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Aspiring young talent seeking to prepare themselves for a career
in interactive digital media now have a new avenue to obtain
graduate-level qualifications on a fast track, leverage on the
expertise of two of the world’s leading universities, build up a
portfolio of work at the same time, and do all that on a
scholarship.
The new opportunity has been made possible with the Concurrent
Degree Programme between the School of Computing at the National
University of Singapore (NUS) and the Entertainment Technology
Center at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the United States.
Officially launched 9 November 2006, the programme is offered
with scholarship support from the Infocomm Development Authority
of Singapore (IDA) under its National Infocomm Scholarship (NIS)
scheme.
Professor Shih Choon Fong, NUS President; Professor Jared L
Cohon, President of Carnegie Mellon University; and Mr Chan Yeng
Kit, CEO of IDA, signed an agreement at NUS on 9 November 2006
to seal this strategic partnership between the three parties.
The programme launch ceremony was attended by industry players
and senior officials from the three signatory organisations.
The
concurrent programme with CMU is NUS School of Computing’s
latest initiative towards strengthening the University’s
effort in empowering students to discover and realise their
full potential through quality education. The School has
recently gained recognition by ABET Inc., the
world-respected US-based accreditation agency, for its
Computer Science and Information Systems programmes.
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Commencing in August 2007, the new programme allows students
to obtain a Bachelor of Computing in Communications and
Media (BComp C&M) degree from NUS and a Master of
Entertainment Technology (MET) degree from CMU in 5 years.
Successful applicants will spend 3.5 years in NUS to
complete the bachelor degree and spend the next 1.5 years at
campuses of the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC-Global)
located in the United States, Australia and Korea to
complete the MET degree. If the degrees are pursued
separately, the BComp programme takes 4 years to complete,
and the MET 2 years. The School of Computing at NUS plans to
admit up to 20 students per intake, and the first intake of
students will study at the Entertainment Technology Center
in January 2011.
Besides getting both degrees on a fast track, students will
also graduate with a portfolio as the programme emphasises
project work. This is a boon for fresh graduates seeking
entry into the interactive digital media industry, where a
portfolio is as important as degree qualification.
Speaking at the signing ceremony and official launch of the
programme, NUS President Professor Shih Choon Fong said,
“NUS is pleased to partner Carnegie Mellon and IDA to offer
aspiring interactive digital media professional
opportunities, space and challenges to pursue their passion
and hone their creative and technical skills.”
Prof Shih added, “This partnership to nurture talent in
interactive and digital media will advance NUS’ aim to play
a vital role in Singapore’s push to build strengths in this
strategic area.”
The sentiment of NUS has found resonance with partner
university, CMU.
"Carnegie Mellon is delighted to participate in this new
collaborative programme with the National University of
Singapore and the InfoComm Development Authority of
Singapore," said Dr Jared L Cohon, President of Carnegie
Mellon University.
"This joint venture creates new opportunities for
well-prepared students from NUS's School of Computing to
come to the Entertainment Technology Center for graduate
study, enabling these students to contribute to the global
entertainment technology industry," Dr Cohon added.
Speaking also at the official launch and signing ceremony,
IDA’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Chan Yeng Kit said, "This
collaboration is of strategic significance for Singapore
because it will produce top notch Infocomm professionals to
fuel the development of our Digital Media and Entertainment
(DME) industry."
The concurrent programme with CMU is NUS School of
Computing’s latest initiative towards strengthening the
University’s effort in empowering students to discover and
realise their full potential through quality education.
In late September, the School gained recognition by ABET
Inc., the world-respected US-based accreditation agency, for
its Computer Science and Information Systems programmes. The
agency certified that the programmes are "substantially
equivalent" to accredited US programmes of a similar nature,
which is the best status that the agency can offer to
universities outside the United States.
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