Tabla features an exclusive interview with Nanyang Technological University's Dean and Shaw Foundation Chair Professor of Strategy, Management and Organisation, Nanyang Business School. In conversation, Dean Singh shares his vast academic experience, spirit of education and his love for poetry.

NTU has become the first Kauffman Campus in the world outside of the United States following a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NTU and the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation. The partnership will provide a framework for both institutes to advance entrepreneurship in Asia. The MOU was signed by NTU's President, Dr Su Guaning, and Dr Carl Schramm, President and CEO of Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. According to Dr Su, having Asia's first Kauffman campus here in NTU will enhance the likelihood of economic payoffs from the nation's investments in high level research, and help produce prosperity for Singaporeans. The scope of the MOU involves developing a one-stop centre for entrepreneurship support on the NTU campus, including student exchanges, educational programmes in entrepreneurship and educational and research initiatives at NTU.

In this third and final part of the NBS-BT Roundtable series, senior professors from NBS gave their views on the psychology of fear and how it is impacting investor behaviour given the current fragile market sentiments. This series looks at how the global financial markets have been severely mauled in the ongoing financial turmoil, pushing many countries, including the US, Japan and Singapore into recession. Professors Wee Chow Hou, Chiu Chi-Yue and Hong Ying-Yi gave their insights on how the market indices are unduly depressed and do not reflect the real value of listed companies.

A study of Indonesian reefs, published in the prestigious journal Science, showed corals record cyclical environmental events and could predict a massive earthquake in the eastern Indian Ocean within the next 30 years. Led by Professor Kerry Sieh, Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the team found that corals off Indonesia's Sumatra island showed they have annual growth rings, like those in tree trunks, which record cyclical events such as earthquakes. Professor Kerry said that one or more very large West Sumatran earthquakes can be expected within the next few decades, as the potential slip that was not relieved in September 2007 is enough to generate a 8.8 magnitude earthquake, in a region with more than a million people living along the coast. For the past four years, Prof Kerry has also been working with Indonesian non-governmental organisations, NGOs on developing evacuation routes for earthquakes and educating the public how to rebuild their lives after a tsunami.

In this second-part of of the NBS-Business Times Rountable Series,Assoc Prof Lau Sie Ting, Assoc Prof Low Buen Sin, (Director, MSc of Financial Engineering Programme) and Assoc Prof Liu Wei-Lin, gave their insights on the implementation of stricter rules for the financial markets in relation to the financial engineering perspective.

A large earthquake is threatening off Sumatra. Using satellite and field data collected after an earthquake in September last year near the island's coast, researchers found something ominous. While the recent tremors released some of the tremendous pressure created by the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates, a large amount of tension remains. Eventually, scientists from NTU's Earth Observatory of Singapore hope to develop a system to forecast earthquakes 10 to 20 years before they happen. (Clarification note to the article: There is a potential of a large earthquake off Sumatra as the 2007 earthquake only released 25% of the pressure and a large amount of tension remains.)

The Division of Chinese at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) of NTU has received a generous gift of $1 million from the Shanghai Book Company, Singapore's oldest bookstore. The donation, which totals $2 million with a matching grant from the government, creates an endowment fund that will allow four scholarships and 12 bursaries to be awarded annually in perpetuity to deserving HSS students from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia pursuing NTU’s Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Chinese. The establishment of the fund is timely with the university stepping up efforts to advance the study of Chinese language and culture.

The Chinese edition of the late Madam Chen Menghe’s book – The Early Chinese Newspapers of Singapore – was officially launched at the appreciation dinner held on 2 December 2008. The book looks at the social functions of Chinese newspapers in Singapore in the 19th century and uses the methodology of case analysis and comparative research to conduct an in-depth exploration of the various establishments, and the growths and developments of the newspapers in the period between the founding of Lat Pau in 1881 and the demise of Chung Shing Jit Pao in 1912. Madam Chen was one of the key management executives of the Shanghai Book Company. She was not only a renowned scholar who was well-versed in Chinese, English and Malay, but also an outstanding leader in the Women’s movement.

This is the first of a three-part Nanyang Business School-Business Times Roundtable Series. In this series, key China experts from NTU’s NBS, Wee Chow Hou, Tan Kok Hui, Cao Yong, and Jiang Luo, gave their views on how hard China has been hit by the global financial crisis, the likely impact of its 4 trillion yuan (S$889 billion) financial stimulus package on the economy and what lies ahead for the country in the new year.

In this series of the BT-Citi Young Investors' Forum, Dr Zhang Shaojun, Assistant Professor at NBS' Banking and Finance division, together with three final-year NBS students, offer their insights into green investing through investments in environmentally-friendly (green) funds.

