SUTD Auditor's Report for Annual Financial Statements 2020/2021, Schemes and Mind Maps of Humanities

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Singapore University of technology and design 1

ANNUAL REPORT 2020/

A Better World

By Design

2 Vision, Mission and About SUTD

Vision, Mission and About SUTD 3

Embracing this tenet as a call to action, SUTD is a leading research-intensive global university focused on technology and all elements of technology-based design.

It will educate technically-grounded leaders who are steeped in the fundamentals of science, mathematics and technology; are creative and entrepreneurial; have broad perspectives informed by the humanities, arts and social sciences; and are engaged with the world.

It will embrace the best of the East and West and drive knowledge creation and innovation, as well as innovative curriculum and teaching approaches.

Its faculty, students and staff will have

• far-reaching aspirations to create a better world by design
• the confidence and courage to try new ideas and approaches
• a questioning spirit fuelled by the thrill of interdisciplinary learning and doing, and
• life-long competencies, especially the ability and appetite to learn and innovate.

By excelling in all these dimensions, SUTD will be viewed as the foremost university in the world for technology and design education and research.

Vision

Technology and design always have been and always will

be essential for society’s prosperity and well-being.

Mission

About SUTD

To advance knowledge and nurture technically-grounded leaders and innovators to serve societal needs, with a focus on Design, through an integrated multi-disciplinary curriculum and multi-disciplinary research.

SUTD was incorporated on 24 July 2009 as a Company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act, Chapter 50. SUTD has a Memorandum and Articles of Association as its governing instrument. It is an Institution of Public Character under the Charities Act, Chapter 37.

The principal activities of SUTD are in the advancement and dissemination of knowledge, the promotion of research and scholarships, and the conferring and awarding of degrees.

Design Philosophy 5

Design, when powered by technology, is

the informed, intentional, intelligent and

imaginative force that will drive innovations

to improve lives, grow economies and sustain

our world.

6 Chairman’s Message

2020 was unprecedented, and served to remind us

again that life is all about people. How people adapted

behaviour, in the light of new learning and to better apply

new technology solutions, defined progress during the

year. In the face of a new threat, many details of which

emerged in fits and starts as the pandemic evolved,

those who embraced change and adopted new ways of

living and working came off better than those who, for

different reasons, could not.

As the design and technology university, we must address people in order for technology to protect, help and progress human development. Good design starts with in-depth understanding and effective communication with people. The better world we aspire to build depends on successful adoption by people of products, systems and a sustainable built environment, largely enabled by digital technology and, increasingly, artificial intelligence. The creation of better outcomes through how people use technology is our objective in design. This was well illustrated this past year, and gives us real confidence that our mission is worthwhile.

When we were temporarily unable to gather and meet face-to-face, we harnessed virtual communication tools for online sharing of information for education. We developed ways of enabling safe laboratory and workshop activity, albeit more limited in numbers. Through advanced conferencing technologies, we were still able to host and organise large-scale virtual events and webinars, such as our Open House, the Singapore Press Holdings – SUTD Design Innovation Forum and the Ministerial Forum with DPM Heng Swee Keat.

Our technically-grounded leaders and innovators also serve societal needs by recognising that there are members of the community who are disadvantaged in particular ways, and they design to meet those particular challenges. This is extremely meaningful and comes from a social conscience. We are working hard to groom our next generation of leaders, not only through training in design and technology, but with ethical awareness and strength in diversity and sustainability. These tools and experiences provide the best chance to come up with solutions for a range of issues, stretching to climate change and pandemics.

This year, we have had a few changes in our management team. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Ambassador-At-Large Prof Chan Heng Chee, who stepped down as the first Chairperson of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC). She helped establish the Centre from scratch to build a renowned think-tank, with areas of research which leverage on the strengths of the university and links to her global network.

I am pleased to welcome LKYCIC’s new Chairperson, Prof Cheong Koon Hean. Prof Cheong is an outstanding practitioner in the urban planning and built environment sector, having helmed both the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Housing Development Board, for which she is known worldwide. She is concurrently appointed the non-executive Chairperson of the Centre for Liveable Cities by the Ministry of National Development.

Chairman’s Message

8 President’s Message

These past 18 months have left the world still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although vaccination is key, everyone must also play their part to upkeep one another’s health and safety. Plans for the economy, business, education and other sectors in this new normal should include ideas on how to operate in a COVID and post-COVID world and at SUTD we also strive to do our part.

