Graduation Thesis Defense – 2nd, 2025 - Smart Architecture and Urban Design Program
On December 30–31, 2025, the Institute of Smart City and Management (ISCM), UEH – CTD, organized the 2nd Annual Graduation Thesis Defense for students of the Smart Architecture and Urban Design Program (cohorts K47, K48). A total of 42 students successfully defended their theses, accounting for 59% of all students undertaking graduation projects.
After four months of continuous work, the theses clearly reflected a rigorous, disciplined, and creative academic process. Students went through multiple rounds of critique, revision, and idea development to finalize high-quality design products that integrate architectural thinking, landscape perspectives, and smart urban approaches.
Figure 1. Opening session of the Graduation Thesis Defense – 2nd, 2025
The evaluation committee consisted of 12 lecturers and experts from ISCM, UEH, other universities, architectural and urban design enterprises, and representatives of local authorities, ensuring a multidimensional perspective that bridges academia, professional practice, and urban governance.
The presented topics addressed pressing urban issues across various localities, including climate change adaptation, cultural landscape conservation, airport-oriented urban structures, riverside community regeneration, and border urban restructuring. A notable strength of these theses is the use of design as a problem-solving tool for urban challenges, combining spatial data analysis, ecosystem thinking, and spatial organization principles toward sustainable and smart development.
Figure 2. Students defending their graduation theses
Top 5 highest-scoring students of this defense round:
Nguyen Viet Quoc Hung (Valedictorian)
Climate-adaptive Cultural Ecological Corridor – A Spatial MCDA Approach in Conserving the Cultural Landscape of HueNguyen The Bao Thy (Salutatorian)
Towards Forest-Adaptive Urbanism for the Central Highlands: A Design-led Study in Tay PleikuTran Minh Quan
Gateway Urban Design for Long Thanh within the Airport Urban Structure Connecting Regional Growth PolesLai Kim Huong
Community Hub and Conservation of the Floating Fish Village at the Chau Doc River ConfluenceVu Thao Minh
Design and Urban Restructuring of Border Areas Toward Socio-economic Improvement: Application of the Mesh-veil Principle in Tay Ninh Province
A distinctive highlight of this graduation round is that several students developed their theses following a Research by Design approach. Design was not limited to spatial form-making but became a research process to propose new design principles capable of contributing knowledge to local contexts and real practice.
Alongside the defense sessions, a thesis exhibition was organized, attracting more than 100 students from the program to observe, learn, and engage in academic exchange.
Figure 3. Graduation thesis exhibition
After more than five years of development, ISCM takes pride in accompanying generations of students in building competencies in smart architectural and urban design. These graduation theses stand as clear evidence of students’ system thinking, their ability to integrate technology, data, and design, and their commitment to sustainable urban development within the practical context of Vietnam.
Figure 4. 42 students successfully completing the Graduation Thesis Defense – Round 3, 2025