Dear students, alumni, colleagues, and partners of CDE,

Earlier this year, Singapore announced the inaugural National Adaptation Plan, addressing heat resilience, flood protection, coastal defence, and water and food security. We face a daunting climate-impaired future.

Here at the College of Design and Engineering, we face this future head-on, taking heart in our researchers' work to develop the solutions our world urgently needs.

Assistant Professor Filip Biljecki (Architecture) develops new ways to sense, analyse and represent cities using large-scale urban data, with applications ranging from urban planning and transport to climate and sustainability. His contributions to geographical science were recently recognised with the 2026 Gill Memorial Award.

Assistant Professor He Xiaogang (Civil and Environmental Engineering) was named the inaugural recipient of the Global Climate Research Prize. He uses climate science, data analytics and resilience frameworks to better understand and manage extreme weather events, helping shape practical solutions for more reliable water management.

While we take pride in their achievements, these accolades represent something larger: the collective commitment of our College. They are examples of the groundbreaking work happening every day in our labs, studios, and classrooms.

It is this dedication, shared by all our faculty and students, that truly defines us.

Professor Teo Kie Leong
Dean
College of Design and Engineering (CDE)