NUS College of Design and Engineering

NUS College of Design and Engineering To meet the needs of a rapidly-evolving & complex world, CDE has imagined & created a future-focused. MISSION
To inspire, innovate and transform.

Social Media Guidelines: tinyurl.com/CDE-Soc-Med-Guidelines VISION
A leading college uniting creative minds to build a better future.

What if existing personal protective equipment (PPE) could help keep outdoor workers cool? That question led Team Coolah...
04/06/2026

What if existing personal protective equipment (PPE) could help keep outdoor workers cool?

That question led Team Coolah to develop an innovative cooling solution for outdoor workers — an idea that earned them a place as one of three winning teams in the Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) Programme 2026.

Made up of Class of 2025 Mechanical Engineering graduates Wilson Yeo Si Kai, Lee Chuan Zhe, and Tan Jing Jie Jethro, Team Coolah created a practical solution to improve comfort and safety for outdoor workers in Singapore’s hot and humid climate.

Organised by Boeing in partnership with NUS Enterprise, the BUILD Programme supports student innovators tackling real-world challenges in areas such as advanced technology, sustainability, and social impact. The three winning teams each received USD 10,000 in funding and three months of incubation support.

Team Coolah’s idea enhances existing PPE with two products: the CoolHelmet Attachment, which clips onto most hard hats to cool the neck area using a Peltier plate and micro-fans, and the CoolVest, which fits specially developed Phase Change Material into a standard safety vest for hours of cooling without skin discomfort.

Reflecting on the journey, Wilson currently a PhD student in  Materials Science and Engineering and an Associate Scientist at Temasek Laboratories @ NUS, shared: “We started as three guys who thought existing cooling solutions weren’t good enough for our outdoor workers and decided to build something better. This recognition from Boeing means a lot — it tells us the problem is real and worth solving and gives us the confidence to keep going.”

Supervisor Assoc Prof Wenming Yang (Department of Mechanical Engineering) commended the group, “It has been a privilege to guide and support such a talented group, whose collaborative spirit and problem-solving skills have been instrumental in this accomplishment.”
meche

For students who dream of space, Team LeoNUS is proving that big ambitions can come in very small packages. Team LeoNUS ...
03/06/2026

For students who dream of space, Team LeoNUS is proving that big ambitions can come in very small packages.

Team LeoNUS will soon embark for the 2026 CanSat competition in Monterey, Virginia, USA, where their CanSat will be launched on 6 June. Organised by the American Astronautical Society, this international collegiate-level challenge tasks students with designing, building, and launching a CanSat — a simulation of a real satellite, consisting of a container and payload.

This year’s mission is all about packing functionality into a compact system. After being ejected from a rocket, the CanSat must deploy a parachute, release a payload that deploys a paraglider, which will navigate autonomously to a designated zone and finally release a protected egg at 2 metres above ground without breakage.

To meet these challenges, the team developed several key design features:

• A modular, layered structure to keep the CanSat compact and rigid
• A slider-crank release mechanism for both the Cansat and egg release
• A winch-servo control system to guide the paraglider towards the target coordinates

For the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) stage, Team LeoNUS scored 260/262 (99.24%). The team was evaluated on their understanding of the competition mission, system requirements, concept of operations, preliminary design, prototyping and testing plans, preliminary budget, and the development schedule.

Combined with their Critical Design Review (CDR) score of 99.18%, this result places Team LeoNUS among the leading teams in the competition. Comprising eight members across Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Engineering, all of whom are pursuing a second major in the Innovation and Design Programme (iDP), the team shared, “We are proud to be representing Singapore at the international stage in Virginia this June.”

🚀 CDE wishes Team LeoNUS all the best as they take to the skies!
leonus .idp .meche .ece.sg

CDE Dean’s Message May 2026 The unique intersection of architecture, design, and engineering within our college unlocks ...
02/06/2026

CDE Dean’s Message May 2026

The unique intersection of architecture, design, and engineering within our college unlocks powerful opportunities for collaboration, connecting ideas, expertise, and viewpoints to drive real-world impact. This synergy not only flourishes within CDE but also extends to our collaborations with external partners.

In May, we marked several meaningful partnerships.

The partnership between the Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed 2.0 and Eaton will advance sustainable solutions for AI-driven digital infrastructure. We also welcomed Seatrium’s strengthened support for research and talent development in the offshore, marine and energy sectors. Together with a network of collaborators, the Architectural Conservation Laboratory (ArClab) is undertaking a groundbreaking retrofit of its conservation townhouse facility, aiming to transform it into Singapore’s first historic building to achieve net-zero operational energy.

These partnerships showcase how the convergence of disciplines at CDE creates a powerful engine for innovation, generating a lasting, positive impact across a multitude of sectors.

- Prof Teo Kie Leong, Dean of CDE

Read more in the latest Dean’s Message here: https://cde.nus.edu.sg/deans-message-052026

At the Landscape Architecture Gradshow, landscape was presented not simply as design, but as a way of reading the world ...
28/05/2026

At the Landscape Architecture Gradshow, landscape was presented not simply as design, but as a way of reading the world and imagining how it might be transformed.

