TECHNOLOGY, START-UPS AND COMMUNITY GOOD
The morning of 12 December 2020 was no ordinary Saturday for 98 first year students who had just been accepted into the EDGE program, joining their year 2 and 3 seniors before them.
The programme, into its third year, is an invitation-only scholarship preparation programme to mentor and prepare students for their undergraduate scholarship journey. First year students are extended an invitaton to the programme based on their academic results, co-curricular activities, character and interest in scholarships and personal development. Second and third year students are also accepted into the programme based on potential and recommendations by lecturers. Students go through holistic and rigorous training comprising communication skills and personal eectiveness workshops, current aairs & policy sessions and are exposed to various modes of interview and scholarship assessments. Selected students are given the opportunity to participate in external conferences and industry events. EDGE aims to complement existing talent and leadership development initiatives such as SPOT and those oered by Student Development. Undeterred by COVID-19 restrictions, the Orientation featured a virtual tour to One North, where tour company, Monsters Day Tours got students actively exploring Singapore’s Silicon Valley. Students were treated to exciting rounds of virtual Bingo to reinforce learning. Indeed, the theme for this year’s Orientation, ‘Technology, Start-ups and Community Good’ was all the more poignant given the circumstances the world finds itself in. The tour concluded with a sharing by Mr Tan Lee Tuan of Bekind Solutions, a social enterprise startup that develops and markets quality innovative products for the elderly. Speaking about their Smart Walking Stick collection, he stressed the need to inject vibrancy into the life of the elderly to prevent many social ills – old age loneliness, poor health and the tech gap between the young and old. At the end of the programme, students reflected on the need to seize opportunities, develop an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset for success and giving back to society. When prompted to share their own ideas for innovation; we were heartened to hear suggestions such as:
• A device that generates Braille on the spot • Time machine • An easy language translator for old people • Automatic table cleaner
• Small health check machines for those who can’t a ord or do not have the time for regular health checks at hospitals • A bot that could help children who struggle with social skills due to issues like autism and anxiety
May their ideas see fruition for the greater good!
9 10
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker