The REACH programme with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute gives NTU students opportunities to study or work in New York.

NTU students seeking overseas exposure can now add "The Big Apple" to their destination of choice. This is because the university has partnered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York to launch the Rensselaer Engineering Education Across Cultural Horizons (REACH) programme.

Each academic year, from the Spring semester of 2009, 50 NTU students will spend a semester at RPI, while the same number of RPI students will arrive in Singapore for their attachment.

RPI, founded in 1824, is the oldest technological university in the United States and renowned for its success in technology transfer.

As one of the first two universities to partner Rensselaer on the REACH programme, NTU has extended the suite of immersion opportunities available to its students through initiatives like the Global Immersion Programme (GIP), which offers study and work stints of up to a year in the US, France, Switzerland, China, India and Vietnam.

NTU President Dr Su Guaning sees the demand for culturally sophisticated graduates rising, and the new partnership giving NTU students "invaluable opportunities to be exposed to different cultures and environments where they can learn and mature to become truly global leaders in their fields with multicultural experiences".

He adds: "I am very happy that NTU is one of the founding partners of this groundbreaking programme at RPI. A global education is not a luxury but a requirement for the engineer of today. To be successful in this flat world of ours, our graduates need to recognise global mega-trends and factor these trends into their work."

"Collaborative research and innovation"
"Rensselaer is proud to partner with Nanyang Technological University on such a critical endeavour," says RPI President Dr Shirley Ann Jackson. "From global climate change and the growing global thirst for energy, to healthcare and the depletion of our natural resources, the current generation of students – our future leaders – will be charged with developing technological and societal solutions of unprecedented scope and influence. Such pursuits cannot and will not occur in a vacuum. Their resolution rests upon collaborative research and innovation, and because we live in a shrinking, interconnected world, this collaboration requires a vibrant diversity of thought and perspective to ensure that these global solutions can be successfully implemented in any given nation, region, or community."

To celebrate the kickoff of the REACH programme, RPI held several events, including a presidential colloquy, at its campus in New York. Prof Lim Mong King, NTU's Senior Advisor, Globalisation, participated in the colloquy titled "A Global Reach in a Shrinking World", which examined the importance of international education, the opportunities and challenges of multicultural education, and how best to engage current and prospective students about the importance of a meaningful international experience as part of their education.



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