The Engineering Design & Innovation Centre (EDIC) was established in 2009 to provide a holistic design and engineering education to students, as well as to support industry partners to innovate and address complex challenges.

EDIC offers the Innovation & Design Programme, popularly known as iDP, as a Second Major or Minor to all undergraduate students who like to hone their design, engineering, and entrepreneurial skills through real-world projects. The iDP admits students regardless of which discipline they come from. The journey begins with a module in design thinking and user-centred collaborative design, followed by value creation in innovation in which students learn develop value propositions, explore various business models, and craft effective go-to-market approaches for their product ideas. Students then take on a major design project in the next two semesters, often in collaboration with industry. In the final year, students improve their technical and design skills to build advanced prototypes. Final year students may also embark on an ideas to start-up pre-accelerator module in which they learn how to identify suitable markets for their ideas and develop business plans, with the final outcome being a pitch to an investment panel. Project showcases are held annually to celebrate students’ successes with attendance from industry partners, alumni, and prospective students.

EDIC also launched a new Master of Science programme in Engineering Design & Innovation in 2022. Designed for professionals who already have working knowledge in their own respective disciplines and wish to embark on careers related to innovative product design and development, this programme aims to equip students with the ability to work in multidisciplinary teams to create innovative products in which technology plays a vital role by integrating knowledge and skills in key areas such as design thinking, product design and development, engineering design of complex systems, and value creation in innovation. Graduates of the programme will gain a more holistic understanding of product design and innovation involving engineering solutions and at the same time contribute towards the development of the innovation itself.

EDIC is open to collaborations with industry through student projects and consultations. We work with colleagues in the College of Design and Engineering and other Faculties/Schools to develop innovative solutions to multi-disciplinary industry problems. Our workshop facilities are well equipped and we have experienced technicians who support various types of hardware prototyping.

Over the years, EDIC have trained many graduates to be more confident, self-reliant, resourceful, and develop a can-do attitude. Our graduates have gone on to exciting careers in a diverse industries such as consumer electronics, engineering services, medical and healthcare, etc. Riding on the strong culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, our graduates and faculty members have also founded many innovative start-ups.