Through the Years: Milestones of RC4

RC4 was piloted in July 2014 with an intake of 60 students. The incubation of RC4's pilot batch stayed at College of Alice and Peter Tan (CAPT).

In November 2014, NUS Provost officially announced Residential College 4 (RC4) as University Town’s fourth residential college, with Choo Chiau Beng as the Founding Rector and Associate Professor Lakshminarayanan Samavedham as the founding Master of RC4.

The pilot batch of students were empowered to shape the identity of the new College, including RC4's colour (teal), motto (Small Systems, Big Hearts), logo, mascot (Oscar the Orca, Orca representing "OneRC4"), four houses (named after constellations signifying the theme Systems Thinking – Aquila, Noctua, Ursa, Leo & Draco), and defining the living-learning environments.

Under the NUS 110th anniversary theme of “Because We Care”, RC4 students founded the interest group “CASA – Care. Accept. Share. Affirm” in 2015. CASA offers tuition and mentorship to underprivileged students living in the nearby rental flats at CASA Clementi.

RC4 expanded from 60 pilot students to 360 students, including 300 Pioneer students, and relocated to our own building. RC4 was co-designed as a place for self-discovery and personal growth at the resident's own pace.

RC4 had the honour of having Dr. Peter Hovmand (Director, Social System Design Lab, Washington University in St Louis) as our first visiting fellow. Dr Hovmand is an internationally recognized leader in developing and applying participatory methods in system dynamics and systems science in public health and medicine. He conducted a Master Class on Group Model Building for RC4 fellows and students, which formed the base for community-based systems projects in years to come, such as our STEER programme.

RC4 presented its inaugural Arts Night, featuring various performing arts by its multi-talented students. Since then, Arts Night has been a much anticipated event in the RC4 calendar every year.

RC4 launched its flagship informal learning programme, Cognitio, which comprises of Cognitio Pods (special academic interest groups), Cognitio Perspectives (dialogues and speaker sessions) and Cognitio Praxis (workshops). This off-curriculum cluster was intended to help our students expand their understanding of the real world and sharpen their life skills.

In 2016, Orcatech, a Cognitio Pod, organised Dronelive 2016, the first-ever drone exhibition in NUS, involving a range of university and industry partners.

In 2019 and 2023, OrcaSnaps, the creative writing interest group published “Imagination Collective – the Stories We Tell Ourselves” and “The False”, respectively.

RC4 has hosted 85 Cognitio Perspectives sessions over the past 10 years. Some distinguished guests of these perspectives include Minister Desmond Lee, Minister Janil Puthucheary, Retired Diplomat Mr. Bilahari Kausikan, among othes.

Project Laundry Bot from the Cognitio cluster made its impact in the media for the innovative effort made by students with the use of technology to solve the queuing issue for the use of washing machines and dryers in the college. Click here to learn more!

The founders of RC4Space, Huimin Cheng, Yin Yi Low, and Yong Jie Lim, Lexdan launched a novel vision-based sensor solutions company, "Vilota," who shared that through their idea for a startup was incubated through their Cognitio pod and RC4 experience. Click here to learn more about their story. 

The RC4 curriculum launched a unique course, "An Undefeated Mind: An Experiential Inner Re-engineering Approach". Late Mr. Wee Sin Tho, the founding chairman of the Mind Science Centre, graciously developed and offered this course out of good will. The course has been offered for the past 8 years and has been playing a crucial role in shaping students’ psychological well-being and mental resilience through mind-body practices.

In 2017 and 2018, at the 2nd and 3rd Asia-Pacific System Dynamics Conference respectively, RC4 students Tham Kah Jun Gregory, Phua Kian Ming and Sean Tan Rui Xiang won the Best Student Paper award. In the ensuring years, RC4 students have co-authored 24 research publications with their RC4 supervisors on systems thinking and system dynamics in international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. 

