U Roundup
Text: Nur Isyana Isaman
All thanks to U
U has clinched the silver award in the Corporate Publications category at the PR Asia-Pacific Awards 2023. Launched in early 2022, U is a biannual publication produced in-house by the NTU Corporate Communications Office. Inspiring stories of you, our alumni, are the backbone of this magazine. From career achievements and contributions to NTU to stories of how love blossomed on our beautiful campus, thank you for sharing your stories with fellow alumni through U magazine.
Park and plug
Park and charge your electric vehicle (EV) in special lots on your next visit to the campus. Operated by ST Engineering, Singapore’s first integrated smart car park and EV charging system enables EV users to find lots, park and charge their vehicles, and pay via the GoParkin mobile app. Besides supporting Singapore’s efforts to encourage EV adoption, the campus-wide EV charging network is part of the University’s sustainability manifesto to achieve carbon neutrality and a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2035.
Most sustainable campus
NTU has been recognised for its remarkable commitment to sustainability in all aspects of the University – research, education, community engagement, and infrastructure developments. The Whole Systems Approach Award is presented by the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), a champion of sustainability practices across global universities. Among NTU’s innovative sustainability efforts is pioneering the use of mass-engineered timber to construct two of Asia’s largest wooden buildings, Gaia and The Wave.
Entrepreneurship ahoy
Plans for the NTU Innovation Port – a one-stop centre for innovation-related matters – have been unveiled. It sets sail with a 420 sqm space at Gaia, supporting the NTU Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) initiative which has been launched to nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship in students, faculty and alumni, and to turn their ideas into market-ready products.
Making a case for machine learning
Photo: www.melissahobbs.com
NTU’s University Advancement Office has bagged the double Circle of Excellence awards for “Best of Asia-Pacific” and “Grand Gold” from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for the innovative use of machine learning to improve fundraising effectiveness among alumni donors. Through a collaboration with Dell Technologies, which was initiated by an alumna working there, the NTU team developed a targeted segmentation approach based on data science. The award, presented during a CASE conference held in Melbourne in May 2023, was received by former NTU Vice President (University Advancement) Ms Lien Siaou-Sze.
Allies in sustainability
NTU is partnering the United Nations’ training arm in a bid to offer learning opportunities on sustainability education. The one-of-a-kind training centre in Singapore will also facilitate knowledge sharing between government officials and leaders of Asia-Pacific countries to encourage sustainable development in the region.
Lighting up the lab
NTU is seventh among research organisations most cited by innovators like 3M, Airbus and Rolls-Royce, and the only Singapore institution in the top 10 global ranking. The ranking was released for the first time by scientific intelligence firm Clarivate, which also credited NTU with having the largest number of influential scientists among Singapore institutions. This contributed significantly to Singapore making it into the company’s list of top 10 countries or regions with the most highly-cited researchers for the first time since 2014.
Recognising talent beyond the books
From next year, NTU undergraduates can apply for the new NTU Talent Scholarship, the University’s first scholarship focusing on non-academic achievements. It is awarded to undergraduates who are outstanding in fields such as music, film, and sports, and have made a significant societal impact representing NTU or the country. Unique to this scholarship is a S$5,000 grant that recipients can use to develop their talent.
Prime time for NTU
Photo: South China University of Technology
NTU Vice President (Industry) Prof Lam Khin Yong took Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on a tour of the China-Singapore International Joint Research Institute in Guangzhou, which NTU played a major role in setting up. Besides touring the institute and meeting with researchers, PM Lee was briefed on two NTU-led projects: a universal smart agriculture platform and an intelligent perception system for airport operations.
This article first appeared in issue 3 of U, the NTU alumni magazine.
