Our Story
Singapore’s 4th publicly funded university is established to advance knowledge and nurture technically grounded leaders and innovators to serve societal needs with focus in design and technology.
Professor Thomas Magnanti named president of Singapore University of Technology and Design.
First SUTD office located at Ghim Moh Road, Chinese Language Centre
Mr Ng had served as the Chairman of the Steering Committee for Singapore’s 4th university, then as the Founding Chairman of SUTD.
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore’s new publicly funded university, had signed an agreement with MIT formalizing the detailed scope of collaboration between the two institutions.
Professor Chong Tow Chong was appointed as the founding Provost of Singapore University of Technology and Design from 1 June 2010.
At SUTD, we hope to harness the best practices and values of the East and the West. Through our collaboration with the Zhejiang University (ZJU) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), we are realising this goal.
Our logo was awarded Gold, Graphic Design in the Singapore Design Award 2010, organised by Designers Association Singapore (now known as the Design Business Chamber Singapore).
Established in collaboration with MIT, the Dual Masters’ Programme provided a global educational experience with a unique cross-fertilisation across architectural and engineering design, technology and innovation.
The university held its first undergraduate admissions exercise on 20 March with close to 500 prospective students in attendance.
SUTD started with an interim campus at the former ITE College Dover site, located at 20 Dover Drive. We were at this interim campus for a period of 4 years before moving to our permanent campus at Upper Changi.
16 October 2011 marked the day where we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Singapore Management University (SMU). This MOU formalised the collaboration in education, research as well as student and faculty exchanges.
We had our ground-breaking ceremony for our new campus at Upper Changi on 14 November 2011.
The Integrated Learning Programme (ILP) is a bridging programme unique to SUTD. The ILP is developed to ensure students’ readiness for the Freshmore curriculum as well as provide for a holistic learning experience to enthuse the students about the subjects. It aims to instill fundamental masteries in math and science in students with no or limited knowledge or who simply desire to have a refresher course in a particular area of study.
MIT and SUTD jointly opened a new facility – the MIT-SUTD International Design Centre (IDC) on 8 February 2012.
On 27 April 2012, we successfully matriculated 340 undergraduate students – our first batch.
On 7 May 2012, we signed an MOU with the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) to establish the Temasek Laboratories, and iTRUST, Centre for Research in Cyber Security at SUTD.
29 August 2012, an MOU between Singapore Institutes of Architects (SIA) and SUTD was signed.
The Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC) was established in September 2012 as one of the research centres of excellence in the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).
On 18 October 2012, we launched our multidisciplinary fabrication laboratory. A 1,000 sqm laboratory modelled after MIT’s Pappalardo Lab, one of the fabrication laboratories at MIT, that aims to allow students to design and build virtually “almost anything”.
SUTD launched our inaugural PhD Programme (first intake in September 2013) to develop outstanding local and international individuals for careers in academia or industry.
SUTD presented the graduation certificates to two Singaporeans, Mr Karthikeyan Rajasekharan and Ms Teo Yi Linn, and an American, Mr Nikhil Jain, who started their Masters programme in 2011.
On 6 September 2013, we held our topping out ceremony for our new East Coast campus located at 8 Somapah Road.
One of SUTD’s premier signature programme which offers students the opportunity to attend a fully immersive summer programme of at least 8 weeks duration at one of SUTD’s top partner institutions overseas.
Synergising our strength in technology and design together with SMU’s expertise in business management, the SUTD-SMU Dual Degree Programme was launched on 25 February 2014.
On 11 March 2014, a beam raising ceremony was held to mark the completion of the structural frames for two antique houses donated by Jackie Chan.
On 7 April 2014, SUTD was awarded provisional accreditation for all its three undergraduate engineering degree programmes by the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES), through its Engineering Accreditation Board (EAB).
The SUTD-JTC IIIC was established on 16 July 2014. The objective of the centre is to promote the development of innovative and sustainable industrial infrastructure solutions in Singapore.
