Student Testimonials
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
REP is special as it provides various opportunities for students to explore what interests and inspires them, and not just academically. Be it giving you a stage for your first dance performance, the freedom to prototype and build random ideas, or even opportunities to start putting what you have learnt to the test through competitions, hackathons, and job attachments. It is all there in REP if you are willing to grasp it. Beyond that, it is the friends you make in REP that are the true highlights. The vibrant and driven community exposes you to unique perspectives, supports and motivates you to chase your goals, all while making university life so much more lively. That being said, joining this unique programme is challenging yet very rewarding.
Chionh Zhenyu Daryl, Year 4 (R9)
Mechanical Engineering
Besides the obvious benefits that REP brings (guaranteed hall stay, 4.5 years dual degree programme, overseas exchange, and professional attachment), I believe the part that makes REP so valuable and special is the community itself. Having to work with like-minded individuals who are driven and motivated in their field of studies, learning is not just restricted to textbooks and materials, but instead through fruitful discussions and understanding of different perspectives. The REP community provides students with the necessary support and guidance throughout their years of studies. Students of different cohorts have the opportunity to get together during events, sharing on their future career aspirations and plans. Such interactions are helpful, especially for the junior year students where they can start to focus on a general direction to work towards. As REP is a small-knit community, not only did I manage to meet fellow REP mates, but I also get to build connections with REP alumni. I have personally reached out to alumni to understand more about the career prospects or job scopes in certain companies that I am interested in. During my years in REP, I also have an extremely caring REP professor mentor who always reaches out to ensure I am coping well in school and giving me advice which I think is awesome!
Kirk Tang Ji Wei, Year 5 (R8)
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
The REP experience has been amazing not only because of its programme but also because of the people. In REP, I find myself surrounded by many like-minded yet diverse individuals. We are like-minded in the sense that all of us share the same determination to achieve our goals and aspirations. Yet, we each have diverse interests in fin-tech, UI/UX, machine learning, AI, product design, robotics, the start-up experience and much more. REP encourages conversation and collaboration between students with different interests and skills. Through workshops held by other students, we are encouraged to expand our horizon and learn from each other. REP supports the expansion and implementations of our ideas by giving us the appropriate resources such as the Maker’s Lab and support from REP fellows. REP empowers students to always challenge themselves and strive to achieve their goals.
Lee Seung Hyun, Year 5 (R8)
Mechanical Engineering
The initial decision to join REP was not a difficult one. After all, the one-year exchange programme, and the 4.5 years of fast-tracked Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees basically sell themselves. However, the REP experience is much more than these two self-evidently attractive headlines. My peers in REP were all incredibly supportive and open to sharing, and the Team-Based Learning approach utilised by REP allowed me to work and interact with many different people. I never imagined that such a small group of students could be home to so many talented, driven, and passionate individuals, who constantly challenge and motivate me at the same time. REP also encourages student initiatives, and students could form many internal clubs to pursue a cause. I joined REACH, a REP project which provides students with opportunities to engage with the local community. Through this project, I had the chance to interact with members of the Visually Impaired community and employed my engineering skills to create solutions to tackle problems that they face. If you have an idea, I believe the staff in REP will be happy to provide you with the relevant support and resources. While the curriculum offered by REP may be demanding, I believe that both the curriculum and the peers in REP have helped me grow substantially.
Tan Chuan Xin, Year 5 (R8)
Computer Science
(Clement is third from the right)
(Wei Qi is second from left)
Before going on exchange, I could not fully appreciate the start-up culture and entrepreneurship scene. A full semester in the heart of Silicon Valley showed me just that. Being lectured by active angel investors and CEOs on their 5th or 6th successful start-up venture gave me fresh perspective and admiration for the passion and drive that these folks possess. I finally understood the significance of REP, oddly enough, whilst overseas and why a nation like Singapore needs to develop these competencies. The student experience at UC Berkeley was refreshing and novel, with a huge emphasis on self-directed learning and exploration. Be it attending guest lectures from the occasional Nobel Laureate or mingling with students from across the globe at International House (our residence), my days at UC Berkeley were never dull, and there was always something new to learn or experience daily. Getting a chance to immerse oneself in a foreign culture for such an extended period of time was nothing short of a blessing, and I would give anything to have the chance to do it all over again!
