SINGAPORE, 25 April 2016 – The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and its U Associate, The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES), today inaugurated the Advanced Engineers Leadership (AEL) Programme at the official opening of the IES Academy (IESA) at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability. A national initiative strongly supported by the industry and firms such as Rolls-Royce Singapore, SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) and Intel, the AEL Programme aims to groom senior engineers into leaders of their organisations and the industry, by equipping them with advanced future-ready technology management and leadership skills.
As the latest programme in the Engineers Progression Pathway championed by NTUC and IES, the AEL Programme will focus on enabling engineers with five to eight years of practising experience to push beyond their technical abilities to assume management responsibilities and leadership roles in their respective organisations. It will set participating engineers apart for progression to management positions by their employers. The Programme encompasses strong participation and support from the industry, from course delivery to mentorship.
The six-month long programme scheduled to commence in Q3 2016 offers a unique curriculum that emphasises on cross-engineering knowledge-acquisition, cross-disciplinary project collaboration and cross-linkages with peers and leaders of the industry. The programme aims to develop participants into effective leaders capable of embracing innovation and sustainability to champion their organisations’ growth and address emerging global challenges.
Built around six core modules (ANNEX A) is a holistic learning framework comprising masterclasses conducted by field experts, interactive sessions with industry leaders, learning journeys to leading role-model companies and collaborative projects to promote application of learning. Each class size is capped at 30 participants to facilitate interaction and more effective learning.
Participants will also receive one-to-one guidance from their mentors during the programme. Their leadership learning journeys will continue after their graduation ceremony, whereby they can access quarterly networking sessions featuring talks given by prominent engineers. They can also join talks and mentorship sessions by C-suite leaders under NTUC’s U Future Leaders programme. Qualified participants will also enjoy funding support from NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).
“In a knowledge-driven industry, the rich technical experience and unique analytical skills of mid-career engineers place them in an advantageous position to become organisational and national champions of growth. The AEL Programme is a strong collaborative effort by IES, NTUC and the industry to help senior engineers acquire management skillsets and perspectives that traverse industries, disciplines and cultures, lining them up for success in a management pathway. Besides reinforcing IES’s commitment to help engineers at various stages of their career move upward and forward, the programme will also attest to the wide-ranging career possibilities of an engineer to the younger generation,” said Er. Chong Kee Sen, President of IES.
“We are concerned for the career progression of our engineers and want them to be given fair opportunities to take on bigger roles in their organisations and develop their careers in the industry. Hence, as an unusual Labour Movement, NTUC is leveraging on our network of partnerships to bring about the AEL programme, which is a practitioner-led programme to connect and prepare our engineers to remain resilient and stay relevant in a fast evolving economic climate,” said Mr. Vivek Kumar, Director, NTUC U Associate and U Future Leaders.
“The talented and innovative engineering community within Rolls-Royce have been crucial to our success and reputation for engineering excellence. The AEL Programme is an excellent opportunity for engineers looking to develop their management expertise and will help to develop the future generation of engineering leaders required to tackle ever changing organisational and global challenges. We are excited to be part of the AEL Programme, offering Singapore’s future engineering leaders access to our facilities to learn first-hand how to design and implement business strategies that help to unlock local talent and develop high value added manufacturing operations worldwide,” said Dr. Bicky Bhangu, Director, Rolls-Royce Singapore.
Apart from the AEL Programme, NTUC and IES also introduced the Young Engineers Leadership (YEL) Programme in 2014, a year-long programme dedicated to train young aspiring engineers into exceptional leaders in their respective fields of expertise. To date, 369 engineers have enrolled in the programme. The first batch of 199 engineers graduated in October 2015.
Opening of IES Academy at Jurong East
The AEL Programme was launched at the official opening of the new IES Academy facility at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability by NTUC Secretary-General Mr. Chan Chun Sing, who also held a closed-door dialogue session with close to 200 invited leaders of engineering companies, members of IES, union leaders & participants of YEL programme.
With its enhanced accessibility and modern facilities, the IES Academy aims to better cater to the growing demand for continuing education, professional upgrading and career advancement amongst engineers. The academy’s strategic location within the training hub for employment and employability in Singapore will also foster greater linkages between engineers and the industry. Established in April 2006, the IES Academy was previously located at IES’ Bukit Tinggi premises and has been training more than 7,000 engineers annually.
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