Speeches
Speech by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence, at the Official Opening Ceremony of the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Building at the Nanyang Technological University on Tuesday, 21 July 2009, at 10.30am
Dr Su Guaning, President of NTU;
Conference Delegates;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good morning
It gives me great pleasure to join you here today for the official opening of the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) Building at the Nanyang Technological University.
Growth of NTU as Comprehensive University
The expansion of NTU was one of the key recommendations of the Committee to Review the University Sector and Graduate Manpower Planning (USR), which I chaired in 2003. The addition of three new faculties — SPMS, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and School of Art, Design and Media — would allow NTU to be a comprehensive University, instead of one based primarily on Science and Technology (S&T).
To be a comprehensive University was the not the goal per se, but a step forward for NTU, i.e. adding new faculties to encompass broader spheres in itself could not guarantee that NTU would advance in its standing. Instead, proponents argued then, that NTU could derive synergy from cross-disciplinary interactions to offer students a more diverse and richer learning experience. This would also enable NTU to spearhead R&D with a broader faculty base and expertise in more disciplines, and allow them to excel at the interfaces of disciplines. The International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP), comprising eminent academics and corporate leaders, endorsed the recommendations of the Committee at its 4th meeting. The Panel was strongly in favour of NTU’s move to deliver a broad-based education, as this would contribute to the development of future researchers and entrepreneurs.
These were all strong arguments to support the expansion of NTU. It would be appropriate then to make this caveat on the official opening of the SPMS, and that this is a good beginning but more will need to be done to achieve the goals that NTU set out for itself.
NTU Has Achieved Much Since Its Establishment
The next lap for NTU will be a steeper incline towards a more rarified competitive landscape. To move up, NTU must marshal all its resources, map out strategic goals and then bring along its faculty and students. This will require strong, united and visionary leadership and watchful implementation. To be sure, NTU has achieved much and built strong foundations since its early days. NTU’s international reputation as a global university has been growing steadily. From its humble beginnings to the establishment of the Nanyang Technological Institute in 1981 with 582 students and 15 faculty, NTU is now home to more than 21,000 undergraduates, 9,000 graduate students as well as 5,000 faculty and staff from across the globe.
NTU has been able to attract and retain top quality faculty. Amongst its distinguished faculty are Professor Kerry Sieh, one of the foremost seismologists and tectonicists in the world, and Provost Bertil Andersson, a Trustee of the Nobel Foundation. Other global academic leaders at NTU include Professor Tan Kong Yam, former Chief Economist of Singapore and Senior Economist for the World Bank in China; Professor Seah Hock Soon, a computer graphics expert and inventor of a breakthrough drawing and animation system; and Professor Ng Wun Jern, a pioneer in environmental engineering and recipient of the ASEAN Engineering Award. I am pleased to note that the SPMS alone has attracted the highest concentration of National Research Foundation Fellows in the nation, with scholars like Dr Steve Zhou from the University of Illinois and Dr Christos Panagopoulos from the University of Cambridge. The confluence of bright students and eminent faculty will continue to enrich NTU’s learning environment, and add vibrancy and diversity to NTU.
NTU has also grown into one of the biggest engineering colleges in the world, and built up a strong reputation in its business school. Nanyang Business School’s (NBS) MBA programme has jumped more than 20 places to be ranked 24th in the world in the prestigious Financial Times 2009 Global MBA Rankings. This places the NBS in the league of elite business schools worldwide.
The strategic networks that NTU has established with renowned overseas universities have led to meaningful and diverse collaborations. Just in April this year, NTU initiated the launch of the Global Alliance of Technological Universities cementing its position as one of the world’s foremost engineering-based universities. Led by President Su as its first Chairman, the Alliance brings together six other top technological universities such as the California Institute of Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University for greater collaborations in S&T. NTU also recently launched joint PhD programmes in engineering and science in partnership with Imperial College London - the first time Imperial College has done so with a partner university.