Jan Lee, an Accountancy graduate from NBS, shares his story with Guo Liang in the Chinese documentary "Breaking Barriers, Unlocking Potentials" on how he overcame the odds in his life to achieve the success he has today.

Four outstanding groups of recipients who have demonstrated dedication to serving the social service needs of the community are honoured with the nation’s most prestigious award for social service volunteerism. Under the Informal Group Category, the Nanyang Technological University Welfare Services Club (NTU WSC), a 700-member, non-profit student club, received this award for its excellence and efforts in creating unique opportunities for youths to stay connected to the community. NTU WSC rolls out six regular service projects weekly and four special projects on ad-hoc basis. Through these programmes, NTU WSC seeks to befriend and empower the beneficiaries, and create public awareness of their needs. Some projects include the weekly basic and social skills sessions at the Woodlands Gardens School to help beneficiaries with intellectual disabilities integrate into the society and build up their confidence, and the collaboration with the elderly to share their recipes through the publishing of ‘Patchbook of Flavours’ last year. Other beneficiaries of their programmes include the Asian Women’s Welfare Association Community Home for Senior Citizens and Singapore Boy’s Home.

Students have been going for engineering, the life sciences and mathematics, and bypassing physics. But physicists are needed in industries here, said Senior Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew at the opening of the High-Energy Physics Conference, oragnised to interest 58 junior college and secondary students in the subject. Teachers and university lecturers are also attending it. The three-day event also features presentations by 29 eminent physicists, including Nobel Laureate professors Martin Perl and Gerard ‘t Hooft.

NTU and Nitto Denko signed a research collaboration agreement to develop organic electronic sensors. The research is expected to lead to smaller and more affordable sensor devices which can be used in healthcare.

NTU’s Centre for Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) and Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University organised a symposium on the interdisciplinary studies on happiness on 20 and 21 November, the first of its kind in Singapore. International speakers, academics and scholars from the various disciplines were invited to discuss and share their research findings at the event which aims to further encourage new ideas that might be useful to policy and decision makers. NTU economist Dr Ho Kong Weng, who conducted a pilot study with 62 undergraduates, shared that family featured the strongest in what made undergraduates in Singapore happy. This has significance for Singapore where divorce is on the increase and birth on the decline. The study also found that pursuing academic success reduced undergraduates’ happiness and money was the least important determinant of happiness.

Renowned scholars, government policy researchers and business practitioners from China and Singapore shared their insights on the global prospective of branding in China at the two-day conference held in Beijing on 14 and 15 November. Jointly organised by NTU’s Lien Chinese Enterprise Research Centre (Lien CERC) and the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, the conference aimed to promote the understanding of Chinese enterprise and enhance intellectual exchange and collaboration. Mr Ngiam Tong Dow, Adjunct Professor at NTU and a well-know participant in the Singapore success story, gave his keynote address on the strategic pragmatism of China and Singapore.

Microsoft Research Asia is growing their investment in basic research substantially by tapping into researchers across Asia and engaging with universities around the region. NTU for example, won three awards from MSRA this year for joint research in areas such as Web search, image recognition and visualisation.

Lee Kuan Yew Distinguished Visitor, Professor James Barber of Imperial College London, delivered two lectures to about 1,000 students from the NTU and NUS. At the public lectures, he shared that green leaves, with their ability to convert sunlight into energy, are the most well-honed power-producing machines in the world. Engineers should try to create energy systems based on leaf chemistry. Prof Barber also talked about how leaves used electrons and cleverly designed enzymes to produce organic molecules such as sugar for food.

NTU is the beneficiary of the S$5 million Entrepreneurship Education Fund, made possible by a gift from business leader Mr Chua Thian Poh. The fund, together with an additional S$5 million matching from the government, will go towards the fostering of entrepreneurship and innovation education in NTU, taking the University's Master of Science in Technopreneurship and Innovation Programme (MSc TIP) to the next level of research and teaching of entrepreneurship.

Over 300 Chinese officials, including Mr Wang Yang, Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended a talk by renowned economist Prof Tan Kong Yam, Director of NTU’s Asia Research Centre, on 5 November. Prof Tan shared his insightful views on issues related to industrial transformation and upgrading, a subject of great relevance as Guangdong’s economy has reached this particular stage of development.

China's economic reforms began in late 1978. Over the past three decades, tremendous economic changes have taken place in China. From a country whose economy was on the brink of collapse to one of the economic powerhouses in the world today, China’s experience of economic growth provides a wealth of issues for academics, government policy makers and business personnel all over the world to think over. Chinese officials from NTU’s high-profile Master of Science in Managerial Economics (MME) and Master of Public Administration (MPA) programmes, as well as renowned local businessmen, reviewed the milestones in China’s economic reforms and shared their insights on the opportunities and challenges facing China at a public forum titled "30 Years of Economic Reforms in China" jointly organised by NTU, Business China and Lianhe Zaobao on 8 November.

