Employer
Testimonials
“At iNETest
Singapore, many of our members of technical
staff are graduates from NTU, in particular,
the School of Computer Engineering. These graduates
have proven themselves to be outstanding individuals,
who are highly motivated and eager to learn
and contribute. Because they have a solid knowledge
of the basic fundamentals, cemented during their
education at NTU, coupled with experiences in
real work environments through their industrial
attachment programs, they were able to contribute
to the project teams shortly after joining the
organization. Their familiarity with both the
computer hardware and software is a great asset
to the business, as iNETest is appointed Systems
Integrator to many key players in the industry.
I strongly commend the School
for incorporating hands-on work experiences
for their students, as these have greatly enabled
a smooth transition as they enter the workforce.
Skill sets imparted to these students in their
undergraduate program have greatly benefited
both the students and iNETest. I believe it
is this adaptability and their positive outlook
to both life and work that put the NTU School
of Computer Engineering graduates a cut above
the rest!”
Wee Chee Hong
Technical Director
iNETest Resources
"Many of our past and
present top performers are NTU graduates. Not
surprisingly, they typically have excellent
engineering
grounding. More importantly, they tend to be
able to apply this effectively to their assigned
roles - adapting well to the demands of their
work environment and using their engineering
foundation to continuously learn and keep up
with the inevitable changes in this fast-moving
industry. Many of them have also taken up leadership
roles - within and outside HP."
Alwi Hafiz
Director,
Operations & Global Delivery
Consulting & Integration
HP Services Asia Pacific
Alumni/Student
Testimonials
Personally,
I benefited lots from my computer engineering
education. I work as a technologist, starting
my career in project development, project architecture
and project management in Internet systems.
In my current capacity, I'm managing a small
research and development unit that spans a range
of technical interests.
Given the nature
of my work, I have needed almost everything
that I have learnt in SCE - programming, networking,
databases, neural networks, FPGAs, computer
architectures etc. Real applications often involve
a blend of a variety of technologies, and knowing
the options and limitations help a great deal.
I remember the many projects that we did in
the course and these hands-on development experiences
in a variety of topics are particularly important
to me now as a manager. It enables me to appreciate
development effort in areas that I may not have
done in my own work experience.
I think computer engineering
is a special course - it provides knowledge
in a family of related technologies and yet
gives one a core competence in computing technologies
like databases, networking and programming.
I have met a number of computer
engineering graduates over the years, both seniors
and juniors in IT security, ISP network design,
digital signal processing, programming in bank
environments etc. The diversity reflects our
versatility and the fact that some form of computing
technology is behind everything nowadays.
In short, I enjoyed my time
at SCE
Michael Ong
Graduate of 1997
Manager, Technology (in a government ministry,
Singapore)
As a computer engineering
student at Nanyang Technological University
(NTU), I felt that life was always fast paced.
Keeping yourself busy was never a problem. If
it was not assignments from school it would
be one of the numerous interesting extra curricular
activities. NTU is one of the very few universities
which can boast of having a truly multi-cultural
student population. How many students have the
opportunity of studying in a classroom with
students from South East Asia, Europe, America,
and India?
The School of Computer Engineering
provides its students with the latest technology
to work with. Students are encouraged to take
up projects under the supervision of the lecturers
or professors who guide and mentor them along
the way. Even though we worked under their supervision
they always allowed us to shape the project
the way we wanted to, and not stifling the creativity
and innovation in the process.
I didn’t see myself
as much of an inventor, but that got changed.
And now I am a very proud co-inventor of the
world’s first wireless shopping system
– “AutoShop”. It was because
of this invention that I had the opportunity
to shake hands with Bill Gates at Microsoft’s
Next Generation Conference in Beijing, China.
It is experiences like these
that make studying at NTU invaluable and enriching.
And today I take all this experience and begin
my career with Avanade (joint venture between
Microsoft and Accenture). As a Technology Consultant,
I am required to meet and interact with clients
to understand their business and requirements.
I get thrown into projects with little or almost
no prior knowledge or training. It is at times
like these that I realize how much my course
has taught me, making me a fast learner and
allowing me to think and react on my feet. Without
hesitation, I rate the undergraduate program
and in particular computer engineering at NTU
as an excellent academic experience.
