The partnership between TUM and SIT was marked by another milestone – the launch of  two new joint Bachelor of Engineering programmes with honours to provide students a blend of two education environments and opportunities to double their professional network. The joint bachelor’s programmes offer students greater adaptability and strengthen their industry readiness by straddling SIT’s applied learning pedagogy and TUM’s emphasis on industry relevance.

Read press release here. 

The first cohort of the Specialist Diploma in Advanced Digital Manufacturing jointly developed by TUM Asia and Festo Didactic has successfully graduated. Following the success of its first training cycle, TUM Asia and Festo Didactic intensified their partnership by combining academic expertise from Germany augmented with practical modules supported by Festo Didactic to provide participants an immersive experience to master digital transformation successfully.

The year 2018 saw TUM’s commemoration of its 150^th anniversary with more than 1,200 invited guests at Munich’s Residenz palace and the German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as the Guest-of-Honour.

Asia and Festo Didactic SE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a series of workshops and masterclasses on Automation Technology and Industry 4.0 skill sets. The MOU came at an opportune time when the global manufacturing industry was ushering in the fourth industrial revolution to better equip the local workforce with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies. Industry 4.0 will see smart factories and cyber-physical systems taking over the manufacturing landscape by storm.

To deepen the understanding and appreciation of the European Fourth Industrial Revolution among the workforce, its impact on Singapore, and its Smart Nation initiative, TUM Asia launched the first “INDUSTRIE 4.0: Towards the Future of Manufacturing” research symposium with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The inaugural symposium saw more than 200 participants from 65 organisations convening in the symposium, shining the spotlight on the future of manufacturing and the transformative impact Industry 4.0 held.

In 2014, the number of student enrolments crossed the 1,000 mark. TUM Asia marked the year 2014 with the largest cohort of students to have graduated with graduates coming from different corners of the world plying their trades in several industries from as far as South America and Africa.

With more research partnerships forged, the cooperation and exchanges within the scientific community deepened considerably. TUM Asia’s presence in Asia began to grow in prominence. TUM Asia organised the TUM Alumni Expert Seminar focusing on electromobility. The seminar saw TUM alumni residing at various corners of the globe convening in a week-long seminar, further deepening the scientific cooperation between Germany and Singapore.

TUM Asia hosted its 10^th anniversary celebration in Singapore with Professor Wolfgang A. Herrmann, President Emeritus of TUM and Academic Director of TUM Asia (former President of TUM) as the Guest-of-Honour and several dignitaries and partners in attendance. For the first time, alumni hailed from various corners of the world gathered for the “Stammtisch”, followed by a dinner.

2012 was also the first year where its student enrolment surpassed the two-hundred mark.

To mark the decade-long cooperation in Singapore, TUM and TUM Asia launched the “Building the Future” project in partnership with The Straits Times School Pocket Money fund where pre-university students from low-income families are given the opportunity to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, and classes at the home campus in Germany at Munich.

TUM Asia took the next bold step, offering the first TUM-only master’s degree programme in Transport and Logistics – underscoring its commitment to delivering a world-class learning experience for students beyond Europe. At the same time, TUM Asia launched the joint Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering with the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore.

With TUM firmly entrenched in the Asian market, TUM Asia became the ideal base for the German university to pioneer new advances and exchange of knowledge in science and technology. The turn of the decade became the acceleration of scientific cooperation and development.

“The unique approach that TUM Asia offers to students and companies alike has led to a plethora of development opportunities for young Asian talents. The future of our industry will be decided in Asia. Establishing a relevant network with trusted partners like TUM Asia to draw talents from is a must for western multinational companies. Since its inception, a magnitude of talents has been developed with a high level of loyalty and commitment to their companies once employed. All enterprises which I have been working for since the establishment of TUM Asia in 2002 have chosen to engage with TUM Asia out of that very reason and it will continue to stay that way,” 

Dr. Christian Kohlpaintner
Member of the Executive Committee
Clariant

Residing at the German Centre within the International Business Park, TUM Asia’s presence grew as it forged closer ties with local universities and companies through various partnerships and collaborations. In collaboration with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore, TUM Asia inaugurated a joint master’s degree in Integrated Circuit Design.

Till today, TUM Professors continues the tradition of flying to Singapore to deliver the lectures to students.

The first cohort of TUM Asia has also graduated where they embarked on the next phase of the journey.

Inaugurated in 2002, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) Asia was established in Singapore under the Global Schoolhouse Initiative by the Economic Development Board (EDB), Singapore to bring the TUM education beyond Europe.  First among German universities to venture abroad, both international and local students applied for its inaugural courses to gain the opportunity to glean from the twin perspectives of Singapore and Germany and benefit from the wealth of knowledge from lectures delivered by Nobel Laureates. Eventually, 20 students were accepted into its first joint Master of Science in Industrial Chemistry programme.

“Being the first batch of NUS-TUM Industrial Chemistry program then, it was exciting and prestigious to have been chosen among the many that applied and all of us received generous sponsorship from German companies that went on to provide us with a wonderful internship experience in Germany. The program was holistic as it covers a wide range of topics from chemistry, business management, and entrepreneurial skills, and we were kept on our toes all the time with the assessments and presentations. We even had the privilege to attend lectures by Nobel Laureates. The best memories I had were the weekend getaways with my classmates in Germany, we would catch a Bahn (train) to explore the different cities and capture these memories on camera. To this day, I am still in touch with many of my classmates via Facebook as they are located all over the world.”

Tan Wei Ling
Alumni
Industrial Chemistry (Pioneer Cohort)