NTU’s School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering offers students the right balance of theory and practice, objectivity and creativity.

By Nabilah Husna A. Rahman

Budding engineers do not have to look far for a first-rate degree qualification. At the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering (EEE) houses a multitude of degree programmes that are not only pertinent to the industry, but unique and vastly appealing.

For Gan Hoe Yee and Huang Jiesi, students of the EEE and Information Engineering & Media (IEM) programmes respectively, their programmes of choice provide them with the depth and relevance that a tertiary curriculum should offer.

“It’s more of an easier path for polytechnic students to get used to, maybe because of the way the course has been structured so it’s more smooth-flowing for us,” says Hoe Yee, a former Singapore Polytechnic student.

Jiesi also acknowledges the advantage that polytechnic students have over those from junior colleges. “Most of the polytechnic students will have some background in some of the modules,” says the National Junior College alumnus.

For Polytechnic Diploma Holders who are directly admitted to the EEE programme, courses on Basic Engineering Mathematics and Foundation Physics are provided to ease their transition into the degree programme.

The mould of engineering
The courses in the EEE curriculum strike a balance between theoretical learning and technical training. Though mostly exam-based, the programme grants students the opportunity to have a good grasp of their courses’ hypotheses before they are expected to apply their knowledge concretely.

“Just studying the theories may be hard for us to understand.” Hoe Yee explains. “With the lab sessions, we can see the practical constraints faced. Besides, when we go out to the workforce, not everything we do is covered by theories; it is also about applications.”

“My advice is to do up the tutorials because they are structured such that if you understand the tutorials well, you will more or less understand what the courses cover,” he adds. “You must be consistent during tutorials and really put in hard work throughout the whole semester.”

As a fourth-year student, Hoe Yee is allowed to choose a specialisation, and his pick of Microelectronics is similar to his major in polytechnic. His industry attachment at the Institute of Microelectronics also opened his eyes to the field.

“I worked with an engineer who had a lot of experience and understood how the outside world works. We worked on practical projects and I have gained more knowledge from the attachment,” he says.

In all, the EEE programme provides students with a chance to try their hand at most aspects of the engineering field. “Polytechnic students generally know what kind of programmes they’re interested in,” Hoe Yee says. “And the school offers a wide range of courses for us. You can learn the electrical side, microelectronics, as well as the communication side.”

A technical art
For Jiesi, arts and creativity are just as appealing to her as engineering. The IEM course is a well-balanced fusion of science and arts subjects. Look elsewhere and you will be hard put to spot an array of arts-related modules – such as web design and drawing – alongside the more technical and popular fronts of engineering, like algorithms and computing.

But the School of EEE provides just the right blend of these distinctly separate disciplines through the unique IEM programme, in which Jiesi has managed to find her footing on the thin line between art and science.

“I’m more inclined to Science, Math and Engineering, but I also enjoy doing the arts, like designing programme booklets,” the jovial 20-year old reveals. “The biggest thing I realised though is that Art is not so different from Math and Science after all. While we were having arts lessons, we were taught about perspectives and angles. They’ll teach us Biology, about the human muscles and how to draw them.”

The second-year student hopes to pursue a career as a game programmer or a graphic designer, as both professions require knowledge on engineering as well as test her creative skills.

“I’m hoping to specialise in Interactive Digital Media in my fourth year. The course has improved my ability to juggle both the arts and science. During the weekends, we have to do up, say, five sketches – as well as our math homework!” she laughs.

Each IEM cohort is rather small, consisting of mostly students from across the region. Jiesi finds that this has helped her learn more about other Asian cultures. The challenge she faces, however, is not peer competition, but rather the subjectivity of the arts courses.

“In other engineering courses, if you mug hard, you can score. For us, it’s more subjective, so it might be harder. IEM is for people who have some interest in arts – but you don’t have to be very good at it, because they’ll teach you everything from scratch.”

Quality campus life
Hoe Yee and Jiesi cite similar qualities that every prospective student ought to have, including the ability to handle the pressures of academic life at the degree level.

Hoe Yee says, “The initial first semester (after I got out of National Service) was a hard time for me to re-shuffle back to student life. The pace of university is much faster compared to polytechnic and the amount of information per course is also more comprehensive.”

The help and support from both their professors and peers are what keep them going.

In short, an education with NTU’s School of EEE is nothing less than fulfilling, if you’re keen on a meaningful and unique career in the ever-expanding field of engineering.