NTU EEE IEM anyone?

[dungcleaner]

NTUEEEIEM! that's a mouthful of acronyms

anyone going IEM this august?
i got offered the double degree program for IEM and economics, but i heard that the pioneer (and only) batch has got only three people

[dungcleaner]

there's a question which i would like to seek opinion about too:
ive got offers from

1) NUS FASS (want to major in comms and new media)
2) NTU information engineering & media and economics

i chose FASS because i was attracted by the 'media design' component and if i were to grad from that course, i would like to go to the advertising industry. but i think NAFA and Laselle students will definitely be more sought after cos they have more artistic flair. also, i was a science student in jc (PCME) and im afraid that going the arts route will be too big a transition for me. got a B in GP but I don't really like writing essays. i only like writing when inspiration flows in naturally.

chose NTU's IEM because my forte lies in math and physics while i love art. so this course is an infusion of both. my worry is that iem grads will be jack of all trades. plus the pioneer batch has not graduated so their demand is unknown. this is partially why i choose the double degree program.. using economics as a safety net (but i took only H1 econs in JC).

which will u choose if u were in my shoes?

[dungcleaner]

no one going to iem?

[GSC1989]

which will u choose if u were in my shoes

I personally would choose IEM itself as well. However, I feel that this course is the preferred course of choice only if you are interested in an infocomm career - not saying that it wouldn't overlap with other industries, because it can, but the curriculum is best for molding a infocomm professional with a flair for design in using multimedia to enhance user interaction with technologies.

[cleanerdung]

I took a look at the double degree curriculum and the number of design modules is abyssmal:

ART190 Drawing as a Conceptual Tool
ART290 Visual Workshop I
ART292 Visual Workshop II
COM206 Visual Literacy & Communication
COM224 Web Design & Technology

5 modules is the equivalent of a minor only. If I'm a employer I don't see any real preparation for the advertising industry. Unless you do an additional diploma outside of NTU / take on freelance work, I can't imagine how this would prepare you with any decent portfolio to speak of. Besides, the fact that the double degree is under EEE/HSS, you are unlikely to have access to the internship opportunities in WKWSCI or NBS (where they have better links with the advertising industry). The career and attachments office at NTU does NOT have a centralised database of internship opportunities, which give you much less flexibility.

I think doing a double major econs-CNM in NUS FASS and finishing up your degree in 3 or 4 years and getting some work experience in the industry sounds like a better choice than 5 years at NTU doing econs-IEM. I think econs-IEM curriculum has too much of a technical focus which may seem irrelevant to Singaporean employers in the advertising industry. Remember that Singaporean employers tend to be very conservative when it comes to hiring, and they like to see how you can apply what you have learnt to the job, and to be really frank there is little use for such specific technical knowledge. Regarding jobs for IEM, you should also read this: http://talkback.stomp.com.sg/forums/...ad.php?t=65067

Sidenote: JC econs is very different from college econs.

[GSC1989]

to put it in really simple terms:
NUS module allocation - skill (highest bidder wins)
NTU module allocation - luck (fastest fingest first)

Uhh the difference is not as straightforward as that. As far as I know of, NTU curriculum is more structured in the sense that you will have to do your core modules on stipulated semesters. The module bidding system for the core modules in NTU is merely to determine the time slot in which you prefer to have it. To quote a NBS professor, "You will definitely get the modules required for the semester, the question is whether you get your preferred timing.". The modules that people actually compete for in NTU would be on the electives I believe.

On the other hand, this may not be a good thing - structured curriculum does have its own disadvantages as well; it means that the faculty has decided that this is the best possible route for students to make the most out of the curriculum (which may not be true).


Hence you will find an actual "schedule" for most university courses uploaded for NTU (i.e doing Engineering Physics in year1 and so on) but not for NUS where you can freely structure when your core modules can be taken. (with limitations on prereqs of course).

