NTULink - Nanyang Technological University · 2 Alumni Associates 3 Director's Message ... Nanyang...

C O V E R S T O R Y16 WHERE DO YOU WANT TO SHOP TODAY?

Road to the Imagine Cup @ Microsoft TechED, Barcelona - July 2003.Student team from SCE does NTU proud!

F E A T U R E S4 NTU Golf 20036 From Nanyang University to Nanyang Technological University

- Revisiting the Past and Looking to the Future

7 Signing of NTU-ST Incubators@Work! MOU on Technology Entrepreneurship Collaboration

8 NTU to Host Worlds Biggest Debating Championship!9 Shipping Management at CEE

10 NTU School of Computer Engineering Teams at Finals of Startup @ Singapore

11 How Do You Feel....?12 CoE Week 2003

R E G U L A R S2 Alumni Associates3 Director's Message

14 Around the Schools19 News Round Up31 NTU Alumni Club

A N N O U N C E M E N T S23 � Nanyang Executive Programme

� Children's Charity Book Drive @ Christmas24 NTU CareerHub Mentor Link25 � The Nanyang MBA Business Study Mission to New Zealand in December

� Alumni Day 200326 ICCPM 200427 Special Invitation - Alumni Endowment Donors28 Class of 1985 Pioneer Batch 20th Anniversary Celebration29 School of MPE Courses30 � CEE Alumni Activities

� EEE Graduates' Evening 2003

ntulink . a u g u s t 2 0 0 3 1

The NTULLiinnkk is published quarterly by the Alumni & Endowment Office and is mailed free to all alumni of the University. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the University. Letters, articles and messages from alumni are most welcome. Please address your correspondence to: Editor, NTULLiinnkk Alumni & Endowment Office Nanyang Technological University

Level 5, Administration Annex Nanyang Avenue Singapore 639798 Tel: 6 790 5763 Fax: 6 7926627 Email: [email protected] Webpage URL:http://www.ntu.edu.sg/alumniFor information on advertisement rates and booking of advertisement space, please contact KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd, Tony Kennedy Tel: 6 543 2222 Fax: 6 545 3333 HP:9794 2101

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President Professor Su Guaning

Chairman,NTU 21st Century FundMr Ch’ng Jit Koon

Deputy Chairman,NTU 21st Century FundProfessor Brian Lee

Director, Alumni & Endowment Office Mr Eddy Seet

Editorial Committee Mrs Lakshmy Bhaskar, CEEAssoc Professor Lai Phooi Ching, EEEAssoc Professor Lau Wai Shing, Michael,MPEMrs Pang-Lim Sook Fun, MPEAssoc Professor Ho Mian Lian, NBSAssoc Professor Khong Chooi Peng, SCEAssoc Professor Low Guat Tin, PMSAsst Professor Nick Aplin, PESS

Editor Sadia Roohi Rafiq

Designed and Printed byKHL Printing Co Pte Ltd

LLiinnkkNTUA u g u s t 2 0 0 3 c o n t e n t s

1content_aug khl 24/09/2003 22:06

AIESEC ALUMNISINGAPORE(NTU)Mr Ng Vern Shion28 Yunnan Crescent Singapore [email protected]://www.aiesec.org.sg

NANYANG BUSINESS SCHOOLALUMNI ASSOCIATIONMr Loh Uantchernc/o Nanyang Business SchoolNanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Avenue Singapore [email protected]://www.nbs.ntu.edu.sg/Alumni/exec_com.asp

NANYANG MBA ALUMNIASSOCIATIONMr Terence Chan c/o MBA OfficeNanyang Business SchoolNanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Avenue Singapore [email protected]://www.nanyangmba.ntu.edu.sg

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICALUNIVERSITY ALUMNI Mr R SinnakaruppanNTU Alumni Town Club179 River Valley Road, 6th Floor Singapore 179033Tel: 3366588 Fax: [email protected]://www.ntualumni.org.sg

NTU ARCHERY ALUMNIASSOCIATIONMr Ng Keng Boonc/o Alumni & Endowment OfficeLevel 5 Administration AnnexeNanyang Technological University42 Nanyang Avenue Singapore [email protected]

NTU BUDDHIST SOCIETYALUMNIMr Toh Hong SengBlock 159, Woodlands Street 13,#01-665, Singapore [email protected]://home.pacific.net.sg/~ntubsa

NTU CHINESE SOCIETY ALUMNIMiss Theresa Ng Gek YinBlk 312 Serangoon Ave 2 #12-184 Singapore [email protected]

NTU HALL OF RESIDENCE SIXALUMNIMr Chua Kok Wei5 West Coast Way Singapore 126988http://www.ntu.edu.sg/studorgn/h6jcrc

NTU HALL OF RESIDENCE EIGHTALUMNIMr Goh Nai ShinBlk 533 Jurong West St 52#17-439 Singapore 640533http://www.ntu.edu.sg/studorgn/h8jcrc

NTU HALL OF RESIDENCE TENALUMNIMr Tan Wee Hongc/o Nanyang TechnologicalUniversityHall of Residence TenJunior Common Room CommitteeNanyang AvenueSingapore 639798http://www.ntu.edu.sg/studorgn/h10jcrc

NTU SCHOOL OF CIVIL &ENVIRONMENTALENGINEERING ALUMNIASSOCIATIONMs Lee Bee Wahc/o LBW Consultants42C Horne Road Singapore [email protected]://www.ceealumni.org.sg

NTU SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL &ELECTRONIC ENGINEERINGALUMNI ASSOCIATIONMr Inderjit Singhc/o School of Electrical &Electronic EngineeringNanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Avenue Singapore [email protected]://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/eeealumni

NTU SYMPHONIC BANDALUMNIMr Koh Ke Yuanc/o Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity Alumai & EndowmentOfficeLevel 5 Administration AnnexeSingapore [email protected]

SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES VIRTUAL ALUMNIMiss Samantha Santa Mariac/o School of CommunicationStudiesNanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Avenue Singapore [email protected]://home1.pacific.net.sg/~ammy

SCHOOL OF COMPUTERENGINEERING ALUMNIASSOCIATIONMr Raymond Weec/o School of ComputerEngineeringNanyang Technological UniversityNanyang AvenueSingapore [email protected]://www.ntu.edu.sg/sce/scealumni

SCHOOL OF MATERIALSENGINEERING ALUMNIASSOCIATIONMr Ting Chee KheongTelok Blangah Post Office Box 376Singapore [email protected]://www.ntu.edu.sg/sme/alumni.htm

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL &PRODUCTION ENGINEERINGGRADUATES CLUBMr Andrew Tan Toh ChyeC/o School of Mechanical &Production EngineeringNanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Avenue Singapore 639798http://www.ntu.edu.sg/mpe/others/alumni

TECHNOPRENEURSHIP &INNOVATION PROGRAMALUMNI ASSOCIATION (TIPA)Mr Peng Chun HsienNanyang TechnopreneurshipCentreNanyang Technological University

THE ASSOCIATION OF NANYANGUNIVERSITY GRADUATESMr Chia Ban SengRobinson Road P.O. Box 0768Singapore 901518http://www.nantahalumni.org.sg

THE NANYANG UNIVERSITYALUMNI ACADEMIC SOCIETYDr Choong Chow Siong10 Anson Road #12-15International PlazaSingapore 079903

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a s s o c i a t e s

Alumni Associations

Document1 25/09/2003 5:35 Page 1

The new academic year has commenced in July 2003. It marks the beginning of a new chapter

of tertiary education for our new students admitted. These newest students are our alumni

of tomorrow. There are over 25,000 students on campus presently. It is also in this quarter

during which the University would confer the degrees for the graduating students who have

successfully completed their studies. These graduating students are our newest alumni. There are

now 75,000 alumni before counting our new alumni of class 2003. Our alumni form the biggest

constituents of the university.

It is in the mutual interest for both the university and the alumni to foster close relationship.

