Winston Yap

The PhD provided an opportunity to pursue my research interests within a holistic and enriching environment.

On the frontiers of research, NUS is a global powerhouse. The faculty members are world-class and NUS provides multi-faceted support on all levels for students. Global talents visit NUS on a high frequency, creating a focal point in the region for active discussion and collaboration.

I completed my undergraduate at NUS. Nonetheless, there are some key differences. First, I think graduate students enjoy closer and more direct mentorship with faculty. Second, the student cohorts are more internationally diverse and competitive at the graduate level. These differences greatly benefit the graduate research experience.

We live in a world with growing abundance of urban data. Yet, the world is also emerging to be a place of swelling uncertainty. Given that data is costly to store, the key question is how we can effectively use urban data to inform the planning and design of sustainable and liveable cities. Towards this direction, recent advances in advanced computational methods offer solutions to reconcile the diverse, non-linear interaction within and between urban systems. In this vein, my PhD thesis looks at the intersection between urban planning, complexity sciences, and machine learning. Using global open data, it will investigate empirical elements of complexity in urban systems and advance applications for machine learning relevant to urban planning.

In many parts of the world, urban planning decisions continue to be made largely on heuristics. Currently such a situation is unavoidable given the time-pressed and highly dynamic nature of urban challenges. However, advancements in computational and analytical urban methods provide opportunities to streamline and augment the decision-making process. In this regard, I hope my research can help urban practitioners, planners, researchers, and other stakeholders to develop meaningful decision alternatives that are more equitable and sustainable for our communities.

In the first year of my PhD, I published my first, first-authored publication in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems (CEUS). The paper was well received among the global academic community and currently ranks as one of the most downloaded papers in the journal. It is a significant milestone to start my PhD journey. This project began as an independent study module over the first semester. The many invaluable discussion meetings with my supervisors, Professor Patrick Janssen and Professor Filip Biljecki, helped to improve early drafts and commit our efforts towards publication.

I belong to a vibrant research group (Urban Analytics Lab, NUS). Over the past year, we have had more than a dozen foreign researchers (Masters and PhDs) taking up internships and externally funded collaboration projects with our lab. Till date, we have had many great scholars from China, UK, USA, and Southeast Asia contributing to the diversity of our lab. We take this opportunity to build ties and network with strong research collaborators. As a result of which I have been able to have many exciting and first-time experiences (co-supervising a TU Delft Masters student’s dissertation; going on a group hike at MacRitchie reservoir; having multiple research group BBQs; starting bouldering; enjoying Szechuan Hotpot, etc.).

The main highlight would definitely be the publication of my first authored article in the first semester. The entire process took a lot of effort and motivation and the culmination of all that hard work in a publication was amazingly fulfilling. The publication and reception of my article also allowed me to have more confidence in my ideas and research interests.

One of the main challenges was learning to code. Coming from a design background, I was a relative novice to coding. At the start the learning curve was steep and the sheer amount of information overwhelming. I decided to work on what was possible with my current skillset and take progressive plans to up skill myself during my free-time on weekends and over the vacations. By the second semester, I had acquired the basic skillset to apply for graduate level computing modules and they helped to extend my proficiency in coding. After completing CS5242 (Neural Networks and Deep Learning), I felt competent enough to apply my new skillset and pursue a deep learning project. We currently have a paper under review for that project and plan to publish it within the coming month.

NUS offers a world-class environment to pursue your research passion and interests. The campus is modern and expansive, providing no shortage excellent recreational, leisure, and study facilities. With close partnerships with global institutions, new students can expect no shortage of support and networking opportunities to supercharge their academic endeavours. With the diverse range of recreational, interest groups, and diverse student communities available, there should be no worry of not being able to fit in.

Probably stemming from my work as an urban planner, I enjoy experiencing foreign cultures. Planning is always context-based and it is always exciting to see how things are designed, used, and conceptualised differently in other parts of the world.