NTU has also been successful in establishing its name in China, which will be a dominant economic power in the coming decades. In addition, NTU’s Confucius Institute, set up in collaboration with China’s Shandong University and the Office of Chinese Language Council International, can promote the Chinese language and culture in Singapore and beyond, and help the rest of the world understand China better.
Challenges and Strategic Goals for the Next Decade
For the next lap, NTU will have to address key questions: How can NTU leverage on these valuable assets it has built in the last 30 years? In what fields should it seek to distinguish and differentiate itself, to be among the best, bearing in mind that it is not realistic for any University to excel in all fields? What synergies can it draw from its diverse base of expertise and networks? What is special about NTU and how does NTU maintain if not sharpen this? What roles must faculty play and do they buy-in to this vision? How can NTU support faculty members so that they can help the University progress? Without the full hearted support of key faculty, NTU cannot advance. I understand that NTU’s Board, President and senior management will address these challenges in an upcoming strategic visioning exercise. This is timely and critical. I urge all of you to provide valuable inputs but once the directions are set, be resolute and united on the tasks at hand to move NTU decisively.
Going forward, the changing domestic and external environments will present both opportunities and challenges for NTU. Locally, the New University that will offer science and technology-based programmes in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a top Chinese university as well as the establishment of the new Singapore Institute of Applied Technology (SIAT) are two key initiatives that will transform our university landscape. NTU, with its traditional focus on Science and Technology, needs to position itself well in this new landscape. NTU too is studying the feasibility of setting up Singapore’s third medical school. This is an important and complex project, and NTU needs to accomplish this without sacrificing attention to the larger strategic goals for this University.
I strongly believe that with its networks and capabilities it has built up, NTU can position itself well to benefit richly from the Asian Century.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, in a 2008 report titled “The World in 2050: Beyond the BRICs”, predicted that China would overtake the US as the largest economy in the world in around 2025, while India’s economy would swell to 90 per cent of that of the US by 2050. The potential shift in economic influence from the West to the East can be likened to a modern “silk road” being established. While the silk road of the past served as a network of trading routes for items such as essentials and luxury goods, the “goods” of today represent a continuous flow of knowledge nodes attracting wealth and talent.
NTU can be a knowledge node along the modern “silk road”. It has already established East-West connections and partnerships among top overseas institutions from the region and beyond. NTU should also capitalize on its strengths in S&T and business, to produce distinctive graduates who are both technologically sophisticated and business savvy.
The interface between engineering and business can be richly exploited, which NTU is well-positioned to venture into. To illustrate, consider the impact of Apple’s iPhone which has threatened Nokia, the market leader’s share of the US$50 billion market for smartphones. According to Gartner Inc, a leading industry research company, Nokia’s share of worldwide smartphone sales fell to 41.2 per cent in the first quarter from 45.1 per cent in the year-earlier period, while Apple’s doubled to 10.8 per cent. The winning proposition for Apple lies not only in a superior software, but also in its ability to innovate, identify market gaps and opportunities, and create a compelling product well-known for its sleek design and user-friendly applications.
In the area of research and innovation, NTU can further build on its current capabilities and continue to invest in cutting-edge scientific research and revolutionary technological innovations across multiple disciplines. I am pleased to note that NTU is already making significant headway. The opening of the Earth Observatory of Singapore and the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute this year represent notable initiatives that will further boost NTU’s standing as a premier research-intensive university, and inspire greater scientific breakthroughs and technological advances.
Conclusion
In closing, let me congratulate NTU’s SPMS on the official opening of its building. The new facilities totaling 38,000 square metres will provide capacity for 2,800 undergraduates, 500 PhD research students and 300 faculty and staff members, and serve as excellent grounds for building networks and connecting researchers from all over the world. The conference organised in conjunction with the opening marks the beginning of more exchange, interaction, and collaboration with top international institutions and leading experts. I am confident that this will bring NTU and SPMS to greater heights, and enhance university education as well as research and development in Singapore.
It is now my pleasure to declare the new SPMS building officially open. I wish NTU and the School, as well as the students, faculty and staff every success in the years ahead.
Thank you.