The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will be offering a new degree programme in Design and Artificial Intelligence (DAI), the first of its kind in the world, to students joining the university in Academic Year 2020.
As Singapore looks to digitalise the economy, deepen its capabilities and grow its technology ecosystem in Asia and globally, it is anticipated that there will be a huge demand for more AI talents who can combine expertise in design innovation with AI technologies to improve lives, grow the economy and sustain the world. The SUTD DAI degree programme was conceived to address the need for a new breed of talents with these specific skills.
Students who take up DAI will be exposed to areas of design such as user interface/user experience, product, systems, built environment, and data-driven design. They will also learn to use AI technologies and algorithms to produce better design and applications. For example, students will be taught computational predictive modelling of long-term urban growth for scenario-based optimisation of city planning designs.
The DAI degree programme is a 3.5-year (8-term) degree programme; like other SUTD undergraduate degree programmes, students take a common foundation curriculum in the first year (first 3 terms), before selecting their majors in the second year.
Graduates from this Bachelor of Science programme will be prepared for jobs such as AI solution architects, data scientists, and data visualisation specialists, among many others, in industries such as urban planning, product design, service industries, deep tech companies like telecommunications, etc.
SUTD President, Professor Chong Tow Chong said: “The recent announcements from Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on the next steps in Singapore’s Smart Nation journey underscores the importance of artificial intelligence and the role it will play in bringing about social and economic benefits. Hence, SUTD’s new DAI degree programme is timely and appropriate. The main goal of DAI is to equip students with the ability to create human-centred design using data analysis and machine learning, which is AI-driven. We are essentially nurturing the next generation of leaders and talents who will be able to harness AI technologies to better the world by design.”
Industry partners have also weighed in on the importance of DAI. “The programme will equip the students in design discipline with the much-needed complementary AI skills for them to differentiate themselves further,” said Dr Terence Hung, Chief of Future Intelligence Technologies, Rolls Royce.
Recent graduate from Jurong Pioneer Junior College, 18-year-old Michael Hoon Yong Hau has shown interest in SUTD’s new programme. Michael said: “SUTD’s new DAI programme has a unique course structure, with its focus on the design and application aspects of the latest AI technologies to solve problems and improve quality of lives. With Singapore’s goal of becoming a Smart Nation, design and AI would certainly be an important asset to help achieve that goal, especially in digitisation.”
Find out more about the Design and Artificial Intelligence (DAI) programme.
