SUTD Inks Memorandum of Understanding with University of Twente, The Netherlands

22 Aug 2014


SUTD President Professor Thomas Magnanti and the President of the Executive Board of University of Twente Mr Victor van der Chijs shaking hands after signing the MOU at SUTD on 22 August 2014 

Singapore, Friday 22 August 2014 – Come 2015, undergraduates and postgraduates from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will have the opportunity to go on student exchange programmes in Europe. This is part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between SUTD and the University of Twente (UT) from The Netherlands, one of the top universities in Europe. Up to five students from each university will have the opportunity to spend up to six months in the other institution for exchange opportunities each year. Host institution would also be facilitating the placement of the students in relevant companies, research centres or organisations in the host institution’s country. 

The MOU, signed by SUTD President Professor Thomas Magnanti and the President of the Executive Board of University of Twente Mr Victor van der Chijs, is the first formal agreement signed by UT with a university in Singapore. The MOU also provides a framework for collaboration in teaching and joint research. 

Speaking at the signing ceremony at SUTD’s campus at Dover, UT Executive Board President Mr Victor van der Chijs said: "The University of Twente (UT) is excited about the new partnership with SUTD. There is significant resonance between both our missions and our educational vision. We share the philosophy of a cross-disciplinary ecosystem where staff and students from different disciplines work together on creative solutions for societal challenges. This collaboration is a terrific opportunity for students from Singapore who would like to engage in the, highly successful entrepreneurial ecosystem of Twente. The UT can act as their gateway to Europe. The other way around students from the University of Twente will be given the chance to be inspired by SUTD’s novel scientific insights and educational methods in the area of design and creativity, especially so for our students from the Academy of Technology and Liberal Arts & Sciences (ATLAS); our interdisciplinary Honours bachelor's programme for top students, that integrates social and technical perspectives into a new engineering approach." 

SUTD President Professor Thomas Magnanti said: "This partnership with UT for exchange and internship opportunities, which are mandatory at SUTD, is part of our efforts to develop technology-grounded leaders. Giving students the opportunity to be guided by industry experts, locally and overseas, is in line with SUTD’s "outside-in" approach to our curriculum, which is designed with consideration of the industry’s evolving needs, perspectives and challenges faced, will better prepare them for the real world, regardless of the field of study." 

Besides exchange programmes to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Zhejiang University which almost half our undergraduate cohort enjoys annually, more than 100 SUTD students embark on a 16-week internship with over 60 companies every year. Currently, SUTD students have done overseas internships in countries, such as, Brazil, Cambodia, China, India, and more. SUTD has over 350 companies as our internship partners.