From Varsity to Work, Seamlessly

“I get to be very hands-on at work, and I assisted in multiple key projects. I was involved in the ASEAN Geospatial Challenge 2021. My colleagues are nice, and working has been great.”

Reginald Heng
Senior GeoSpatial Consultant
Singapore Land Authority
BSc (Real Estate) (2021), NUS
BA (2021), NUS

Education that opens doors
How was fresh graduate Reginald Heng able to start work as soon as he graduated from NUS?

Two years ago, Reginald applied for the Singapore Geospatial Scholarship, a joint scholarship among Geospatial agencies. This landed him an interview with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and National Parks Board (NParks), both of which he passed successfully. He accepted the SLA offer and started interning with them in Year 3 of his studies, while pursuing his Bachelor of Science (Real Estate) [BSc (RE)].

Reginald has been working with SLA on a full-time basis since January 2021 after he graduated with double degrees – BSc (RE) and Bachelor of Arts with a Geography major. What he had studied is very much applicable to his work at SLA, especially urban landscape and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). As a Senior GeoSpatial Consultant, he is involved in policy work and planning, as well as capacity building. “I get to be very hands-on at work, and I assisted in multiple key projects. I was involved in the ASEAN Geospatial Challenge 2021, and got to staff the Geospatial Division Director at Geo Connect Asia. My colleagues are nice, and working has been great,” says Reginald.

Reginald (behind, left) with his team at the Singapore Land Authority.

Reginald is glad that he is able to apply to his daily work the knowledge he had picked up, especially from his BSc (Real Estate) class “GIS in Real Estate”. He notes, “What I had learnt in Real Estate has given me a solid foundation to understanding geospatial. I am also better able to relate to the data encountered at work, as well as further explore the potential of those data.”

Student life that enriches
Reginald cited his active student life as a key component in helping him adapt well to work. He shared that he held leadership positions in the Design and Environment (DE) Club as its Special Projects Director and President. In leading a student body like the DE Club, he worked with his team in many projects. He was also involved in various other clubs, from which he was able to nurture his interpersonal and communication skills.

Reginald (back row, second from left), with his peers among the 2017 NUS SDE Rag team.

Thanks to the co-curricular activities on campus he was involved in, Reginald found himself confident when communicating with the external agencies he often deals with at work, as well as in interacting with his senior management. “Thanks to my active student life, I can adapt fast and well to work. I am also grateful to the dedicated professors and admin staff. Dr Grace Wong, Prof Joseph Ooi, A/Prof Alice Christudason and Dr Steven Choo are some of the very memorable lecturers who had made an impact during my time in NUS Real Estate,” says he.