Last year, we had already implemented a variety of modifications to adjust our educational and research activities, and campus life to suit the challenging circumstances. One was the major shift in the start of academic calendar from May to September starting with our 2020 Freshmore cohort, which has gone ahead smoothly. In fact, I am pleased to share that we had one of our largest intakes of students since SUTD started.

Even with all overseas travel suspended and many of our exchange programmes being affected, we were able to mitigate this by rolling out alternative activities. These include virtual summer programmes that some of our partner universities are offering, remote local or overseas internships and even exchange programmes with other local autonomous universities under the Singapore Universities Student Exchange Programme (SUSEP).

I am also happy to report that despite the slower economy arising from COVID-19, there was still strong demand for SUTD graduates in the job market. Almost 96% of our fresh graduates from the Class of 2020 were employed within six months of completing their final examinations, the highest percentage ever since our first batch of students graduated in 2015. Many of them obtained jobs within the Information & Communication, Financial & Insurance and Scientific Research & Development sectors.

We have also continued to refresh our undergraduate curriculum to keep up with the times. Our Freshmore curriculum was updated, and some new courses were included to strengthen skills in design thinking and programming, two very important 21st^ century skills that contribute towards innovation. Furthermore, a thematic approach was included for the design projects that our freshmen must complete. For example, in direct correlation to the current pandemic, a common theme used for the projects would be ‘solutions for disaster management’, where students are tasked with identifying design opportunities related to a disaster like the COVID- pandemic and to find suitable solutions.

SUTD also signed an MOU with Temasek Polytechnic (TP) to launch a new pathway programme, an addition to our earlier collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic. This pathway programme allows select TP engineering students to participate in classes at SUTD earlier, giving them early exposure to SUTD’s engineering modules and a unique university student experience, while they are still undergoing their diploma programme.

I would like to give an update to the phase one of SUTD’s Growth Plans (SGP), which started in 2018 to support initiatives in four key economic sectors, i.e. Aviation & Connectivity, Cities, and Healthcare, with Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. The goal was two-fold: (i) to attract students to SUTD by offering industry-relevant curricular, overseas exposure, internship opportunities and

President’s Message

President’s Message 9

multi pathways to cater to different career aspirations; (ii) to position SUTD as the preferred collaborative partner in both education and research.

Since its inception, all the research projects under the SGP have achieved excellent progress. An estimated 20% of SUTD faculty are currently involved in these research projects as Principal Investigators (PIs) or Co-PIs. Further integration between education and research is achieved through student Capstone projects and programmes such as the SUTD Honours and Research Programme (SHARP) and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP). In FY2020, SUTD also collaborated with over 30 industry partners in both education and research initiatives. Arising from these collaborations, eight new undergraduate courses were developed and a total of 23 new research projects successfully secured external sources of funding worth about S$18 million.

This year has been very prolific for SUTD, with the number of research publications increasing by almost 1,000 and citations by over 24,000. Some of our research papers were published in top-tier conferences and world class journals such as Nature, NAACL (North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics), Nature Communications; Journal of Clinical Medicine, AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) and many more.

The number of start-ups has gone up by 10, with mostly start-ups from our own students. One of the more outstanding start-ups is Proccoli, which developed a software-as-a-service facilities management platform and was founded by SUTD Engineering Product Development alumnus Wang Wei Liang. This start-up was one of the winners at Enterprise Singapore’s Founder Ignite competition in February this year and received close to $50,000 of start-up resources and support under the Startup SG Founder grant.

I am also grateful to our donors and benefactors for their generous contributions during these challenging times, to help us ensure that no deserving students who have a strong interest in our science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programmes would be denied an education at SUTD due to financial constraints. It is thanks to your support that we can continue doing our best to nurture leaders and innovators who can use design and technology to make a positive impact on the world.

Professor Chong Tow Chong SUTD President

Interview with Professor Chan Heng Chee 11

We started the Master of Science in Urban Science, Policy and Planning

with the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) cluster. HASS took the

lead for this with LKYCIC coming behind in full support. I helped raise $3.

million in scholarships for students to do the Masters.

We also worked closely with World Economic Forum, where we did a

transformation map on urbanisation, which is quite significant.

LKYCIC has achieved a space and received some recognition for our

research on the future of work, digital societies and digital economies.

We also have some recognition for our work on ageing and the built

environment. Next, we hope to establish a place in the future of South-East

Asian (SEA) cities.

In your journey with LKYCIC and SUTD, what aspects were most

meaningful or memorable to you?

