Interview with EEE Alumnus and NTU LKY Gold Medal winner

26 Oct 2015

(Left to right) Goh Say Seng (DEEE course Chair), Zhong Huiwen and Loh Yew Chiong (SEEE Director) 

Mr. Zhong Huiwen (DEEE graduate 2010 who was our SP Scholar) was awarded the NTU Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal in July 15 for being the top student in his degree programme in Information Engineering & Media.

Q1: How did the DEEE course help you in your university studies and getting your first job after graduating from university?  What were the knowledge and skills you learned from it?

My 3 years in SP helped me build a solid foundation in the common engineering modules I took in NTU. It was an added advantage over my many friends who came from other courses such as information technology courses and had no engineering experience. I was able to quickly grasp the concepts and apply such knowledge to the more complex concepts taught. I still remember taking a module in mobile application development using JAVA before the iPhone came out and, until now, I really consider that to be one of the most valuable skills that helped me to make even more advanced mobile apps on iOS and Android.

Q2: What was special about the DEEE Course?

COURSEWORK
When I came to NTU, what I missed most was the extensive project and lab based learning I had in SP. Every week we had lab sessions that followed the curriculum taught, and that reinforced the material and concepts learnt.

OUT OF CLASSROOM EXPERIENCES
Being the class mentor for a semester gave me the opportunity to participate in a fully sponsored DEEE leadership camp in Batam. It was a very memorable experience with my DEEE friends and me engaging in fun yet enriching leadership games and confidence-building obstacle courses and, of course, not forgetting the daily buffets which were just too good to resist.

Q3: Can you share about your present endeavours?

After going through a total of 6 years of training as an engineer in poly and university, I have decided to pursue software engineering as my career. I initially couldn't decide on software or hardware and that's why I chose a broad based EEE diploma in SP.

I currently work in a start-up company as an iOS app engineer in a fast-paced environment and am constantly trying out new technologies under tight deadlines.

Q4: How did you manage to excel in NTU to win LKY Gold Award?

I am by no means a smart person and I've met so many smarter people in my time in NTU. Self-learning is vital to surviving in university. Hence, I would watch supplementary YouTube videos and explore the web for answers.