SUTD was awarded the 2014 President’s Design Award for the Library’s Pavilion. The unique gridshell structure was designed by the SUTD City Form Lab.
The MIT Executive Committee Meeting on 7th and 8th November 2014 was a momentous event for SUTD. This was the first time, the senior officers and faculty members of MIT Corporation visited Singapore and SUTD and held its first Executive Committee meeting outside of the USA.
23 January 2015 marked the day where SUTD moved into our brand new Campus located at 8 Somapah Road. SUTD was the first Singapore public university to be located in the east of Singapore.
The Winter Independent Activities Period (IAP) was a three-week partially funded exchange programme at MIT. About 60 students get to participate in this programme yearly.
We celebrated our official opening ceremony of the East Coast campus on 8 May 2015.
29 August 2015, SUTD graduated 298 students with Bachelor’s degree and 10 students with Master’s degree. They are our first batch of students who joined us in 2012.
On 26 November 2015, SUTD signed an agreement with NUS to establish a joint Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree programme in Engineering. This is the first of such programme established jointly by two local public universities in Singapore.
This agreement marked the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China and built on existing partnerships between the universities, in areas of research, student and faculty exchanges and projects.
This is the first time, our students participated in the Joint Graduate Employment Survey with the other 4 universities.
On 13 May 2016, SUTD, together with ST Electronics, set up the ST Electronics-SUTD Cyber Security Laboratory. This joint laboratory was supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore, under its Corporate Laboratory@University Scheme.
Mr Philip Ng stepped down as Chairman of our Board of Trustees. We welcomed Mr Lee Tzu Yang, who took over this role on 11 August 2016.
On 10 September 2016, we graduated our very first batch of Masters of Architecture students.
SUTD launched our Masters of Science in Security by Design (MSSD), a one-of-a-kind programme.
With the launch of SUTD Technology Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP), students will be able to graduate with both a bachelor and master degree, focusing on entrepreneurship. This enables us to develop a new generation of technically-grounded entrepreneurial leaders.
Feb 2017
Full accreditation of Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Architecture degree programmes achieved
We were awarded full accreditation from Engineering Accreditation Board (EAB) and the Board of Architects (BOA) for 3 of our undergraduate programmes;
Engineering Product Design (EPD), Engineering Systems and Design (ESD) and Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD)
30 June 2017 marked the first phase of SUTD’s development – our collaboration with MIT came to a completion.
To spearhead our next phase of growth, SUTD will be developing a suite of integrated, multi-disciplinary programmes in key economic sectors over the next 5 years.
As part of our strategy in partnering industry partners to drive research and innovations that contribute to Singapore’s Smart Nation initiatives, we signed an MOU with Keysight Technologies on 6 December 2017. In conjunction with this signing, the new Measurement Technologies Laboratory was launched.
On top of being appointed President Emeritus, Professor Tom Magnanti was also awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) this year.
On 10 January 2018, we launched our SUTD Academy, offering SkillsFuture courses in the growth sectors (cybersecurity, data analytics, engineering, urban solutions and tech-enabled services).
We are named the top emerging engineering schools!
Professor Chong was appointed as the President of SUTD in April 2018, replacing Professor Tom Magnanti.
An ethereal cloud made of skilfully handcrafted acrylic knots that remits light and the scent of the Vanda Miss Joaquim flow was gently suspended in the vast spaces of the Sale d’Armi. This display formed the centrepiece of the Singapore Pavilion at the prestigious Venice Biennale.
SUTD Advanced Architecture Lab’s ‘The Future of Us Pavilion’ won the Design of the Year Award in the Singapore President’s Design Award 2018.
Our first batch SUTD-SMU Dual Degree Programme graduated!
This broad multi-year collaboration agreement deepens our cooperation in multiple fields.
Jul 2019
SUTD celebrates 10th anniversary
Happy 10th Birthday, SUTD!
Celebrating 10 years of innovations!
SUTD will be offering a new degree programme in Design and Artificial Intelligence (DAI), the first of its kind in the world, to students joining the university in Academic Year 2020. Find out more about the programme here.
