10 January 2017 – Samwoh Corporation today made an endowed gift of $500,000 to support SIT’s undergraduates from the newly launched SIT-University of Glasgow (UoG) Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Civil Engineering joint degree programme, establishing a study grant and an outstanding student award. A Collaborative Agreement (CA) also signed today will see both parties establish an Industry Lab (i-Lab) to provide SIT students with early industry exposure and applied learning opportunities, on top of work-study opportunities. This endowed gift of $500,000 will make possible the Samwoh Corporation Global Immersion Study Grant and the Samwoh Corporation Outstanding Student Award, named in recognition of Samwoh’s philanthropic commitment.
The Samwoh Corporation Global Immersion Study Grant will support academically promising but financially needy Civil Engineering undergraduates. Valued at $5,000 each, this study grant will cover the recipient’s Overseas Immersion Programme (OIP) expenses. OIP is a compulsory component of the curriculum, where students will spend three weeks at the home campus of University of Glasgow, UK involved in hands-on project work, workshops and industry visits. At steady state, this study grant will benefit at least six Civil Engineering undergraduates each academic year.
The Samwoh Corporation Outstanding Student Award in Civil Engineering will be presented annually to the most outstanding student from the graduating cohort, to recognise academic and leadership excellence.
To provide an applied learning platform for students and expose them to the industry as early as possible, SIT will collaborate with Samwoh to establish an Industry Lab (i-Lab), leveraging the Samwoh Innovation Centre at Samwoh’s Kranji Crescent premise which is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for testing and evaluation of civil engineering materials. Students will benefit from this early industrial exposure and gain practical experience to solve real work problems from the industry, deepening their skillsets and competency to prepare them for employment in the industry.
In addition to the i-Lab, Samwoh will also provide several other opportunities for SIT’s students. These include Industry Induction attachments, opportunities for SIT’s distinctive Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP), where students will undertake real work at the organisation for around eight months, as well as working on Capstone (final year) projects.
“Civil engineering is one of the top ten PMET professions most in demand in Singapore. There is a strong need for local manpower with the necessary civil engineering professional qualifications to strengthen Singapore’s building and construction industry. I am heartened and certainly very appreciative of the strong support from Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd, an organisation at the forefront of this industry. Our students will benefit from the resources, talent and opportunities Samwoh Corporation have made available to us and their generous contribution will assist SIT in our ambition to produce highly-skilled and work-ready civil engineering graduates,” said Professor Tan Thiam Soon, President, SIT.
“I strongly believe that we must continue to develop and nurture talents, especially the future generation of engineers if we are to meet the demands of the construction industry and beyond. Through these endowments, availing our expertise and resources and many more emerging collaborations, Samwoh hopes to pass on our industry know-how, create a stronger link with the academia and ultimately to inspire and groom a new crop of civil engineers who are passionate, progressive and professional,” said Mr Eric Soh, CEO, Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd.
The CA was signed at a Civil Engineering Technical Seminar ‘High Performance Materials for Reinforced Concrete Structures’ jointly organised by SIT and Samwoh Corporation, to provide engineers with an insight into recent high-performance material developments and how they can be used to achieve more sustainable, productive and economical solutions in modern construction projects.
Professor Ng Siu Choon, Associate Provost (Students), SIT and Dr Ho Nyok Yong, Chief Operating Officer, Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd sign the Collaborative Agreement (CA) which will see both parties establish an Industry Lab (i-Lab) to provide SIT students with early industry exposure and applied learning opportunities, on top of work-study opportunities.
Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) is Singapore’s autonomous university of applied learning. It aims to be a leader in innovative university education by integrating learning, industry and community as part of its unique pedagogy. Partnering world-class universities, SIT offers applied degree programmes targeted at growth sectors of the economy. SIT also aims to cultivate in its students four distinctive traits, or the SIT-DNA, which will prepare them to be ‘thinking tinkerers’, who are ‘able to learn, unlearn and relearn’, be ‘catalysts for transformation’ and finally, become ‘grounded in the community’.