What the university achieves and attains its class of distinction, alumni would perceive the value

of their qualification increases. The goals of an effective alumni relations programme include

communicating with alumni, provide continuing education and updating with the university's

alumni database.

Alumni would be kept fully informed regarding the objectives, policies, progress and problems

of their alma mater. Some instruments of communication include the NTU News, the NIE News, the

NTULink, Nanyang Alumni ePress, research directories, namecard alumni directory, campus

Chronicle newspaper. The university continues to provide alumni with free lifetime e-mail account

and forwarding e-mail service.

The continuing education programme for alumni shall include providing alumni with special

needs and for different alumni age and gender. Alumni could be awarded the scholarship for

graduate studies. Programme can include providing job placement, conducting career and

counseling seminars, recruitment advertising, and research library. Our Office of Professional

Attachment, the Centre of IT Services and the respective Schools/NIE are specifically mentioned

which could support our alumni.

It is in the interest of both the university and our graduates that we have the updated alumni

database. We need alumni to advise regularly the university changes of their home and place of

work and other personal particulars.

Alumni are invited to support their alma mater in career placement for students and fellow

alumni. Alumni can return to the classrooms to teach or as expert speakers. They can bring real-

life experiences with them that enrich the educational process for everyone. They can provide

considerable input for the various advisory boards of the university. The testimony of alumni for

their alma mater can be most influential in the university's recruitment for the best prospective

students.

Eddy Seet

DIRECTOR

d i r e c t o r ’ s m e s s a g e

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Friday 4 July 2003 was aday for staff, alumni andcorporate partners of NTU

to golf for a good cause. TheNTU Golf 2003, a biennialfund-raising golf tournament,was successfully held at the

Orchid Country Club to raise$190,300 for our NTU 21stCentury Fund. After deductingthe expenses incurred, thedonation of $168,587 whenmatched by the Governmentdollar for dollar will amount to

around $337,174. It was anuphill task to raise funds inthe current economic situation.Many heartfelt thanks to thesupport of our generouscorporations, staff and alumniof NTU, and not forgetting ourmain sponsor, Singapore Pools(Private) Limited.

Preparation of thetournament began in earlyMarch 2003. The NTU Golf2003 Organizing Committeewas chaired by Mr Kah YinMuk, Vice-President of Office ofEstate & Amenities togetherwith members from variousdepartments and ourassociation. They are:

Mr Low Kin Keong - Vice President, CITSAssoc Prof Daniel Lwin -Director, CEEMr Lam Hon Pui - Director, OEAAsst Prof Harry Tan - PESS of NIEAssoc Prof Daniel Tan -Director, CEDAsst Prof John Tan - PESS of NIEDr Lau Kam Cheong Mr Eddy Seet - Director, AEOMr Khoo Yong Seng - Asst Manager, AEOMs Tan Lay Yen - AsstManager, AEOMr Pow Kim Meng - NTUAlumni Club Despite heavy downpour in

the morning, 141 highlyspirited golfers turned up to'test' their golfing skills.Thankfully, the rain came to a

stop and the weather wasperfect for golfing.

The Guest-Of-Honour for theday was Dr Ng Eng Hen, ActingMinister for Manpower andMinister of State for Education.After his arrival and somelunch, the game started ataround 12.30pm, and everyonewas eyeing on the Hole-in-Oneprizes. For the 2 Hole-in-Oneprizes, Borneo Motors (S) PteLtd sponsored a 2.4 ToyotaCamry while Singapore AirlinesLimited sponsored two RafflesClass return tickets to and froSingapore/Brisbane.

The game ended at about5.30pm, and a quick checkrevealed that no lucky golferswon the Hole-In-One prizes.

Dinner started soon after,and it was an honour to haveMr Wee Cho Yaw, Chairman ofBoard of Advisors, to join theguests for the dinnerreception. The emcee for theevening, Dr Lau Kam Cheong,who was also a member of theNTU Golf 2003 OrganizingCommittee, started the eventby inviting Prof Su to thestage to deliver his welcomespeech. Following the speech,the tournament prizes werepresented during dinner.

Mr Richard Thio from NECSolutions Asia Pacific Pte Ltdwon the first prize of the luckydraw, which was one economyclass return air ticket to andfrom Singapore/Seoul, proudlysponsored by Korean Airlines.The second prize was an HPThe VIP flight with Mr Ch'ng, Prof Su, Dr Ng and Mr Chandra Das.

NTU Golf 2003

A donation of $190,300 for the NTU 21st Century Fund being presented.From right; Mr Kah Yin Muk, Chairman, NTU Golf 2003 OrganizingCommittee; Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon, Chairman, NTU 21st Century Fund RaisingCommittee; Dr Ng Eng Hen, Acting Minister for Manpower & Minister ofState for Education; Professor Su Guaning, President, NTU; Professor BrianLee, Deputy Chairman, NTU 21st Century Fund Raising Committee.

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colour inkjet printer CP 1160while the third prize was aone-weekend accommodation,which was proudly sponsoredby Eight Flags ComputerSystems & Supplies Pte Ltd andPlaza Park Royal Singaporerespectively. Announcement ofthe tournament results wereannounced during the dinner.The results are as follows:

Position1st - Mr Eric Teoh -

NTU Alumni Club2nd - Mr Chia Ban Seng -

The Association ofNanyang UniversityGraduates

3rd - Mr Ong Lai Seng -Office of Estate &Amenities

Nearest The PinAranda Hole 6 - Mr Wong Boon Kong, Keppel FMO LtdVanda Hole 6 - Ms Low Moy Hoy, NTU Alumni ClubVanda Hole 8 - Mr Chen Chee Sing, Microsoft Singapore Pte Ltd

Nearest To The LineAranda Hole 9- Assoc Prof Peter Hing,School of MaterialsEngineering

The highlight of the eventcame during the chequepresentation by Mr Ch'ng JitKoon to Dr Su Guaning for theNTU 21st Century Fund, with DrNg Eng Hen witnessing theceremony. It was a heart-warming session to learn thatwhen all donations pooled &matched, could amount to asubstantial donation.

The NTU Golf 2003Organizing Committee wouldlike to thank all the peoplewho had contributed to makethis fund raising golftournament a success. �

Main SponsorSingapore Pools (Private)Limited

Hole-In-One PrizeBorneo Motors (S) Pte LtdSingapore Airlines Limited

PrizesAngsana Resort & Spa BintanBorneo Motors (S) Pte LtdComfort Automotive ServicesCYC - The Custom ShopCycle & Carriage Industries Pte LtdEight Flags Computer Systems & Supplies Pte LtdIcon Books & Multimedia Pte LtdI-Vex MarketingKorean AirlinesMy Food Court Pte LtdOrchid Country ClubPlaza Parkroyal SingaporeRitz-Carlton, Millenia SingaporeSingapore Pools (Private) LimitedSparkplanners Pte LtdTransview Holdings Limited

Goody Bag ItemsAsia Pacific Breweries (S) Pte LtdBorneo Motors (S) Pte LtdCityDrive Rent-A-Car Pte LtdComfort Automotive ServicesCYC - The Custom ShopF & N Coca-Cola (Singapore) Pte LtdMobileOne (Asia) Pte LtdNestle Singapore (Pte) LtdNTU Alumni ClubPilot Pen (S) Pte LtdPublic Utilities BoardYakult (Singapore) Pte LtdYeo Hiap Seng Ltd

Outright Cash DonationMr Chiam Chee Meng Mr Lim Hui Chong Mr Lim Seah Ann Mr Ong Eng Poh APP Engineering Pte LtdBan Chuan Trading & Engrg Pte LtdC S Seating & Contract (S) Pte LtdChina Construction (South Pacific)Development Co Pte LtdFirst Paragon Enterprise Pte LtdGuan Ho Construction Co. Pte. Ltd.Hock Services (Pte) LtdKwan Yong Electrical Engineering Pte Ltd Lian Cheng Contracting Pte LtdMecomb Singapore Ltd. Ngee Cheng Electric Co. (Pte.) LtdRita Metal & Wooden Furniture ConstructionSeng City TradingSiemens Building Technologies Pte LtdTransient Technology (S) Pte LtdTyco Services Singapore Pte Ltd