My taking up the job at LKYCIC in SUTD made me personally smarter. The

horizon has expanded for me. I was strictly a politics and security studies

person with an interest in government administration and the political

process, something I brought with me to the Centre. But now I have learnt

to be multi-disciplinary. I learnt to listen to what engineers and computer

scientists have to say, and to make sense and understand where social

science can make a contribution. My language now is different and my

colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) tell me that I have

reinvented myself. I find that to be a very strong personal achievement and

that is really the contribution of being in SUTD.

I am also proud that LKYCIC made itself sustainable and viable financially, having raised some $38 million in research funds. Although we started small, with only two to three staff and it was slow growth, but we kept at that pace of looking for funds and staff, and finding a niche for the Centre. The fact that we now have a sustainable position is to me an achievement.

How has the pandemic changed your views of cities?

The pandemic has forced us to build in the Covid and post-Covid implications and impact in our research and understanding of cities. For instance, in the project on the future of SEA cities, which is part of the Cities cluster of the SUTD growth plan, we have built in a health element into the understanding and analysis of SEA cities. In October 2020, LKYCIC started a project on socio-spatial reconfiguration of the city post-Covid, which is a study of Singapore. We are looking at aspects of how the city has changed, the future of work, revitalising poly centres and what we can recommend to sustain the life and dynamism of the city.

You played a critical role in raising $32.7million over 8 years for the LKYCIC. Could you share with us the unique factors of LKYCIC that attracts donors and investors?

The fact that we attracted a sizeable amount of funding for research and scholarships is not just due to my work but also because of the good research proposals put up by my colleagues. By being passionate and confident about your project, the enthusiasm you use to describe it will make the difference between whether people will donate to your project or not.

12 Interview with Professor Chan Heng Chee

I must give credit to my colleagues as well because when we go to the agencies, I would open the door initially, introducing my team and what they can do and the conversation starts. Then my colleagues will carry on the conversation and help push things through. After getting the funds, we must of course ensure that our project gets good results, then the agencies will continue calling us to put in a proposal for a grant.

What has been achieved from the collaboration with the Institute of Management Development (IMD)?

With IMD, we are now in the process of producing the third edition of the Smart City Index and it should be done by October this year. We have published the book 16 Shades of Smart to accompany the first Smart City Index. The next book on smart planning for sustainability will be published in November this year and focuses on 10 cities, including Vienna, Medina, Mumbai and Shanghai. The third project with IMD is to do case studies of how cities become smart.

You also started 5 major programmes at LKYCIC. How do you think these programmes will benefit LKYCIC and the community?

Today, many universities are asking what impact does your research have on the community or in your country. We have been very mindful of this right from the start and I believe the studies from LKYCIC are impactful. For example, we have a study by Dr Belinda Yuen on age friendly neighbourhoods and how to design them and this is being prototyped by the Housing Development Board. There is a social impact and the idea will be put into practice by being implemented in the community.

Our future of work research is also impactful as this study analyses what happens when technology disrupts a job and how to recreate new jobs. This study has broken up jobs into tasks and tries to understand what tasks are involved in a job. Technology does not disrupt a job but disrupts tasks, so the study recommends finding equivalents or regrouping of tasks to recreate a job. NTUC, the Institute for Adult Learning and some companies have approached us to ask if we can give them some advice or do such research on their companies.

LKYCIC has also focused research on Ageing and the Built Environment. The Centre’s research looks at how to make an estate more walkable for the ageing, and generally to make the neighbourhood more friendly and liveable for the elderly. There is also a project on Arts and Ageing, how arts can help an ageing person and whether those with dementia can find comfort and stimulation from the arts.

What was your vision for the Masters of Science in Urban Science, Planning and Policy programme? What type of graduates do you hope to train?

The Master students come to SUTD for one year and many of them are either sociologists, engineers, architects, urban planners, etc. We also have applicants from overseas like China, Turkey and USA. This programme, run by HASS and LKYCIC, emphasises urban methods and urban theory and practice. Another core course is to understand leadership and planning in Singapore. After graduating, we have students who joined the Land Transport Authority,

14 SUTD at a Glance

SUTD at a Glance

partnerships in 22 countries

Over 50

exchange opportunities

undergraduate students graduated

Masters and PhD students graduated

1243 adult learners trained by the SUTD Academy

159 faculty, 407 administrative staff & 406 researchers

54 students gained regional exposure to ASEAN & China via virtual joint- programmes

Education

SUTD undergraduate programmes begin with a three-term Freshmore curriculum that is grounded in the fundamentals of science, mathematics, design and humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS), followed by a specialisation in one of five areas for the next five terms. This year, the University has updated its Freshmore courses to strengthen students’ skills in design thinking and programming. Furthermore, a thematic approach related to current times has been included in the Freshmore design projects to allow students to identify design opportunities and find solutions to current real world challenges.

