For the Singapore Institute of Technology’s Class of 2019, October will always be a month to remember. From 16-18 October, a record 1,868 graduates received their degree scrolls at the MES Theatre at Mediacorp to resounding cheers from friends and family.

Indeed, these young folk have much to celebrate—their years of hard work will see them highly sought after by both employers and industry as they pursue their passions and dreams.

Three hundred and seventy-two, in particular, will traverse paths less taken as pioneer graduates of unique and specialized degrees. Brimming with curiosity, Digital Senior headed down to speak to four of them to learn about their time at SIT and what lies ahead.

Eyrica Lee

Pioneer Graduate of Bachelor with Honours in Systems Engineering (ElectroMechanical Systems), jointly offered by Singapore Institute of Technology and DigiPen Institute of Technology (SIT-DigiPen)

“Our world is becoming more interconnected and complex and that’s why I chose [to study] Systems Engineering, which focuses on producing complex systems.”

Eyrica was drawn toward SIT-DigiPen’s Bachelor with Honours in Systems Engineering (ElectroMechanical Systems) due to its unique subject combination. The multidisciplinary field enables specialists to create sophisticated, smart and efficient functioning products, by bringing together the fields of mechanical, electrical, electronic, and computer engineering through a holistic approach to system development. Such a combination was not offered in any other university here at the time.

One of Eyrica’s proudest achievements in SIT was her one-year work attachment at Uhlmann Singapore for her Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP), where she got to handle a big project and spend two months in Germany for project support.

Eriyca is one of only five undergraduates in Singapore to pass the system engineering knowledge examination for the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) certification. She is now qualified as an Associate Systems Engineering Professional (ASEP) and chose to return to her sponsoring company as a Designer, focusing on mechanical design.

Nur Filzah Nadiah bte Shaiful Hamli

Pioneer Graduate of Bachelor of Food Technology with Honours, jointly offered by Singapore Institute of Technology and Massey University

The sunny Filzah shares with us how her interest in food technology sprouted after taking Food and Nutrition classes in secondary school.

As Singapore and the global population grow in size, efficient solutions for food security and sustainability are now more important than ever. Intrigued by the complexity of food formation and how food technology plays a big role in our everyday lives, Filzah set her heart on a career in this industry.

For Filzah, the SIT-Massey University Food Technology programme was the perfect choice to help her achieve her goal.

“I’m someone who doesn’t confine myself to the Singaporean context,” Filzah expresses, “and Food Tech students get to go to New Zealand to work on their Final Year Project, which added on to my desire to join this course!”

As the Bachelor of Food Technology is an articulated programme (meaning that students can enter with advanced standing), Filzah’s learning had to be accelerated. It was tough, but she found support in faculty like Associate Professor Kelvin Goh, a fatherly figure and faculty staff who worked very closely with students.

Filzah currently works as a Specification Data Specialist at Friesland Campina Singapore. She helps to collate and analyse data for the Dutch multinational dairy cooperative, and enjoys her work very much.

Loh Jun Han (Valedictorian)

Pioneer graduate of Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) with Honours in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services), and Master of Engineering Technology (MEngTech) in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services), Singapore Institute of Technology

Did you know that buildings alone account for over 40 percent of global energy usage and as much as one third of greenhouse gas emissions? This has changed the role of building services engineers, who are now more crucial than ever in our fight to create a more sustainable environment.

Loh Jun Han, who uncovered his passion for buildings during his days in Ngee Ann Polytechnic while studying facilities management, knows this keenly. In his words, SIT’s Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services) programme was launched “just in time”.

Cheerily, he tells us how the degree appealed through its niche in sustainability and building information modelling (BIM)—where technology is integrated with the building sector. In fact, the degree’s specialised curriculum has benefited Jun Han immensely. During Jun Han’s 12-month IWSP, his familiarity with BIM software was met with great surprise.

“The industry supervisors and engineers went, ‘Woah, you guys know this, how do you know? Even I don’t know!’ Then they allowed us to do all this related stuff to building information modelling!”

Jun Han thrived in SIT. He represented the school in various competitions such as the Air Liquide Data Science Challenge where he made it into the top 10. Other achievements include the clinching of the IES-SG50 Golden Jubilee Scholarship and BCA-Industry Built Environment Undergraduate Scholarship.

Jun Han also embarked on the MEngTech programme, attending evening classes four nights a week while working part-time. He now works as a Computational Specialist with Surbana Jurong, propelled by an interest in generative design.

Marilyn Tan

Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Telematics (Intelligent Transportation Systems Engineering), Singapore Institute of Technology

Singapore is gearing up to be a smart city and this involves leveraging data and digital technologies to enhance public transport. As Singapore works toward becoming a global pioneer of autonomous vehicles, individuals such as Marilyn have risen to the challenge of making this a reality.

“I joined this course [telematics] to be ready to help further develop Singapore’s transportation sector through smart technologies,” she explains.

“[Telematics] falls under the university’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Engineering clusters. We get the best of both worlds as most ICT programmes focus on software, but ours are a combination of that and hardware, which are the basics you need to acquire in order to build an AV”.

Currently, SIT is the only university to offer this degree locally.

Marilyn persevered in her studies, working part-time while juggling the projects, assignments and tests that came all at once. During her final year, she failed a few modules but retook them gamely, studying hard whenever there were free pockets of time.

“I just kept going… after that I could really see a huge improvement in my results. I’m really proud of myself for this because it was a really tiring time.”

Marilyn’s efforts have paid off: today, she works with ST Engineering as a Software Engineer!

After speaking to these confident and self-assured graduates, we couldn’t be happier that the future lies in their hands.

The Digital Senior team warmly congratulates SIT’s Class of 2019 and wishes everyone success in all their endeavours!