New Engineering Subjects and Specialisations

New Engineering Subjects and Specialisations Arm Students with Future Job Skills

New students enrolling into NUS Engineering this year will acquire a suite of new skills compared to their seniors. By equipping students with skills ranging from how to make robots and apply machine learning in data science to

Internet of Things and design thinking, students will be better prepared to cope with the changing nature of engineering jobs resulting from digitalisation.

New Modules for Common Engineering Core

With the new modules slated to form a common engineering core for the cohort starting from AY2019/2020, 1,500 new Engineering undergraduates will learn to apply engineering concepts and work the processes in the laboratory right from the start. Additionally, lower year students will have the option to take new core modules focusing on subjects which equip them with versatile skills and a systems mindset for holistic problem-solving. Some examples of these modules are systems thinking, design and prototyping, machine learning, computing, modelling and simulation and materials.

New Engineering Specialisations

Three new engineering specialisations are also introduced for AY2019/2020. “Digitalisation in Urban Infrastructure”, “Internet of Things” and “Robotics” will be made available to third and fourth-year students.

Under the “Digitalisation in Urban

Infrastructure” specialisation, students will learn more about urban mobility in line with the rise of autonomous driverless transport systems. Among other subjects, they will also have the chance to master data modelling and analytics, model based systems engineering and hydroinformatics.

For students opting for the “Internet of Things” specialisation, technical electives such as wireless/ sensor networks, embedded hardware and software design will be made available to them. “Robotics” students on the other hand will be able to choose among topics like robot mechanics, intelligent medical robots as their technical electives.

A New Minor

The introduction of a new minor “Data Engineering” will enable students to learn topics including data engineering principles and machine learning, equipping them with the skills to mine valuable business insights.

Dean Prof Chua Kee Chaing sharing the new changes with some of the students.

“ While the nature of engineering jobs may change because digitalisation can lead to unexpected disruptions, the core skills, the ability to work across disciplines and the thinking about the end user requirements, remain the same. Bolstering the engineering content with softer skills like critical thinking and the ability “to go in and use your hands, think of how to do things, are very valuable”

– Professor Chua Kee Chaing, NUS Engineering Dean 2014-19