City University should shift its focus from teaching to learning, new president Freddy Boey said in his inauguration ceremony yesterday.

Boey was vice-president at two top Singaporean universities before coming here.

He succeeded Taiwanese Kuo Way, who served at the university for 15 years.

"We have to change the conventional teaching method that focuses on lectures and tutorials to guide learning into something inspiring, interactive and innovative," Boey said, adding that it could allow students to adapt to rapid developments.

"The university needs sound policies, harmonious collaboration and efficient management, instead of adopting confrontation to achieve one's goal," Boey said.

He said CityU faces the limitation of being a small university, like many other top universities around the world. Research and teaching should not be limited by space constraints.

Boey said the university will continue to carry out innovative research to strive for a higher global ranking, attract more outstanding teachers and students and publish research of higher quality.

"CityU will strengthen its connection with the local community, including schools and the disadvantaged. Bridging with society is one of the core values," he said. "We hope our actions will give hope to young people in the city. We want our students to become global citizens apart from just being a top university graduate."

Boey was deputy president at the National University of Singapore, and provost and chair of the school of materials science and technology at the Nanyang Technological University.

His key research contributions have been in the use of functional biomaterials for medical devices.

At NUS, Boey increased the number of deep technology startups by fourfold in three years, making it Singapore's foremost program. He also propelled NTU from 74 in 2011 to 11 in 2017 on the QS World University rankings.

Boey read engineering at Monash University in Australia and holds a doctoral degree from NUS.

"Freddy Boey has extensive experience in education and innovation. His achievements in researching transformation and developing a culture of innovation are widely recognized," said Lester Garson Huang, chairman of the university council.

"CityU needs talents like him. We have very high expectations," Huang added.

Freddy Boey delivers his inauguration speech.

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