The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) launched two new master's programmes and five new minors yesterday with the aim of better equipping its students with skills relevant to the digital economy.

The Master of Science in Urban Science, Policy and Planning, a 12-month programme for bachelor degree holders, teaches students to combine advanced social and data science research methods and computational techniques with urban theory, planning and practice.

The SUTD-CGU Dual Masters Programme in Nano-Electronic Engineering and Design is an 18-month programme established in collaboration with Taiwan's Chang Gung University (CGU) and aims to provide science and engineering graduates with an education in the full value chain of the semiconductor industry.

Students will start doing nine months of coursework at CGU, followed by another nine months of intensive research at SUTD.

The programmes start in September, and application is now open.

From next year, SUTD undergraduates will be able to choose from five new minor programmes.

Three of them - in design innovation, ventures and entrepreneurship; digital humanities; and design, technology and society - will be available only to students from this year's cohort onwards.

The other two programmes - in engineering systems; and artificial intelligence - will take in their first batches next January, and will be open to existing and new students.

In addition, students matriculating from 2018 will be required to take at least one of three modules - artificial intelligence, data analytics and machine learning - in their four-year undergraduate course.

Professor Chong Tow Chong, SUTD's acting president and provost, said the subjects will be enhanced to inculcate high ethical standards in students as they design and create new technologies.

"Through these new developments, we aim to deliver a truly unique educational experience for our students, to nurture them into technically grounded leaders and innovators who will create a better world by design for Singapore and beyond," he said.

From：The Straits Times