University of Southern Queensland / University of Portsmouth / Oxford Brookes University Visitations

Mr. Lorne Gibson, the Director of International Education Management from University of Southern Queensland International had recently paid a visit to the Informatics campus to meet with the school faculty and management team. It is very important for us at Informatics to foster good working relationships with our University partners. According to Mr. Gibson, “I am very comfortable with the direction Informatics is taking in regard to engaging with industry and building relationships with organisations through the establishment of its satellite recruitment centre down town.”

He also added that Informatics made an impactful and good move by integrating all our centers into one campus, giving our school the advantage of providing students with the proper space, facilities and study environment.

Mr. Gibson also felt that the Singapore market is ever changing, in terms of government policies and entry requirements and Informatics has been vigilant to those changes, in order to make sure that the qualifications we produce are credible, recognized and are what the various industries demand, Mr. Gibson added on to say that Informatics had been a strong partner over the years, and he is confident that we will be a big part of University of Southern Queensland’s growth in the future.

Dr. Ray French, from University of Portsmouth (UOP) dropped by our Informatics Campus in January this year. According to Dr. French, the collaboration between Informatics and the University has been established since 1998. He is happy to say that the successful 10-year collaboration has brought about a large number of graduate students who have performed very well, whose level of work are on par with the University’s local students in the UK. He is also impressed by the commitment shown by students of Informatics, despite their family and work obligations, which they often have to juggle in order to attain their qualification, in some cases, on a part-time basis.

Moving ahead, the University is looking into offering new degrees and new degree titles in order to be consistent with what UOP is offering their local students. Dr. French is very confident that the future looks positive for Informatics and the partnership, due to the new campus infrastructure, and the longstanding relationship that we have established.

2 senior officials from Oxford Brookes University visited Informatics for a meet and greet session with the students and faculty members. Says Mr. David Lighfoot, Principal Lecturer in Computing, “We saw that students here are genuinely happy with the courses they are taking and the way they are being taught and that is very encouraging”.

Mr. Lightfoot also commented that he is happy with the quality of lecturers and faculty members that Informatics has, which is in accordance to the University’s standard of agreement.

OBU had launched a new degree program which is BSc in Information Technology for Business last year. This program is unique as it combines both the IT and Business aspects of a study program, and students will be equipped with those skills upon graduation.

Professor William Clocksin who became the Head of Department in 2007 is currently working on a new curriculum for the University in making introductory modules in Computer and Electronics more interesting by using 3D graphics. This new curriculum is expected to be very beneficial to Informatics and promises to be exciting to the first year students of the IT and Computing course.

Says Mr. Lighfoot, “The University has a long-standing and successful relationship with Informatics. We are very pleased and confident that we will be moving forward together as partners.” Mr. Lightfoot also said that the University will keep courses fresh and updated in order to meet with the industry’s expectations and demands. He also seeks a closer collaboration between the faculty members in England and the ones here, as he sees this as a beneficial platform for exchanging of ideas.

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