Top SP Graduates

Read how SP has shaped them to who they are today

Mohamed Najulah Where There's A wheel, There's A way

Chua Chor Teck Gold Medal IMDA Gold Medal

Najulah was born with brittle bone disease.  For him, a trip or fall could be dangerous. Since suffering a bad fall when he was in Primary Five, Najulah has been moving about in a wheelchair for his safety. By the time the Queensway Secondary School alumnus was in Secondary Four, he had already undergone several operations to strengthen his bones or to fix his injuries due to falls.

Despite these challenges, Najulah wanted to contribute to the community as much as an able-bodied person could.  Even though he had no prior knowledge about programming, he was keen to explore how Information Technology (IT) could be used to help others and enrolled into the Singapore Polytechnic (SP)’s Diploma in Business Information Technology course as part of the pioneer cohort of the Polytechnic Foundation Programme.

During his four years in SP, Najulah unlocked his potential in IT. Gaining programming knowledge while pitting his skills against his peers, Najulah took part in IT competitions such as the Data-Driven Innovation Challenge organised by the Info-communications Media Development Authority and the Transport & Youth Hackathon organised by the Land Transport Authority.  Najulah and his classmates developed an application called “Happy Wheel” that leveraged on publicly available data sets to suggest wheelchair-friendly paths to various locations. Their efforts were rewarded with the People's Choice Award at the Transport & Youth Hackathon and commended by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his Facebook post.

Never one to rest his laurels, the Model Student Award recipient leapt at every opportunity to explore how IT could be harnessed to help the community. In recognition of his efforts, Najulah was awarded the Microsoft Youthspark Scholarship which supported promising youths with disabilities in IT-related fields. He was also given the opportunity to represent SP at the WorldSkills Singapore 2016 competition.

In his final year, Najulah interned at A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing, where he collaborated with researchers on a study related to how barrier-free access affected those with special needs. The internship exposed him to research work and helped him develop a deeper confidence in his IT skills.

Najulah will be pursuing a Degree in Information Systems at the Singapore Management University. His aspiration is to be a software developer and to use his skills and knowledge to improve the quality of life for the community.