From 25 June to 1 July 2023, four Singapore Polytechnic students from different engineering disciplines embarked on an overseas trip to Trondheim, Norway to attend the CDIO Academy 2023. Prior to meeting up in Trondheim, we were placed in various groups with students from other universities such as those from Vietnam, United Kingdom, and Finland. We met via Zoon on several occasions to get to know each other and discuss the project which is aligns with the 19th International CDIO Conference theme on “Engineering Education for a Smart, Safe and Sustainable Future”. We were tasked to design and prototype an autonomous cargo ship which addresses the supply chain crisis using sustainable technology.
Upon reaching the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), we met our groups members for the first time in-person and carried on with our projects with much enthusiasm. There were many facilities made available to aid us in our projects. The Professors from NTNU are kind and supportive towards our learning for they attended to our numerous questions that made our project a success. We concluded the project with a presentation to the professors and conference participants. We were also exposed to autonomous ships that were built in Trondheim. The Professors did a demonstration and explained the working principles.
This trip was very memorable as it was my first time working with international university students. I learnt a lot about the real-world problems of cargo shipping and the sustainable technologies for autonomous cargo ships.
Written by Devin Tan Wei Jie
