Navigating the unknowns in the new energy space

The NUS MBA offers a multitude of pathways for one to develop the skills required to thrive across various rising sectors and industries.

For Kelvin Ling, MBA graduate from the Class of 2021, the breadth of courses and specialisations within the programme has helped him navigate the many unknowns and grow in the new energy space. Kelvin also shares that beyond the courses, it would not have been possible for his clean tech start-up to take flight without leveraging the wider NUS network.

The importance of innovation in the new energy space

Because access to energy plays such a central role in our lives, innovation in the energy sector is imperative. It can help reduce costs, increase efficiency, meet increasing energy demands, improve energy security, and create economic growth across the sector.

Kelvin shares that, “It’s a very nascent space where there are a lot of unknowns. People don’t know where is the endpoint and how is the journey going to be. … Nothing is fixed, nothing is constant, you need to be always on the lookout for new opportunities.”

As an entrepreneur himself, Kelvin valued the opportunity to deepen his own skills at his current company. “The skill of intrapreneurship is something that I took away from [NUS], and I’m able to apply it in my current role where I have to look at a lot of new, innovative ideas in order to drive business towards the energy space,” he shares.

Building a cleaner energy future step by step

For Kelvin, the NUS MBA Energy Club, and the NUS GRIP programme, proved to be invaluable.

The NUS MBA Energy Club introduced Kelvin to new friends and professional contacts he maintains today. While the NUS GRIP programme provided him with intensive guidance to start his own company. NUS GRIP is a one-year programme with the opportunity to gain up to S$100,000 in funding from the NUS Business School. NUS GRIP also offers step-by-step guidance, mentorship, and access to NUS resources, to help students turn their research into impactful tech start-ups.

“Through this NUS GRIP and NUS MBA collaboration, I managed to find my co-founder, and we have a clean tech startup,” he shares. “That is something that I probably would find hard to set up if I had not had this great programme, which provides a lot of support to the co-founders in terms of funding, in terms of networking, and in terms of trying to bring your product onto the market.”

While the global economy remains in crisis, there is no denying that innovation in the energy sector is the prime solution. Through the power of innovation and programmes with The NUS MBA and wider NUS network, we can move closer (and faster) to a safe and sustainable energy future.

This article is an adapted version of the original article, “We need innovation in the energy sector to build a sustainable future” by MBAGRADSCHOOLS.