Alejandro Zikin Fok, Year 4 (R9)
University of California, Berkeley
Bioengineering
It was an eye-opening experience at the University of Toronto. Centrally located in Toronto, campus life is a dynamic mix of student experiences and education. The academic rigor of the courses is just right and in-person classes were amazing with engaging professors. It was always a joy to meet students from diverse backgrounds. Toronto has a very safe and friendly environment with many opportunities to interact with people all around the world.
Corliss Lim Zi Hwee, Year 4 (R9)
University of Toronto
Computer Science
Going on exchange was
definitely an eye-opening experience. I was able to experience school culture in a foreign country and even worked
with local students of different backgrounds. Through this collaboration
with the local students, I was able to learn more about their local work culture and the different working styles. Such interaction helped me gain greater insight into where I might see myself in the future.
The beautiful UBC campus and the nearby beach provided a great avenue for students to
unwind and relax. Throughout
my time in Vancouver, I often had the opportunity to interact with the locals,
even while doing something as mundane as grocery shopping. I enjoyed how the
locals were very friendly and welcoming towards casual conversations. It is not
a common sight or experience that we get to engage in small talks with
strangers back in Singapore. Through my exploration during the exchange, I immersed myself in the diverse cultures and landscapes as well as the cool
weather that is vastly different from Singapore. This exchange is once-in-a-lifetime
and allowed me to broaden my horizons!
Ho Jia Jun Brandon, Year 4 (R9)
University of British Columbia
Mechanical Engineering
The pandemic disrupted many plans – including my dream to spend a full year in London as part of REP’s overseas experience. However, I’m thankful the arrangements worked out, and I had the opportunity to complete semester-long exchanges both locally (NUS) and abroad (Imperial College London). My time in London was extremely memorable! At Imperial, I took up modules from Computing, EEE and Business schools, and found the contents and mode of delivery to be extremely engaging, insightful and relevant. There was a common focus on coursework and teamwork which I valued, as that allowed me to truly appreciate the materials and experience real-life applications of the content taught. Despite the short time there, I joined the Imperial College Chamber Music Society and organized weekly music practices with 5 other like-minded Imperial students. This culminated in a masterclass and an end-of-term performance on the Imperial campus. But the most memorable moment was definitely the time forging strong bonds of friendship with my fellow REP batch mates – from CNY reunion dinners to weekly catch-ups and not to forget the trips to various European countries such as Norway, Italy and Spain!
Ng Ze Wei, Year 4 (R9)
Imperial College London
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
My internship with Bosch was a challenging but rewarding experience. I joined the company’s Automotive Electronics department and worked alongside skilled engineers currently developing the next generation of sustainable automotive products. Through the projects I took on, I gained valuable insights into the intricacies of sustainability practices within the industry and learned about the complex processes used to ensure the reliability of critical components.
My supervisors took an active interest in my development by bringing me along for site visits and encouraging me to sit in for meetings, helping me better understand both the different stages of the product development cycle as well as the connections between different business units within the organisation. This internship also offered an exceptional networking environment where I had the privilege of connecting with experienced, highly specialised professionals who were more than happy to share details of their career journeys.
Overall, I am very grateful for the opportunity to experience living and working in a new environment.
Carlos Rahul Obordo Karve, Year 4 (R10)
Mechanical Engineering
In 2023, I had an amazing summer doing my professional attachment in New York City, as a Software Engineer Intern with Robinhood, a financial technologies company. My role was to develop features for the Robinhood Wallet iOS mobile application, which is a self-custodial wallet that allows users to store and manage their own cryptocurrencies.
