Former NTU president tasked with developing rail engineers

SINGAPORE — Having played a pivotal role in establishing the then Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI) and SIM University (UniSIM), Professor Cham Tao Soon now has a new challenge — getting the new Singapore Rail Academy up and running to make up for the “lost time” in developing Singapore’s rail engineers.

To be launched in the second half of the year, the academy will build and develop “in-depth capability” in rail technology, said Professor Cham, who was appointed to guide its set-up.

“We have lost time. We have to catch up,” he stressed.

Sharing his vision for the academy in a media interview last week, Prof Cham said it will focus on two areas: Training for engineers and technicians in the latest technologies in rail engineering, and identifying areas for conducting research and development (R&D). In the area of training, the aim is to set standards for the industry and determine what is the suitable training required.

Local train operators and institutions have their own training programmes, but these tend to be specialised in tandem with their niches. “We want to have uniform standards for all training places. Our role is not to train but to set up requirements and criteria,” he said.

And sometimes there are “beautiful processes” that are not executed in reality. “So we need to periodically certify. It’s no point paying lip service,” he said. Courses for trainers could be conducted by the academy “when there are special needs”, he added.

Prof Cham, 75, was the first president of the former NTI, now Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and the founding director of SMRT Corporation. Four years into his 22-year tenure as NTI and NTU president, it was named one of the best engineering institutions in the world by the Commonwealth Engineering Council in 1985.

In 2005, he was appointed the founding chancellor of UniSIM. Last year, he received the Engineer of the Year Award from the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific.

On potential R&D ideas, Prof Cham suggested looking at preventive maintenance, automation and improving the signalling control system. Automation, in particular, could resolve manpower woes and ensure greater workplace safety, he said.

Currently, the rail industry has more than 6,000 workers in rail operations and maintenance, and more than half are engineers and technicians. To expand the rail network to the targeted 360km by 2030, another 5,000 workers will be needed.

The academy will also launch an accreditation process to certify the proficiency of rail engineers and technicians, based on an industry-wide competency framework in the pipeline. Schemes targeted at new and existing recruits will also be developed to boost the attractiveness of the sector.

Through it all, the academy would be working closely with local train operators, institutes of higher learning, research institutes and their overseas counterparts.

Asked about the problems faced in recruiting engineers and technicians, Prof Cham said: “The way to encourage the young people to go into engineering is to show that being an engineer can do many things that will be for the good of people ... Within the academy, we’re thinking of having schemes like a through-train from apprentice all the way to full-fledged engineer.”

Over the next few months, Prof Cham will form his board, recruit five to six key staff and plan for funding. A study trip to universities in the United Kingdom has also been scheduled for June. valerie koh