Corporate ParticipantsCapitaland Commercial LimitedCISCO Systems (USA) Pte LtdCity Developments LimitedCPG Consultants Pte LtdEMC Computer Systems(South Asia)Pte LtdEvan Lim & Co Pte LtdGethin-Jones Medical Practice Pte LtdHewlett-Packard Singapore(Sales)Pte LtdIndustrial Contracts Marketing(2001)Pte LtdKeppel FELS LimitedKeppel FMO Pte LtdMicrosoft Singapore Pte LtdMinolta Singapore (Pte) LtdNatSteel LtdNEC Solutions Asia Pacific Pte LtdNTU Alumni ClubNTUC FairPrice Co-operative LimitedPan-United Shipyard Pte LtdPBT Engineering Pte Ltd PIMCO Asia Pte LtdSenoko Energy Supply Pte LtdSiemens Building Technologies Pte LtdSingapore Technologies ElectronicsLimited - IB Business UnitSingapore Technologies ElectronicsLimited - Defence Business UnitStarHub Pte LtdTRANE SINGAPORE


The 5 Schools of theCollege of Engineering(CoE) which comprise

School of Civil & EnvironmentalEngineering, School ofComputer Engineering, Schoolof Electrical & ElectronicEngineering, School ofMaterials Engineering andSchool of Mechanical &Production Engineering,recently held one of the largesttech-fairs on campus together.The tech-fair called "CoETechnology Week 2003",attracted thousands of visitorsto its array of events includinga large-scale Exhibition, aConvention on Nanotechnologyand 19 Focus Seminars. Thetech-fair was a concertedeffort by the 5 Schools toshowcase their research andtechnological capabilities in adiverse range of Engineeringfields. It aims to provide aplatform for the Schools andthe industry to explore jointresearch collaborationstogether, and to promotestudents' interest inengineering research,technology and applications.

The large-scale Exhibitionshowcased nearly 100 projectsthat were contributed by ourstudents and faculty members.From innovative, yet practicalideas to highly sophisticatedfeatures, visitors wereimpressed by the ingeniousapplications of engineering toimprove the modern life. Many

of the exhibits also attractedkeen interest from the industryand the media. There was arecord turnout of 5,300 visitorsat the Exhibition.

There was also a large-scaleConvention on "Nanotechnology",where 4 distinguished guestspeakers engagedundergraduates, poly studentsand JC students in the world of Nanoscience and highlightedthe exciting opportunitiesavailable.

More than 2,000 industrialengineers and experts,researchers and academics alsoparticipated in our FocusSeminars to get the latestupdates on the various keyemerging technologies. The 19Seminars, which were speciallyheld back to back during theperiod, provided a good platform for the participants toconvene for exchanges andcollaboration opportunities. Thediverse range of topics coveredincluded Grid Computing and Web Services, Signal Processingin a Knowledge-based World,Human Factors Engineering, IC

Design and Business,Protective Technology, PostSept 11 Surveillance,Applications of MEMSTechnology, InnovativeTechnologies, CommunicationNetworks and QoS Issues,Applications ofNanotechnology inBiomaterials, Next GenerationMobile Technology,Nanoelectronics andnanodevices, Innovative WasteManagement, SystemProtection and Condition-BasedMonitoring of Power Apparatus,State-of-the-Art Optical

Network Technology, Fast-TrackPrecast Technology, Web Servicesand Software Engineering, WebData Management andTechnologies, Recent Advancesin Bioinformatics andComputational Biology.

Judging from the recordturnout for the variousprogrammes, the CoE TechnologyWeek 2003 scored a new heightof success for the EngineeringSchools. We look forward toreceiving more participationfrom the industry in the comingfuture events. �


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CoE Technology Week 2003

Guests finding out more about the interesting projects

Prof Su Guaningviewing theexhibits

President of NTU, Prof Su Guaning, commemorating the opening of theCoE Week 2003


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On 6 June 2003, NTUPresident Prof SuGuaning, and Mr Tay

Siew Choon, Managing Directorand Chief Operating Officer ofSingapore Technologies Pte Ltdsigned a Memorandum ofUnderstanding on TechnologyEntrepreneurship Collaboration.The pith of the MOU entailsseed funding from STIncubators@Work! towardsjoint NTU-ST startups anddevelopment of prototypes forcommercialization, internshipsfor NTU student-entrepreneurswith ST spin-off startups andindustry-academicknowledge/staff exchange. Thecollaboration constitutes 3major programmes:

Scope of Collaboration The Project will focus on the

following three programmes:

(a)Joint Incubation ProgramJoint NTU-Incubators@Work!incubation activities in which:I. NTU will identify, and allow

Incubators@Work! access tosuitable business plansand/or technologies

originating from itsstudents/staff/faculty ("SSF")for potentialpartnership/joint venturearrangements between therelevant SSF with ST staff onterms to be agreed betweenthe relevant SSF and the STstaff.

II. Incubators@Work! willidentify interested staffwithin the ST Group, whowill join the relevant SSF tofurther develop the businessplan. Once a complete,fundable business plan isready, it will be submittedfor evaluation byIncubators@Work! forpossible seed investment.For plans on which ST staffhave been involved inIncubators@Work! will holdthe right of first refusal toinvest.

III. Incubators@Work! will setaside up to S$1 million, asseed funding for thesebusiness plans and/or ideasidentified by NTU on behalfof the SSF, and in which STstaff are involved.

IV. $200,000.00 of the$1,000,000 can bedeployed for TechnoGarageScheme to further developprototypes forcommercialization. Thiscovers out-of-pocketexpenses and materialsonly.

V. Both parties will worktowards a target of two jointincubation ventures in thefirst year of collaboration.

(b) TechnopreneurshipInternship Program

The objective of theprogramme is to offer NTUstudents the opportunities fordirect involvement in a start-up company, hence givingthem a first-hand experience ofthe "entrepreneurial spirit".I. An Industrial Attachment

programme, specifically theavailability of up to 5internships, will be set upby Incubators@Work!,allowing NTU students to beattached with startups underIncubators@Work!, or theirrelated companies for theirinternship assignments.

(c) Industrial KnowledgeProgram

I. Adjunct teachingappointment (s) of STsenior management staff.

This will enable exchange ofknowledge and experiencebetween industry andacademia. The identified ST seniormanagement staff satisfyingNTU requirements for adjunctteaching appointments willhold the Adjunct TeachingAppointment for a period ofone year with NTU under thisprogramme. II. Mentors Scheme of 50 ST

staff.This will create an

opportunity for students inNTU to interact, on a first-hand basis, with experiencedmembers of the industry.

To kick start thecollaboration, Mr David Tan,Director of Corporate Planning,Strategic Relations and RiskManagement at SingaporeTechnologies Pte Ltd wasappointed Adjunct Lecturerwith NTC. �

Signing of NTU-ST Incubators@Work!MOU on TechnologyEntrepreneurshipCollaboration

Mr Raymond Limspeaking at theEntrepreneurshipSpeaker Series

(From left) Associate Professor TanTeng Kee, Director, NanyangTechnopreneurship Centre, Mr Raymond Lim, Minister of Statein charge of Entrepreneurship andProf Su Guaning, President, NTU



In December this year, NTUwill have the privilege andhonour of hosting the

World Universities DebatingChampionships 2004 (Worlds2004). In its 23-year history,Worlds DebatingChampionships have traveledthrough many continents andmajor universities of the world.Some of the more recentvenues include: Cork inIreland, Princeton in USA,Stellenbosch in South Africa,Athens in Greece, Toronto inCanada, Glasgow in Scotland,and Sydney in Australia. Thiswill be a first-ever forSingapore, and the second timefor Asia in the Championships'history.