NTU students bagged third prize at the Freescale Technology Forum Design Challenge for their unique brake system. Using springs instead of traditional brake fluid, the system conserves energy and improves the vehicle's fuel efficiency, allowing it to travel further for every unit of petrol. The four-man team beat more than 200 other participants, and was the only Asian team in the top three.

NTU received over $5m in funding from NRF under its third call for proposals for the research and development programme on interactive and digital media in education. Four of the five approved projects were from NTU.

NTU Assoc Prof Volodymyr Ivanov and Assoc Prof Chu Jian are looking into a process called biocementation, which use bacteria to bind particles of sand together. Under the right conditions – such as the presence of iron-based salts, acids and pressure – it already happens naturally. The bonds are so strong that they can hold up reservoir walls or prevent landslides. They are now looking for ways to whittle down the time it takes from years to just hours. They duo are also looking at turning bacteria that live in plant waste into water purifiers. The microbes, which are harmful to people, can not only be combined with mineral salts to sweep away suspended particles but also clump together toxic algal blooms and other contaminants. The bacteria-based cleaning system could be at least seven times cheaper than current methods which introduce artificial chemicals into the water. Prof Ivanov presented his projects at the International Solid Waste Association World Congress 2008.

The milestone event in Singapore literature - the launch of "Singapore Literature in English: An Annotated Bibliography" to be held on 7 November 2008 will be attended by 200 writers, publishers, educators and readers. Author Professor Koh Tai Ann hopes the annotated bibliography will serve as a guide for students, researchers and anyone interested in Singapore literature in English. The book launch will be held in conjunction with "Seeking An Audience: A Symposium on Singapore Literature in English", which explores how to inform and enlarge audiences for local literature.

NTU's Albert Winsemius Chair Professor of Economics, Professor Lim Chong Yan and Singapore’s most eminent economics professor, gives an unusual solution in a nutshell as to how the US can deal with the financial crisis by spending more money to beat the recession. Here, Prof Lim is talking about government investment to build up US economic capacity and competitiveness and to invest more on public works and infrastructure to tackle the current crisis. Prof Lim also believes that things will turn for the better after the US election regardless which candidate wins as recovery plans will definitely be on either candidate’s top priority list. Straits Times also reported on the brief life history of Professor Lim Chong Yah which includes his stints in Singapore Administrative Service, Department of Economics and Statistics at NUS and the Albert Winsemius Chair Professor of Economics at NTU.

Many can expect a grand spectacle at January 2009's Chingay parade with its latest addition soon to be unveiled on the popular Chinese New Year float parade around Singapore's main shopping artery. Engineered without any tresses or support structures, the three animated dragon float will surely wow crowds next year as one of the grand opening items.

NTU's third overseas convocation had all the makings of a grand celebration and saw its China-based graduates, including a number of high-level government officials, receiving their graduate degrees from the university. Prof-Chancellor Mr Chandra Das presided over the ceremony, which was held on 1 November 2008 in Chongqing, one of the largest industrial and commercial hubs in southwest China. This year, a total of 233 students have graduated from NTU's six China-focused Master's programmes. This China-based group included the pioneer intake of the Master of Science in Finance programme. NTU is the first university in Singapore to hold such a convocation abroad and has been doing so since 2006. This gives its sizeable group of China-based graduates the chance to commemorate their special day with their families and their alma mater.

To meet the growing number of alumni members in China that totals more than 10,000 from NTU’s 120,000 alumni strong global network, the university launched two new alumni associations in Chongqing and Hubei in November, catering some 500 members. This is in addition to the eleven existing alumni associations in other countries, including Indonesia, India and the United Kingdom.

Melding art and technology, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will make its first foray into Singapore’s annual Chingay parade with an impressive trio of dragons – one of the tallest floats ever to appear at Singapore’s Chingay Parade 2009, organised by the People’s Association on 30 and 31 January 2009.

Students, alumni, faculty, staff and visitors were at NTU's School of Art, Design and Media to celebrate the official launch of the NTU Art and Heritage Museum (NTU Museum) and its Inaugural Exhibition, ‘Inroads’ by well known local artist, Mr Lim Tze Peng. Promising to be a new channel to better understand and appreciate scientific and technological achievements in the cultural, humanistic and artistic context, President of NTU Dr Su Guaning officiated the launch on 20 October 2008. The NTU Museum aims to foster a strong appreciation of art and heritage as an integral part of a well-rounded education and to inspire the highest achievement in artistic and creative expression for the community.