Year 4 students from the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) programme and Year 2 students from the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) programme presented final year projects attuned to social and environmental challenges.

That awareness extended beyond students’ folios. wasteXscape — a social enterprise founded by LA students and alumni — invited guests to create bouquets using overgrown trimmings from the campus, bringing environmental care into the showcase itself.

At the opening, Director of the MLA programme, Dr Victoria Marshall, welcomed everyone while Provost’s Chair of the Department of Architecture, Prof Jeff Hou, reflected on the discipline: “Our profession has the capacity to be transformative; we need to work with stakeholders, policy makers, and be advocates.”

Highlights from the showcase include:

From the MLA programme, Wu Qingyi’s 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 explored how herbal cultivation in Shizhu, Chongqing, could be rethought through agroforestry and rural tourism, reconnecting ecological restoration, local culture, and farmers’ livelihoods.

Shruthakeerthi Karthikeyan’s 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁, reimagined abandoned urban sites in Hyderabad as spontaneous “ruin-gardens”, where neglect and ambiguity create new social and ecological possibilities.

In 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲, Zhou Yao examined the relationship between frangipani, ritual, and domestic space in Denpasar, Bali, proposing ways to reactivate small green spaces as part of the city’s living cultural landscape.

From the BLA programme, Calyn Chia’s 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 reframed textile and organic waste in Bali as material in transformation, while Clara Choo’s 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 proposed a culinary park in peri-urban Denpasar that connects cultivation, cooking, selling, and consumption.
doa .la

How can engineering help detect disease earlier, model the heart faster, or improve care for newborns? At the Biomedical...
26/05/2026

How can engineering help detect disease earlier, model the heart faster, or improve care for newborns? At the Biomedical Engineering FYP Showcase 2026, Year 4 Biomedical Engineering students presented final year projects that tackled real healthcare challenges through engineering, design, and data-driven innovation.

Assoc Prof Bina Rai (Associate Head, FYP) from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, shared, “These projects reflect our students’ technical and scientific abilities, and their commitment to addressing real-world healthcare challenges. This is made possible by a supportive academic and research community.”

Awards were given out for the most innovative projects:

🥇 𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 — 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘁: 𝗔 𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀
A soft gel-based platform designed to study how layers of cells respond to different surface shapes and stiffness, offering insights into tissue behaviour and healing.

🥈 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 — 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀
A study exploring whether proteins in blood could support earlier stroke detection, pointing to a faster and more practical diagnostic approach.

🥉𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 — 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆-𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗖𝗚 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗰 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻
A fast AI-powered model that simulates heart activity and ECG signals using a patient’s heart shape, moving closer to real-time digital heart models for clinical use.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀
Projects recognised this year also included:
• a detachable eye assessment device to support earlier disease detection
• a sensor platform for monitoring organoid metabolism in real time
• an improved lab method for identifying treatable forms of hypertension
• a virtual reality firefighting scenario to study decision-making under pressure
• an image-based screening tool for neonatal jaundice designed for safer, more accessible home monitoring

🍃 What began as a simple walk became an afternoon of light-hearted conversations and a shared moment to recharge. Stude...
25/05/2026

🍃 What began as a simple walk became an afternoon of light-hearted conversations and a shared moment to recharge.

Students across CDE’s undergraduate and Master’s programmes took part in Walk 4 Wellness, a wellness initiative by Office of Student Life and its Wellness Ambassadors. Held once per semester and open to all CDE students, these Walks 4 Wellness offer students much needed respite from deadlines and lectures.

On this drizzly afternoon, students swapped their usual campus routines for quiet trails and unexpected lookouts near NUS. Starting from Kent Ridge Park, the group journeyed through HortPark, and on to the iconic Alexandra Arch, taking in the greenery and enjoying a slower, more mindful pace along the way.

Beyond the fitness and fun, the walk reflected a different side of student life — one beyond academics and the usual swotting. It was a reminder that studying at CDE is also about building friendships and community.

Participants, like Chen Zhuo, a Master’s student in Electrical Engineering, described the scenic views to be “both beautiful and refreshing”, and left feeling invigorated by this moment of self-care and connection.
studentlife .studentwellness

The future of cities took centre stage at the inaugural joint graduate show of Master of Arts in Urban Design (MAUD), Ma...
22/05/2026

The future of cities took centre stage at the inaugural joint graduate show of Master of Arts in Urban Design (MAUD), Master of Urban Planning (MUP), and Master of Science in Integrated Sustainable Design (MSc ISD) programmes.

In his opening address, CDE Deputy Dean, Prof Chye Kiang Heng, noted that “there is a clear commitment to addressing urban issues with care for communities and the environment.” Arne De Backer (Year 1, MSc Integrated Sustainable Design) shared, “You learn to work across cultures, disciplines, and scales, while being exposed to experts with different perspectives. It is intense but rewarding.”