NTU won the bid to theWorlds 2004 at Toronto in2002, against MultimediaUniversity from Kuala Lumpurand University of Zagreb fromCroatia in a very hotlycontested bid for the honour.The main reason for NTU'ssuccess at the bid was thehuge success of hosting theAustralAsians IntervarsityDebating Championship in July2001, again a Singaporeanfirst. Hosting Worlds '04 will bethe "Jewel In the Crown" forNTU debaters. NTU initiatedand hosted the First All-Asiansin 1994 and hosted the 4thAll-Asians in 1997. In fact,NTU is the only SingaporeanUniversity to have hosted anysuch international

championships. These effortsand the successes of ourdebating teams are the reasonswhy NTU enjoys the excellentinternational reputation amongdebating circles today.

World's Second LargestStudent Event

The Worlds is the second-largest student event held onthe planet. It witnessesparticipation of between 800and 1000 undergraduates fromover 40 countries. Some of themost prestigious universitiesincluding Cambridge, Oxford,The Ivy League universities,Berkeley, and Stanford.Australian "debating-powerhouses" such asMelbourne, Monash, and Sydneyuniversities are regulars too.The tournament will comprisemore than 200 teams, each ofwhich will debate 9 rounds inthe preliminary phase of thetournament. The top 32 teamsthat emerge from this phasewill go into the 'knock-out'phase of the tournament whichconsists of four rounds,culminating in the Grand Finals,which crown the WorldChampions. The debates areconducted in BritishParliamentary style, with fourteams per debate.

On-Going Preparations atNTU

The nine-day begins on 27thDecember 2003.

Accommodations for theparticipants have beenarranged in Novotel Apollo andConcorde Hotel. The majorityof the debates will be held inthe academic complex at NTU,with the Main Lecture Theatre(MLT) being the conveningarea. Although we expectbetween 70 and 80 debates torun simultaneouslypreparations have been madefor many as a hundred debates.The Semi-Finals and the GrandFinals are planned for externalvenues close to the city centre.This is with the intention ofbringing world-class debates tothe general public, to supportthe Governments' Speak GoodEnglish Movements, and tofurther enhance the profile ofNTU.

Plenty of social events havebeen planned so that theparticipants can enjoythemselves and have a realtaste of Singapore. Theopening ceremony willshowcase Singapore's culturalheritage, parties will give theparticipants a taste ofSingapore nightlife, and theChampionship Dinner on NewYear's Eve at the Suntec CityConvention Centre will be agrand way to move into theNew Year. The folks attendingthe Worlds are probably thefunniest people you're everknow; the Stand-up ComedyNight will give Singapore ataste of the amazingly

hilarious wits of the world!Publicity for the event will

be on a very large scalethroughout Singapore. Adsfeaturing the championshipwill appear in prominentnewspapers and magazines.Advertisements have alreadybeen featured in The Edge, abusiness and financial weeklyin Singapore, one of the majorsponsors. Posters and bannersfeaturing the championshipwill also be placed inprominent public places, suchas MRT stations. Publicitymaterial, including bannersand posters, will be sent to allsecondary schools and JCs inSingapore to invite the studentpopulation to watch thedebates. All Singaporeantertiary institutions willprobably participate ascontestants.

The tournament has receivedthe generous support of ourmain sponsor Business Week,The Edge Singapore, NovotelApollo, Concorde Hotel, SuntecCity, the National YouthCouncil and the SingaporeTourism Board. The NTUorganizers are putting in theirbest efforts into this project,and are confident of hostingone of the best Worlds ever.We hope that all alumni willlend us their support, andcome and watch the worlds'best debaters during thechampionships. Admission toall debates is free!


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NTU to Host Worlds BiggestDebating Championship!

Members oftheOrganizingCommittee


More than 100 Universities/Teams Pre-Registered

At the last count, more than100 universities / teams havealready pre-registered for thechampionship. Some of theuniversities on this world-widelist include: CambridgeUniversity, Oxford Union,Stanford, Princeton, Yale, NewYork University, NYU Law,Monash, McGill, Melbourne, LaVerne, Ateneo, Rhodes, Boston,Santo Tomas, ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong,Yokohama National University,Rutgers, Notre Dame, De LaSalle, Zagreb Law, InnerTemple, University of the WestIndies, Australian NationalUniversity, Sydney Union,University College Utrecht,MMU Malaysia, UniversitasIndonesia, Mahidol University,Thailand, BangladeshUniversity of Engineering &Technology. Many more areexpected in the weeks ahead.

The university scene inSingapore will probably neverbe the same again after theinvasion / participation of theexpected 1000 undergraduatesat the championship! �

The Maritime and PortAuthority of Singapore(MPA) has generously

donated $4 million to NanyangTechnological University (NTU)to set up the MPAProfessorship in ShippingManagement.

The Chair will be hosted bythe School of Civil andEnvironmental Engineering andco-hosted by the School ofMechanical and ProductionEngineering, under the Collegeof Engineering, NTU. As thespecialty area is in ShippingManagement, prominentpractitioners and eminentacademics specialising in theShipping Management,Strategic Planning,International ShippingBusiness, Finance and relatedbusiness will be invited forthis position. Essentially therewill be two types of positions,namely the MPA VisitingProfessor and the MPADistinguished Visitor.

The MPA Visiting Professor inShipping Management positionwill be for up to 5 months. Theprofessor will be involved inselected modules at graduateand undergraduate levels andwill advise research anddevelopment effort in his/herspecialised field. The researchand development effort couldbe in the form of jointindustry-NTU research managed

by the CoE or the relevantresearch centre [such as theMaritime Research Centre(MRC) at NTU].

The MPA DistinguishedVisitor in ShippingManagement position will befor 2 to 3 weeks. The professor

will be expected to conductpublic and in-house seminarsduring the tenure and conductspecialist workshops andintensive courses of relevanceto the strategic planning anddevelopment of the maritimeindustry. �


WANT TO BE PART OFTHIS GREAT EVENT?

We welcome any form ofsupport from the alumni andwell-wishers of NTU. If youwish to alert the organizingcommittee to a sponsorshipopportunity, or wish tocontribute, or be involvedwith Worlds 2004, do contactus by sending an e-mail [email protected]. TheWorlds website, atwww.ntu.edu.sg/worldsprovides comprehensiveinformation on the event.Alternatively, contact Dr. Khong Chooi Peng [email protected] (Tel: 6790 5049)

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Shipping Management at CEECEE, the proud host of the prestigious Professorial Chairin Shipping Management

BI Norwegian School of Management -Nanyang Executive program on GlobalShipping Management.

The Maritime Research Centre which is hosted by theSchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering iscollaborating with the prestigious BI Norwegian School ofManagement in order to run an executive program onGlobal Shipping Management. Besides being the firstNorwegian educational and research institution to achieveinternational accreditation, BI has also been rankedamong the top European business schools by the FinancialTimes and Long Range Planning.

This collaboration which will run from the 11th to the22nd of August 2003 underpins the belief that effectiveshipping management is a key strategic opportunity forthe shipping industry in the 21st century.

This joint program combines the best of research,business models and practical experiences from industrialpartners in order to update participants on the mostinnovative developments in global shipping management.It will also provide them with the framework, tools andtechniques for advanced information and decisiontechnologies.

During the duration of this course, invited speakers andkey experts from Norway and Singapore will provide anoverview of economic, regulatory and regional issues, anddevelopmental plans which are likely to affect theoperations and shipping business.



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Start-Up@Singapore is anational business plancompetition and forum

organized by the NationalUniversity of Singapore-Centrefor Entrepreneurship (CET) andBusiness School AlumniAssociation (NUSBSA). The goalof the competition is toencourage participating teamsto go on to form start-ups.Many of these teams willreceive funding by businessinvestors or venture capitalists.The essence of the competitionis the participation process,which enables would-be-entrepreneurs to tap on anetwork of CEOs, venturecapitalists and business angelsto obtain and attract guidance,mentorship and even fundingfor their potential newbusiness creations.

