An air of optimism reigned at SIT’s inaugural Enterprise Nexus 2014 on 6 November at Auditorium, SIT@Dover, where a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was ratified between SIT and the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME).
The signing ceremony marked the first broad SIT university-industry partnership on projects focusing on technology development and enterprise. Some 80 guests comprising senior management from SIT, SPRING, ASME and other industry partners, as well as more than 150 final year graduating students from the Engineering, Food and Human Nutrition degree programmes attended the event.
The evening commenced with a welcome address by Professor Tan Thiam Soon, President, SIT, who underlined the importance of building a symbiotic relationship with industry through the partnership with ASME. Guest speaker, Kurt Wee, President, ASME, who later took to the rostrum, added that the strategic alliance with SIT went beyond technology and enterprise development – intellectual property management. “As we introduce SMEs to SIT and build relationships with SIT to collaborate with, our vision is for SIT to be the home ground for SMEs to do R&D,” he said. “SIT’s model is about helping the SME develop and hold on to its intellectual property.”
The event, which was themed to ‘An Evening of Networking’, also doubled as a networking platform for SIT graduating students and SMEs, in view of another key objective of the MOU in developing and augmenting manpower capabilities in SMEs.
Tan Kai Hoe, CEO, SPRING Singapore, who acted as witness at the MOU signing ceremony, said that students typically apply for jobs at big MNCs as they may not be aware of the career opportunities available at local SMEs. He added, “SIT’s Enterprise Nexus is thus a good way to break the ice between students and companies so that graduating students may become more familiar with what SMEs have to offer.”
A lively panel discussion followed as SME executives shared tips and traded ideas with the audience on the subject of ‘A Career in SMEs – Opportunities and Benefits’.
The attendees finally broke out into the networking session and the students mingled with SME executives over drinks and food amidst a buzzing and convivial atmosphere. As the evening drew to a close, the students took home with them new career insights,invaluable contacts and a fresh perspective of SMEs.
