Enhancement Programmes

Faculty of Engineering offers a host of Enhancement Programmes (EP) which broaden our engineering students’ education. Students can select one or more of these programmes to satisfy the Unrestricted Elective Modules (UEMs).

For students matriculated in AY2004/05 & AY2005/06, MCs earned under IA and VIP will NOT be counted towards the 12 MCs allowed under S/U Option. New grades known as ‘Completed Satisfactory’ (‘CS’) and ‘Completed Unsatisfactory’ (‘CU’) will be awarded for these two modules upon completion. These modules are not counted towards your CAP.

For students matriculated from AY2006/07 onwards, MCs earned under all EP will NOT be counted towards the 12 MCs allowed under S/U Option. New grades known as ‘Completed Satisfactory’ (‘CS’) and ‘Completed Unsatisfactory’ (‘CU’) will be awarded for these two modules upon completion. These modules are not counted towards your CAP.

The MCs may be used to satisfy the Unrestricted Elective Modules (UEMs) requirement.

For more details about, please refer to: http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/undergrad/epmc/ep.html

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3.4.1    EG3601 Industrial Attachment Programme (12 MCs)

EG3601 Industrial Attachment Programme (IAP) is designed to:
•         Enable students to translate theories learnt in the classroom into practice in a real-world environment.
•         Instill in students the right kind of work attitude and professionalism through interaction with people in organisations and observation of their future roles in industry.
•         Enable students to acquire intangible attributes such as working in a team and the use of IT in the workplace.

Students who have achieved Stage 3 of their course are allowed to spend a semester in industry either in a local company (local IAP or LIAP) or in an overseas company (overseas IAP or OIAP) for 24 weeks. Students will need good engineering knowledge to be suitable for the attachment and to be able to contribute to the industrial projects during the attachment. Each student will be awarded 12 MCs upon completing LIAP or OIAP. Students may wish to register with the Faculty in semester 5 (around September/October of each year) for possible allocation of company placements, or to source their own placements. During the attachment period, students need to submit progress reports for continual assessment by their Mentors assigned to them by the respective Departments.

For more details, please refer to: http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/ undergrad/epmc/iap.html

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3.4.2    EG3602 Vacation Internship Programme (6 MCs)

EG3602 Vacation Internship Programme (VIP) has the same objectives as IAP, except that it is of a shorter duration. Students who have completed Stage 2 of their course are allowed to undertake EG3602. Students will need good engineering knowledge to be suitable for the attachment and to be able to contribute to the industrial projects during the attachment. Students may choose to do a short internship of 12-week duration during the vacation (May to July) period in selected local/overseas companies. Students will have to submit a progress report and a final report for assessment at the end of the attachment. Their performance will be closely monitored and graded by their respective mentors. Students who have met the requirements of vacation internship will be awarded 6 MCs. For more information on VIP, please refer to:
http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/undergrad/epmc/vip.html

It is important to note that students are allowed to get credits for either IAP or VIP, but not both.

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3.4.3    EG1603/EG2603A Technopreneurship and Incubation Programme

The overall learning objectives of EG1603/EG2603A Technopreneurship and Incubation Programme (TIP) are:
•         To enthuse and prepare students, by classroom tuition and experiential learning, for a career in technology-based entrepreneurship.
•         To educate students on how to start up and incubate companies. (Actual incubation may be done in an incubation centre specially created to provide basic facilities and advice).
•         To provide the necessary resources for students to “incubate” their ideas.
•         To assist students to link up with companies/contacts that may be useful to their business ideas.

The TIP comprises two parts, namely EG1603 and EG2603A. MCs are assigned to the successful completion of each part and may be used to count towards the Technopreneurship Minor.

EG1603 – (TIP Instructional Workshops and Seminars) (2 MCs)
The learning objectives of EG1603 are for students to gain insight, confidence, and some basic capabilities about the theoretical and practical aspects of technopreneurship, i.e., the technopreneurship business and technical processes – including the critical success factors, risk management, interpersonal skills of presentation and persuasion. The above learning is acquired via instructional workshops with continual assessment (CA), and supplemented by at least 4 seminars.