The finalist team, Imfinity,comprise students, DevRamnane, Prashant Goela,Romil Gupta, Arun Jacob andNishith Prabhakar.

The team decided to form acompany, which focuses ondeveloping leading edgetechnologies for interactivegaming, delivering value bothto sponsors and advertisers aswell as to consumers. Thevision of the company is todevelop strong coretechnologies in the contentdevelopment and interactivegaming sphere.

The team's technological and

competitive advantage is in itsability to create dynamicgames, which are changed andupdated quickly, efficiently,conveniently. An intelligentgame that is able tointelligently and seamlesslycaptured user data; andubiquitous gaming for seamlessgameplay across multipleplatforms: mobile phone,laptop, desktop, or PDA.

Advergaming: Hot NewConcept

Through the team'scompetitive advantage,Imfinity proposes the use ofinteractive gaming technologyto deliver embeddedadvertising messages toconsumers through a hot newarea in advertising channels -Advergaming.

Advergaming is a conceptthat is presently generating alarge amount of debate,interest and revenue in theUnited States' market. Already,a wide variety of offline brandsincluding Jack Daniels, QuakerMills, Nabisco, ParamountPictures, and Nike have allexperimented withadvergaming. However, theconcept has seen littlediscussion and virtually nomarket action in Asia. Thispresents the team anopportunity to be the firstmover in this arena.

Interactive gaming is

growing faster than any otherform of entertainment, to thetune of US$6.5 billion in 2000.Electronic gaming (excludinghardware) reached US$10.1billion in 2002, surpassingmovie ticket revenue.Advertising revenues fromonline gaming alone will reachUS$1 billion dollars by the year2005 *.

In terms of mobile gamingalone, it is estimated thatthere will be 120 millionmobile gamers worldwide by2006 and that the mobilegaming market will hit US$6Billion in the same year, withUS$1.4 billion of thataccounting for mobileadvergames.

In Singapore alone, the totaladvertising expenditure inSingapore reached S$1.6 billionin 2002. With IMfinity taking alead role in evangelizing

advergames for the region, therecould be a significant portion ofthis market to be had.

Currently the team isdeveloping their products as wellas providing technologysolutions on a contractual basis.Readers may wish to visit thewebsite at www.imfinity.com formore information.

The finalist team ViometriX(CHiPES) :

The team, CHiPES (laterrenamed to ViometriX), consistedof Saurav Bhattacharyya (TeamLeader), Dr ThambipillaiSrikanthan, and Ashish Panda.They won the prize for the BestExecutive Summary in the firstround and were awarded a MeritPrize in the finals, of acompetition that attracted over200 entries nationwide.

The Imfinity team

NTU School of ComputerEngineering Teams at finals of the Business Plan Competition

- Startup@Singapore


f e a t u r e


"The motivation behindcompeting was to gauge thereaction and interest level ofthe investors, VC's andbusiness angels in the variousjudging panels to see whatthey thought of the feasibilityof our business proposal basedon the Voice AuthenticationTechnology developed atCHiPES. Since the commercialvalue of a technology can onlybe judged by a sound businessproposal, we thought it wouldbe prudent to gauge theinvestability of the ventureprior to any developmenttowards commercialexploitation.StartUp@Singapore providedexactly this opportunity!"

In a voice based identityverification application, aperson is first enrolled usingfew minutes of speech sample.Following which, the personpresents a short phrase asverification of the claimedidentity, which is then verifiedautomatically by he algorithm.Biometrics solutions have awide range of applications,ranging from security foraccount access and physicallocation access, to consumerapplications providingconvenience throughbiometrics identity verification.The primary advantage ofvoice-based verification ofidentity is in the minimalistrequirement of only amicrophone on the interfacingdevice. Whereas, otherbiometrics techniques require

relatively more expensiveinterfacing devices such asfingerprint scanner, iris scanner,etc. Voice based Biometricsalso particularly suits therequirements of mobilecommerce in the nextgeneration of payment services.

Voice Authenticationalgorithms have been a topic ofresearch in the Centre for HighPerformance Embedded Systems(CHiPES) for the past 4-5 years.The target area has been VoiceAuthentication IntegratedCircuits (IC) for the low costembedded applications.However, with the anticipatedfaster proliferation of thistechnology in the enterpriseapplications markets, such ascall centers and accountmanagement services, thebusiness proposal put forwardconcentrates on these marketverticals first.

As a business, voice basedidentity verification is projectedto occupy an increased share ofthe growing biometricsapplication market. Itsubiquitous nature anddiversified applications promisequick return on investmentgiven its competitiveadvantages, high customeracceptance, early adoptionbenefits, reduced costs andincreased security - presentingan appealing proposition toinvestors. �

The ViometriX team

* It's Not Only a Game -Advergaming Set To Become A Billion Dollar Industry,Lawrence Pintak, TurboAds.com,May 23, 2001

"Now that you have stepped down from being dean, how do youfeel...?"

That is the question I have often been asked since June 1. (Bythe way, I never felt comfortable with the term "stepping down,"since I did not think I was UP there in the first place. But, that'sanother story.)

So how do I feel?Firstly, I feel relieved. I never realized how much the deanship

has been a psychological burden for me until now. Now I don'thave to have my handphone on all the time, just in case there isan urgent SARS alarm involving SCI students or staff. I don't haveto worry about another report with a looming deadline. I don'teven have to make decisions! It's a relief knowing these day-to-day responsibilities will now be in the hands of a capablecolleague and his young team.

Secondly, I am grateful.On reflection, I can't help feeling grateful that I was given the

opportunity to begin a new School 11 years ago. I'm grateful thatwe have had so many really great and devoted staff who helpedset up the curriculum, implement the program, and are doing wellin teaching and research. And I'm grateful for the support theSchool has received all these years, both within Singapore andinternationally. With much hard work, some good luck, and a lotof good will, we have made it. I think we have something to beproud of. So let's build on what we have accomplished and moveon to make this an even greater institution. I think I know evenbetter than others which areas need fixing. We can do it.

Do I miss anything? Sure I do. I miss the roof garden, whichhas grown and matured since 1996. I miss the little love birdswho visited me once in a while, generous in sharing theirhappiness. Maybe they will come to visit me at the third floor,once they find out where I am now.

Best to all.

Eddie

How Do YouFeel...?By Eddie Kuo


Professor Su Guaningspoke at his firstMandarin public lecture

on July 26, 2003 which wasjointly organized by the TanKah Kee International Societyand the Tan Kah KeeFoundation. The public lectureattracted an audience of 600people, mostly made up ofNantah alumni.

Speaking on the topic "FromNanyang University to NanyangTechnological University -Revisiting the Past andLooking to the Future", Prof Susaid, "It is not possible to runa school in a retro fashion inthe 21st century.”

"Instead of looking back toomuch, we should set our sightsto the future." NTU is set tobecome a comprehensiveuniversity in 2005 when threenew schools, namely theSchools of Humanities andSocial Sciences, PhysicalSciences and Design and Mediaare added to her name. Thereis also the preposition of aname change from NTU to NUin 2005, the year that wouldcoincide with the 50thanniversary of the founding ofthe old Nantah.

To bridge the 30-year gap inhistory for NU and NTU, ProfSu said that it is an opportunetime now, to incorporate theNantah spirit into the campus.

"We are equipped with astrong foundation and wepossess great potential but we

have yet to instill an importantresource, that is, the heritageand spirit of NanyangUniversity," Prof Su said.

Prof Su also said thatcultivating the Nantah spirit isa task that will take time. "Itmay be a little late to startincorporating the Nantah spiritin our school grounds but it isa necessary move for the futureof our students and the futuredevelopment of our country,"Prof Su said.

Madam Yan Voon Chin, 50, aMandarin teacher with FajarSecondary School, was one ofthe NU alumni who turned upfor the lecture.