Kulnal Talwar
Graduate of 2003
Consultant
Avanade Asia Pte Ltd
When I decided to pursue
a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering
almost five and a half years ago, little did
I imagine that my first job would be with Microsoft,
arguably every IT buff's 'dream' company. In
fact, I do owe a large part of the success I
am enjoying in my career today, to NTU, where
I have spent the best years of my life.
SCE's up-to-date curriculum,
relevant hands-on laboratory sessions and industrial
attachment programmes have really developed
all of us into engineers who can think on our
own feet and apply our minds to solve real-world
problems that we face in the industry. Personally,
I believe that NTU's policy of encouraging students
to venture into extra-curricular activities
has really helped me become more self-confident,
efficient and culturally sensitive.
During our final year in
NTU, I was part of a team of students which
developed software to power "AutoShop",
our concept of an innovative wireless shopping
cart, which could eliminate long queues at check-outs
and provide an incredible shopping experience
for the consumer.
“AutoShop” went
on to win several competitions like the Wireless
Challenge organized by IDA and Cisco Systems,
the Microsoft Asia .NET Competition, the College
of Engineering Technology Week and was awarded
joint-third at Microsoft Imagine Cup 2003 in
which 100,000 students from 25 countries participated.
SCE and in particular our project mentor Dr.
Yow Kin Choong, were instrumental in helping
us realize our potential by providing us with
expert guidance and resources and contacts with
people in the industry (like HP and Cisco) who
sponsored us with hardware. It was because of
NTU's backing and support that we succeeded
in our endeavors and I am where I am today.
THANK YOU NTU, SCE and Dr
Yow!
Harishankar Vijayarajan
Graduate of 2003
Technology Consultant
Microsoft Operations Pte Ltd, Singapore
Most people would say that
computer engineering is a combination of 2 disciplines.
But I would say that it’s a fusion of
3, consisting of computer engineering, electrical
engineering and soft skills. This holistic approach
prepares us well for the future. It opens up
the world of software, hardware and teaches
us the necessary skills to communicate, manage
and lead. However, an interesting course like
this comes with its challenges.
One of the main differences
between my school and other schools is its emphasis
on hands-on experience. Almost all our core
subjects consist of lab work. I feel that the
most important thing about lab work is that
it lets us have a feel of what we have learned
and enables us to see the whole picture. Sometimes,
I find myself collecting bits and pieces of
a jigsaw puzzle during lectures and the lab
work is the frame where I piece everything together.
Most of our subjects in every
semester build on the knowledge of previous
ones. This really gives us the depth of the
respective field. This is why the course gets
more challenging as we progress. However, I
feel that this gives us the real in-depth technical
knowledge and the mental toughness we need as
an engineer.
Lee Lim
3rd Year student
Being a student of NTU School
of Computer Engineering, I personally feel that
the 4-year Computer Engineering Course has equipped
me with a good foundation to meet the challenges
that I will encounter in the future.
The vigorous nature of the
course teaches me to pick up new skills quickly
and to work within a tight schedule. Also, the
knowledge and skills that I have learned during
the course proved to be of much value when tackling
the job at hand during my 6-month Industrial
Attachment. The Industrial Attachment provided
me with a glimpse of what to expect when I finally
enter the work force. It is also an excellent
opportunity to improve on the weakness that
I encountered during that period, in my final
year of studies.
I have no regrets choosing
the Computer Engineering in NTU as my first
choice and if I were given another chance, I
would put it as my first choice again.
Chen Ching Jia, Alex
4th year student
When I first joined NTU,
I had many choices as to which school of engineering
I would select. I chose Computer Engineering
because that’s where my interest lies.
And four years down the road, I know that I
couldn’t have made a better choice. The
School of Computer Engineering (SCE) has helped
me to not only become a good engineer but also
develop my overall persona. There are a few
distinct features of SCE which stand out from
other faculties. The course structure designed
by SCE for the Computer Engineering degree is
easily one of the best in the world. It has
exactly the right mixture of hardware and software
modules, interlaced with some non-engineering
modules to help us grow into a well-rounded
engineer. Secondly, the labs provided by SCE
are among the very best in the world. It gives
one the right conducive environment to explore
the practical aspects of the theories we learned
in the classroom. Its faculty members are very
helpful. They encourage each and every student
to excel in every aspect of life and not only
academics. SCE has contributed a lot to both
my personal and academic development. If I were
an engineer today, it’s because I wanted
to; but if I were a good engineer today, then
it’s because of the able guidance of SCE.
Ishan Sarkar
4th year student
