Speech at the inaugural Federation of Engineering Institution of Asia and The Pacific (FEIAP) Convention 2011

03 Oct 2011

By Mr Gan Kim Yong
Venue: Furama Riverfront Hotel

1.    It is my great pleasure and honour to welcome you to the opening of the Inaugural Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP) Convention 2011. Let me first welcome all our fellow Engineers and friends who have come from the Asia Pacific region and beyond.  This Convention provides a valuable platform for the dialogue how engineers can contribute positively to the solution of the world’s challenges today and in the future.  It also allows delegates to exchange views on how we can continue to improve the quality and standards of engineering graduates and raise the professionalism and recognition of engineers.

2     This is in line with FEIAP’s aim to promote the sharing of experience and exchange of information for the advancement of the engineering profession. New working groups were formed towards this objective.  The national engineering institutions have an important role in determining and accrediting the quality of their national engineering education systems. I understand that the Federation formed an Engineering Education Work Group to share experience within the region and assist the developing economies in adapting the accreditation process.  This includes the formulation of benchmarks and best practice guidelines to assist member economies on the international engineering accreditation system. I am told the working group has published the FEIAP Engineering Education Guidelines and a copy of the Guide Book sponsored by Chinese Institute of Engineers will be given to all conference participants.

Demand and mobility of Engineers in the Asia-Pacific Region

3     The FEIAP Engineering Education and Professional Ethics Working Groups aims to assist their fellow member economies by  providing a set of ethical guidelines for engineers to guide them in their decision making process.

4     I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Er. Tan Seng Chuan, President of the Federation of Engineering Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP), and Past President of IES, who has been elected as Deputy Chair of the APEC Engineer Coordinating Committee.

Engineering Education in Singapore and it’s Future Trend

5     Leading engineering schools around the world have formed a worldwide collaborative effort to conceive and develop a new vision of engineering education that will stay relevant to the changing demand on engineers. In Singapore, engineering education has also been going through some form of transformation in recent years. Many new teaching approaches involving Active Learning such as Conceive – Design – Implement – Operate (CDIO), Problem Based Learning (PBL) are being adapted by the local polytechnics into their engineering curriculum. Through these innovative initiatives, we hope to produce the next generation of engineers well equipped to face the challenges of the future.  Design focus curriculum to train engineers to be design professionals, competent not only in engineering but also in independent and innovative thinking, is available in NTU and NUS, our two other local institutions of higher learning.

6     The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) model preserves and leverages on the strengths of local polytechnics and provides polytechnic students an opportunity to obtain a university degree from well-regarded foreign universities. The Singapore University of Technology and Design model hopes to produce graduates who are innovators who can bring ideas from the drawing board into the real economy.

Healthcare, Engineering and Ageing

7     In the few months after I took over the Health Ministry, I have spent much time visiting hospitals, nursing homes, polyclinics, and spoke to many healthcare professionals as well as  patients.  Let me share with you my thoughts on healthcare, engineering and ageing.

8     Healthcare is a huge and growing sector in all industrialized economies. Many of these economies have something in common – they are all facing the issue of ageing.  Singapore is not spared either - we expect to see a doubling of the number of Singapore residents aged 65 and above by the year 2030.  I head a Committee to address this, the Ministerial Committee for Ageing. One of our top priorities is to think through how we can help prepare Singapore to meet the challenges associated with an ageing population. Even as the Ministry of Health continues to grow and ramp up the long term care sector to better support ageing, we are also looking for new and innovative solutions from beyond the medical community.

9     Engineering make a positive contribution in this aspect. Take for example, bioengineering. It has already produced meaningful results through the creation of important medical devices, tools and implants which help doctors treat their patients better and improve their quality of living.  Cross fertilisation and application of knowledge from the disciplines of science, engineering and medicine will open new and exciting opportunities. There is a relatively young branch of engineering called “Healthcare Engineering”. Many universities around the world have started to look into this area which seeks to address challenges experienced in healthcare delivery systems. I see this as a natural evolution in the development of engineering.

Engineers traditionally have been strong in optimizing efficiency and processes with a systems engineering approach. Healthcare engineering takes it forward, applying well honed and familiar approaches in systems engineering to bring about the optimization of various factors in healthcare systems such as accessibility, safety, cost and effectiveness of care. Healthcare engineering might be a niche field today but there is great potential in such a discipline.

Concluding Remarks

10     In conclusion, I would like to encourage the engineering community to continuously innovate and engineer a sustainable future ahead so that we can make a difference to the world. I like to wish all the Conference delegates a fruitful discussion and active participation.

Thank you.