5 modules is the equivalent of a minor only. If I'm a employer I don't see any real preparation for the advertising industry. Unless you do an additional diploma outside of NTU / take on freelance work, I can't imagine how this would prepare you with any decent portfolio to speak of. Besides, the fact that the double degree is under EEE/HSS, you are unlikely to have access to the internship opportunities in WKWSCI or NBS (where they have better links with the advertising industry). The career and attachments office at NTU does NOT have a centralised database of internship opportunities, which give you much less flexibility.

That's definitely true. The design and art component of IEM is not the focus of the course; for a pure advertising career it might not be the best choice - however, I believe that this job will allow you to get design development positions in the infocomm industry on top of other possible career choices infocomm provides (IT support, Info Security, web development, firmware engineers in mind). The course is more broad-based in terms of career opportunities in that sense.

[cleanerdung]

I believe that this job will allow you to get design development positions in the infocomm industry on top of other possible career choices infocomm provides (IT support, Info Security, web development, firmware engineers in mind).

The way I see it, a Comp Sc/ Comp Engine graduate would have undergone a more rigorous training and would be a better fit for the above infocomm jobs. If you are talking about front-end content production, a Communication/ Fine Arts graduate would have a definite edge in writing/ design skills respectively. The problem here is I fail to see what sort of jobs would be a good fit for this degree. This course basically trades in a rigorous training in a specific area for a disparate patchwork of skills that you might have trouble synergizing together.

Specifically what sort of design development positions requires this amount of design knowledge? If you are talking about UI design, HCI design and the sorts... just look at the curriculum... the focus in these areas is minimal. My understanding of this industry is that positions either require a very good training in design (with at least a couple of senior-level modules), or the job has no design component in it at all. There isn't really a middle ground where they need someone with 5 modules worth of design training. In other words, it seems to me to be quite a piecemeal effort, kind of like touch-and-go.

If you are doing this course for interest, that would be great, but if you choosing this course for career prospects, I'm very skeptical about it.

[dungcleaner]

thanks GSC1989 and cleanerdung (geez what's with the parodying?) for your replies.

Originally Posted by cleanerdung

5 modules is the equivalent of a minor only. If I'm a employer I don't see any real preparation for the advertising industry.

Just to clarify myself: if i were to take up the IEM-econs course, I would be going into the infocomm sector rather than the advertising sector. My greatest dilemma is that I have a flair in technical subjects and am interested in, for instance, programming, while I have a desire since young to do something related to art. Thus my NTU and NUS choices are very deviant by nature.

Originally Posted by GSC1989

I feel that this course is the preferred course of choice only if you are interested in an infocomm career - not saying that it wouldn't overlap with other industries, because it can, but the curriculum is best for molding a infocomm professional with a flair for design in using multimedia to enhance user interaction with technologies.

While I do agree with the above, I echo cleanerdung's sentiments:

Originally Posted by cleanerdung

The way I see it, a Comp Sc/ Comp Engine graduate would have undergone a more rigorous training and would be a better fit for the above infocomm jobs.

Because the IEM course itself covers media, engineering, computing etc, I worry that it isn't, at all, specialised and the modules may lack depth and rigour.

Originally Posted by cleanerdung

If you are talking about UI design, HCI design and the sorts... just look at the curriculum... the focus in these areas is minimal. My understanding of this industry is that positions either require a very good training in design (with at least a couple of senior-level modules), or the job has no design component in it at all.

I have read through the modules offered by communications and new media but am not sure if it will provide sufficient training in media design. The modules offered under the 'media design' category are:

Principles of Visual Communications
Aesthetics of New Media
Introduction to Interactive Media Design
Creating Interactive Media
Introduction to Media Writing
Designing Content for New Media
Publications Graphics and Design
Digital Photography and Imaging
Digital Media Project Management
Game Design
Interactive Storytelling
Advanced Game Design
Game Development Project
Situated Interaction Design
User Experience Design


Also, do you think it is advisable to minor in Computing to complement media design?

[PacMan]

Refresh this thread for this year's students.

[samuelturman]

Do they have the same terms for development and designing.?