Singapore Maths Tuition - University and JC

09 January 2018

James Cook University, a private university in Singapore, has seen its enrolment rise over the years. Its student population has grown from 50 students in 2003 to around 3,600 students currently.

James Cook University Australia established its Singapore campus in 2003. Subjects taught include Business, Information Technology, Psychology, Education, Accounting, Arts, Aquaculture, Environmental Science, Games Design, Tourism and Hospitality.

Its current campus at Sims Drive consists of over 40 classrooms and lecture halls, 10 computer and research laboratories, administration offices, a purpose-built electronic financial trading room, and a Psychology Clinic.

The university’s academic staff are all full-time lecturers.

In 2015, JCU was awarded the EduTrust Star under the EduTrust certification scheme which is administered by the Committee for Private Education.

JCU is also committed to supporting lifelong learning by providing an industry oriented education.

08 January 2018

Based on the latest employment surveys from Singapore’s public (autonomous) universities, 80 per cent of their graduates found jobs within six months after graduation. Their average monthly starting pay was $3,325.

For local polytechnics, fresh graduates were offered on average S$2,517 per month.

In addition, 60 per cent of graduates from private education institutions found full-time jobs within six months after graduating, drawing an average starting monthly pay of S$2,550.

Among the 40 private schools polled, the ERC Institute had the highest full-time employment rate (71.4 per cent), followed by Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) Global Education (61.6 per cent), and Curtin Education Centre (58 per cent).

This graduate employability survey was conducted by SkillsFuture Singapore in partnership with the Committee for Private Education.

Private schools approached by TODAY said that while the survey results serve as a reference for prospective students, it does not take into account the employment outcomes of certain segments of their student populations, such as graduates from part-time degree programmes.

07 January 2018

Programmers are now busy writing new programming languages for quantum computers.

The most recent one comes from Microsoft, which has developed Q# (Q sharp). It joins a growing list of other high-level quantum programming languages such as QCL and Quipper.

Krysta Svore, principal research manager in quantum computing at Microsoft, says that quantum computing languages are needed because the ones written for today’s computers won’t work for quantum ones. Quantum computers use quantum bits or “qubits” which can effectively encode one and zero at the same time, creating enormous amounts of parallel processing power. But to fully exploit that power, developers will need quantum languages to help them create software that takes full advantage of the computers’ capabilities.

Quantum computing languages have limitations which don’t exist in classical programming languages. For example, quantum programs can’t have loops in them that repeat a sequence of instructions.

To deal with such issues, Q# works in conjunction with a couple of classical languages. Developers without quantum expertise can write their main programs in familiar languages and then use a Q# program when they want to engage quantum processing power.

07 January 2018

The Ministry of Education has announced that in the coming school merger exercise, each of the merged schools will bear the name of the school where it will be located.

The MOE announced the names of the merged schools recently. It said in a statement: “In naming (the) merged schools, a range of factors were considered, including the schools’ history and heritage, enrolments, as well as stakeholders’ interests and the sentiments of all schools involved.”

Some of the alumni lamented the loss of the names of their alma maters.

The names of the merged junior colleges will be announced in the early part of 2018, said MOE. Already, there have been calls for some of the junior colleges’ names to be kept.

For example, the alumni of Jurong Junior College, which will be merged with Pioneer JC, called for their school’s name to be preserved. Jurong JC has a 36-year history and is widely known for being one of the birthplaces of the Singapore Chinese indie folk music movement.

05 January 2018

Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng said it is important to nurture students with the capability to innovate, especially in an increasingly globalised world.

He was speaking at a ceremony during which a new batch of school principals received their appointment letters from director-general of education Wong Siew Hoong, whilst retiring principals were applauded for their contributions.

As an example of how schools can set aside time and space for students to pursue their interests, Mr Ng Chee Meng cited the example of Tanjong Katong Girls’ School, where students can spend up to one hour and 20 minutes every Tuesday morning choosing what they wish to do, such as spending the time on rehearsals or projects.

Mr Ng added that an environment enabling innovation can be created in schools by nurturing what he called the 3Is – imagination, inquisitiveness and interconnections.

02 January 2018

Researchers from Nanyang Technological University have devised a skin patch that allows anti-obesity drugs to be administered.

Each skin patch is of area 1 cm square and contains hundreds of micro-needles that allow anti-obesity medication to be delivered directly to the fat cells under the skin.

This drug delivery system has been shown to reduce weight gain in mice on a high fat diet by more than 30 per cent over a period of four weeks. The skin patch will be tested on humans in a year or two.

Professor Chen Peng, one of the team’s two principal investigators, noted that not many adult anti-obesity drugs are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, as high dosages are often required. With the patch, drug are administered directly onto the fat, allowing for the dosages to be reduced significantly.

The drugs used by the NTU team are hormone-based and will instigate cells to change their genetic make-up. They cause fatty cells to produce more metabolic components such as mitochondria to increase energy production and fat metabolism.

01 January 2018

For their final-year project, five students from the School of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering in Singapore Polytechnic built a hoverboard that can levitate and move along a track.

The hoverboard is built based on the principles of quantum levitation. The bottom of the hoverboard is a box consisting of six superconductors, which when cooled, possess the capability of being suspended in the air within a magnetic field.

The hoverboard does not require electricity or combustion of any fuels, which makes it much cleaner and better for the environment, compared with the magnetic levitation technology used in bullet trains which uses electricity. Since there is no friction between the board and the track, little wear and tear is expected.

The team will present the project at the annual SP Engineering Show next month to industrial partners and professionals.