The mission of Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) have been clear right from the start: to groom and develop future-ready leaders who are well-trained in industry knowledge and highly demanded by employers. To achieve these, SIT centres its curriculum on technical knowledge and applied learning. Its flagship Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP) requires all SIT undergraduates to immerse themselves fully in the industry for eight to 12 months to gain a full perspective of their fields of expertise before stepping foot into the corporate world.
Ang Guo Gen and Lim Xing Yi, recent graduates with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Information and Communications Technology, have these to say of their education at SIT, and the secured future they are about to embark on.
ANG GUO GEN
Systems Engineer, Cyber Security Agency Singapore
Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Information and Communications Technology (Information Security)
I chose SIT for the Integrated Work Study Programme.
"As an information security consultant at Wizlynx Group during my IWSP, I was tasked with performing various assessments and solving industry problems for customers worldwide. These included mobile and web application penetration testings, network vulnerability assessment, and data security configuration review.
I worked with colleagues from Mexico, China, and Switzerland as Wizlynx Group is an international company with offices all around the globe. I was also given the opportunity to take part in an industry-level Capture-The-Flag competition with my IWSP supervisor where I learned different strategies in attacking, defending, and solving tasks.
The greatest takeaway from my IWSP would be the skills, professional work ethics, and network connections gained during the period. It equipped me with the understanding of how the industry worked and how I could contribute to it, based on the theoretical and practical skillsets I learned at SIT.”
Ixia Cyber Combat 2017 – Champion (1st from left)
SIT transitioned me into a highlyspecialised professional with deep technical expertise.
“Throughout the pursuit of my degree, I have participated in many competitions to hone my information security technical skills and knowledge. It allowed me to further improve my learning by performing research and conducting studies to master the unsolved challenges after the competitions.
I am now working as a systems engineer performing pentesting and security assessments at the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, the national agency overseeing cybersecurity strategy and operation, education, outreach and ecosystem development, which is part of the Prime Minister’s Office and managed by the Ministry of Communications and Information. As SIT’s education is practice oriented and industry-focused, I believe I am well-equipped to excel in my role and contribute back to society, which was the reason I got into the information and communications technology industry in the first place.
Lim Xing Yi
Digital Business Technologist, StarHub Ltd
Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Information and Communications Technology (Software Engineering)
One of the unique features of my degree programmes is that the capstone project is set by the company during the IWSP. I find this approach meaningful and valuable.
“I did not implement a project simply for grading purposes, but served it as a real-world project for LDR Pte Ltd, where I was attached to for my IWSP. As a mobile app developer, I applied the knowledge I had gained at SIT, such as conducting usability test for user experience, and secure coding methodology by performing source code analysis. Besides that, I had picked up new programming languages, such as Swift 3, and extended my knowledge in one of the NoSQL databases, such as MongoDB.
The IWSP is a good platform for undergraduates to further explore their own interests and assess their capabilities, in terms of the type of industry and job scope that suits them before stepping out into the workforce.”
SIT’s applied learning pedagogy defintely trains and prepares graduates like me to be industry-ready. I am honoured to have won the Singapore Valley Award 2018 and earned a three-month internship with internet company 2345.com in China.
“I gained first-hand insight into the huge mobile app market in China and how the cashless society operates. As an assistant web software engineer, I have learned from my manager at 2345.com on how to be flexible and adaptable to changes to support increasing demand during peak periods.
Although I had prior working experience, SIT’s holistic curriculum allowed me to learn various software engineering practices that I was not previously exposed to in my previous employment. For example, we not only covered platforms that can be programmed, but also areas such as user experience, software performance, security, and project management which are essential to building quality software. The applied knowledge and invaluable soft skills that I learned at SIT have undoubtedly enriched my experience and deepened my technical skillsets, as I begin my career at StarHub.”
Internship at 2345.com in China
This article was adapted from the BrightMinds 2018: Polytechnic and University Edition with the permission of CareerBuilder Singapore.
