The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) - the first tertiary institution worldwide to focus on the integration of technology and design - opened its doors to students in April 2012 and the pioneer batch of students has been nothing short of outstanding.

"The students have far exceeded our expectations. We knew they had extraordinary technical skills, but I didn't imagine that they would be quite as passionate and energetic as we have seen. They are really taking to the university with enormous enthusiasm. On their own, they have initiated and started about 30 clubs," said Professor Thomas Magnanti, President of SUTD.

Seeding the MIT Spirit in SUTD

There were over 3,000 applications for the university's pioneer batch, of which fewer than 500 were accepted. The popularity of the university is no doubt due to the fact that SUTD was established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the famous private research university in Cambridge, USA, which is one of the top technological universities worldwide.

Asia is very important to MIT, and both SUTD and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) programme are strongholds in this region. "MIT is deeply committed to Singapore, and has over a hundred faculty members working with SUTD. Professor Rafael Reif, President of MIT, commented on his visit to SUTD that the university is like a sister institution," Professor Magnanti said.

Professor Magnanti is determined to bring the MIT spirit to SUTD, but with some differences.

"We bring in the core of MIT in terms of our commitment to engage with the world, to scholarship, to entrepreneurship, and to basic math and science," he said. "But we teach in ways that are different than MIT. We have cohort-based instruction and learning. I was using an analogy at the inauguration of the new MIT president. Think about two siblings, with the older one teaching the younger sibling how to play tennis. The older sibling would teach the basic strokes, and as the younger sibling progresses, he or she would want to give the older sibling a good game. Our intent at some point is to give MIT a good game."

Indeed, while it may be challenging to make changes in an organisation with a long legacy, the setting up of SUTD has in some ways provided MIT with the opportunity for innovation and experiment. Professor Magnanti likened MIT to an oil tanker and SUTD to a robot: it would take a lot of time and energy to move the oil tanker two degrees to the right, compared to a robot which can move quickly and easily in any direction.

"We're MIT inside - we use the MIT curriculum, and it is the MIT DNA and genes which drive us. But we do it in a different way. If you were restarting MIT today, how would you do it? I guess SUTD is the way."

What Professor Magnanti does want to retain, however, is the MIT culture of vitality, passion, energy and exuberance. "MIT is a 24/7 type of place. Whenever you go in, even at 2 am, you will see somebody working in the labs. It’s a crazy place, but it’s wonderfully crazy. We want to be wonderfully crazy as well, and bring that kind of energy and passion to Singapore and Asia."

The Uniqueness of SUTD

Like MIT, SUTD is technology and engineering driven. Some people might think that engineering is dull and boring, but in reality, through design and innovation, engineering can make the world a better place, particularly for developing countries and the less fortunate.

"In my own view, you can do anything you want in the world with an engineering degree. You can work in finance, healthcare or the developing world; you can go to major corporations, or become an academic. Engineering gives you some foundations but it also teaches you problem solving, and you need that in all walks of life. So we are actually preparing people for the world at large. I think many of our students will go into engineering positions when they leave, which is really great. But I think it’s fine if they go into other things, because they bring with them a set of skills and perceptions. They understand technology and we all know that the world is increasingly being driven by technology and that it’s therefore hard to be in this world without it."

It is also beneficial to have people who have a deep understanding of technology and science, and who have developed leadership and communication skills. To foster a deeper, broader understanding of technology and science, SUTD offers a two-semester course in world civilisations which enables students to look at the world from the viewpoints of four different civilisations.

With over 20 per cent of the curriculum dedicated to the arts, humanities, and social sciences, students are given a wide range of perspectives at the same time as they study technology in depth.

Professor Magnanti is also passionate about design, the other SUTD prong. Indeed, for him, design drives society and can be found everywhere — in systems, products, and companies.

With its core focus on technology and design, SUTD is unique amongst the world’s universities and one of the results of this, in Professor Magnanti’s opinion, is that it can make both engineering and architecture come to life.

"SUTD has provided us with an opportunity to rethink many elements of higher education, which is why this new venture in Singapore attracts me. We have the most unusual university organisation in the world. It is multi-disciplinary, we don’t have the typical schools and departments, and we don’t have a Dean, which is pretty weird because I was a Dean for a long time! We have a very unusual way of teaching, in terms of the cohort-based classrooms and active engagements. No one has ever done this on the scale that we’re doing it, not even MIT!"