Directed by Assoc Prof Asma Annie Khawatmi (MAUD), Assoc Prof Zdravko Trivic (MUP), and Assoc Prof Nirmal Kishnani (MSc ISD), the three programmes’ interdisciplinary and global outlook came through in student proposals addressing urban challenges across Singapore and Asia.

𝗠𝗔𝗨𝗗

Living Corridors — Reconnecting fragmented housing and industrial estates in Sungei Whampoa through wetlands, pollinator paths, greener streets, and mobility networks.

Si Udom Coalescence Habitat — A greener, transit-oriented district in South Sukhumvit, Bangkok, shaped by ecological infrastructure, productive landscapes, and mixed-use community nodes.

𝗠𝗨𝗣

Rising against Risk: Smart Climate Adaptation for Ho Chi Minh City — A data-driven framework combining hazard mapping, adaptive defence systems, and real-time sensors.

Urban Interface Toolkit: Cluster–Connect–Resilience–Empower — An approach to neighbourhood upgrading in South Sukhumvit, Bangkok, through better mobility, public spaces, flood resilience, and support for informal economies.

𝗠𝗦𝗰 𝗜𝗦𝗗

Design Research on Industrial Land-Use and Typologies — Rethink of industrial planning for adaptability of built form, innovative leasing options, and ecological integration. 

Planning for Carbon & Urban Resilience: Singapore’s Greater Southern Waterfront — A vision that accommodates new programmes, increases blue-green carbon, improves ecosystem services, and generates food, energy, and water onsite.
doa

What if humans could perform photosynthesis too? 🌱👀It was a question Dr Xing Kuoran first wondered about as a child — an...
21/05/2026

What if humans could perform photosynthesis too? 🌱👀

It was a question Dr Xing Kuoran first wondered about as a child — and one that would later shape his PhD journey at CDE.

Dr Xing, an Integrative Sciences and Engineering Programme-President Graduate Fellowship (ISEP-PGF) recipient, pursued his PhD under the supervision of Assoc Prof David Leong from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. His first PhD project explored whether plant photosynthetic machinery could be used as a therapeutic tool in the human eye. That bold idea eventually led to the team’s breakthrough research on a light-activated treatment for dry eye disease.

Reflecting on the experience, Dr Xing shared that one of his biggest lessons was to think boldly, but work carefully.

“Photosynthesis in the human eye sounds like science fiction at first, but it may be possible. To prove this, however, we needed strict control experiments and had to carefully consider possible artefacts and false positives.”

Looking back on the journey, Dr Xing expressed heartfelt thanks to his clinical collaborators, junior lab mates and Assoc Prof Leong for helping him see the project through, especially during the demanding revision process. “I learned a great deal from Prof Leong’s intellectual input,” he shared.

Read more about the research on CDE News: https://tinyurl.com/eyesthatphotosynthesise



Curious about robotics, sustainability, and what it’s like to learn at NUS CDE? Join us at CDE Summer School 2026: Robot...
20/05/2026

Curious about robotics, sustainability, and what it’s like to learn at NUS CDE? Join us at CDE Summer School 2026: Robotics and Sustainability Edition from 3 - 5 June 2026 for a 3D2N experience designed to spark curiosity and deepen your interest in design and engineering.

Open to pre-university students from local Junior Colleges, International Baccalaureate, NUS High School, and Polytechnic schools, this summer school brings together inspiring lectures, creative workshops, hands-on lab practicals, and a group project challenge, organised by CDE professors and student mentors.

Swipe through to get a glimpse of the workshops in order:

𝟯𝗗 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 — learn the basics of 3D modelling and create your own robot component.

𝗩𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — explore colour, typography, branding, and visual storytelling through a robot design activity.

𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 — assemble and test a simple robot kit while learning about wiring, power, and control.

𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 — discover how electrochemistry can support cleaner mobility solutions through hands-on experimentation.

Swipe to the end to find the full schedule and registration details.

📅Registration closes on 25 May 2026, 11:59pm.
🔗Register here: https://bit.ly/CDESummerSchool2026

Come explore, build, and discover how engineering can shape a more sustainable future!

19/05/2026

Traffic, congestion, commuter demand...cities generate huge amounts of transport data every day.

But data only tells part of the story.

At CDE, Asst Prof Prateek Bansal (Presidential Young Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering) and his team are using AI and behavioural science to better understand how millions of everyday travel decisions shape how cities move.

Watch the full video on the CDE YouTube channel - link in bio.
cee

Address

Block EA #03-10, 9 Engineering Drive 1
Singapore
117575

Opening Hours

Monday 08:30 - 18:00
Tuesday 08:30 - 18:00
Wednesday 08:30 - 18:00
Thursday 08:30 - 18:00
Friday 08:30 - 17:30

Telephone

+6565167988

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when NUS College of Design and Engineering posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category