SUTD Launches Its First Integrated Bachelor & Master Programme on Technology Entrepreneurship

18 Jan 2017
  • A premier 4.5-year integrated programme with one-year overseas immersion in USA and China

  • 30 bond-free scholarships for Singaporeans 

With entrepreneurship and innovation projected to be key drivers of Singapore’s future economic restructuring, growth and development, the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will launch its first integrated undergraduate and postgraduate entrepreneurship programme this May.
 
Known as the SUTD Technology Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP), the 4.5-year or 10-term programme will provide students with the following:

  • A one-year overseas experience studying in universities and working at industry partners with a strong focus on entrepreneurship to develop students with a global perspective and mindset. Fourth-year students of STEP will embark on an immersion experience in the USA and China that includes:

    • 15 weeks of entrepreneurship studies in a US university, such as at the University of California, Berkeley,

    • an exclusive summer work immersion in the San Francisco Bay area,

    • and another term of cultural immersion and exchange in a Chinese university, such as Zhejiang University.

  • Two terms of experiential learning through a special capstone entrepreneurship project and a Masters dissertation on Technology Entrepreneurship to fulfill both the undergraduate and postgraduate requirements. 

Through the capstone project, not only will students gain real-world experience of the start-up process, but they will also be introduced to Singapore's entrepreneurship scene and venture-capitalist eco-system.
 
SUTD Provost Professor Chong Tow Chong said: “We are launching STEP, a premier integrated programme where students graduate with both a bachelor and master degree focusing on entrepreneurship, in our bid to develop a new generation of technically-grounded entrepreneurial leaders. By providing students with the best of the East and West in terms of both education and overseas work and cultural experience, students will be able to gain first-hand global insights and identify potential gaps. Coupled with the supportive startup eco-system in Singapore, students will have a strong entrepreneurship foundation to start businesses that can help better society and the world.”
 
Students who complete STEP will graduate with two degrees – a Bachelor of Science/Engineering and a Master of Science in Technology Entrepreneurship. With the strong design and technology foundation provided by the SUTD bachelor degree, combined with the global perspective and real-world entrepreneurship learning experience from the master degree, STEP graduates should be well-poised to become the next generation of technically-grounded entrepreneurs and leaders.
 
The STEP will take up to 30 students as a start. Applications for 2017 are now open and will close in mid-March1. In addition, SUTD will offer up to 30 bond-free scholarships to successful Singaporean applicants. Singapore permanent residents and international students are also welcome to apply to the programme. For more information on the admission criteria and process, please visit: http://www.sutd.edu.sg/apply
 
Serial entrepreneur and investor, Mr Ong Peng Tsin, Managing Director of Monk's Hill Ventures said: “This SUTD programme will not only give students the invaluable exposure to Singapore, the US and China’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, but also a springboard and wide resource network for those who want to start their own company.  The community of regional venture capitalists and entrepreneurs is committed to nurturing and mentoring aspiring young entrepreneurs and we look forward to more innovations and startups from SUTD.”

Application closing date for all qualifications is 19 March 2017, except for those applying with a Polytechnic diploma, which will be 12 March 2017.


Annex A
Quotes from students who are keen to take up STEP:

"It has always been a childhood dream of mine to start a tech company. I applied for the STEP programme because I believe it allows me to not only obtain the necessary technical skills involved in engineering, but also to be immersed in entrepreneurship as well. Having the opportunity to study in Singapore as well as to have real experience working and studying in both China and the USA will allow me to expand my social network in the future."
- Ng Jun Yan Kenneth (伍俊谚), 21 years old, 
Catholic Junior College

"I am interested in the STEP programme because it combines two areas, technology and entrepreneurship which both interest me greatly. Many of the great entrepreneurs of our time are in the technology sector and I feel that this programme will not only equip me with the entrepreneurial spirit and skills but also the technical expertise required to hold my own in this dynamic and constantly shifting sector." 
- Yang Run Ze, (杨润泽) 19 years old, River Valley High School