SIT is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Chua Kee Chaing as Deputy President (Academic) and Provost with effect from 1 September 2019. Professor Loh Han Tong will relinquish his role as Deputy President (Academic) and Provost, and assume a new role as Deputy President (Special Projects) to assist the President to drive organisational excellence. These moves will strengthen the leadership bench at the Singapore Institute of Technology.
Prof Chua is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at NUS. He joined NUS in 1990 and had served as the Faculty’s Vice Dean for Research twice and as Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering prior to his current appointment. From 1995 to 2000, he was seconded to the Center for Wireless Communications (now the Institute for Infocomm Research) as its Deputy Director. From 2001 to 2003, he was the Founding Head of the Mobile Core R&D Department funded by Siemens’ AG, and from 2006 to 2008, he was seconded to the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office as a Director. He chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Robotics and Smart Devices in 2011 and is a recipient of an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 3rd Millennium Medal. During his tenure as Dean of Engineering, the Global State of The Art in Engineering Education report commissioned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2018 named NUS Faculty of Engineering as amongst the top 10 Engineering Education Leaders globally. He had also established two new corporate research laboratories with Sembcorp Industries and Applied Materials Inc. and developed two strategic research programmes as potential peaks in research excellence - Engineering in Medicine and Hybrid Flexible Electronics. Prof Chua is also a Fellow of the Singapore Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Engineers, Singapore.
Commenting on his appointment, Prof Chua said, “I am very excited to be given the opportunity to further shape and implement the applied learning model of higher education championed by SIT. I firmly believe that this will help prepare young Singaporeans for a new working world that will be driven by rapid technological changes.”
SIT would like to thank Prof Loh for his immense contribution during his tenure. Prof Loh led the development of the 3+1 model (3-year bachelor plus a 1-year specialised Master of Engineering Technology) to allow students to go into the job market earlier and continue with their professional upskilling as they work. He was also instrumental in the implementation of the pedagogy that underpinned SIT as a University of Applied Learning, and in particular, the Integrated Work Study Programme that is integral to SIT’s applied learning pedagogy. Other key contributions include driving the launch of SITLEARN, SIT’s lifelong learning unit, and strengthening a close working relationship across the Academic group with the Industry & Community group. With his deep knowledge of the SIT culture and its people, in the next stage, Prof Loh will assist the President to drive organisational excellence, a key focus given SIT’s rapid growth to date.
Commenting on these changes, Professor Tan Thiam Soon, President, SIT, said, “SIT is a very young and fast-growing university. I welcome the addition of Prof Chua to the leadership bench at SIT. Prof Chua will bring significant experience to the academic leadership at SIT, given his previous roles in NUS, Siemens and the National Research Foundation. I am also very grateful to Prof Loh for his very able leadership, assisting me in the implementation of the applied learning pedagogy at SIT. Both he and Prof Chua will continue to play a critical role in assisting me to steer SIT towards becoming an excellent university of applied learning.”