SUTD is also research-intensive. The PhD programme allows students to choose from one of four areas: Architecture and Sustainable Design, Engineering Product Development, Engineering Systems and Design, and Information Systems Technology and Design. But a unique part of the programme is that every student is exposed to interdisciplinary coursework.

"Our PhD students provide a rich and important component of the research element at SUTD. But at the same time, we also want some of our graduates to join faculties in other universities. We want them to take their ideas, and develop and propagate them around the world. There’s a study that found that ten per cent of all engineering faculty at the leading engineering schools in the United States have a degree from MIT. I think MIT is so successful because of this.

"So we are taking the MIT knowledge and way of doing things, and our future PhD students will go out into the academic world and hopefully achieve breakthroughs. But PhDs can be very relevant to industry too, because of the more intense training and understanding involved. If you look at certain industries like the chemical industry, many of the CEOs are PhD holders," Professor Magnanti elaborated.

Another unique feature of SUTD is cohort-based learning, where students are grouped into cohorts of 50 for the first three terms. They take the same classes in a community learning environment, and each cohort has its own classroom. Students are given the liberty to use the classrooms in any way they wish, from project work to self-study discussions, and at any time of the day.

In order to nurture a communal learning culture, SUTD makes it compulsory for undergraduate students to live in for the first three semesters. This is to create a close-knit community of students who have the option of working and engaging in the cohort classrooms, even at night. Professor Magnanti wants the students to be driven by the desire to make a difference, and who are so excited about their work that they don’t want to stop working and creating. At the same time, though, he wants them to possess humility. This is a quality he thinks Asians have, and, together with passion, is needed by any technically-grounded leader.

Asian vs. Western

Professor Magnanti thinks Singaporeans, and Asians in general, are hard workers who are also driven to succeed. He has also observed these characteristics in Asian students at MIT, and he sees this as a virtue. "Asians are not afraid to work hard, and they are humble. I think these are admirable traits, and both MIT and the United States can profit from it."

When asked about the work ethic of Asians and MIT staff and students in general, Professor Magnanti revealed that the MIT folks are a little bit crazier. They are less structured, are willing to take more risks, and in some ways do not fear failure. "I think that with most of the entrepreneurs you meet, they actually talk with pride about their failures. They will say, ‘You know I started this company but I failed, I started this company and I made a fortune.’ It’s about the failures and the successes, and this is the prevailing spirit of the place."

However, at SUTD, which has a largely Asian student population, there is also no lack in creativity. For instance, in a physics class, a group of five students analysed the game Angry Birds. They calculated the implicit gravity and trajectories of the birds, and created an interactive model based on their findings. "We have design everywhere, it is in our genes and it is part of our curriculum," Professor Magnanti said.

Students have also adapted well to the curriculum, which is less structured than what they have been used to. "When the students took their first design course, they were asking about the procedures, structure and formula. But there isn’t a set of criteria to follow, because design is an evolving process. So this has trained them to work in a more ambiguous context," Professor Magnanti explained.

Women in Engineering

The other point to note about SUTD is that it actively recruits female students to even out the demographics.

"The main driver for this is that if you want to be at the top and attract the finest, and if women make up half the population, then it stands to reason that you would want a 50/50 gender mix. I think we are all equally capable. But it’s also true, to a certain extent, that men and women think differently. So if you want different perceptions, different ways of thinking, you have to bring women in," Professor Magnanti said.

To draw in its female undergraduates, SUTD organises Women in Technology and Design workshops which feature its female faculty, together with marketing campaigns to show the remarkable things women in technology have done.

Professor Magnanti also believes that the unique curriculum interests females. "Because we have got this different way of teaching with degrees that are multi-disciplinary, it is more appealing than the traditional university degree programme. There’s this perception about mechanical engineering, of people wearing hard hats, and there’s another one of computer science graduates being nerds who sit at the computer all day. But, you know, computer scientists do all kinds of wonderful things in the world. I’m a nerd, and I think nerds are fantastic. So we want nerds, and we want women nerds as well as men nerds."

SUTD’s Collaborations

In terms of pedagogy, one of the clear benefits which SUTD offers is its close links with MIT.