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Shopee, the e-commerce arm of Sea, announced that they will join hands to nurture Singapore’s tech talent pipeline. The partnership will comprise two parts: Shopee-SUTD Scholarship: To provide financially disadvantaged students with the opportunity to pursue an education in technology and design. Shopee-SUTD Industry Collaboration Dialogues:…
The Graduation Showcase by ASD students is back! In its fifth run this year, this exhibition weaves together 50 unique projects through the concept of a Metropolis. Find out more by visiting the exhibition happening at the Deck from 5-9 February 2020, and discover the fine touches and thoughts the team puts into making this…
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will be extending a Community Grant to its students who are non-scholarship and financial aid recipients to help defray the cost of an SUTD education, starting this academic year. In SUTD, we are committed to ensure that no deserving Singaporean student is denied access to our programmes…
Feb 2020
SUTD Open House 2020
In 2020, the SUTD Open House 2020 went DIGITAL! We turned our physical Open House into an online event experience, a group of SUTD students created a virtual replica of the campus in less than 14 days. Click here to experience SUTD!
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Thales have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), paving the way for deeper collaboration on R&D, and the development of innovative solutions for mission-critical systems design. Read more on the partnership here. Other links: Thales Group
On 16 July, the Singapore University of Technology and Design signed an MOU with the Shenzhen Technology University (SZTU) to collaborate on faculty and student visits, academic and research activities, and an agreement to collaborate on a joint immersion programme. The joint immersion programme between SUTD and SZTU will translate into a one-week joint programme…
Aug 2020
Capstone Design Showcase 2020
Our first virtual Capstone Design Showcase features 63 innovations by our graduating cohort, conceived to transform the way we live and to better our world by design. The Capstone Design project is a collaboration between our Industry Partners and senior-year students. Students of different majors work in teams and contribute their expertise to solve real-world…
Themed “Architecture Saving OUR World”, the festival this year will spotlight new ideas and responsible designs that benefit our ecology and humanity, as a showcase of the architecture fraternity’s resilience during this pandemic, and how design can make a difference. Over 100 programmes have been lined up as part of Singapore Archifest’s first-ever hybrid edition….
The SUTD Learning Celebration Carnival is an annual event where our students share their experiential learning journeys around the world and showcase their innovations from the various programmes held over the past year. The theme for 2020 is ‘Summation of our experiences’.
Launched in 2019, the Swift App Development Programme, is an initiative where SUTD students get to learn app development using Swift programming language by Apple. During the programme, students also get the chance to meet and interact with experts from the industry. This ceremony celebrates the achievements of the first batch of graduates from the…
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Phoon Kok Kwang as the University’s new Provost. Prof Phoon is currently the Senior Vice-Provost (Academic Affairs) and a Distinguished Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and will officially join SUTD in February 2021. Read more about…
For the fifth year running, Professor Tony Quek, has been named Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researcher in the field of Computer Science. “It is my honour to be listed as a Highly Cited Researcher for the fifth consecutive year. This is only possible with the continuous support from SUTD, MOE, and NRF. With 5G being…
A graduate from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has developed a syringe device to help medical staff control the amount of medication delivered. Approximately 80% of medical staff who have used the device felt that it helped increase their confidence in giving the correct dose of medication and more than 70% of…
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has appointed a new chairman for one of its research institutes. Former Housing Board chief executive Cheong Koon Hean, 63, will assume the position of chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities in June. She will be taking over from Professor Chan Heng Chee,…
Twenty students from Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Engineering will get to take relevant modules offered by the Singapore University of Technology and Design. The new through-train programme is part of efforts to increase the number of pathways to university for polytechnic students. Source: Channel News Asia
The scholarship is Ensign’s inaugural partnership with an autonomous university to provide aspiring talents with the opportunity to pursue cybersecurity as a career. Starting 2022, one Year 3 student specialising in the security track from SUTD’s Information Systems Technology and Design degree programme will be awarded the bond-free scholarship every year. The student will receive…