Lianhe Zaobao, 早人物：新科大校长方国光教授：岩土和管理大学他都爱 传抱过的宝宝都能成天才

(Translated title and summary)

Last year, Professor Phoon Kok Kwang was appointed as the third President of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Upon taking office, he actively promoted the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and design innovation into education. As an internationally renowned geotechnical engineering expert, he is not only highly respected in academic circles but also a sought-after guest at students’ weddings, with a rumour circulating that babies he holds will become geniuses.

Professor Phoon wears many hats: he is the President of SUTD, a respected expert in geotechnical engineering, a mentor to his students, and a thought leader in education. In the research community, he is a highly respected geotechnical engineering expert who frequently gives lectures at universities abroad. To his graduate students, he is a mentor and friend who attends their weddings and other important life events. In the education sector, he is a forward-thinking leader who is always looking for new ways to improve education.

The interview took place at the SUTD library, surrounded by student projects that showcased the University’s focus on engineering and design. The comfortable sofa was surrounded by bookshelves displaying student graduation projects, ranging from model furniture to mechanical instruments, and objects composed of multiple cylinders, all showcasing the university’s teaching achievements in engineering and design.

The tall and slender Professor Phoon (61 years old) ended a phone call from a distance of five steps away, walked over, apologised for being late, and enthusiastically introduced the student projects on display. He then systematically shared his vision for SUTD, his educational philosophy, and his views on AI.

“Learning” is his core philosophy of education. However, “learning” here doesn’t just refer to accumulating knowledge, but rather guiding students to “learn to ask questions”. Asking questions requires precision, relevance, and reasonableness, and can lead to new discoveries. This is not just about asking questions casually but requires a humanistic approach and a people-centred mindset.

This is precisely the design thinking that Professor Phoon advocates, a systematic approach to cultivating students’ innovative abilities. Traditional science and engineering education often focuses solely on “how” to make things work better, emphasising execution strategies while neglecting the fundamental question of “why”. In the modern world, this mindset is not always effective and cannot guarantee students’ smooth employment after graduation.

Design thinking is people-centred and is the key to cultivating design innovators. It not only improves the status quo but creates new things that people truly want and can use. “Engineers, physicists, or mathematicians focus on solving problems, while design thinking starts with no problem, and we need to discover and ask questions, identify needs and problems. This requires mastering questioning skills.”

Using the example of an ageing society, Professor Phoon explained that elderly people often face problems such as knee wear and tear and weak legs. A typical engineering mindset might design a highly advanced knee replacement that perfectly replaces the damaged part. However, in practical application, they may not be willing to use it, rendering the excellent design useless. When applying design thinking to complex issues like healthcare, the first step is not to consider how to design a knee replacement, but to ask key questions: What problems do the elderly face? Why are their legs weak? Why don’t they want to go out? By exploring these questions, we can ultimately design solutions to improve the elderly’s quality of life.

Design Thinking Encourages People to Step Out of Their Comfort Zones
Design thinking encourages participants to step out of their comfort zones and break free from the constraints of fear of failure and risk aversion. Professor Phoon said that design thinking encourages participants to experience different lives and cultures in different places. His design thinking approach and training are different from others, consisting of four key stages: discover, define, develop, and deliver.

The first stage is “discovery”. This involves immersing oneself in the community, interacting with people, observing carefully, and discovering real needs. The second stage is “definition”. Through brainstorming, we clarify the core problems that need to be solved. The third and fourth stages are “development” and “delivery”. Through team discussions, we seek solutions and create final, viable product prototypes.

To perfectly execute the four stages, teamwork is essential. Through multi-faceted and multi-angled thinking collisions, we gather different opinions and then, in the process of creating product prototypes, we continuously try, fail, and improve. Ultimately, design thinking will cultivate design innovators with a transformative spirit.

Professor Phoon said that when SUTD graduates all become design innovators, it will be time for him to step down. When talking about education, Professor Phoon’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, “I love teaching and research.” This passion is so strong that it makes him forget himself.

Makes Time to Attend His Students’ Weddings
Therefore, even though he is busy with his roles as President and Provost, he still makes time for research in geotechnical engineering in the evenings. He has guided students who graduated over a decade ago, and they still meet him for meals and invite him to their weddings. They even spread the rumour that “if Professor Phoon holds a baby, the baby will become a genius.”

Professor Phoon always agrees to attend, saying “as long as I’m in Singapore, I’ll definitely attend”.

During his teaching career, he received the University Outstanding Teaching Award from the National University of Singapore (NUS) twice. Professor Phoon is a Public Service Commission Scholarship recipient. After completing his undergraduate and master’s degrees in civil engineering at NUS, he received an NUS scholarship to pursue his PhD in geotechnical and geological engineering at Cornell University in the United States.

In 1995, he returned to NUS’s engineering faculty and taught, becoming the head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department in 2013. Three years later, at the invitation of the current President, Professor Tan Eng Chye, he took on the role of Deputy Provost and then served as Senior Deputy Provost for nearly a year. In 2021, he left NUS to become the Provost of SUTD, and last August, he was appointed President of SUTD.

Professor Phoon is a renowned expert in his field. His statistical and machine learning methods for geotechnical engineering are highly regarded, and he ranks 42nd in annual influence and 76th in career influence among his international peers. He has received the Norman Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers twice, in 2005 and 2020.