SUTD itself has a very global outlook. This year, to train students to become future leaders, SUTD will be sending 25 students to MIT for a Global Leadership Programme, and 100 more to Zhejiang University (ZJU) for its Asian Leadership Programme.

At SUTD, the core curriculum of over 80 new and adapted courses originates from MIT but to enrich the technical courses with an Asian perspective, ZJU contributes five courses. This may make it appear that there is an imbalance in the partnership, but the collaboration with ZJU runs deeper than it seems.

"China is of utmost importance to Singapore, and this relationship is also very important to us. We have research programmes at Zhejiang, we have undergraduate students going there and we have 50 of their students coming here every year," Professor Magnanti said.

"The student, research and faculty exchanges also provide our students with access to the very entrepreneurial Hangzhou area, which allows them to understand what’s happening in terms of China’s development and entrepreneurship. I was actually very pleasantly surprised when we managed to establish the relationship with Zhejiang. In some ways it reflects the importance of China to Singapore and I also think this is the first collaboration between China and Singapore of this nature.

"This is something that neither MIT nor Zhejiang could do on their own. They can’t do it at home because you cannot take a big and established university and change it so drastically. But we can make the drastic changes here."

SUTD’s global outlook will eventually translate into more collaborations with more institutions around the world, but for now Professor Magnanti’s focus is on developing its links with the two core partners, MIT and ZJU.

Quality vs. Quantity

These are exciting times for the SUTD community, and Professor Magnanti admits that he is extraordinarily pleased with the remarkable progress that the university and students are making. He has a pet phrase — Q not Q — quality not quantity, which he applies to everything concerning the university.

"Universities are all in the human resource game. If we have the best faculty, the best students, the best staff, we have a chance. Our faculty is up to a hundred plus, and they come from the very best universities around the world. Our students are fantastic too. So now it’s all about creating this unremitting commitment to excellence. It will take us some time, but eventually the quantity will come, because it follows quality."

It is this commitment to quality that has spurred Professor Magnanti to accept only the very best students, ones who are able to benefit from the rigorous SUTD curriculum.

Both faculty and students are looking forward to 2014 and the move to a permanent campus at Changi. With this in mind, SUTD staff have already been reaching out to companies at the Changi Business Park for internship positions for students and possible collaborations. While classes are small now — in order for the faculty to get things running — SUTD ultimately aims to have an enrolment of 4,000 undergraduates and 2,000 postgraduates.

Professor Magnanti has high hopes for SUTD. Ultimately he would like it to have the same status on the world stage as, say, Cambridge or Harvard.

"We stand a good chance because of our unique footprint in design and technology. When people think about design and technology, we want them to think of us first. Becoming special would require Q not Q, quality in everything we do, a commitment to creating a culture of entrepreneurship, vitality, a spirit of adventure, and a long-term view.

"I often say that there is something very special about touching the leaves at Cambridge, Massachusetts, it’s a special environment, and we want to make this, too, a special environment, in terms of the higher education system here. We want to be the special MIT type of university in Singapore."
 

新科大于2009年筹备，是新加坡第一所与美国及中国三地大学合办的高等学府，主要提供科技和设计相关的学科。新科大以美国麻省理工学院为建校蓝本，大部分课程由麻省理工学院设计和规划，中国浙江大学提供五项课程。校长马尼安蒂教授在接受《新学》教育双语双月刊专访时，说明新科大的独特性是"我们把建筑学和工程学变得生活化，并且大规模开办设计和科技课程，这是国际大学少有的，这绝对是新科大的卖点。"

正式开学近一年，马尼安蒂对新科大的进展表示满意，"我觉得大学整体的表现很好，全校百多名教授都来自全球各地的顶尖大学，学生的素质也好。大学是以人力资源来拼高下，拥有第一流的教授、最优秀的学生以及最好的行政人员才有竞争力。"

打造"质量为上"的原则

要竞争就要拼人才素质，新科大打出"要质量不要数量"(Q not Q--Quality not Quantity)的口号，马尼安蒂说"大学上下都强调质量，我们致力确保大学坚持这个原则。新科大才刚起步，尚需更多努力，只要打响新科大的品质声誉，学生自然就不成问题。"

