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)