For the first time since its debut in 2014, this year’s NUS-ISS Learning Day 2018 is part of the inaugural month-long SkillsFuture Festival.
Held on 13 July, the one-day event attracted almost 500 attendees – a 30 percent increase from last year.
In line with the SkillsFuture Series, the NUS-ISS staff community and network of industry partners have come together to craft a series of programmes according to the eight emerging skills – data analytics, finance, tech-enabled services, digital media, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, advanced manufacturing, and urban solutions.
Consisting of industry keynotes, insightful panel discussions and hands-on demonstration, the line-up offers a myriad of unique experiential learning experiences for young learners, working professionals and active agers. They were conducted by the in-house teaching staff – all of whom have an average of over 20 years of industry experience – as well as guest speakers from the industry. Focusing on the rapidly changing job landscape and the disruptions brought forth by the dawn of the fourth industrial revolution, the sessions also touched on the soft skills that professionals need to equip themselves with in order to be future-ready.
Members of Project Management Institute (PMI) were able to claim Professional Development Units (PDUs) for selected sessions.
One of the attendees, Lim Eng Xiong, a procurement analytics manager at National University of Singapore, enthused, “I am inspired by how data can be used in so many ways – from medical use cases such as detecting human gestures, to forming the basis of the Smart Nation infrastructure using sensory data.”
Melissa Tan, a technical designer at Finalcad, gained a better understanding of the emerging technological areas that she could upskill herself in. “The friendly staff at NUS-ISS were also very helpful in explaining the syllabus and course structure, which sounded very exciting. This has made me quite keen to participate in some of the courses,” she added.
Out of the 34 sessions, blockchain demonstrates its draw as one of the hottest tech buzzwords, with ‘An Introduction to Blockchain and A Demo on Corda for Financial Trades’ by lecturer Mr Eric Tham being filled to the brim. Other popular topics at the event include ‘Transforming Your Business with Robotic Process Automation (RPA)’, as well as ‘Training for the Smart Nation’.
Another highlight of the Learning Day was the Project Showcase, which featured five outstanding projects done by the students and staff of NUS-ISS in collaboration with industry partners, through which technology was leveraged to solve real-world problems. One of them was the Hand Rehabilitation System, designed to improve the hand motor function recovery of the Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and stroke patients, and in turn, allows them to perform their Activities of Daily Living (ADL) better.
Other projects include the iPose, a real-time human posture recognition using webcam; the Intelligent Gait smart socks that uses electrical stimuli and vibration to guide elderly persons; Voyager, an autonomous 3D-printed drone; as well as an autonomous car powered by Raspberry Pi.
Indroneel Mukherjee, a software engineer at SmartClean Technologies, was a regular attendee of NUS-ISS Learning Day. “I like to keep myself up-to-date on the learning opportunities available, and my biggest takeaway from NUS-ISS Learning Day is meeting a community of people who are eager to upskill themselves. The project showcase is also very enlightening, and it’s something that I look forward to every year!”
“As Singapore undertakes industry transformation, enabled by emerging skills, it is important for professionals from all industries to adapt, upskill and reskill for the future jobs of tomorrow,” said Khoong Chan Meng, CEO, Institute of Systems Science, NUS, “and that’s what we do every day through our education programmes, consulting services and events such as the NUS-ISS Learning Day.”
To view the NUS-ISS Learning Day 2018 highlights video, click here
To view photos of the NUS-ISS Learning Day 2018, click here