MyGlasgow News

Students from the University of Glasgow's Singapore campus have been very welcome visitors at Gilmorehill. There were 311 students involved in the ambitious programme, writes Claire Diamond.

As part of the courses that the University runs in Singapore, students come to Glasgow for a month-long overseas immersion programme (OIP). The OIP is part of the curriculum at the Singapore campus - which the university runs through a partnership with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT); but travel is also an attraction for students who are studying Honours degree programmes.

Soon Hui Shan, President of the Student Management Council at the University of Glasgow in Singapore, was one of the students on the most recent trip to the Glasgow campus. Hui Shan, 22, praised the university's 'castle-like architecture' and even joked that the only things missing from the campus were flying brooms and golden snitches.

She said: 'The students from Singapore really enjoyed their stint here, we had lots of fun. We really love Glasgow’. Whilst here, they attended engineering classes and completed projects as part of their studies - one even involved re-designing an inhaler for asthma sufferers. The Mechanical Design Engineering student said: 'The project for aerospace engineering and aeronautical engineering is really challenging. However, we all had fun.

'For mechanical design engineering, we were tasked to come up with a better idea for Acuhaler where we got to go into the lab and do a hands-on prototype.'

For computing science students, they completed a 10-credit module on Professional Skills and Issues delivered by Professor Phil Trinder in Glasgow.  This course introduces the legal, professional and social issues involved in the widespread development and use of computational devices, and stimulates students to develop their own, well-argued positions on many of these issues. The OIP was an enjoyable experience with a good balance between work and fun for the students.

The students’ trip to Scotland was not restricted to the classroom - they also made time to take in the tourist sights. Some students went as far as the Hebrides. Hui Shan said: ‘We had an amazing time taking in the sights - like the Isle of Skye, where we had a moment of serenity at the peaks.'

Sampling the local cuisine was also a highlight for Hui Shan, especially haggis and black pudding: ‘I heard they were the specialties in Glasgow. I knew I had to give them a try, but after my first look I was afraid to even taste it. ‘However, I forced myself, and it tasted remarkable - surprisingly. It was filled with fantastic flavours which are hard to describe.’

Hui Shan concluded that everyone had enjoyed themselves in Scotland, saying that, overall, it was ‘a fun and enriching programme in Glasgow'.

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First published: 31 July 2014