Madam Yan said, "It is onlywhen we understand the painsinvolved in the setting up ofNanyang University andrecognize the contributions ofour predecessors, that we canbetter appreciate what we havenow."

On the topic of Chineseeducation in Singapore, Prof Subrought up the point in hisspeech that there is now aclimate worldwide for the

learning of Mandarin as abusiness language. Therefore,promoting the Chineselanguage now has its economicand practical value forSingapore.

"My plans and vision for thefuture of NTU are closelyaligned to the futuredevelopment of Singapore'seducation policies," said ProfSu.

While NTU has no plans torevert to Mandarin as ateaching medium, Prof Su saidthat the university wouldnurture an environmentconducive for students to takeup Mandarin and learn aboutChinese culture while pursuingtheir course of study. Studentscan also choose to take upChinese as a minor subject.

Furthermore, the universitywill focus on setting up aChinese department with highstandards that would excel inthe Southeast and East Asiaregion.

With plans underway, Prof Sumentioned that BeijingUniversity president Xu

Zhihong has joined the NTUmanagement council for a two-year tenure, with effect fromJuly 1. In addition, Taiwaneserenowned author Madam LongYingtai has been invited tojoin the university.

Prof Su said that under thisplan, the school would invitelecturers from BeijingUniversity to NTU as visitingprofessors for two years, whileour students get to attendlessons at Beijing University.

Lim Huiling, 21, a third-yearCommunication andInformation student who wentto Fudan University inShanghai under theInternational Student ExchangeProgram from February to June2003, supports the idea above.

Lim said, "The exposure to adifferent education system willtrain our students to becomemore independent learners.

"And by overcominglanguage barriers, one will alsogain an insight into the humanmechanism behind China'seconomic and culturalenvironment."

On the link between pastand present, Prof Su said,"With 25 years of the oldNantah background, we will seeNTU playing a special anddifferent role from the othertertiary institutions, in thefuture development ofSingapore's education system."

�


f e a t u r e

Prof Su and Prof Wang Gungwu, Director, East Asian Institute

From Nanyang University toNanyang Technological UniversityRevisiting the Past and Looking to the Future

By Bernadette Goh


a r o u n d t h e S c h o o l s

NTU DESIGNS HIGH-PERFORMANCE 10-GHZVCO IN CHARTERED 0.18-MICRON RF CMOSPROCESS

Associate Professor YeoKiat Seng (alumnus of NTU),Professor Do Manh Anh andAssociate Professor Ma Jian-Guo from the Centre for

Integrated Circuit & Systems(CICS), School of EEE, havesuccessfully designed andfabricated a high-performancelow-power 10-GHz voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO).This research work wasperformed using CharteredSemiconductorManufacturing Ltd, one of

the world's top threededicated silicon foundries,cost-effective RF CMOStechnology.

This achievement isconsidered an industrybreakthrough for RFintegrated circuit design asmost 10-GHz VCO circuitscommercially available today

are manufactured using themore costly compoundsemiconductor or silicongermanium processes. High-speed, high-performanceVCOs are integral RFcomponents for supportingrapid data transmission bywireless and opticalcommunications networks.

MAKING STRONGINROADS IN CHINA WITHNBS CHINESE EXECUTIVEPROGRAMME

Nanyang Business School'sNanyang ExecutiveProgramme (Mandarin) hasbeen making strong in roadsto establish itself as a highprofile provider of advancedtraining for China's high-ranking officials, thusstrengthening existing tieswith the rising business hub.

Associate Professor CaoYong, the Programme'sDirector, believes that thereasons for the success ofthe programme is due to itsSingapore location, Globalyet Asian practices,effectively bilingual faculty,strong consultancy andindustry experience,specialist expertise andstrong understanding of theChinese market.

"Singapore has the uniqueability to blend both Asianand Western practices in away that is relevant toChina's current economicdevelopment," Says ProfCao Yong. "Firstly,participants don't havelanguage barriers, secondlyand mostly importantly, theycan communicate withspeakers who have extensiveexperience, knowledge andinternational exposure tovarious advanced economicmanagement topics."

The faculty who hail fromboth China and Singaporecan effectively transfer theknowledge of westerntheories and experiences tothe Chinese officials. Manyunderstand the Chinesemarket, mentalities andculture and yet are familiarwith Western andSingaporean practices havestudied in the West.

The NBS NanyangExecutive Programme(Mandarin) has beenconducting trainingprogrammes for seniorofficials from Chinesegovernment or government-related organizations and hastrained about 2000 officialsover the past 10 years. Thenumber and intensity of theprogrammes has beensteadily increasing.

Last year in particular, theNBS Nanyang ExecutiveProgramme (Mandarin)trained over 290 seniorofficials from organizationssuch as the World Tradeorganization, Senior PartyCadres and Changchun City,GuangZhou TelecomIndustry, Zhongshan City andChina Aerospace Scienceand Industry Corporation.

The Singapore economicdevelopment experience wasintroduced to everyprogramme to give theparticipants knowledge onhow Singapore's economy

has developed into itscurrent stage. Participantsalso visited many Singaporegovernment bodies such asIE Singapore, URA, HDB,CPF; government-linkedcompanies like UOB, PSA,and some privatecompanies. The participant'sfelt that the course wasextremely relevant asSingapore's economicdevelopment andmanagement experience iscomparable to China'scurrent development. Theyalso found the learningexperience varied as theywere not confined to aclassroom, but got toobserve how Singaporeworks firsthand duringcompany visits.

Prof Cao also feels thatefforts to maintainfriendships with participantsand to try to understand andmeet their needs have alsoenhanced the reputation ofthe programme. Theprogramme's staff alsomaintains ties with those whohave completed the training.

The NBS NanyangExecutive Programme(Mandarin) has also signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding with theChinese Association for theInternational Exchange ofPersonnel (CAIEP) in whichNBS was recognized as animportant overseas training

institution for top officialsfrom China.

CAIEP is a specialassociation under the centralChinese government thatmanages personnelexchange between Chinaand developed countries.Under Chinese governmentregulations, overseas trainingprograms for governmentofficials have to obtainapproval from thisassociation.

"Having the recognition ofCAIEP is important to NBSas it means that the qualityof our training programmesis highly trusted to trainofficials from such high levelgovernment positions," saysProf Cao.

Apart from NanyangExecutive Programme(Mandarin), NBS alsoconducts a Master of Scienceprogramme in ManagerialEconomics otherwise knownas the Mayor's class. Thereare currently about 300 Msc(ME) alumni who are ViceGovernors and Mayors inseveral Chinese provinces orDirectors in the centralgovernment.

Participants from Zhongshan

City, Guangdong on a visit to a

logistics management company

in Singapore


14 aroundSch KHL 24/09/2003 21:06 Page 14

Have you ever wishedthat common chores likegrocery shopping would

be more fun? Imagine going tothe supermarket and nothaving to bring your shoppinglist -- because it appears on avideo screen on your shoppingcart. Imagine your "smart cart"letting you know when youcome to items you want topurchase, and directing youthrough the store to items onyour shopping list. Imaginethe smart cart letting youknow when your friends arealso shopping in the store.Finally, imagine skipping theline at the checkout -- becauseyour smart cart has alreadytotaled your purchases and letsyou pay by touching a buttonon the screen.

Well, with a touch of .NET, asplash of XML Web Services anda host of devices, a team offour final year undergraduatesfrom NTU School of ComputerEngineering has really managedto spice up a trip to thesupermarket. The age of the"Super Shopper" has dawned.

The team earlier won theAsia Pacific Final of theStudent .Net Competition,beating 3000 teams from topUniversities in the region. Thefour winning students -Harishankar Vijayarajan, KapilVaidyanathan, AnumehaBisaria, all 21, and KunalTalwar, 22, went on torepresent the Asia Pacificregion at the "Imagine Cup" -Microsoft's Worldwide .NETCompetition featuring 14countries from Europe, Asia,Africa and America, atMicrosoft TechED in Barcelona,Spain from June 30 to July 4this year and came in joint-

third (In total, more than100,000 students from 25countries participated in theImagine Cup).

