The best of both worlds: environmental engineering in Singapore

Zul Othman, Today Online 9 Jun 08;

YOU could say that it was a concept ahead of its time.

At least a decade before the Government singled out the environmental science and civil engineering sectors as the industries to watch recently, two campuses on different continents — Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Stanford University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering — were already in discussion about a collaboration.

The aim was simple: To prepare students for a career in a field that includes wastewater management, water quality, air pollution and environmental microbiology.

“It’s hard to predict where this course is going to go, but the Singapore water hub concept shows we are on the right track,” joked Associate Professor Edmond Lo Yat-Man (picture), co-director of the Singapore Stanford Partnership (SSP). “We’d like to think we had the foresight to have this programme in place even before the Government began making plans for the concept!”

Set up in 2003, the SSP offers both the NTU Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Environmental Science and Engineering.

Foresight or not, they readily admit that the last few years were a steep learning curve for the institution.

“When we started, no one quite knew what to expect and the first batch of students got a real shock :— they had the most intense summer programme anyone has survived,” chuckled Professor Stephen Monismith of Stanford University.

“It worked well and what I findinteresting is that the students we see in the SSP programme aren’t those who would typical apply to Stanford and they see the opportunities more than the students in the United States do.”

Response has since been overwhelming: Each year, 120 to 150 applicants from throughout Asia, including Indonesia, China, India, Vietnam and Thailand :— vie for places even though the school only accepts 30 students each time.

They are also expecting 10 Singaporean students next year, the largest number they’ve seen so far, said Prof Lo.

Course work is identical on both campuses, but the MS programme requires one year, with the first quarter in residence at the Stanford campus in California, while the PhD degree requires approximately four years of study.

Teaching at the Singapore campus is done by Stanford and NTU faculty, giving students ample opportunities to interact with professors from both universities. This also makes for exciting classroom dynamics, said Prof Monismith.

“Recently, we had a joint study on lakes so we had a mix of Stanford and SSP students getting on boats and studying the Kranji Reservoir.

“All the students thought that was enjoyable, as it was a great opportunity for international exposure and networking,” he added.

To forge closer bonds between students and lecturers in both schools, Prof Lo also noted that lessons between SSP and Stanford are linked via cyberspace.

“Other then the time difference, which plays a big part since the hours overlap, we’re also looking at increasing our PhD component,” he said. “Right now we have six PhD students under us, we’re hoping to increase that because they will give us a chance to do more cutting edge research.”

That is what attracted Mr Ronn Goei, 23, to the master’s course in the first place. Aside from securing a lucrative job within an emerging industry, he believes that the union between East and West also means he gets an education which is the best of both worlds.

“They don’t only throw stuff at us and force us to study for the exams,” said Mr Goei. “We are given options to explore our field of study more through projects and research. It’s harder but it definitely makes you put more thought into what you’re learning.”