Q What made you take up the position of president of Singapore University?

That's a question my friends have asked me, especially since I am institute professor at MIT.

As institute professor I get to sit around and think deep thoughts or work with my students, teach if I want, do a little research if I want. It's a rather precious position at MIT.

Why give all that up to take on the huge responsibility of starting a new university?

Well, I was institute professor even before I was asked to take over as dean of engineering at MIT. Some people said then that was a stupid thing for me to do.

I tell them that I decided to take on the position as president of SU for the same reasons I took on the job as dean of engineering back in 1999. I took on the position because it was important.

I loved being dean of engineering of MIT. I mean, if you are going to be dean, you might as well be the dean of engineering at MIT. It's a very special place. It means something to the world.

I have the same feelings about launching a new university in Singapore. If you're going to start a university from scratch, there's hardly a better place to do it than in Singapore. The Government is very supportive, it's a great enabling environment.

I'm also excited about the opportunity to do something important for Singapore and the world.

I'm very excited about the curriculum. It reflects the thinking I've been doing for probably 20 years.

It's like being given the opportunity to start another MIT from scratch. And in these positions you get to do things.

Q SU will start with a yearly intake of 500 undergraduates which will then be increased to 1,000. This will include foreign students. With such a small intake, will Singaporeans, including polytechnic upgraders, have access to SU?

SU, like MIT, will be the 'ultimate meritocracy'. What will count are your capabilities, not your gender, not your nationality.

We will be looking for the best and brightest and those with a passion. And there are plenty of students in the junior colleges and the polytechnics who are really impressive, who fit the bill.

Q When the Government cut the undergraduate intake for SU from 4,000 a year to just 1,000 a year, it said that it was due to SU's partnership with MIT. Why keep the intake down?

There's a reason why we have kept the intake small.

MIT too has a small intake - no more than 1,000 undergrads a year and it has kept it at that size for decades.

We could fill up MIT with MIT-quality students five times over. Every year MIT turns away thousands of students who apply from all over the world and mind you, they all qualify.

But the reason it has been kept small is the intense undergraduate experience that MIT aims to deliver. The quality would be very different if the numbers were doubled or tripled. You get a different type of education with a thousand students than you do with 4,000 students.

Similarly, SU intends to deliver a very special kind of technology design education to its students. For that to work, it needs to be kept small.

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