2012年开学前，新科大吸引超过3000人申请，最后只录取大约10%，主要原因就是"重质不重量"。马尼安蒂解释收生考量:"我们认为起步不宜过急，学生人数少比较能确保质量。对教职人员来说，开七班绝对比开10班来得容易掌控，也更从容。我们很高兴有3000多名学生对我们有兴趣，在和教育部讨论后，我们还是以选出最适合和最优秀的学生为主要考量，只录取340人。希望今年新生人数可以增至400或500人。"

首批340名新生，马尼安蒂的印象是"他们都很优秀，是一群积极、聪明、有活力又能表达自己看法的年轻人。他们的表现远比我预期来得好。我没想到他们除了有很好的理论知识，在其它方面也很出色，这改变了我对亚洲学生的刻板印象。从在课外活动、专题作业的表现，以及和媒体、业界人士的互动，可以看出他们很有想法，沟通技巧很强。"

马尼安蒂认为优秀的学生全是冲着新科大的设计科系而来。"设计是非常有吸引力的一门学科。好的设计可以促进社会发展（如汽车设计），可以促进资讯科技发展（如iPhone），还有可以加强港口和企业运作等等。设计当然可以激发学生和教授的创意和想象。"

招生活动时，学生告诉马尼安蒂喜欢学设计为的是可以把所学的用在生活上。他说："通过设计训练，学生可以学到思考和决策的方法，与设计有关的技能也可以广泛应用在日常生活上。

"许多人认为工程是很沉闷无聊的学科，其实不然。我们就有两个女生成绩优异却'舍医取工程'。父母期望她们进医学院， 不料 她们却选择了工学院。她们认为学工程很有意义，能发明新事物，又能解决问题，可以为发展中国家和不幸的人作出贡献。"

开创性的学期制度

马尼安蒂原是美国麻省理工学院工程学院院长，是该校13名首席教授（Institute Professor）之一，2009年他到新加坡为新科大"开疆辟土"。他表示新科大是一所独一无二的大学，在许多方面开创新风气：例如它没有院系的藩篱，不设系主任。 “我曾任麻省理工学院工程学院院长多年，但在新科大，我没有设系主任的职位，这很奇怪吧？我们现在以年级梯次分班教学，重视互动学习，我们要超越传统。”

新科大的学期和分班制度也有别于其他大学——本科分八个学期，首三个学期涵盖大一和大二上半年，以年级梯次而非主修科分班。第一学年在5月开课，学生在三年半完成大学本科。

新科大的本科生必修三门数学、两门物理及生物和化学各一门等基础课程。马尼安蒂特别介绍了 “设计导论”这门必修课。他说：“每个学生都要上设计课，通过这门课学生掌握基础设计技巧，认识了设计不能死板套用既定公式的道理，设计是一道不断变化和调整的过程。在第二学期，学生学习在没有明确架构以及情况不明朗的条件下，做相关的设计。我们很多本科课程是跨科系的，比传统的主修制度更能吸引学生。”

专访当天，正值学生忙着准备专题作业展。马尼安蒂介绍这个展览说：“作品都是学生的学习成果，教授以此打分数。学生虽然才进校八个月，已能展现了不同的模型设计和发明的能力。”

马尼安蒂介绍一名学生展现创意的例子说：“2012年的第二个学期，我们有四名女生以计算地心引力和瞄准目标的方程式，用物理学分析风靡全球的网上游戏‘愤怒鸟’的逻辑和设计。她们还设计了一套程式，让人可以准确地对准某个目标。听说我们大学理事会开会时，委员以及外来访客特别爱玩这个游戏。我们的学生真的很不错！”

新科大有20%的课程属于人文、艺术及社会科学选修科，马尼安蒂的看法是“要成为科技界的领导者，除了怀着一颗‘科技心’和有‘科技想法’的脑袋，还应该具备宏观的国际视野。校方除了提供技术知识，也安排一门两学期长，介绍世界四大文明的课。”马尼安蒂称这门 “世界文明通论”是新科大的“招牌课”，他强调很少大学好像他们如此详细介绍西方、中东、亚洲等世界主要文明。他说：“这是一门相当创新的课程，能让学生由此进入创意的天地。”

