19 November 2012

DCP students in dialogue with Education Minister

Education Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat (seated, front, right) in dialogue with Design-Centric Programme (DCP) students. Mr Samuel Chan, 3 -year Design-Centric Programme (DCP) student taking Mechanical Engineering (seated, front, left) invited Mr Heng for the dialogue session after meeting the Minister at the launch of the Design Think Tank 2012 at the Singapore Discovery Centre in October.

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DESIGN-CENTRIC Programme (DCP) students hosted a dialogue session with the Education Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat at the NUS Engineering Design & Innovation Centre (EDIC) studio. Topics discussed were wide ranging from what DCP students can do to make the biggest impact, attributes of an engineer, getting the best out of teamwork -- to fear of failure. In order to make the biggest impact, one must focus on human, said Mr Heng. In reality, every solution creates its own problems as humans are very complex creatures. So, when brainstorming, always remember the human factor, he advised. The Minister noted that the teams have been doing a lot of self learning, through working with others from different disciplines -- and talking to other people. This is a great DCP feature which allows one to understand more about human behaviour, a great deciding factor when a solution is put to the test. Mr Heng gave the example of transportation. A typical solution to solve the growing number of cars on the road may be to expand the road system. But human behaviour is such that ownership of private cars would also increase. And the right attributes? The Minister named having collaborative skills as an important attribute. Whether an idea gets off the ground depends on team dynamics -- and the success and sustainability of the solution will depend on how well it fits into the existing system.

Engineering Dean, Prof Chan Eng Soon, giving a presentation on what DCP is all about.

Education Minister trying out a travel guide app, a project by Ms Lee Pin Qi and Mr Liau Li Ming. Accompanying the Minister is NUS Provost and Deputy President Prof Tan Eng Chye (far right).

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Solutions may not always come in the form of more gadgets or devices. He gave an anecdote on how he was looking for the restroom at a hotel and was given great service by a hotel staffer who accompanied him to show the way as it was a distance away. Along the way, he remarked that perhaps the hotel could have robots as guides. The hotel staffer answered that it may be simpler if restrooms were built nearer to function rooms in the first place. The lesson learnt here is that solutions can be kept simple instead of coming up with more and more gadgets. On the question of failure and how not to fear it, the Minister replied that a fear of failure is warranted when it may affect many others, for example, the entire company. In the case of policymakers for example, it may impact on the country with the results felt within 15 years down the road. The Ministers advice is that one should just do his or her best and with a clear conscience and take failure in your stride.

Education Minister about to start his tour of the students' projects, accompanied by Prof Tham Ming Po, Director, EDIC, Samuel and Shruti

Above: Fan Yizhong and Sriharsha Vishnu Bhat explaining to Minister and NUS Provost their project a wireless charging system for electric vehicles. Left: Azmail Fraiszudeen and Yao Jia Yi showing how their automatic catheter cleaning device works. Eight projects were on display for the Ministers review. These include: Urban farming for food security in high-density cities (Samuel Chan, Algernon Hong). Energy efficient humidity-controlled cooling system (Set Zhi Wei, Tay Xyian Xiet) Decentralised food waste recycling system (Shruti Sanjay Tandon, Erik Christianto) Travel guide device for promoting use of public transportation (Lee Pin Qi, Liau Li Ming) Rehabilitation of gait after stroke (Lim Fang Ming, Mok Qinglin)

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