EG2603A – TIP (Business Plan) (2 MCs)
Students who have completed Stage 1 of their course can undertake EG2603A. Stage 1 students can still opt to do EG2603A on special permission of the TIP Co-ordinator, Dr John Bauly, engjb@nus.edu.sg. Students will need some basic Engineering knowledge to handle EG2603A on the writing of technopreneurial business plan. The learning objectives of EG2603A are for students to gain additional insight, confidence, and basic capabilities about the theoretical and practical aspects of technopreneurship – particularly regarding overall business planning, i.e., “making the business case”.

For more information, please refer to: http://www.tip.eng.nus.edu.sg/

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3.4.4    EG2604 Innovation Programme (4 MCs)

Students are engaged in a semester-long activity on a hands-on basis to create a novel outcome of practical significance. The students choose the subject of interest, under the guidance of a group of faculty members who also serve as mentors. Working sessions and seminars are organised throughout the duration of the programme. The topics of the seminars include problem definition and analysis, method of irritation, idea-generation methods and solutions, creativity and innovation, critical evaluation, intellectual property protection and commercialisation of ideas and products with real-life case studies. Working sessions allow students to sell their ideas to the whole class and accept and/or defend critical evaluations.

Students propose a problem, the solution of which will improve our quality of life. They then proceed to analyse the problem and find solutions to it. In the working sessions, the students present their problems, ideas and solutions to peers and the group of mentors. The whole class is engaged in active discussion throughout the working sessions, and students are continuously assessed during these sessions by the mentors. At the end of the programme, the students are expected to produce a prototype or a demonstrable system and to make a presentation to convince others of the value of the proposed idea, procedure or device. Peers will contribute to the evaluation of the success of the idea and product generated. The mentors will monitor the progress, and facilitate project development.

Students outside the Faculty of Engineering are encouraged to join to form mutli-disciplinary teams in the class project. By taking part in the programme, the students are expected to learn that existing forms of schemes and procedures in practice can be challenged, but, at the same time, there are significant merits and strengths in existing schemes and procedures. Students will be able to create something meaningful to improve our quality of life. Assessment will be 100% continuous and there is no final examination.

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3.4.5    EG2605 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (4 MCs)

EG2605 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) provides an opportunity for students to do research at an early stage in their candidature. They would be able to (a) acquire skills involved in the intellectual process of inquiry, (b) enhance their knowledge of the latest technology and (c) interact with faculty members so as to foster closer ties. Students have to complete Stage 1 of their course to gain good fundamental engineering knowledge to handle the EG2605 programme on research and development work in the laboratory. Students are expected to work on the UROP project for at least 130 hours, which may be spread over two semesters. At the end of the project, UROP students have to submit a six- to eight-page paper to their supervisors. The assessment guidelines for satisfactory grading are based on students (i) having done a literature survey of the research area, (ii) having defined the problem clearly and proposing a hypothesis or a model for the problem, (iii) designing a solution procedure/experiment to study the hypothesis or analyse the problem, (iv) obtaining the data and evidences to support the hypothesis and (v) drawing conclusions and making suggestions for future studies.

For more information, please refer to:  http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/urop

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3.4.6    EG2606A/B Independent Work Programme (2 and 4 MCs)

This programme aims to promote self-study, critical thinking and independent research ability. Possible independent work activities include systems development (e.g., hardware/software systems and mechanical systems) and participation in recognised national and international competitions. Students have to complete Stage 1 of their study to have sufficient basic engineering knowledge in order to propose a meaningful project and to work independently on the project with minimum supervision. Projects are initiated by students individually or as a team of not more than four members by submitting a proposal to the Dean’s Office. The proposal will outline the background, nature and scope of the activity and should also include a statement of the learning objectives. In order to successfully complete the project and receive credit for EG2606A/B, students must achieve the learning objectives stated in the proposal and submit a short project report. Students can either register for the EG2606A Independent Work (2 MCs) for work totalling a minimum of 65 hours, or EG2606B Independent Work (4 MCs) for work totalling a minimum of 130 hours.

For more information, please refer to: http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/undergrad/epmc/iw.html

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