麻省理工无法做到的改革

新科大实施了麻省理工学院难以落实的制度，马尼安蒂表示“麻省理工要做的大改革，就由新科大来落实吧！”。他指出已有150年历史的麻省理工，要革新破旧，障碍重重：“像麻省理工这样历史悠久的名牌大学，要做出大调整，反应自然是缓慢的。它就像一艘体积庞大的油船，连转个弯都难。相对而言，新科大好比一个灵活的机械人，有更大的空间实施新方法。”

马尼安蒂分析新科大和麻省理工的异同，他一再强调“新科大不是完全复制麻省理工的模式，我们试行了许多麻省理工无法做到的新尝试。新科大流着麻省理工学院的血液，有麻省理工的基因，核心课程源自麻省理工，但在执行时，我们走自己的路。

“就拿打网球作例子，身为兄长的麻省理工教导新科大这个弟弟基础球技，弟弟也许会用不同于哥哥的打法，但这不重要，最重要的是弟弟学会打球，甚至可以和哥哥同台对打。希望有朝一日，新科大可以和麻省理工并驾齐驱。”

近年来美国耶鲁大学和新加坡国大联办分校搞得沸沸扬扬，对照麻省理工和新科大的情况，马尼安蒂说：“麻省理工不仅重视和新加坡联办新科大，甚至可以说是非常投入。共有超过百多位麻省理工的教授投入新科大的创建工作。”2012年出任麻省理工新校长的拉斐尔在11月访问新科大时，就以“姐妹校”形容新科大和麻省理工的密切关系。

麻省理工和新加坡大学的关系渊源深远，早在上世纪80年代，新加坡就建立了新加坡-麻省理工学院联盟（Singapore-MIT Alliance），后来还有新加坡-麻省理工联盟科研中心（Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology，SMART ）。马尼安蒂曾出任这两项计划的主任，非常熟悉新加坡及麻省理工的学术文化。

培养麻省理工式的热情研究和开创精神

对比新美两地的学术文化差异，身为资深“麻省理工人”的马尼安蒂笑言:“麻省理工校园和新加坡大学一样，都有很多长时间埋头工作的工作狂。麻省理工校园内是不分昼夜的灯火通明，常见到实验室里有通宵在做研究的人。但仔细分辨，两个地方的工作狂还是有所不同。美国‘麻省理工式’的工作狂是疯狂型、不按牌理出牌，而新加坡或亚洲人式的工作狂，则多是不怕辛苦、很谦虚，跟西方不同。”

这两种不同的“工作狂”展现出不同地域的学术和工作文化，马尼安蒂认为新加坡学生可以更敢于开创和不惧失败。他也冀望新科大能够建立创业文化，鼓励学生有大胆尝试的冒险精神。他说：“人类愈来愈长寿，寿命超过80、90岁，已经很平常。如果在20、30来岁失败过，那并没什么大不了， 挫折感很快就能克服。你看哪个企业家不是经历过多次失败？他们甚至还以失败为荣呢！所以我希望学生要抱有‘创业失败不要紧！’的积极想法。我希望学生在新科大有这样的体验。”

马尼安蒂的理想是要新科大建立和麻省理工相等的学术地位和文化，他说：“麻省理工的学生很认真，很热衷于知识研究，他们以改变世界为己任，立志成为世界级科技领袖的人，这种情况在美国其他大学并不常见。简单来说，麻省理工的学生都是认真实干、充满热情、有理想的人，这样的精神和文化是新科大要塑造的。”

新科大的市场推广及传讯高级总监钟美兰去美国麻省理工浸濡时，就亲身感受到“麻省理工校园内充满学术热情的氛围”。

马尼安蒂语重心长地说，“世界上有多少大学是你一进到校园，就感觉到整个氛围是不同的？好像美国的麻省理工、哈佛、加州理工，英国的牛津剑桥那样的大学，其实屈指可数。在这些大学校园，即使只是伸手摸一片叶子，也有与众不同的感觉。”

与浙江大学合作意义深远

和麻省理工联盟外，新科大的另一项重头戏，就是和中国浙江大学合作，形成了新加坡-美国-中国合作的独特大学模式。马尼安蒂坦言，这样的三校三地合作，单靠麻省理工或浙大其中一方是不可能进行的，它们毕竟是历史悠久而且组织庞大的大学，很难进行大改变，惟有靠新科大居中引线，搭建连接平台才行。

