Coupling University Education with an Industrial Professional Certification

The Non-Destructive Testing Society Singapore (NDTSS) has launched a new local Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) qualification scheme for the industry known as the Singapore NDT (SGNDT) certification, which is audited by the Singapore Accreditation  Council (SAC). The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) is an Authorised Training Organisation (ATO) for SGNDT and is the first university in the country to provide an applied learning pathway for engineering students to gain a recognised NDT professional certification. The training and practical experience required for the NDT certification are typically only accessible to persons working in the industry. Therefore, the NDT course offered at SIT is a novel approach that integrates an NDT training curriculum into an engineering degree. A 12-month work-study programme for industrial experience is also incorporated into the course to qualify students to readily undertake the SGNDT professional certification. This chapter outlines the NDT course structure at SIT, as well as evaluates its performance and reception with the students. Innovative and effective course delivery techniques that include different forms of blended learning like flipped classroom and gamification are also shared. The learning pedagogy and certification opportunities in this course are planned to be further extended to working adults  through continuing education and training (CET).