Speech - Address by Ms Low Khah Gek, Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Technical Education, at the Land Transport Engineering Conference 2019, at ITE College West, on 8 October 2019, 9.30am

Mr Ngien Hoon Ping, Chief Executive, Land Transport Authority

Mr. Frank Körner, Head, Division of Vocational Schools, Centre for School Quality and Teacher Education, Baden-Württemberg

Our German partners and friends, Mr Matthias Kurrle, Dr Falk Hartmann, Mr Matthias Körber and Mr Christian Kutscher

Mr Allen Zheng Bing Ping, General Manager, BYD (Singapore) Pte Ltd

Mr. Marcio S. Coelho, Director of Sales and Marketing, Services for Automotive Aftermarket, Asia Pacific Southeast, Robert Bosch (South East Asia) Pte. Ltd

Mr Marco Neubold, Vice President, Domain Service, ZF Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

Our Industry Partners
Students from Carl Benz Schule Gaggenau
Graduates and Students of the TED programme
ITE Colleagues and Students
Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

1 It is my pleasure to welcome you to ITE’s Land Transport Engineering Conference, as well as the 10th Anniversary celebration of our Technical Engineer Diploma in Automotive Engineering. Our special appreciation to Mr Ngien Hoon Ping, CE/LTA and former ITE BOG 2 member for gracing today’s event and presenting the keynote address.

2 The Technical Engineer Diploma in Automotive Engineering programme was launched in 2010 through a long-standing strategic partnership between ITE and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Together with our educational institution partner, Carl Benz Schule Gaggenau, this diploma programme serves to develop expertise for Singapore’s land transport industry. This year marks the 10th anniversary and I wish to thank all our German partners and friends who have come all the way to Singapore to celebrate our one-decade of collaboration and achievements.

Industry Partners

3 Land transport all over the world is undergoing massive change and transformation. I leave the transformation and future envisioning details to Hoon Ping to elaborate. It suffices for me to say that at ITE we are mindful that our training equipment and curriculum must keep pace with industry trends and emerging job demands. In the automotive industry, we see the push towards diverse mobility, autonomous driving, electrification and connectivity. In the rapid transit industry, we see the use of smart technologies, condition monitoring solutions and data analytics to perform predictive maintenance.

4 Our industry partners play a critical role in helping ITE respond to the new skillsets demand of the industry. Such partnerships and collaborations are win-win for the industry and ITE. Later this morning, we will be expressing our appreciation to all our industry partners who have supported ITE in the PET training of our students and CET training of in-service employees.

New MOUs

5 I am happy to share that this morning, we are signing three new MOU with: BYD (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Robert Bosch South East Asia, and ZF Asia Pacific. The three newly inked MOUs will create new CET opportunities for in-service workers, boost ITE staff capability and help refresh our PET course content.

• BYD Singapore will train our staff and boost their capability in electric buses and cars.

• Bosch will enable ITE to launch a series of short Certificate of Competency courses in Hybrid Vehicles, Advanced Driverassistance Systems and Engine Management Systems.

• ZF Asia Pacific will partner ITE to launch short Certificate of Competency courses leading to certifications in the servicing and maintenance of High Voltage Vehicles.

6 The 3 new partners and all existing industry partners will also support ITE to refresh the instructional content for the Nitec and Higher Nitec automotive and rapid transit courses.

Graduates of TED (Automotive Engineering)

7 Since the launch of the Technical Engineer Diploma in Automotive Engineering in 2010, we have 10 cohorts of graduates. 164 students have successfully completed the diploma programme.

• One of them, William Cheong, who is from the first cohort, is now an ITE Lecturer and a proud member of our Automotive Engineering faculty.

• Zhuang Hongyao, also a graduate from the first cohort, is Volvo East Asia’s Assistant Area Service Manager.

• Sofian, from the class of 2013, is now a Technical Trainer at the Subaru Academy, run by Motor Image Enterprises. Sofian and his team plan and conduct training not only for our local market, but also for the Group’s companies in the region.

8 These examples exemplify how our Automotive graduates are well sought after by the automotive industry.

Graduates of Rapid Transit Courses

9 Graduates from our Rapid Transit courses are also doing well.

• Muhammad Suhairy, from the Nitec in Rapid Transit Technology class of 2013, is now a Permanent Way Technical Officer at SMRT Corporation. He performs maintenance work on the railway tracks and tunnels to ensure the safety, reliability and availability of these assets.

• Syahril B Rais, who graduated in 2017 from the Higher Nitec in Rapid Transit Engineering, is now a Technical Support 5 Technician at SBS Transit and is assigned to its North East Line's Signalling Department. He is a member of the assurance team that diagnoses and rectifies trainborne-signalling issues.

10 With more MRT lines slated to come into operation by 2030, our graduates can certainly look forward to good career opportunities in the Rapid Transit industry.

Urban Mobility Centre

11 My ITE staff and I are committed to making continuous improvement to ensure our training equipment and programmes are industry relevant. Our lecturers deploy a wide variety of pedagogical practices to engage the students and help them develop their potential. Training are conducted in authentic industry-like settings to provide students a more immersive learning experience. One such example is the new Urban Mobility Centre which was set up in anticipation of new training needs as a result of the growing number of hybrid cars and increasing deployment of electric cars locally.

12 We have also enhanced the Industry Attachment Programme (or internship programme) so that students can deepen their skillsets and sink their roots early in the industry. To all the companies present today, we thank you for offering internship opportunities for our students. 

13 In conclusion, I thank all of you for participating in today’s Land Transport Engineering Conference. I hope you will find today’s Conference a useful platform to network, exchange ideas and share knowledge. I wish you all a meaningful and rewarding morning.

Thank you.