浙大为新科大仅提供五项课程，远远不及麻省理工规划的超过80项课程，对此悬殊，马尼安蒂解释说，新科大和浙大的合作绝非停留在表面上的几项合办课程。他说：“新科大的课程以科技和设计为主，我们希望在这个学术基础上，加入亚洲的元素，成为东西方文化的桥梁。浙大在这方面协助我们扮演这个角色。”

新科大和浙大还有其他合作项目，如两校进行研究计划、短期课程。每年有50名浙大本科生来新加坡当交换生，新科大也派100名学生去浙大参加“亚洲领袖交流计划”。马尼安蒂去年中曾到浙大，和浙大校长及管理层有密切互动。他表示和浙大合作，不仅可以促进学术研究，也让新科大学生有机会在杭州这样一个充满商机和文化的城市，实地体验和认识中国的发展和创业文化。“总之，和浙大合作的收获远超我们想象的。某个程度上，两校的合作也反映了新加坡和中国的密切关系。”

至于和中国其他大学合作的可能性，马尼安蒂强调新科大不排除和任何大学合作的机会，但目前着重于加强现有的合作关系，暂不会和其他大学开展合作计划。

不过，他表示已经有越来越多来自各地的高等学府和新科大洽谈合作的可能性。“我可以这么说，新科大已经逐渐吸引到各界关注，越来越多人想要认识我们。俄罗斯的教育部副部长也要来访。”

特办活动吸引女生

新科大还有一个特色，就是女生人数达45%，突破了工程系“阴衰阳盛”的传统。对于这样的“成绩”，马尼安蒂说：“我们大力招募女生，理由有二：第一，要成为顶尖的大学，必须要有最好的学生。既然女性占了人口的一半，我们又怎能忽视这些优秀的女生呢？第二，男女想法大不同，如果我们要有多元的想法，看事从不同角度切入，就必须加入‘女性’这个元素。”

他也笑说：“很多人认为电脑科系的学生是长时间坐在电脑前的书呆子，不过，这些书呆子对世界作出了很多伟大的贡献。我本身也是个书呆子，我认为书呆子很了不起，女书呆子也很不错，我希望能吸引她们进来。”

新科大有专门宣传活动来吸引女生报读，例如举办多场科技与设计领域的女性工作坊，介绍新科大的女教授给女生认识，还有不少行销活动，宣传女性在科技界的贡献和成就。

东部新校园靠近国际企业中心

自1996年因代表麻省理工参与新加坡的合作计划，马尼安蒂常来新加坡，对新加坡有深厚感情。他十分赞赏新加坡政府的执行能力，也欣赏新加坡政府对教育的承诺：“新加坡政府深明资源匮乏，教育是确保未来成就的重要元素。新加坡只有在教育和研究上有卓越成就，才能在国际舞台有竞争力。我认为新科大的建立有助于协助新加坡打造不同的大学景观，我也相信科技和设计可以协助新加坡发展，因为许多领域如交通、港口、金融、保健医疗，甚至是电子道路收费系统（ERP）,无一不和科技及设计有关。”

谈到新科大未来发展，马尼安蒂表示这两年学生还在杜佛路临时校舍上课，空间和设备有限，每年收生人数最多500人。位于东部的永久校园，预期到2014年才能搬进去。“到时就可以增加收生，我们希望未来本科生能有4000人，研究生2000人。无论如何，和新加坡国立大学及南洋理工大学比较，新科大是小型大学，就如麻省理工相较于柏克莱大学和密西根大学那样。”

新科大的永久校园靠近樟宜商业园，这让新科大更贴近企业和相关机构。马尼安蒂表示地点相近确实有助于新科大和企业建立合作研究关系。他期望新科大和企业有更多的互动，例如邀请企业到新科大设立研究中心：“至今政府还未有在附近建立科学园的计划，无论如何，靠近樟宜商业区已经很不错，那里有许多知名的跨国企业。”

马尼安蒂对新科大才刚建立，却已获得企业雇主的踊跃支持，感到欣慰。已有超过130家公司愿意接纳新科大学生进行为期四个月的实习。“这说明了企业也看到新科大的优势和特点，了解到新科大培养的大学生是企业想要的人才。”