It is hard for me to imagine anything more exciting than creating a new university from scratch, especially in a country like Singapore that is so deeply committed to education and research. The creation of a new university provides a unique opportunity to design something special, a contemporary, vibrant university for these times and for the future. Simply put, SUTD’s aspirations are no less. Technology and design are essential to the world’s well being. These fields offer enormous intellectual challenges and opportunities as well as an unparalleled occasion to impact and lead practice in Singapore, the region and the world. Through creative research and education anchored on technology and design, SUTD aims to create a new type of technically-grounded leader and inventor, one fully equipped to address the challenges and issues of today and tomorrow. Moreover, being anchored in Singapore and Asia, the University will be superbly positioned to capitalize on the world’s fastest growing economy and to become an important research, technology, and learning hub. SUTD’s emerging motto, The Art and Practice of Design, nicely captures its full embodiment of mind and hand.