Chinese officials from NTU's Master of Science in Managerial Economics (MME) and Master of Public Administration (MPA) programmes are participating in a public forum jointly organised by NTU, Business China and Lianhe Zaobao on 8 November 2008 at Pan Pacific Hotel. The forum, entitled "30 Years of Economic Reforms in China”, will provide Singaporeans with a more comprehensive understanding of the economic and social development of China.

NTU shares how it is playing its role as Singapore’s science and technology university in fuelling Singapore’s drive for research and innovation.

The feature, which is part of a 19-page supplement on Singapore published by Nature, highlights NTU’s research achievements and initiatives, and elaborates on how our reputation has attracted leading academics, research partnerships and industrial collaborations. It also touches on our efforts to recruit top research talent to the university.

At a panel discussion held at the Nanyang Auditorium yesterday, six distinguished professors from the Nanyang Business School gave their insights on the various aspects of the current global financial crisis and what it meant for Singapore's economy. The session was chaired by Prof Jitendra Singh, Dean and Shaw Foundation Chair, Nanyang Business School.

Researchers at Nanyang Technology University (NTU) and Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) have successfully developed the first Antenna-in-Package (AiP) solution in LTCC (low-temperature co-fired ceramic) technology for single-chip 60-GHz radio. This highly-integrated solution is set to revolutionise the wireless communications and millimetre-wave engineering as government and commercial organisations are now able to utilise the unlicensed 57-64 GHz band for application development.

NTU honours Professor Yang Chen Ning, Nobel Laureate Physics (1957), with the conferment of the Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa). The honorary degree is conferred in recognition of Prof Yang’s significant and wide ranging contributions in the science arena, his inspiration to many young students and his close bond with the University.

The NTU Dragon Boat team rallies alumni and friends in a passionate fund-raising drive to start the Poh Boon San and Stephen Loh Soon Ann NTU Dragon Boat Bursary Fund. Two second-year NTU students will be the pioneer beneficiaries of a $4,000 bursary award each for the academic year 2008.

Dr Fock Siew Tong, Associate Dean (external relations) at NBS and three final year students gave their views on why there are fewer women in investment banking than in private banking in this series of the BT-Citi Young Investors' Forum.

Nanyang Technological University and Temasek Foundation have set up the inaugural Asia Journalism Fellowship that answers to the professional needs of accomplished journalists across the region. By providing an intense three to four-month course that will give invited journalists the unique chance to further their skills through specialised seminars and workshops, they can gain a deeper understanding of the latest trends in media and communication. The programme will be organised by NTU's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information which will support up to 15 invited journalists next year from February to April in Singapore.

Nanyang Technological University and Temasek Foundation have set up the inaugural Asia Journalism Fellowship that answers to the professional needs of accomplished journalists across the region. By providing an intense three to four-month course that will give invited journalists the unique chance to further their skills through specialised seminars and workshops, they can gain a deeper understanding of the latest trends in media and communication. The programme will be organised by NTU's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information which will support up to 15 invited journalists next year from February to April in Singapore.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) alumni gather for the NTU Alumni Day 2008 on 04 October 2008. The Guest of Honour, Minister Lim Swee Say, Prime Minister’s Office, and NTU President Dr Su Guaning present the Nanyang Alumni Awards at the homecoming event to celebrate and honour the University’s outstanding alumni. This year, a total of 28 recipients have been confirmed for the four award categories (for more details, please refer to the Fact Sheet link). The event also showcased the winning entries from the ConnectNANYANG Photography Competition in an exhibition out of more than 800 entries submitted by NTU alumni, students, staff and faculty members. The first of its kind, it was held from 1 May to 4 September 2008 to capture memorable moments depicting the theme “ConnectNANYANG”.

Prof Euston Quah, head of NTU’s Division of Economics, shares that the buzz that the Formula One Grand Prix night race has generated will bring about benefits for Singapore in the long term.

NTU’s Division of Chinese has received $2 million, with government matching, from the Shanghai Book Company, Singapore's oldest bookstore, to fund about 4 scholarships and 12 bursaries annually. The donation is timely as the university is accelerating its efforts in promoting Chinese language. The bursaries and scholarships will be targeted at Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian students who take up Chinese as a major at NTU.

22-year-old Lim Shiya, an NTU undergraduate student, shares her passion for football. Shiya is a national player in the women's football team, and a midfielder with Arion FC. She went for a self-financed one-month extensive training in China’s Henan province last year to improve her skills.

NTU shares how as Singapore's science and technology university, it has evolved to become a partner of choice for leading academic and research institutions worldwide. The feature highlights NTU's collaborations and recent research initiatives, including the Earth Observatory of Singapore. It also touches on its efforts to recruit top talent to the university.

Four final-year banking and finance students at NBS, together with Dr Kong Yoon Kee, lecturer at the school's banking and finance division, provide some pointers the various investment options available.