UROP

National University of Singapore

Faculty of Engineering

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme

UROP Learning Objectives

To provide the opportunity for students to acquire skills for the intellectual process of inquiry and presentation
To enhance students' knowledge of the latest technology

UROP Benefits

To prepare students for their Final Year Project work
To allow students and faculty members to interact so as to foster closer ties
Opportunity for participation in the annual National UROP Congress

Guidelines for

NUS Students
Exchange Students (students from other universities)
For Past Congresses, please click here.

(NUS Faculty of Engineering Staff & UROP members -> please click here)

2006 NUROP Congress

Plenary Session

Poster Session

NUROP Certificate

Sample

UROP Student's Experience

I was awarded High Achievement in the Faculty FYP Innovation Award 2005. This award would not possible if I did not start my UROP two years ago. After UROP, I continued my research on Face Recognition for IA & FYP. I have one paper published in an international conference and another selected in the second round of IEEE region 10 student paper contest.

- Song Wei, Electrical Engineering Graduate, Class of 2005

THINKING OUT OF THE BOX

It was a shoebox car with a difference. Four NUS Chemical Engineering students outshone their rivals in the 2001 Australasian Regional Chem-E-Car Competition by turning conventional wisdom on its head.

NUS car

Designed to highlight the skills of chemical engineering students, the competition saw teams designing and building shoebox-sized cars powered solely by a chemical reaction to carry a load of 250 ml of water for 20 meters and come to a stop. Judging criteria were the successful completion of the task and the creativity of the car design.

Five teams (the others were two teams from University of Newcastle, and one each from University of New South Wales and University of Sydney) took part. The other teams used electrochemical cells to power their cars and make them run smoothly.

The NUS team dared to be different. They designed a gas-propelled car based on the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. The rationale was that the gas produced would build up in the car's reactor. Opening a valve at a certain time would release the gas, propelling the car forward like a rocket.

Despite a failed first attempt, the NUS car went the farthest in its second run. It traveled 18.7 m, winning by a slim margin of about 50 cm against the Newcastle team's car.

Back Row (left): Dr Loh Kai Chee; Dr Wang Chi Hwa; A/Prof Tan Beng Hee, Reginald
Front Row (left): Foo Shing Hwang, Warren; Zhu Ye Qing; Yuen Hoi Yan; Chow Li Ling, Lorel
They all are from chemical engineering department

The winning team of Lorel Chow Li Ling, Warren Foo Shin Hwang, Yuen Hoi Yan and Zhu Ye Qing conceived this design while working on their Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Professor Lee Jim Yang was their supervisor for the project.

"Prof Lee suggested that we should have fun for our project and try to think of some innovative ideas. This is the reason why we chose to use gas propulsion," Hoi Yan explained.

Team members from all the varsities who have joined the event.

The Australasian Regional Chem-E-Car Competition was held in conjunction with the 6th World Congress of Chemical Engineering in Melbourne, Australia. This is the first time NUS participated in the competition.