Throughout the internship, I found that the interdisciplinary classes from the Renaissance Engineering Programme had prepared me well for the role, especially since I was working in the intersection of finance and technology. Furthermore, this experience led me to realise that my work required a lot of collaboration with other parties, such as backend engineers, product managers and designers, and not just individually writing code. As a result, I found myself putting into practice the lessons I had learnt from REP’s engineering leadership and communication classes, especially since I was working with people from cultures significantly different from what I am used to in Singapore.
Overall, I learnt a lot from the overseas internship, including technical expertise and soft skills, and made lots of new friends from different backgrounds. I would strongly recommend everyone to step out of their comfort zone and experience an overseas internship!
Ivan Teo Zhi Ming, Year 4 (R10)
Computer Science
The Renaissance Engineering Programme is a gateway to opportunities. I took up various internships in both local firms and multinational corporations combining business acumen and technical expertise—knowledge from both my degrees.
In my first year in the programme, I secured a Management Associate intern position and was tasked to work on product management for sustainable PassivHaus technologies in German MNC Technoform Bautec. I also managed smart robotics, IoT and 5G projects in CapitaLand’s technical team, and served as a bridge between engineers and business leaders.
Most recently, I built analytical dashboards featuring supply chain status and developed Robotic Process Automation (RPA) programmes in ST Engineering (Commercial Aerospace). These internships allow me to apply multifarious facets of what I learnt in REP and are proof that learning both business knowledge and technical skills are invaluable assets.
While on exchange in University of California, Berkeley, I joined an externship with General Motors California, which inspired me to pursue further opportunities globally. I am excited to take this a step further by returning to America in the summer for an internship.
Ong Li Xin, Randelle, Year 4 (R10)
Mechanical Engineering
During my professional attachment, I did a software engineering internship with Visa under the network core processing department. I was tasked to start a custom project from scratch with the help of my colleagues to deploy a custom service for Visa. It was really exciting to be able to write and scrutinize code that could have a large impact on payment technologies such as in handling chargebacks and disputes. My internship was heavily learning on the job as well as building on fundamentals that I have learnt in REP and Computer Science. While I knew the basics of programming, the industry expectations and quality are usually much higher and more sophisticated, which really exposed me to the real-world applications and deployments of the code I wrote. One of my most memorable experiences was the final end-to-end demo that I did for the entire department towards the end of my internship to share my system design and final implementation. I think it is really important to be humble and be a keen learner! I was really challenged throughout the attachment to learn and pick up skills on the go and to constantly be adaptable to feedback and changing situations.
Gabriel Sze Whye Han, Year 5 (R8)
Computer Science
Interned at Visa, Singapore
As a business development/product management intern in GovTech’s GoBusiness department, I was tasked to ideate and analyse strategic use cases for their one-stop SME assistance portal. It was a highly intensive yet fruitful experience, as I was entrusted to craft possible roadmaps for the department. While my Professional Attachment was during the COVID-19 period, it was nothing short of memorable. I was able to connect with stakeholders from all walks of life, empathise with users on the ground and gain deeper insights into GoBusiness’s mission. It was eye-opening to see how the pandemic has affected so many SMEs – and how GoBusiness was adaptive to various challenges. Being a student entrepreneur, my Professional Attachment as a business development intern has contributed to my growth. I have learnt valuable skills on market analysis, business strategy and stakeholder management. As this was my first business internship experience, I was glad that I took it up as my Professional Attachment. Having done engineering internships prior to this, I was able to acquire interdisciplinary skills during my stint in REP.
Phileon Goh Ze Wei, Year 5 (R8)
Materials Engineering
Interned at GovTech, Singapore
Loh Xing Bao Colin, 2022 Graduate
Mechanical Engineering
Interned at Dyson, UK
Shawn Chen, 2022 Graduate
Computer Engineering
Interned at McLaren Applied Technology, London