NUS Department of the Built Environment

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NUS Department of the Built Environment The Department's Vision is “to become a global leader in knowledge and enterprise in project & facilities management”. (Building) and PhD degrees.

Social Media Community Guidelines: tinyurl.com/CDE-Soc-Med-Guidelines The Department of the Built Environment offers an undergraduate honours programme in Project and Facilities Management, as well as taught graduate programmes in Building Performance & Sustainability and Project Management. The Department also offers higher degree programmes by research leading to M.Sc. For more detailed information, please refer to the department website.

On Saturday, 10 October 2026, we hosted the Grand Finals of the Sustainable Infrastructure Competition 2026.After weeks ...
15/10/2026

On Saturday, 10 October 2026, we hosted the Grand Finals of the Sustainable Infrastructure Competition 2026.

After weeks of research, planning and preparation, five finalist teams took centre stage to present their proposals to transform Serene Centre, a beloved landmark in the Bukit Timah community since the 1980s, into a Super Low Energy Building (SLEB). The students were challenged to develop comprehensive, practical and financially viable decarbonisation and retrofitting strategies, balancing sustainability ambitions with real-world engineering, operational, financial and regulatory considerations.

Congratulations to all five finalist teams from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic! 🎉

Our sincerest gratitude to our distinguished panel of judges for generously sharing their time, expertise and invaluable industry perspectives:

• Professor Michael Chew, Head of Department, Department of the Built Environment, NUS
• Dr Teo Ho Pin, President, Building and Estate Management Alumni (BEMA)
• Mr Allen Ang, President, Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC)
• Mr Ho Wee Leong, President, Singapore Institute of Building Limited (SIBL)
• Ms Natalie Yong, 1st Vice President, Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (Quantity Surveying Division)

A special thank you to the lecturers, course chairs, teachers and mentors from the respective polytechnics for their encouragement and guidance for the participating teams.

This competition offers these polytechnic students from diverse diploma programmes a meaningful introduction to what NUS Bachelor of Engineering (Infrastructure and Project Management), or B.Eng. IPM, is all about – Engineering, Management, Finance and Law.

With so much more to discover, we look forward to welcoming the next generation of built environment leaders to NUS! If you enjoy the experience of solving real-world challenges, connecting ideas across disciplines and imagining how our buildings and infrastructure can be transformed for the future, IPM is where your journey begins!

We are delighted to celebrate Gordon Yong (MSc Project Management, Class of 2026), who was recognised as the Best Studen...
05/10/2026

We are delighted to celebrate Gordon Yong (MSc Project Management, Class of 2026), who was recognised as the Best Student in the Master of Science in Project Management programme at the National University of Singapore.

In awarding the SPM Best Student Book Prize to Gordon, SPM cited the following: “This award recognises your outstanding academic performance and the valuable knowledge and experience you have gained through the course. It is both an encouragement for your continued pursuit of learning and a recognition of your personal achievement in this programme.”

The award was presented by Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for National Development at the Society of Project Managers (SPM) Annual Dinner 2026, held on 15 September 2026 at Shangri-La Singapore.

Congratulations, Gordon, on this well-deserved achievement! We are proud to celebrate this milestone and wish you continued success in your project management journey.

We were delighted to welcome students from Tampines Meridian Junior College (TMJC) for an eye-opening learning journey, ...
01/10/2026

We were delighted to welcome students from Tampines Meridian Junior College (TMJC) for an eye-opening learning journey, where they discovered how concepts from the Bachelor of Engineering (Infrastructure and Project Management) (B.Eng. IPM) come to life in the real world.

The students gained valuable insights into the many dimensions of the built environment. From understanding how buildings and infrastructure are planned and managed, to exploring how sustainability and green building practices can create healthier, more efficient spaces.

The B.Eng. IPM programme goes beyond project management. It explores how we can shape the built environment to enhance the way we live, work, and interact with the spaces around us. From developing sustainable infrastructure to improving building performance, IPM plays an important role in creating communities that are more resilient, liveable, and future-ready. 🌏✨

We hope the learning journey sparked new ideas and gave our TMJC students a glimpse into the exciting possibilities of shaping a more sustainable future.

Keep up that inquisitive mindset, and we hope to see some familiar faces again soon! 👋

CDE’s City Syntax Lab and its spin-off, Urbanflow, have been selected for the inaugural Google DeepMind Accelerator: AI ...
15/09/2026

CDE’s City Syntax Lab and its spin-off, Urbanflow, have been selected for the inaugural Google DeepMind Accelerator: AI for the Planet, APAC cohort. The team is one of only 16 APAC teams chosen for the programme.

City Syntax Lab is an interdisciplinary research group in the NUS Department of the Built Environment. It works at the intersection of urban science, AI and the built environment. It examines cities as dynamic systems in which buildings, technologies and policies converge, developing data-driven tools to better understand how urban environments function — from energy use and carbon emissions to liveability.

Meanwhile, Urbanflow is backed by the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme (GRIP) at NUS Enterprise, and translates the Lab’s research into an applied AI platform for urban and building design, helping built environment professionals evaluate design options and make more informed decisions earlier in the planning process.

As part of the Google DeepMind Accelerator, the team will receive access to Google’s latest AI stack, including specialised frontier models, as well as tailored support and mentorship from Google experts. These resources will help accelerate their work on geospatial and environmental reasoning for decarbonisation, energy performance, thermal comfort and sustainability in the built environment. Through the programme, they will advance an agentic AI platform to optimise energy and carbon across urban districts, helping planners, policymakers and built environment stakeholders make more informed decisions for lower-carbon urban development.