In recent years, national-level engineering projects related to soil and rock in Singapore, such as land reclamation and MRT construction, have benefited from Professor Phoon’s expertise. He is often invited to conduct academic research and exchange programmes at several famous universities in China, including serving as the Luojia Distinguished Visiting Professor at Wuhan University from 2018 to 2022.

Many successful professors and scholars in the research community often shy away from administrative work. However, Professor Phoon has risen to prominence in administrative roles. The reason is simple: he was inspired by the words “if not you, then who?” – the same words that are often used to motivate new politicians. At the time, President Tan told him: “You can’t just be satisfied with doing research and writing papers; you should help more people.”

“Doing good and helping more people” has always been his motto, and it was also the reason he chose to become a civil engineer. “I want to build houses for many people to live in,” he said.

Born to Hawker Parents, Grateful to NUS for Scholarship
Professor Phoon’s parents were hawkers, and raising four children was a heavy burden for the family, which was not wealthy. He is grateful for the NUS scholarship that allowed him to pursue further education in the US, and he decided to take on administrative roles to give back to his alma mater.

He also knows that as an ordinary professor, there are limitations to what he can do, and he cannot make policies or change the status quo. However, by taking on administrative roles, he can create greater change and realise his values. Value is the “weapon” he uses to convince his professor colleagues to participate in non-research activities, “professors’ time is precious, and they need to be clear about the significance and value of the activity, and the participation time should not be too long, a few months is enough”.

Sometimes, he has to “beg” other professors for support, simply because he sees the value in their contributions. “Clementi is a place where dragons and tigers hide; those ordinary-looking uncles wearing shorts, shirts, and slippers may be super experts in certain academic fields, with rich experience and extensive networks. As long as we can get their help, young professors and students will benefit greatly.”

The recent incident of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) students being penalised for using AI to write assignments has sparked debate. Professor Phoon believes that SUTD’s teaching approach is different, and students are encouraged to use AI to solve real-world problems. “Rather than accusing students of cheating, we should let them use AI naturally while solving actual problems, inspiring their passion and creativity, and cultivating a positive attitude towards AI.”

Powerful AI Wave Caught Him Off Guard
The rapid development of AI has sometimes caught Phoon off guard. “This wave of AI has arrived with great momentum and mobilising the University to respond quickly and positively has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced so far.”

When it comes to the younger generation, Phoon is amazed by their pursuit of meaning and purpose, which goes beyond traditional financial security. However, he’s also concerned that these digital natives might become too immersed in the virtual world and lose touch with reality.

“I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all solution for handling students’ use of AI and screens,” Phoon says. “But I think SUTD’s emphasis on teamwork and creating practical projects is one approach worth considering.”

Manages the University by Day, Conducts Geotechnical Research by Night
By day, he manages the university, and by night, he researches soil and rocks. Professor Phoon Kok Kwang is a geotechnical engineering expert, which means he studies soil and rocks. What’s fascinating about soil and rocks? It’s the uncertainty. Professor Phoon says that every inch of soil and rock is different, and managing this uncertainty, even calculating the certainty, is what fascinates him.

That’s why he loves to study abroad, taking sabbatical leave every few years to live in different countries for months, learning new things, and experiencing local cultures. He also finds that his love for uncertainty helps him manage people. “I enjoy the process of exploration, and people are inherently unpredictable. When facing people I don’t know, I don’t resist, but instead, approach them with an open attitude to get to know them slowly.”

Professor Phoon has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, perhaps due to his gentle and humble nature, which combines intellectualism and sensitivity. He has taught himself to draw cartoons and can draw adorable animals and characters in minutes.

Every wedding anniversary and his wife’s birthday, he personally draws interesting cartoon greeting cards to express his love.

He also creates travel journals, collecting memories of every place he visits, including train stations, roads, cafés, and mountains. He carefully arranges small photos, tickets, maps, and stickers in a thick notebook to create a treasure trove of memories.

Most Admires Qiao Feng from “The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils”

He loves reading books. When he was in primary school, his teacher assigned him to manage the reading corner’s book borrowing records. From then on, he became immersed in the vast ocean of books, reading science fiction, martial arts novels, poetry, philosophy, literature, and more. “Every time I read something with wise ideas or insightful quotes, I’m overjoyed.”

During his middle school days, he was fascinated by Jin Yong’s martial arts novels and would often rent entire sets of Jin Yong’s novels from bookstores. This also helped him build a solid foundation in Chinese and learn the art of interpersonal relationships from the novels.

Qiao Feng from The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is his most admired character, and Ba Jin’s Family is his favourite novel. He also loves T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince.

He loves books so much that he’s reluctant to move houses, fearing that his books might get lost or damaged during the move. In one of his essays, he wrote: “Students know that I read widely, and they ask me which book is the ‘Nine Yang Divine Manual’ that can make them invincible after reading it. I tell them that every book is like that, and none of them are. It depends on one’s own understanding.”

“Even if reading is useless, I’m willing to spend time on things I enjoy but are considered useless. Even if I don’t become a master, I’ve experienced the passage of time and seen the world.” Therefore, when students ask him about the principles of being a good person, he says, “To be a good person, I just need to have a clear conscience.”

A few days after the interview, when he met with the writer at his home to take additional photos, he gifted the writer a book titled Colouring Life and a cartoon card. In the book, he wrote, “Let’s strive to be imperfect good people in this imperfect world.”