• Keynote Speakers
• 

  Science, Engineering, Technology & Innovation (SETI) Education for Economy Transformation

  Hean Teik Chuah
  President
  Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)
  Malaysia

  10 Dec, 09:45 - 10:30

• 

  Science, Engineering, Innovation and Competitiveness - An international assessment and comparison

  Tariq S Durrani
  Research Professor
  University of Strathclyde
  United Kingdom

  10 Dec, 11:00 - 11:45

• 

  Educating Technology Leaders for Design-Driven Innovation

  Thomas L. Magnanti
  President
  Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
  Singapore

  10 Dec, 11:45 - 12:30

Science, Engineering, Technology & Innovation (SETI) Education for Economy Transformation

Hean Teik Chuah,
President, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Malaysia

10 Dec, 09:45 - 10:30

Abstract

SETI Education has always been the driving force of human civilizations. This paper starts with a random walk on the achievements of SETI for the last century, and current trends in a globalised world. It also touches on the booming trends and challenges faced such as widening gap in wealth distribution, global warming, availability of clean water, and inequality in food distribution. The way forward is to focus on SETI education, which is the key for human resource development, catalyst of change and innovation, and driver of economy growth. It shares some facts and figures on the higher education landscape in USA and some Malaysian experiences in SETI human resource development. Finally the presentation covers global mobility of engineering professionals and suggests that engineering professionals should have 3 IC’s as their guiding principles: Integrity & Competence; Integration & Communications; and Internationalisation & Cooperation.

Biography

Dr. Chuah Hean Teik graduated with a BEng (First Class Honours), MEngSc and PhD in electrical engineering, all from University of Malaya, Malaysia, in 1986, 1988 and 1992, respectively. Since April 2008, he has been appointed as President of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) in Malaysia. His research interests include microwave remote sensing, applied electromagnetics, and wave propagation for indoor and outdoor communications. He has authored/co-authored more than 250 papers in international journals and conferences. Dr. Chuah has received many awards, both locally and internationally such as the inaugural Young Engineer Award by the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia in 1991; the 1993 Young Scientist Award at the 24th General Assembly of URSI at Kyoto, Japan; the 1995 Young Scientist Award (Industrial Sector) by the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment; the 1999 Malaysian Toray Science Foundation Science and Technology Award for his contributions in the area of microwave remote sensing; 2011 IET Malaysia Outstanding Achievement Award; Rotary Charity Foundation of Kuala Lumpur Research Gold Medal 2012 for excellence in original research and significant achievement in the field of electrical engineering; and most recently the Distinguished Engineer Award by the Institution of Engineers Malaysia Penang Branch. For his significant contribution in engineering profession, he was awarded Honorary Doctor of Engineering by Multimedia University in August 2013. Dr. Chuah is an eminent technical leader and is very active in professional bodies. He is currently the President of the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP). He was the President of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (2009-2011). He is a Senior Fellow of the Academy of Sciences, Malaysia; Hon. Fellow of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations and the Institution of Engineers Malaysia; a Founding Fellow of the ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology; Fellow of the Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry Society, UK; the Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, USA; and the Electromagnetics Academy, USA. He is also a Professional Engineer in Malaysia, a Chartered Engineer registered with the Engineering Council, UK; an APEC, EMF and ASEAN Engineer; and Hon. Member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. Dr Chuah is the current Chair of the IEEE GRS Chapter in Malaysia.

Science, Engineering, Innovation and Competitiveness - An international assessment and comparison

Tariq S Durrani,
Research Professor, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom

10 Dec, 11:00 - 11:45

Abstract

This presentation is concerned with a comparative assessment of policies and strategies currently being employed by a number of nations to promote science, technology and innovation as a vehicle for wealth creation and prosperity. Research and Innovation Systems are increasingly seen as key drivers for growth and wealth creation. The work covers the initiatives being taken by the UK Government to stimulate the economy by fostering innovation, and includes a study of policies implemented by the governments of Canada, USA, Germany and China, and an evaluation based on performance indicators developed by the European Commission’s Innovation Union Scoreboard. The presentation will also touch on how Innovation is evolving in Asia, and the work of OECD in identifying trends and features of policy instruments to encourage science, technology and innovation.

Index Terms - Innovation, Science Policy, Innovation Scorecard, Knowledge Economy.

Biography

Tariq Durrani is the Vice President (International) Royal Society of Edinburgh-the national academy for sciences and letters for Scotland, and Research Professor at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow UK. Prior to this he was the Vice President (Natural Sciences) at the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 2007-2010.

He joined the University of Strathclyde as Lecturer (1976); appointed Professor (1982); Department Head (1990-1994); Deputy Principal (2000-2006), with major responsibility for University-wide strategic developments in Computing/Information Technology infrastructure, Entrepreneurship, Staff Development and Lifelong Learning.

He has authored 350 publications; conducted collaborative research with industry, partnered in major European research programs; supervised 40 PhDs; had visiting appointments at Princeton, University of Southern California, Stirling, and UESTC Chengdu; and consulted for UK, Netherlands, Portugal, UAE, US, and European Union governments. His research includes Signal & Image Processing, Technology and Education Management.

Tariq Durrani has been a Board member and Director of United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO, the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, the Scottish Funding Council; the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, the UK Equality Challenge Unit.

He has been active in professional societies, being President of the IEEE Signal Processing Society (1994-1995); President IEEE Engineering Management Society (2006-2007), and Director and Vice President of the IEEE Educational Activities Board (2010-2011).

He is a Fellow of IEEE, UK Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society of Edinburgh, and IET; and is VP of Royal Society of Edinburgh (2012-2014).

In 2003 Queen Elizabeth honoured him with the title OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) “for services to electronics research and higher education.”

Educating Technology Leaders for Design-Driven Innovation

Thomas L. Magnanti,
President, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore

10 Dec, 11:45 - 12:30

Abstract

SETI Education has always been the driving force of human civilizations. This paper starts with a random walk on the achievements of SETI for the last century, and current trends in a globalised world. It also touches on the booming trends and challenges faced such as widening gap in wealth distribution, global warming, availability of clean water, and inequality in food distribution. The way forward is to focus on SETI education, which is the key for human resource development, catalyst of change and innovation, and driver of economy growth. It shares some facts and figures on the higher education landscape in USA and some Malaysian experiences in SETI human resource development. Finally the presentation covers global mobility of engineering professionals and suggests that engineering professionals should have 3 IC’s as their guiding principles: Integrity & Competence; Integration & Communications; and Internationalisation & Cooperation.

Biography

Thomas Magnanti is the founding President of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and Institute Professor and former Dean of Engineering at M.I.T. He has devoted much of his professional career to education that combines engineering and management, and to teaching and research in applied and theoretical aspects of large-scale optimization.

At SUTD, he has led the development of a university whose mission is to advance knowledge and nurture technically-grounded leaders and innovators to serve societal needs, through a focus on Design and an integrated multi-disciplinary curriculum and multi-disciplinary research.

At M.I.T. he was the founding co-director of MIT’s Leaders for Manufacturing and System Design and Management Programs, and founding director of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). As Dean, he was instrumental in creating the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation and was a strong advocate and supporter of programs in entrepreneurship such as the MIT 100K competition. He also headed one third of the Sloan School of Management for several years.

He has served as president of three major professional societies and as editor of the journal Operations Research. He has also served on a number of university, corporate and government boards and councils.

Professor Magnanti has received numerous educational and research awards including four honorary degrees. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Syracuse University, and masters’ degrees in Statistics and in Mathematics as well as a Ph.D. in Operations Research, all from Stanford University.