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In a landmark development the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay and the National University of Singapore (NUS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Singapore today to establish a joint degree programme at the Masters and Doctoral levels. The MOU provides a framework for both NUS and IIT-B to work on programmes leading to a joint Masters and Ph.D degrees in Advanced Engineering Materials, training human resources relevant to a number of industrial sectors in both countries.
The MOU was signed by Prof. Ashok Mishra, Director, IIT-Bombay and Prof. Shih Choon Fong, President of NUS, in the presence of the Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Arjun Singh and the Minister of Education of Singapore, Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
The programme in Advanced Engineering Materials covering Nanostructures, hybrids and composites, micro-fabrication and micro devices, biomaterials, electronic materials, chemical engineering materials, building materials, aims to increase the depth and breadth of engineering materials, for tomorrow’s consumer and environment. The programmes will draw heavily on existing NUS and IIT-B infrastructure and course modules, greatly reducing the cost of mounting such a joint programme, cost of IIT-B or MHRD. Both IIT-B and NUS professors will participate in joint teaching and supervision of projects, in Singapore and in India, and via teleconferencing. With funding support from the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Ministry of Education, the partnership is expected to yield some 40 MS and eight Ph.D graduates annually. Under the programme, IIT-B expects to further develop its “smart” classroom facilities for course delivery to Singapore, which can also be used for furthering the distance education programme within India. The programme is expected to attract students from top engineering schools in India and from top schools in China, Singapore and other ASEAN region. Selection would be based on GATE (IITs Graduate Admission Test in Engineering), GRE, TOEFL (where applicable) scores and an interview. Some two-thirds of student intake would be expected to have engineering background, with the balance coming from a science background. The programme emphasizes three elements, namely, education, research and industry relevance.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Arjun Singh expressed the hope that the students of this pioneering programme between India and Singapore will go out with a wide inter-disciplinary technical background as well as the appreciation of working as part of a globally integrated work force.
Mr. Shanmugaratnam said that the involvement of IIT in this joint masters programme will further enhance Singapore’s image as an education hub in the world. He said that the programme will provide an enlarged campus of talent, promising greater innovation, stronger branding and creation of environment that would attract some of the best brains in this region.
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