SPEECH BY DR SU GUANING, PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT, NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
NANYANG AWARDS PRESENTATION CEREMONY
Tuesday, 2 February 2010, 11.30 am
Nanyang Auditorium, NTU
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning and a warm welcome to the Nanyang Awards Presentation Ceremony!
Since 2005, our annual Nanyang Awards have honoured faculty, staff and students who have distinguished themselves in Teaching, Research & Innovation, Service, Teamwork and Humanitarian Work. The Nanyang Award recipients epitomise the pioneering Nantah spirit of our founders who braved great odds to establish our University more than 55 years ago. My warmest congratulations to all recipients.
Breaking new ground is what characterizes Associate Professor Sun Xiaowei and Associate Professor Darren Sun Delai, the two recipients of this year’s Nanyang Award for Research and Innovation. Their breakthrough achievements not only have far-reaching impact on industry, they could revolutionise the way we live, work and play in the future.
Such dedication to achieving excellence – the hallmark of all the Nanyang Award recipients today – is what will propel us towards attaining our goal of becoming a great global university; one that is distinguished not only by excellence in teaching and research, but also excellence in service to the nation and the global community.
Phebe Tay is a second-year student at our Nanyang Business School. During her recent stint in India under our Global Immersion Programme, Phebe took time out to teach English to underprivileged children. I am deeply heartened that such compassion is prevalent among our students. An NTU student is not just concerned about him or herself, but also mindful about others in the community.
In recent years, we developed our NTU 2015 Strategy. The five peaks of excellence enumerated in the strategic plan – Sustainable Earth, New Media, Future Healthcare, New Silk Road and Innovation Asia – are strategic areas where the University has already done a lot, being well positioned to build a global reputation.
In November 2009, the Energy Market Authority picked NTU as the focal point for their Intelligent Energy System pilot project. NTU was selected as we possess the research and technological capabilities to facilitate the testing of various smart grid applications and solutions that will affect our energy consumption habits in the future. Other promising sustainability initiatives include the establishment of the Centre for Sustainable Energy Research, Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre, DHI-NTU Water & Environment Research Centre and Education Hub and the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre.
Our Nanyang Environmental and Water Research Institute has already won $240M research funding. Adding to this, just last week, in NRF’s Sustainable Urban Solution call for Competitive Research Programmes of $10M each, we swept the board winning 4 out of 5 awarded.
As global sustainability issues take centre stage on the agendas of governments, businesses, civil society and academia worldwide, our efforts in sustainability research will not only give us an edge in distinguishing ourselves in the global university arena, they also have the immense potential to impact the lives of billions of people around the world.
Our goal of becoming the global knowledge hub on the New Silk Road between East and West has been given a boost with the establishment of our Nanyang Centre for Public Administration in December 2009. The Centre builds upon our already formidable position as the institution of choice for the training of mid-to high-level senior officials from China. It will play a critical role in enhancing NTU’s strengths and expertise in educating global leaders and building bridges to China, thus bringing us closer to achieving our goal.
This year, NTU celebrates our 55th anniversary. A series of events are being planned to celebrate this important milestone. 2010 is also our ‘Olympic Year’ as our campus will serve as the inaugural Youth Olympic Village. Upgrading of facilities for the Village is in its final stages and come August, we will be ready to welcome athletes, coaches and officials from over 200 countries. As the world focuses attention on Singapore during that time, let us all help to make their stay here a truly enjoyable and enriching one, so that they bring back to their home countries pleasant memories of NTU and our beautiful campus.
In closing, I would like to once again congratulate all our Nanyang Award recipients today. We are immensely proud of your achievements and dedication to excellence. I look forward to more great things from you.
Thank you.