RC4 collaborated with the System Dynamics Society to host the 2nd Asia-Pacific Region System Dynamics Conference at University Town. The conference, themed "Charting a Path to a Humane and Sustainable Future: Asia's Leadership Role," provided a platform to explore the latest developments in the theory and application of System Dynamics. It attracted more than 190 participants from over 15 countries.

Prof. Venkat Venkatasubramanian from Cornell University was RC4’s first NAK Distinguished Visiting Professor. Prof. Venkat delivered an exciting public lecture on "How Much Income Inequality is Fair?" where he attempted to answer a 200-year-old open question, drawing inspiration from Economics, Political Philosophy, game theory, statistical mechanics, and thermodynamics.

RC4 proudly hosted Prof. John Sterman, a leading figure in Systems Thinking and System Dynamics. As a Visiting Professor, Prof. Sterman (Director, System Dynamics Group and Sloan Sustainability Initiative, MIT) delivered a Public Lecture titled "Is There Hope on Climate Change? Building a Prosperous, Sustainable Society in a Warming World," addressing critical issues surrounding climate change.

In 2019, RC4 launched the STEER Himalaya program. This program adopts a participatory systems thinking approach to co-create knowledge on the complex interdependencies between people and nature with the local communities. It exemplifies the effective utilization of technology to devise solutions based on insights derived from system dynamics models.

Since its launch, STEER Himalaya has since completed 4 iterations of the programme.

A/P Peter Pang succeeds Professor Lakshminarayanan as the 2nd master of RC4. Under Prof. Pang's leadership, there has been a notable emphasis on the college motto, "Small Systems, Big Hearts." This philosophy is manifested through collaborative efforts, employing Systems Thinking infused with care and compassion in all aspects of life at RC4—academically and in everyday life. This approach fosters an environment where residents become aware global citizens capable of effecting profound changes, viewing the world through a critical yet caring lens.

Building over the base laid by the founding Master, the dynamic leadership of Prof. Pang has created more visibility, clarity in terms of mission & vision, and brand value for the college.

Founding Rector, Prof. Choo Chiau Beng has shared wisdom and guidance with unwavering support since the inception of the college under the leadership of both the college Masters. He has been generous in sharing his knowledge acquired through his vast experiences with students, fellows, and staff. Prof. Choo has been generous in bringing his contacts as speakers, initiating the Rector’s Cup with homecoming dinner that binds the alumni with current residents and treating the student leaders.

Six teams of RC4 and NUS students, mentored by RC4 fellow Dr Naviyn, participated in the Map the System international competition organised by Oxford University. One team emerged as first runner-up and won the Audience Choice Award. It is the only winning team in the competition comprising exclusively of undergraduates.

Learning permeates every aspect of RC4, including student wellness. In 2021, RC4 launched a course entitled “Sleep Health: A Holistic Approach to Well-Being”, taught by Dr Sreenivas, who also introduced sleep research to RC4 residents in collaboration with a team from the Duke-NUS Medical School.

Mentored by Director of Student Life, Dr Naviyn, RC4 students applied Group Model Building using Systems Thinking to understand stress as a systems problem and explore solutions to alleviate residents' stress levels. This resulted in the formation of ORC4RE, RC4’s peer support group.

By AY2023-24, the group has swelled to 35 trained and highly dedicated peer supporters.

Prof. Maharaj Pandit (Director, Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies of Mountain & Hill Environment, University of Delhi), is RC4’s second NAK Distinguished Professor. Prof. Maharaj Pandit gave a public lecture entitled "Nativism in Ecology: A Xenophobic Metaphor?", an engaging tour de force of history, geology, geography, ecology, and biodiversity, with a particular focus on Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Thirteen of RC4’s courses have aligned themselves with the University’s GE pillar of Communities & Engagement (C&E), including Rethinking Ageing: Potential for Integration and Rethinking Age: Potential for Connection. Both courses are designed and taught by RC4 Director of Studies, Dr Lynette Tan, and involve significant on-the-ground community engagement.