Welcome address by NUS CDE Dean Professor Aaron Thean

The inaugural “CoDE Women” event was celebrated by the NUS College of Design and Engineering (CDE) on Tuesday, 26 July 2022 on campus.

The merged College continues to shine the spotlight on the Women trained in Design and Engineering who have excelled in their careers. With the merger of both faculties, the annual event to commemorate Women has been named ‘CoDE Women’.

The word ‘CoDE’ is not only the abbreviation for ‘College of Design and Engineering’, but it also signifies the code of woman, which is a way of living, navigating the woman life's challenges, and the pursuit of their dreams.

‘CoDE Women’ is an event to celebrate the achievements of women that have graduated from CDE and have progressed extensively in their careers. Their efforts need to be recognised to encourage more women and girls who might have their reservations of pursuing their career paths through our college to realize their untapped potentials and hopefully even out the gender disparity.

This year’s theme ‘Riding the Wave of Tech’ commemorates women who are in technology industry or support digitalisation processes in their course of work.

In attendance was a list of celebrated leaders from various industries, including Chief Planner & Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore Ms Hwang Yu-Ning, Bachelor of Arts (Architecture) Class of 1994; Co-founder, The Edify Project Singapore and Head of Let-Lab Singapore Dr Viveka Kalidasan, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Materials Science and Engineering (Biomaterials) Class of 2017; Managing Director of RDC Architects Pte Ltd Ar. Rita Soh, Bachelor of Arts (Architecture) Class of 1987; Principal Product Manager in Microsoft (US) Ms Sharon Ko, Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering) Class of 2017.

Not only did the event commemorate the achievements of our alumnae, but it is also through learning about the experiences and stories of our past alumni who have progressed extensively in their careers, do we hope to inspire future undergraduates to have a sense of the industry they would like to embark on when they graduate in the future.

It is through these sharing that the next wave of new leaders will have a role model to emulate to become the future trailblazers of their generation.

Ms Hwang Yu-Ning, Chief Planner & Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore

Dr Viveka Kalidasan, Head of Let-Lab Singapore and Senior Manager at UCT Singapore

Ar. Rita Soh, Managing Director, RDC Architects Pte Ltd

Ms Sharon Ko, Principal Product Manager in Microsoft (US)

Panel Discussion with Ms Sharon Ko joining us virtually from Seattle, United States and Moderator NUS CDE Assoc Professor Ong Soh Kim on stage.

Question from Alumna Ms Tan Puay Siang during the panel discussion

Question from Alumna Ms Janice Yeo during the panel discussion

Assoc Professor Teo Chiang Juay, Professor Aaron Thean, Ar. Rita Soh, Dr Viveka Kalidasan, Ms Hwang Yu-Ning, Assoc Professor Kua Harn Wei, Assoc Professor Ong Soh Khim

Closing address by NUS CDE Vice Dean of Alumni Relations, Assoc Professor Kua Harn Wei

Photo Gallery