Dear students, alumni, colleagues and partners of CDE,

As we approach the conclusion of 2023, we celebrate the second anniversary of our College's establishment. There have been many inspiring achievements from CDE this year!

We proudly inaugurated two CDE buildings, SDE1 and SDE3, which, with the earlier launched SDE4, is NUS' first building cluster targeting net-zero. Beyond their architectural and engineering excellence, these structures symbolise our steadfast commitment to innovation and sustainable solutions.

The unveiling of the Coastal Protection and Flood Resilience Institute (CFI) Singapore and the Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed (STDCT) facility later in the year underscored our dedication to addressing global climate concerns. None of these initiatives would have been possible without the faculty and staff who worked tirelessly on these projects. By collaborating with like-minded partners, we can make even greater strides in addressing climate concerns and creating a more sustainable future.

Our faculty continue to make their mark in their various fields. Three colleagues were awarded the highest national honours in their field. Adjunct Professor Quek Gim Pew was awarded the President’s S&T Medal, and Associate Professor Cheng-Wei Qiu was conferred the President's Science Award. Associate Professor Hans Tan was recognised for his work ‘R for Repair’, which was one of the Designs of the Year under this year’s President*s Design Award.

Our new start-ups from CDE are already making waves. One of our start-ups, HiveBotics, recently gained media attention for its toilet-cleaning robot, Abluo. It began development in 2021 and is being trialled in toilets at industrial parks, hospitals, malls, and the airport. Founded by Rishab Patwari (Computer Engineering, Class 2023) and Tuan Dung Nguyen (Mechanical Engineering, Class 2023), HiveBotics was nurtured through the CDE’s Innovation and Design Programme (iDP).

E Ian Siew (Industrial Design, Class 2023), achieved national recognition by winning the prestigious James Dyson Award 2023 for his ingenious invention, Auxobrace. This innovative tool, designed to assist heart surgery patients in rehabilitation, has garnered acclaim for its potential applications across various surgical and rehabilitative fields and was shaped by E Ian’s own experiences.

Our student teams charged into competitions, flying the Singapore and the NUS flag high. The Bumblebee Team won the RoboSub2023 competition in San Diego, United States, and the Robomasters Team placed first runner-up in the University League competition at the University of Washington in Seattle, United States. Department of Architecture (DOA) students swept the Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Special Mention Awards in the Outstanding Student Projects Category of the Singapore Institute of Planners Planning Awards 2023.

This year has seen strengthening support from corporate partners and alumni for our students. Keppel will gift another $500,000 to the Keppel Bursary for Engineering, established in 2014. We are thus better able to support the needs of our students both in terms of the number of bursaries offered and the increase in quantum provided. The annual Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Charity Golf event organised by CEE alums raised $527,000, which will be used to offer vital assistance to students from financially disadvantaged households.

We ended the year on a bright note, having welcomed 80 pre-university students to the ArtXTech 2023, a uniquely CDE programme that offers participants the chance to explore and transform their view of the world in ways they may not have previously considered. Supported by partners from the Space Faculty and the James Dyson Foundation, we were thrilled to see how the participants were inspired, and we hope to welcome them to CDE as students soon!

The collective desire to make a difference, to ignite this same passion in others, unites us as a College and a community. It propels us to explore new frontiers in the years ahead. While it is impossible to acknowledge everyone's contributions individually in this brief message, know that the College recognises and values your support of its mission.

I wish you all a joyful holiday season with family and friends, and I look forward to a bright new year with all of you in 2024.

Professor Teo Kie Leong
Acting Dean
College of Design and Engineering