The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and the Singapore Management University (SMU) will offer a new dual-degree programme this year.

The four-year course in technology and management will take in its first batch of up to 45 Singaporean students in May. It will cater to academically strong students with an interest in business and engineering.

This is the first such tie-up between any of Singapore's five local universities. Others, such as the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, offer double-degree programmes either in house, or with overseas institutions.

From the start of the new double-degree programme, students will study in the campuses and be taught by faculty of both universities. They will graduate with two degrees - a bachelor of business management from SMU and a bachelor of engineering from SUTD with a specialisation in one of its "pillars". These are either engineering product development, engineering systems and design, or information systems technology and design.

In announcing the new offering on Tuesday, SMU president Arnoud De Meyer said that the students in this programme, which aims to produce graduates grounded in both technology and management, will go through an "integrated and interdisciplinary learning experience".

Added SUTD president Thomas Magnanti: "The world needs technologists who understand the world of business... and people with business fundamentals who understand technology."

The new dual degree is part of the memorandum of understanding signed between SMU and SUTD in October 2011 to collaborate on education, research, and student and faculty exchanges.