The five areas of specialisation are:

• Architecture and Sustainable Design
• Engineering Product Development
• Engineering Systems and Design
• Information Systems Technology and Design
• Design and Artificial Intelligence

61

373

178

210 summer programmes

Overview

SUTD at a Glance 15

In addition, students can also select one of seven Minor programmes available to further enhance their education:

• Minor in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Minor in Design Innovation, Ventures and Entrepreneurship (DIVE)
• Minor in Design, Technology and Society (DTS)
• Minor in Digital Humanities (DH)
• Minor in Engineering Product Development (EPD)
• Minor in Engineering Systems (ES)
• Minor in Information Systems (IS)

SUTD also offers special programmes such as the SUTD Technology Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) and the SUTD Honours and Research Programme (SHARP), where students can continue on after their undergraduate programmes to either obtain a Master of Science in Technology Entrepreneurship or a postgraduate degree respectively. Other graduate opportunities include the Master of Architecture, the Master of Science in Security by Design, the Master of Science in Urban Science, Policy and Planning as well as other Master and PhD programmes.

SUTD Academy

The SUTD Academy is the University’s adult learning institute, with a mission to up-skill and re-skill our working professionals in emerging areas such as data analytics, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). The aim is to keep them relevant in the fast-evolving working environment brought about by the advent of new technologies. The Academy adopts the same education philosophy of SUTD, where its training courses and programmes promote a multi-disciplinary approach, design thinking, an entrepreneurial spirit and active learning, among other things.

The advent of digitalisation and COVID-19 have hastened disruption to the workplace and to a greater impact. SUTD Academy supported and participated in the SGUnited Skills (SGUS) Programme, a national initiative by SkillsFuture Singapore, to support our locals in these difficult times to train and facilitate placement to new job roles that are in demand. SUTD Academy has enrolled over 200 participants who are at various stages of training in the area of Data Science, Digital Marketing and Digital HR.

Beyond the SGUS Programme, SUTD Academy continues to partner industry and other institutions to roll out micro-credential certification programmes to provide more skills-based learning to participants. In the past year, SUTD Academy has trained over 1,000 participants in design innovation, data science, cybersecurity, AI and other new digital skills.

Global Footprint 17

and enhance their learning experiences online. SUTD also offered students who had other windows for overseas travel in their later years of study the option to defer their overseas learning opportunities to the subsequent years when the pandemic situation improves and global travel resumes without major disruptions. For students who were bound for overseas academic exchanges under our Global Exchange Programme (GEXP), they were assisted to continue their Term 6 studies in SUTD.

Other than the suspension of outbound mobility, SUTD also undertook the difficult decision to suspend inbound mobility due to the volatility of the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, in a move to protect the interest, safety and well-being of our partner universities and their students. In Spring 2021 (Jan – April 2021), SUTD piloted online inbound exchange with 2 overseas exchange students, 1 from INSA Lyon and 1 from Chiba University who took SUTD classes online and interacted with SUTD students while physically in their home country. The following is some feedback from one of the exchange students from Chiba University:

“I was glad that many of the classes had group

presentations and discussions every time, which

inevitably allowed me to communicate with SUTD

students. As the classes were interactive rather than

lecture-based, I was able to spend high-quality and

fulfilling time online. I also felt that the fact that I could

easily consult with the professor and do group work

efficiently was an advantage of online exchange. I have

gained the ability to exchange opinions and make group

presentations and proposals without having to meet in

person. It is a pity that I was not able to go there, but

I thought that this type of exchange programme could

be a new type of casual exchange or pre-exchange

programme.”

- Yukka Kuroishi, Chiba University, SUTD Inbound Exchange Spring 2021

18 Faculty Profiles

Citizenship & Nationalities

Faculty Profiles

To continue to maintain the connectivity of SUTD students with the outside world in the midst of the global pandemic, we publicised various online activities and programmes organised by external local and overseas institutions for participation by SUTD students. In FY2020, SUTD students had the opportunity to participate in various online webinars and events hosted by various embassies in Singapore. SUTD students also had the opportunity to participate in an online hackathon organised by SUTD’s strategic partner, Zhejiang University, together with students from other overseas universities.