10 years of cooperation NTU FH Bochum
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By Loh Ai Hwa, Senior Deputy Director, Career & Attachment
Office, NTU
This year we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our cooperation
with FH Bochum, Germany with a ceremony held in Bochum, Germany on
9 May 2007 and a tea party in Singapore on 29 June 2007. The
relationship started with the visit of Prof. Dr. Dudziak and Prof.
Dr. Schneeberger to NTU in February 1997 to explore possible fields
of cooperation. After some discussions, the area of Industrial
Attachment or Internship was identified and an exchange programme
established.
We received the first two students from Bochum in October 1998
and our first three students went to Bochum in January 1999. Since
then, we have seen the exchange growing stronger over the years.
Till now, we are proud to say that close to 140 students from the
two universities have benefited from the exchange.
Besides the friendship and the network built, the exchange also
flourishes in other ways. For example, a few years ago, one of our
students received a sponsorship from his attachment company for his
Master degree in NTU. We are also starting to see exchange students
from Bochum coming back to Singapore to work for their attachment
company or to do their final year thesis with their attachment
company.
The Industrial Attachment programme is a unique learning process
for students, built on the partnership between the University and
the industry to provide professional training for the students to
meet the demands of the knowledge-based economy.
Doing Industrial Attachment overseas not only provides the
students with diverse opportunities to gain real-life working
experience from our pool of university and industry partners
abroad, but also helps to widen their perspective of the working
world, and enhance their employability and career mobility
worldwide upon graduation.
The last few years have seen swift changes to world economies. A
resurgent China is asserting its influence not only in the region
but the world. The emergence of the Indian economy on the global
scene and its important role as an outsourcing centre is attracting
much attention.
In the face of intense global competition and transformation of
the entire economic value chain, Singapore is remaking itself to
remain relevant. We need to build new capabilities and competencies
for sustainable competitive advantage in the new environment. We
must produce graduates who are not only experts in their fields,
but also leaders with a broad perspective on global issues and a
firm grasp of international relations.
FH Bochum is also committed to preparing their graduates to cope
with increasing globalisation as well as to be open to the ideas
and experiences of the international community in teaching,
research and administration. They have built an extensive range of
contacts in Europe, the Americas and Asia and have made student
exchanges with the partner institutions an essential aspect of a
graduates international education.
With this common goal, we are confident that our exchange will
continue to grow. Hopefully, in the very near future, graduates
from the two universities could together lead global teams
comprising people from different cultures or start a business in
Germany, Singapore or other countries through the network that they
build up.
Prof Er Meng Hwa (Associate Provost) and Prof Dudziak (FH
Bochum) visited NTU students on work attachment to Nokia Germany in
May 2007
Past and current participants gathered at the 10th Anniversary
tea party in June 2007