The Lab’s Principal Investigator, Asst Prof Yu Qian Ang (Built Environment), said, “Cities generate vast amounts of spatial and environmental data. Advances in AI and geospatial reasoning models give us new ways to make sense of this complexity, and support better decisions for more sustainable urban environments.”

This also reflects CDE’s commitment to harnessing design, engineering and emerging technologies such as AI to address real-world sustainability challenges. Congratulations to the team behind City Syntax Lab and Urbanflow on this exciting milestone.

Reposted from CDE News

The Department of the Built Environment is thrilled to organise the Sustainable Infrastructure Competition 2026, bringin...
15/09/2026

The Department of the Built Environment is thrilled to organise the Sustainable Infrastructure Competition 2026, bringing together Polytechnic students to tackle one of the Built Environment’s most pressing challenges - Super Low Energy Buildings (SLEB).

Through this competition, students will put their knowledge, creativity and problem-solving skills to the test as they reimagine a real-life building and develop a comprehensive, practical decarbonisation and retrofit strategy to transform it into a Super Low Energy Building.

More than just a competition, it’s an opportunity for the next generation of Built Environment leaders to explore how sustainable asset management can create real-world, high-impact change.

Last Saturday, we officially kicked off the competition and had the pleasure of welcoming all participating teams to the Department!

It was an exciting start to the journey, and we can’t wait to see the bold ideas and innovative solutions the students come up with.

Let the challenge begin!

We spent a wonderful morning at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, engaging with final-year students and hearing from Associate Profe...
15/09/2026

We spent a wonderful morning at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, engaging with final-year students and hearing from Associate Professor Gabriel Kor, who shared more about the B.Eng. IPM programme.

A huge shoutout to our amazing IPM students (Huey Zhing, Daniel, Vivian, and Jia Wei), for coming back to inspire and cheer on their juniors. Full-circle moments like this are always extra special! ✨

And of course, a heartfelt thank you to Ngee Ann Polytechnic for having us!

School of Design & Environment

We are proud to celebrate two B.Eng. Infrastructure & Project Management (IPM) teams that recently took part in the Buil...
15/09/2026

We are proud to celebrate two B.Eng. Infrastructure & Project Management (IPM) teams that recently took part in the Built Environment Case Competition 2026, held on 15 August 2026.
 
Organised by the NUS Civil Engineering Club in partnership with the Building and Construction Authority and the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore, this year’s competition challenged students to respond to the theme “Singapore 2050 – Designing Inclusive and Smart Living Futures.” Through creativity, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration, students from across Singapore came together to reimagine solutions for the Built Environment.
 
Special congratulations to Team Synclusive, made up of senior IPM students, for winning the People’s Choice Award with their thoughtful, forward-looking concept for modular community pods in HDB estates.
 
We also commend Team Testing 1234, our IPM freshman team, for their inspiring first competition journey. Having only just come together before their first semester at NUS, they demonstrated remarkable initiative in exploring how existing support schemes can better reach senior citizens.
 
We are proud of your achievements and excited to see what you will accomplish next. Congratulations once again! 🎉

15/09/2026

Our department hosted a series of briefings for IPM students across Years 1 to 4 on the Student Exchange Programme (SEP), dissertation, Industry Attachment (IA), career advisory, and internship opportunities.

A key highlight was the Career Fireside Chat featuring representatives from companies across various industries, who shared career opportunities, hiring insights and valuable perspectives on their industries, helping students better understand their pathways and prepare for future internships and careers.

We sincerely thank all four companies for their time, support, and generous contribution to our IPM community. Your presence has truly made this event a meaningful and inspiring one.

There's nothing quite like walking into SDE4 and seeing so many familiar faces! 👋 DBE, formerly the Department of Buildi...
15/09/2026

There's nothing quite like walking into SDE4 and seeing so many familiar faces! 👋

DBE, formerly the Department of Building (DOB), our alumni and friends from the Building and Estate Management Alumni (BEMA), gathered over brunch on 15 August 2026 for a much-needed catch-up.

It was a lively reunion full of familiar energy and great conversations as we reconnected with old classmates, met new faculty members, and got the latest DBE updates from Prof Michael Chew.

President of BEMA Dr. Teo Ho Pin shared wisdom on leadership and purposeful service (check out his podcast "The Human Side of Leadership" on YouTube), while Dr. Ang Yu Qian blew our minds with how AI is shaking up our industry.

Assoc Prof Jonathan Lian and Assoc Prof Adrian Chong also shared updates on the graduate programmes for those looking to take the next step.

Huge thanks to everyone who made the trip back to campus. It was a blast reconnecting, and we can't wait to do it all over again! 🫶🏻

The Department is delighted to share that A/Prof Gabriel Kor’s paper on the NEC4 suite of contracts titled ‘Constructing...
15/09/2026

The Department is delighted to share that A/Prof Gabriel Kor’s paper on the NEC4 suite of contracts titled ‘Constructing the Evolution of the Quantity Surveyor Under NEC4 in Asia: From Cost Manager to Collaborative Contract Leader’ won the Best Technical Paper Award at the 2026 Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 25 Aug 2026.

The NEC4 contract suite moves commercial judgement from the end of the project to its whole length, so the Quantity Surveyor's highest-value work shifts from settling the final account to real-time cost stewardship through early warning, the accepted programme, and prospective compensation event assessment. Reading that shift across the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sri Lanka, the paper proposes a cost assurance model that calibrates Defined Cost verification to project risk rather than auditing every line, and finds that contract reform delivers its intended benefit only where professional capability develops alongside it.

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