca, employability, etc?
Which pillar/ specialty would girls prefer or not prefer to enrol in and why is it so? -
Hi there~
A current student in SUTD here~ saw your post and decided to hit reply
Well... SUTD is a rather small university compared to the likes of NUS and NTU, and because of that, we have a strong, almost family like spirit in school, and since hostel stay is compulsory for all first-year students, our community tends to be rather tight knit. Our modules also have a focus on hands-on application of theory through collaborative projects that run within and across modules. I guess the modules are structured in a way that helps use see how problems are often more than one dimensional and definitely beyond the textbook. Probably, that's why we also have more tutorials and less lectures too.
As you've mentioned we have four pillars, Engineering Product Development (EPD) akin to the more traditional ideals of engineering like mechanical, electrical, etc. Engineering Systems Design (ESD) they study the optimisation of various systems, Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD) they learn things like coding, security and AI, and lastly there's Architecture and Sustainable Design (ASD) which to put it shortly is architecture. (Read more on the website: http://sutd.edu.sg/education) But what's interesting about us is that regardless of what pillar you choose to pursue we all share a common first-year course or what we like to term as freshmore year (the first three terms of school), where we learn things like math, physics, coding, design, chem, bio and humanities and social science, a bit of a taster for every pillar, so at the end of freshmore year when we choose our pillar, it's somewhat a more informed choice. And when we move into our pillar years, we have friends from other pillars too, good not to be stuck in our own academic bubbles.
CCA wise we call it fifth rows here, cause we take four modules every term, and then have Wednesdays and Fridays set aside for the 'fifth mod' the fifth row. (Fifth rows are not complusory.) For a really small student population, the last I checked we had about 90 fifth row groups, ranging from sports to community clubs to cultural clubs to clubs that make and fly drones. We kinda go by the unspoken rule of 'if it doesn't exist, make it' so clubs are largely student initiated, student run, and kept in order by the student government.
With regard to employability, here's a link that should answer that question:
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/sutd-graduates-receive-higher-starting-pay-compared-peers-survey
And on top of that we have various exchange and internship opportunities that are given to us throughout our studies over summer and winter breaks as long as you make the effort to apply for them~
The school has a rather even mix of guys to girls especially when it comes to an engineering/architecture school (About a 6-4 mix). And I don't think there's a preference of pillar that girls flock to per se, it's all based on individual interests of the girls in that particular batch afterall. Unless you're talking about the perception that engineering is largely a male dominated field? In which case, I think SUTD is trying to change or at least debunk that, cause I don't see my fellow female friends not wanting to go to a certain pillar because guys are 'more engineering inclined', they are probably going to a pillar because of interest in the subject or academic aptitude. In the end it's what the person wants to do -
Thanks. DD was offered a place. Still deciding whether to accept.
Are there allocated number of places for each pillar? Will student be definitely given the choice of their pillar? Have there been cases whereby students were not allocated the pillar of their choice, and so SUTD will assign the student to a particular pillar? Are students asked to indicate their 4 choices in order of preference, or they are just asked to select 1-2 pillars in order of their preference?
Similarly, will students be posted to the track of their choice within the pillar, or subject to their results in earlier terms?
Which traditional courses in NUS and NTU are SUTD’s ISTD akin to? Is ISTD closer to SMU’s Information System?
Every class has about 45-50 students and has 3 teachers. Does this apply to all levels from freshmore to pillar years?
Generally what type of students will go to which country, company or country for internship and exchange programme?
As SUTD does not go by academic units, can I say that students have to pass all subjects before they can be promoted to the next level/year? How are students’ results graded - A,B,C, or points?
What is boot camp? Is it a remedial class after each term examination for students who fail a subject before taking supplementary exam? -
There isn’t a fixed number of places for each pillar, so you can be assured that whatever pillar your daughter chooses to go to after freshmore year she’ll definitely get it. You simply have to indicate your choice of pillar at the end of the freshmore year via the school portal.
The choice of track is also up to the individual and depends on what modules she ends up taking. For example, if you take modules like fluid mechanics versus electromagnetic applications, mostly likely you’ll end up in the mechanical engineering track rather than the electronic engineering track. So you’re not posted to tracks or anything, it just depends on what kind of modules you choose to take each term.
From what I understand the Info Systems course at SMU is focused on managing the info systems rather than engineering or designing the systems, they graduate with a degree in Info Systems whereas we graduate with a degree in Engineering. SMU is still a business school at heart, SUTD is more a tech/innovation/makers kinda school. So I think with that regard SMU Info Systems and SUTD ISTD is quite different.
From what I get from my friends studying ISTD, traditional courses from NUS and NTU it’s comparable to would be their courses in the School of Computing (SoC). But cause of the emphasis on design thinking in SUTD you can design and manage products on top of designing the software.
As far as I know, the figures that you have is accurate for freshmore year, for pillar years, it would be about two profs per class since the class size would probably be smaller and it also depends on the module being taught.
For exchanges, some students are offered the exchange programs at admissions, others just apply when the various application portals open throughout the school year. There’s no particular ‘type’ of student that go on exchanges, but to have a good chance to get the exchange programs you’d probably need a good academic standing and some sort of leadership/project experience, which is pretty easy to rack up if you have a fifth row, since the handing over of exco positions to incoming freshmore students is rather quick here. There’s a range of exchange and internship opportunities that you can opt for over summer (the four-month-long break) or winter (a one-month-long break) or even term exchanges overseas. To help with finding internships, we have career fairs and industry nights that happening during term time especially during periods close to summer breaks. Again it depends on the interest of the individual, and whether you are pro-active in signing up for these opportunities.
If you fail the subject in pillar year, you’d probably have to re-take it next year with the juniors, I don’t think they will stop you from promoting. If you minimally pass with a D grade or fail though, I would be really concerned…yeah… that just means the person didn’t understand the subject matter… even if you do promote you’d probably struggle. We are graded with letter grades in the transcript (A,B,C,D,F - where F is a fail) and those translate to points, so an A is worth 5 points, B is worth 4, C is worth 3 and D is worth 2. Those points are then calculated against subject credits using a formulae to give you the cGPA.
If you fail a subject in freshmore year (in freshmore year grades D and F is considered a fail) then you are required to go for bootcamp, it’s a two week intensive crash course on whatever subject a student fails, and after that two weeks, you take a test, and if you pass that test, you’ll get a ‘C’ grade regardless of how well you did for the test, and will be promoted to the next term. Think of it as a second chance you get without having to repeat the whole term again.