The competition, sponsoredby Microsoft, is designed tohelp today's student developersrealize their potential -- aswell as the potential of thesoftware solutions they dreamup. The contest encouragescreativity and imaginationamong students by askingthem to develop innovativesoftware applicationsshowcasing the MicrosoftWindows platform andMicrosoft .NET Framework forcreating Web services --software that connects people,platforms, software anddevices, allowing them toshare information and servicesover the Internet.

The team invented"AutoShop", what is believedto be the world's first wirelesssupermarket automationsystem exploring a host of webservices and cross platformapplications developed on thestate-of-the-art Microsoft .NETplatform. It aims to take thepain out of grocery shoppingthrough a wireless minicomputer complete with atouch screen and barcodereader, which is attached tosupermarket trolleys so thatcustomers can convenientlyself-checkout their items.Autoshop is a unique andrefreshing solution to manyreal world problems and isguaranteed to revolutionize theentire shopping experience byeliminating long queues insupermarket check out linesand empowering shoppers withvital information at theirfingertips, thereby, making


C o v e r S t o r y

Wheredo youwant toshoptoday?Road to the Imagine Cup @Microsoft TechED, Barcelona-July 2003.

Student team from SCE does NTU proud!

16to18CoverStoryAug KHL 24/09/2003 21:07 Page 16

lives of millions of shoppersaround the world easier andmore enjoyable.

Earlier this year, the fourstudents represented Singapore

and beat 3,000 teamscomprising 15,000 studentsfrom 11 countries to win theAsia Pacific Finals of theMicrosoft Asia Student .NET

Competition 2003 in Beijing,China this year. Theirapplication was demonstratedto 10,000 people at Beijing'sOlympic Stadium in February


The winning team at the Asia

Pacific Final of the Student .Net

Competition, receiving their

award from Bill Gates.

The team representing the Asia

Pacific region at the "Imagine

Cup" - Microsoft's Worldwide

.NET Competition. From right;

Kapil Vaidyanathan, Anumeha

Bisaria, Harishankar

Vijayarajan, Kunal Talwar.


and the team was presentedwith next generation AcerTravelMate Tablet PC's by noneother than Microsoft Chairmanand Chief Software Architect,Bill Gates. It was the mostamazing and inspiring momentwhen Bill Gates shook handsand said 'Good job, amazingapplication.'

The team also won at;- College of Engineering

Technology Week, NTU: Gold Award

- Winner of SingaporeWireless Challenge 2003

- CISCO Special Award: Most Innovative WirelessSolution

How the system works:Instead of inserting a $1 coininto the slot to remove atrolley, customers use amembership smart card givento them by the shop. Thecomputer, which is connectedwirelessly to the supermarket'slocal area network, allows thecustomer to do things like:

- Create a virtual shoppinglist at home - sortingdifferent brands of, say,biscuits by price ornumber of calories - thislist can be downloaded atthe supermarket onto thecart's computer

- Find out their total bill -as the shopper scans theitem over a barcodereader on the trolley, theitem is ticked off hisvirtual list and spendingis added up as he/shegoes along and displayedon the screen in real time;

- Locate where differentitems are, with the helpof a powerful WirelessSearch Engine. Thecomputer screen can showthe customer where he is,and how to get to theitem in question using aninteractive map displayedon the screen;

- Redeem discountcoupons/loyalty rewardssent by the store to acustomer's mobile phonevia Multimedia MessagingService (MMS). Thecoupon can be scanned bythe barcode reader and beinstantly reflected on thebill;

- Find a friend [using MSNalerts similar to MSNMessenger] when a friendchecks out a shoppingcart with his smart card.Shopping is a socialexperience and can bemade more fun if youshop with friends;

There are also benefits forsupermarkets which use theprogram - the device can helpcut down queues at the pointof sale, as the cost of items foreach customer will havealready been totaled.

Wireless advertisements aresent to every shopping cart - Arevenue generating model forthe supermarket.

And because the items arebeing monitored as eachshopper makes a purchase, thesystem will alert storeemployees via SMS when stocksare running low, so they donot have to go around takingstock manually.

The system can even preventtheft. A sensitive weightsensor is fitted to each "SmartCart" and this can tell if theweight of the items in thebasket corresponds with whatthe user has scanned.

At the end of the day, we'dlike to make shopping at thesupermarket an easier, fasterand more enjoyable experience,especially for men, who don'tusually like doing it but maybe enticed by being able touse a cool device. �


The shopping trolley

of the future, with

the 'Autoshop' facility

Together with their

supervisor, Asst/P Yow

Kin Choong, SCE


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n e w s r o u n d u p

FAREWELL DINNER FOR GRADUATES OF MSC MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS PROGRAMME

By Ms Wu Zhen, Senior Manager

19 NTUlinkAug 24/09/2003 21:08 Page 19

ENERGY FROM GROUPLEARNING ENERGISESNBS FACULTY

In a bid to stay ahead ofthe pack, in the realm ofeffective learning andteaching methods, NBSrecently held a three-dayworkshop from 7 July 2003for its teaching staff.

"Called 'CooperativeLearning in the CollegeClassroom', the workshopwas conducted to promoteactive learning and enhancevalue to the students",stated Prof. Gillian Yeo,Dean (Accountancy).

Cooperative Learning isdefined as "instruction thatinvolves people working inteams to accomplish acommon goal, underconditions that involve bothpositive interdependence(all members mustcooperate to complete thetask) and individual andgroup accountability (eachmember is accountable forthe complete finaloutcome)".

Prof. Karl A. Smith wasinvited to conduct theworkshop "because of hisextensive research in activelearning, learning strategiesand his [innate] ability toenergize large classes",explained Prof. Yeo.

Prof. Karl A. Smith, fromthe University of Minnesota,uniquely, is an engineer bytraining. He went on to gainexpertise in Educational

Psychology, teachingcourses on building modelsto solve problems, fromProject Management intechnology firms toconducting workshopsworldwide.

With about 103participants spread over twoweeks, everyone was takenon an educational roller-coaster ride of interactiveand active learning, throughsharing of experiences,problems and solutions in aclassroom setting.

According to Prof. Smith,via cooperative learning,more students are able tolearn more at a quickerpace, as compared to anindividual student learningon his/her own. In a group,students learn to see myriadviewpoints, ideas, whilegetting insights into otherindividuals in the group.

Participants learnt how toorganize small and effectivestudent groups by beingmore involved ininterpersonal interactions,taking into account theirindividual strengths andweaknesses, so as to bettermeet, if not exceed,curriculum objectives.

"At the end of the day,students have a moreaccurate perspective ofothers", explained Prof.Smith. This is the key benefitderived from thecooperative learningmethod.

The participants also cameout of the workshop havinga better understanding ofrole play and groupdynamics through variousexercises.

Also, through cooperativelearning, apathetic studentsreceive peer encouragementand support, thus providingthem the motivation theyneed. This adds direct valueto the students at NBS, byenhancing their learningexperiences through positivereinforcements.

In this day and age ofglobalization, such alearning method helps thediverse blend of culturesbetter understand eachother, themselves, whilesimultaneously gaininggreater respect forrespective cultures. WithNBS' fair mix of local andinternational students, thecooperative learningmethod will certainly proveto be a valuable asset.

Prof. Gillian stated thatmany of the faculty

members were keen onhaving Prof. Smith again,and having other similarworkshops in the future. No definite plans yet butProf. Gillian is certainlyencouraged by the positivefeedback from theparticipants and she hopesthat many of them willemploy the skills andstrategies learnt, in theirclasses.

"In fact, I plan to startusing some of the thingsthat I have learnt here in thecoming semester. It is easyto implement them as thereis no equipment needed",reinforced AP Valerie Low,one of the energizedparticipants.

