Field Pioneer and Higher Education Innovator

​Dynamic Senior Vice Provost for Student Success with more than 20 years of experience in higher education leadership, dedicated to advancing student achievement and innovative learning environments. Proven expertise in interdisciplinary program development and innovation, fostering an inclusive academic culture that empowers students and faculty alike. Recognized for pioneering educational initiatives that integrate technology and design thinking and innovation, significantly enhancing curriculum and institutional reputation. Committed to driving strategic growth and academic excellence through collaborative leadership and a forward-thinking approach. Familiar with lifelong and applied learning in Singapore education industry.

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​​NEOM

Kin-Leong PEY has served as Senior Vice Provost for Student Success at NEOM University, Saudi Arabia, since February 2024. In this second university start-up, he has been instrumental in designing an undergraduate framework featuring a two-year CS-X Core curriculum focused on digital thinking and integrated co-living and learning, followed by interdisciplinary programs in Years 3 and 4. By leveraging Graduate Attributes to define learning outcomes at institutional, program, and course levels, and complementing them with a student-centric affairs and management blueprint, these integrative degrees aim to transform higher education in the rapidly evolving AI era.

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SUTD

Before joining NEOM University, Kin-Leong was appointed by Singapore’s Ministry of Education as Founding Associate Provost of Education to establish SUTD’s undergraduate program in 2010. His pioneering efforts led to global recognition, with the engineering curriculum ranked as a “Top Emerging Leader in Engineering Education” in an MIT benchmarking study on the global state of the art in engineering education (http://news.mit.edu/2018/reimagining-and-rethinking-engineering-education-0327). SUTD achieved full ABET-equivalent accreditation for its three engineering programs in 2017 and 2022, and its Master of Architecture program was certified by the Singapore Board of Architects in 2018.

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In 2019, Kin-Leong led a major revamp of SUTD’s Freshmore curriculum and introduced “Design and AI” (DAI), an interdisciplinary degree combining AI with human-centric design, now a flagship program in the AI era. By 2023, more than 3,500 graduates from the five SUTD undergraduate programs were contributing to twenty-two of Singapore’s twenty-five economic sectors, with employment rates consistently above 90% within six months of graduation. These outcomes demonstrate how SUTD’s innovative programs address 21st-century challenges in a VOCA/BANI world by delivering human-centered solutions to real-world problems.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kin-Leong oversaw significant curricular adjustments to overcome social distancing and quarantine constraints on team-based, hands-on learning. Initiatives included flexible grading options for capstone projects and the development of cyber-physical learning platforms to prepare for future disruptions such as Virus-X. These measures have left a lasting impact on SUTD’s undergraduate education model.

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Kin-Leong also founded the SUTD Academy in 2017 for lifelong learning and the Office of Digital Learning in 2022 to advance a cyber-physical campus initiative, campus-X. He held the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple Chair Professorship in Healthcare Engineering (2019–2023), collaborating with Changi General Hospital and Duke-NUS Medical School on academic and research programs such as a through-train pathway enabling SUTD’s BEng and Architecture graduates to pursue medical degrees.

 

Nanyang Technological University and Early Career

Prior to SUTD, Kin-Leong was Head of the Microelectronics Division and Director of both the Nanyang NanoFabrication Center and Microelectronic Centre at the Nanyang Technological University’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He also held a fellowship in the Singapore-MIT Alliance (1999-2011), served as faculty at NUS (1998-2000),.

 

Also, proven track-records in working under harsh, dynamic and uncertain environment. Worked in semiconductor industry for about 7 years including about 2 years in a wafer fabrication plant (Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing) and 1.5 years in an IC wafer test and packaging plant (Agilent Technologies).

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Professional Association

Kin-Leong played a key role in advancing IEEE professional activities and programs in Singapore. His contributions include 1) serving as General Chair of the IEEE IPFA 2001 (Singapore) and Co-General Chair of IEEE IPFA 2004 (Taiwan), 2) acting as Guest Editor for IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability in 2003–2005 and 2007,  3) chairing the Singapore IEEE joint REL/CPMT/EDS Chapter for five terms (2004, 2005, 2009, 2020 and 2021), 4) serving as a Board Member of IEEE IPFA since 2001, 5) contributing as a member in the IEEE joint REL/CPMT/EDS Chapter since 2000, and 6) serving as an Editor of IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability since 2009. He established the IEEE Student Branch (2013) and IEEE EDS Student Society (2015) at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, serving as advisor until February 2024.

 

Kin-Leong served as Chair of an international review panel under the Washington Accord for a five-year periodic major evaluation of China’s engineering program accreditation, covering CAST and CEEAA. The review was completed successfully between September 2022 and May 2023 despite COVID-19-related challenges.

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Research and Outcomes

Kin-Leong has published 288 peer-reviewed publications, 348 technical/education conference papers and presentations, six book chapters, and holds 44 U.S. patents. His contributions include fifteen keynote addresses and 120 invited talks. In addition, he has one company trade secret in self-aligned silicide cleaning technology in wafer fabrication. He has also authored twenty-eight foresight and academic reports on higher education innovation and transformation. ​

 

He has supervised 42 Ph.D. and 23 Master’s theses and secured over S$11.5 million (S$8.183M as PI and S$2.915M as co-PI) in research funding. As the acting Co-director of the SUTD-MIT International Design Center, he managed USD100M research funding with his counterparts at MIT.   

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Key Public Services and Recognitions

Dr. Pey chairs the Governing Board of Singapore’s National Synchrotron Programme and serves as President of the Higher Education Planning in Asia (HEPA) Association.

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He previously served on the Board of Governors, Temasek Polytechnic, the Chair of the Advisory Board, School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Singapore Polytechnic, and the Engineering Advisory Committee, Ngee Ann Polytechnic Council, Singapore.

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His honors include the Singapore Public Administration Medal (Silver, 2016), the COVID-19 Resilience Medal (2023), and the Service to Education Award (2023). He was conferred the title of Honorary Professor by SUTD in recognition of his extraordinary contributions in setting up the innovative education programs at SUTD.

 

The blend of research achievement and human-centered teaching and learning leads me to be rare kind of education innovator and researcher - one who can build bridges between silicon chips and student minds and bring learning to life, fun and lifelong.

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