6 August 2015
After more than 30 years, close to 200 alumni from the Master of Technology (MTech) and Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis (GDipSA) programmes, offered by the Institute of Systems Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS-ISS), reunited at the inaugural Alumni Reunion event held on 4 August this year.
Held at the NUS Kent Ridge Guild House, the evening saw alumni spanning from 1984 till 2015, as well as past and present teaching staff, gathering together to catch up, exchange stories, network and make new friends.
Mr Alphonsus Pang, Former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer of the Attorney General’s Chambers, as well as alumnus from the Class of 1987, and the Chairman of ISS Alumni Advisory Council was the guest-of-honour for the night. In his address, he reminded the alumni to give back generously to their alma mater as they have learnt and gained from ISS.
Director & CEO of NUS-ISS, Mr Khoong Chan Meng, thanked guests for coming, in his opening address: “Although we have been inviting our alumni to join us in a variety of ISS events in the past, we now have an annual event that is dedicated for our alumni. This reunion is special also because it is the year of SG50 and NUS110.” He continued, “This evening, it is a wonderful opportunity for you to reconnect with course-mates and teachers and to re-bond with your friends.”
The theme of the reunion was “Old Friends, New Ideas’. In addition to rekindling old memories, the reunion sought also to enable people to leverage on the alumni community network, of more than 4,600 graduates, to learn and share thoughts and ideas.
Besides an ice-breaker game and performances by staff and alumni, another highlight of the evening’s programme was the “Fireside Chat”, where four alumni shared their thoughts about building a career in IT, turning challenges into opportunities and leading teams into the future.
Speakers on the panel included Ms Ang Mui Kim, Director/CIO, Information Systems & Technology Department, Ministry of Manpower; Ms Clara Lee, CIO, DSM Engineering Plastics; Mr Leow Siew Kiat, Vice President, IT, EZ-Link Pte Ltd; and Mr Alvin Khoo, Regional IT Director, DSM – all of whom graduated in the 1980s and 1990s.
NUS-ISS was founded in 1981 with the important task of developing IT professionals to support Singapore’s transformation into a knowledge-based economy. In that same year, the GDipSA programme was launched, and has been running ever since.
“We are now running five graduate programmes, and have graduated 4,600 students to date. Our newest programme is the MTech in IT Leadership, which will take in its first cohort in January 2016,” said Mr Khoong.
Apart from the Master of Technology programme in IT Leadership, the other graduate programmes which NUS-ISS is offering include Master of Technology in Knowledge Engineering, Master of Technology in Software Engineering, Master of Technology in Enterprise Business Analytics, as well as Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis.
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