It was a nice change tosee role reversal at play, orwork, whichever way youchoose to see it. One thingfor sure, teaching (andlearning) methods at NBSwill constantly be updatedand "re-energized".

NANYANG BUSINESSSCHOOL CAREERCONNECT TALK By Undergraduate Programmes Officeand Alumni Relations Office

In collaboration with theNBS Alumni Association, ourstudent club, ABC organized

a career talk session - CareerConnect - on 18 February atLT26. The following alumnispoke to and interacted withour students regardingcareer prospects in the areasof risk management,

banking, entrepreneurship,human resources, etc.* Mr Quan Cher Siong from

IBM

* Mr Uantchern Loh from

Ernst & Young and our

current NBSAA President

* Mr Patrick Chew from OCBC

* Mr Lim Chee Keong,

an IT entrepreneur

* Mr Ong Chao Choon from

PricewaterhouseCoopers

* Mr Lance Ng, Citibank



20to22newsRoundUpAug KHL 24/09/2003 21:10 Page 20


NANYANG BUSINESSSCHOOL ALUMNIASSOCIATIONMINISTERIAL FORUMSBy Poon Wei Ling, Manager, AlumniRelations (MBA, 2002) NanyangBusiness School

The Nanyang BusinessSchool Alumni Associationhad the privilege of not onlyhaving one, but twoministers speak at twoseparate closed door forums

in May and June. Mr Tharman

Shanmugaratnam, ActingMinister for Education, spokeon the "EconomicRestructuring and the Macro-Economic Environment" onthe evening of 21st May2003.

This was followed by thenext closed door forum on10th June 2003 by Dr VivianBalakrishnan, Minister of

State, Ministry of NationalDevelopment and Ministry ofTrade and Industry on the"Impact of Remaking on ourNext Generation".

In both forums, there was alively question and answersession between our alumniand the Ministers. It wasindeed a rare opportunity forour alumni and faculty tochat informally with theMinisters on the future ofSingapore and share views.

ABOUT THE NANYANGBUSINESS SCHOOLALUMNI ASSOCIATION(www.nbsaa.org)

The Nanyang BusinessSchool Alumni Associationwas established for thepurpose of fostering in ourgraduates a sense of identitywith the School and itspredecessor schools (atSingapore Polytechnic,University of Singapore andNational University ofSingapore) as well asproviding a means by whichgraduates of the School canstill keep in touch with oneanother and with facultymembers.

Sign up for the NBSAAmembership online at

www.nbs.ntu.edu.sg/alumni. Membership fees are now

waived. Or [email protected] formore details.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THENBSAA ANNUAL GENERALMEETING (AGM) INSEPTEMBER

Calling all alumni who areinterested to serve asexecutive committeemembers of the NanyangBusiness School AlumniAssociation.

Prior to the AnnualGeneral Meeting, there willbe a session to personallymeet up with the currentalumni president, MrUantchern Loh (B Acc, 1987)and understand more aboutthe running of the alumniassociation and its chartermoving forward.

So be part of the teamthat helps to contribute tothe development of theschool and our alumnicommunity, and theopportunity grow your ownpersonal network andcontacts.

For more information,email [email protected]

L'OREAL MARKETINGAWARD 2003

Following up on thesuccess of our three studentsat the Singapore NationalFinals for the L'OrealMarketing Award in March2003, our Nanyang BusinessSchool (NBS) students,Grace, Shwu Jiun and YamYam, once again made aclean sweep of all awards atthe Paris International Finalsheld in late May. They arethe International Championsfor the 2003 L'Oreal

Marketing Award. To add tothis remarkable achievement,the students have alsobagged the BestCommunication Prize at theInternational Finals.

This is a great achievementby our NBS students.Indeed they have not onlydone the School and NTUproud, but Singapore as well

by coming up tops in thecompetition which bringstogether 18 other teamsfrom around the world. It isespecially special given thatthis is also the first time in 10years of the competition thatAsia has won the award,which had previously beendominated by USA andEurope. The second-place

winner for the Award wasSwitzerland, while Spain andGermany were joint third-placed winners. NBS andNTU are most grateful toL'Oreal Singapore forproviding this wonderfullearning opportunity to ourstudents.

Congratulations to Grace,Yam Yam and Shwu Jiun for ajob well done! The Schoolalso wishes the three ladies abright future working withL'Oreal Singapore.





2003 TEACHER OF THEYEAR AWARDSCEREMONY

An award ceremony torecognize outstanding NBSTeachers of 2003 was heldon 22 March, LT 22, 1030am.Alumni, faculty and existingstudents were present at theceremony to celebrate thehappy occasion with them.

The winners for 2003 are:

In addition to the aboveacademic recognition, ourstudent club, ABC, also gaveout some "colourful" awards

to their teachers. Studentpolling was earlier

conducted and revealed thefollowing winners:

ABC Awards WinnersJack Neo Award - Funniest/Most Entertaining Teacher Award

Asst Prof Poh Eng HinRunaway Model Award - Best Dressed Teacher Award

Asst Prof Lim-Lum Kit WyeAssoc Prof Roger Marshall

Bill Gates Award - Most Entrepreneurial/Sophisticated AwardAssoc Prof Roger Marshall

Most Unlike the - Most Approachable Award"Weakest Link" Assoc Prof Pearl Tan Hock Neo

MC Award Assoc Prof Ng Eng Juan

Teacher of the Year (Accountancy) -

Assoc Prof Ng Eng Juan

Teacher of the Year (Business) -

Assoc Prof Ian McGovern

CCHHIINA NNA NITE - RITE - ROOOOTITINNGGIIN CN CHHIINANABy Ramesh Veeramuthu, Nanyang

MBA Alumni Committee

Following the footsteps ofthe successful CEO Niteevent in January 2003,Nanyang MBA AlumniAssociation organised yetanother exciting event -China Nite on 27 March 03."Rooting in China - TheHow's in Growing andSurviving in China" was thecentral theme. It was anideal platform for speakersfrom academia and industryto share their Chinaexperience.

Mr James Kho, Founderand Executive Chairman ofDSC Solutions Ltd and MrGoh Khon Chong, HumanResource Director of GlobalAssembly and TestOperations of FairchildSemiconductor were theguest speakers. The eventwas kicked off with thewelcome address from MrTerence Chan, President ofNanyang MBA AlumniAssociation.

The event was chaired byProfessor Wee Chow Hou,Chairman of the NanyangExecutive Programme,Nanyang Business School.Professor Wee shared histeaching and consulting

experience in China. Heemphasised three points inorder to grow in a complexmarket like China. Firstly,understanding the localmarket is essential asconsumer tastes andpreferences are notconsistent in different partsof China. The business musthave something of value tooffer to the marketplace.Secondly, we need to treatevery market as a foreignmarket. We need to be there- be rooted in the market todo well. Last but not least,we need to send our bestemployee or employ thelocal talents to run thebusiness. If one wants to besuccessful, one need to givethe best brand in thatproduct segment was theadvice given by ProfessorWee.

Mr Goh Khon Chongshared some of thechallenges in people issues.It is all the more difficult tomanage the human resourcein a country like China, withthe huge work force. Hehighlighted few key issueson how to attract the besttalent, how to offer the rightcompensation packages,how to provide the essentialbenefits and services, andhow to give the appropriate

rewards and recognitions toretain them.

On the other hand, MrJames Kho, emphasised thatdoing business in China islike an art. He said that oneneed to have the rightingredient in the rightproportion to run a good

show. He stressed thatmindset; passion anddetermination are vital tosurviving in China.

The session ended with alively Q&A session chairedby Professor Wee.

Mr Terence Chanpresenting atoken ofappreciation toProf Wee ChowHou.

Reception after the seminar.

A lively discussion with the panel of speakers - from left to right- Mr Goh Khon Chong, Professor Wee Chow Hou, Mr JamesKho and Mr Terrence Chan.


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