Complete your SUTD experience with Fifth Rows.

A holistic learning experience at SUTD means developing our students to their fullest potential, both in and outside the classroom. That’s why, in addition to their four academic modules; we encourage every student to takes on co-curricular activities – aka Fifth Rows!

Whether it’s ballroom dancing or boxing, jamming or coding, students are free to discover their passions. All Fifth Rows are led and run by students, and beginners are welcome to join any and as many of our 75-plus clubs as they wish, and even start their own!

Here are 5 unique Fifth Rows to pique your interest:

  1. EV Club

If you love automobiles, you should check out the EV Club. Founded in 2014, this community of car enthusiasts, aspiring engineers and makers dream, design and build all sorts of Electric Vehicles – from multi-seater urban electric concept vehicles, to internal combustion engine vehicles for the Shell Eco-marathon. They’ve also organised an EV Design Challenge for secondary schools, JCs and Polytechnics (pictured above).

The team is currently involved in pushing the boundaries of Electric Vehicle Additive Manufacturing (EVAM). To this end, they’re designing a full-sized vehicle from scratch, leveraging on technology to replace conventional components – from plastic body panels to metal joints – with 3D printed parts (pictured below).

EV Club president Joshua Kwan tells us about the club’s unique and invaluable hands-on experience: ‘Students can look forward to not only industry-applicable skills such as welding and composite fabrication, but also organising events and managing projects.’

  1. SOAR

If you’re keen on robotics, you’ll fly high with SOAR – which stands for SUTD Organisation of Autonomous Robotics. At SOAR, our passionate members believe that robotics should be accessible to everyone, and they host regular workshops to share knowledge, and take on a variety of robotics projects to build up their members’ skills.

Within 4 short years, SOAR has grown rapidly in strength, and has even gained industry recognition in the form of a sponsorship from Lionsbot in 2018 and 2021. They currently have five active projects, covering the exciting domains of underwater robotics, robotic dogs, robot arms, autonomous navigation robots and bionics.

‘The things we do certainly are challenging, but we also get to take on a variety of robotics projects to build up our skills beyond that of academics!’ says Programmes Director Wee Chun Hui.

  1. Dance DerivativeZ

Whether rhythm runs in your veins or not, if you want to dance, then Dance DerivativeZ wants you. The second largest Fifth Row at SUTD, DDZ is a hip-hop dance club that aims to spread the passion for dance and instill basic hip hop moves and grooves in all types of dancers.

Many members of the DDZ family are fresh dancers, so if you’re starting from square one, this is a great place for you to learn from the dance captains and instructors. Through the many performance and choreography opportunities – like RE:Ignite, an internal competition – you’ll also get to make deep friendships with fellow dancers.

‘We are all about fun, good vibes and growing together,’ explains Vice President Rebekah Mariam Varughese. ‘Dance is just our means to do all these things, and it’s something that we really do love and are passionate about too.’

  1. Tchoukball

Burn off some stress with the tight knit and fun-loving community of the Tchoukball Club. A non-contact team sport of 7 players that can be played by anyone, regardless of strength and body build, tchoukball is designed to minimise injuries and promote athleticism, concentration, sportsmanship and teamwork amongst players.

The sport can be played both indoors, outdoors, and even on the beach, and the weekly training sessions are a great way to relieve stress and stay fit all at the same time. The bond between members is an especially strong one – they often hang out together outside of Tchoukball sessions; whether it’s having supper together, or even night cycling and joining pottery classes!

‘We’re a welcoming bunch, so don’t be afraid to reach out and join our try-out sessions!’ says Vice President Sumi Boo. ‘We’re always happy to see new faces, and who knows, you might just end up liking the sport more than you expect!’

  1. Rotaract Club

Make a difference and give back to society with Rotaract@SUTD, which aims to promote the community service scene in SUTD via close collaborations with the various school committees and sourcing for volunteering opportunities for fellow SUTDents.

The club worked with SUTD’s other community service clubs for the event Blanja @ SUTD, which raised $2,713 in 15 days to help produce welfare packs (which include an appreciation card, snacks, drinks, simple necessities and canteen coupons) for the university’s janitors, security guards, operations department staff, and gardeners. This initiative won the Silver Award for Rotaract District 3310’s Best Community Service Project.

Project Renal, a school-wide media campaign to raise awareness about kidney diseases, was held in collaboration with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). It raised more than $1,100 to alleviate the financial burden of dialysis patients.

‘We aim to use our passion, talent and skills in technology and design to serve and make a difference to the community,’ says President Kellie Sim. ‘Not only will you get to work closely with other community service clubs, you’ll also get volunteering opportunities with external organisations, both locally and internationally!’

There are currently over 75 Fifth Row groups in SUTD ranging from arts and community, to sports and culture. And if you can’t find a group that you’d like to join, you can simply start your own! Check them out at https://root.sutd.edu.sg/openhouse/home 

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Find out what student life and Freshmore year is like in SUTD.

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Rewatch our talks and join our post-Open House programmes on our Open House website!

 

 

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