Speech by Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How at the Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Awards Presentation Ceremony 2023 on 1 April 2023

Mr Cheong Chee Hoo, CEO of DSO National Laboratories,

Professor Chong Tow Chong, President of the Singapore University of Technology and Design,

Mr Barry Wong, Senior Director Corporate Resources, Science Centre Singapore,

Partners,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Participants,

Introduction

A very good afternoon to everyone. I am pleased to be here at this 14th edition of the Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition, or the SAFMC, Awards Ceremony. This is the fourth time I have had the privilege of attending and it is far from routine. Each time is more exciting than the previous time and certainly, the buzz and enthusiasm in the air continue to excite me. Other than being amazed by the ingenious designs and capabilities of the various flying machines, my favourite part is always the opportunity to interact with the participants, hearing and appreciating your journey and your discoveries, and feeling your pride in developing a flying machine of various kinds, from scratch. I continue to look forward to the opportunity this time around as well.

The SAFMC is more than just a competition. For our participants, we want to challenge you to learn new concepts and let your imagination take flight. It is heartening that the organisers, namely DSO National Laboratories (DSO) and Science Centre Singapore, have remained committed to this since the inauguration in 2009. Each year, students embark on a fulfilling learning journey through a series of workshops, visits and sharing sessions, allowing them to gain new perspectives, knowledge, and create something that they are all proud of. This is also the reason why the SAFMC has remained the biggest and most popular flying machine competition in Singapore with more than 18,000 participants participating across the different editions since its inauguration in 2009.

In fact, this year, it attracted a record high of 1981 participants coming from 140 schools. So well done. Remarkably, we also have secondary school teams, for the very first time, designing and building a swarm of 10 to 25 drones to complete a search-and-rescue mission. I saw examples of this earlier on. This is in Category E and it is special this year as this category is usually recommended for tertiary school students. This speaks to the ever-improving standards that our participants bring to the competition.

Importance of Innovation in Singapore

Living in a fast-changing world, we need to be adaptable in order to anticipate future challenges and to take decisive action to solve them and we can use the same abilities to address current challenges as well. Many of these challenges that we face here in Singapore are dynamic, complex and sometimes, global, for example, climate change. National examples would be national security, food security and sustainability, cybersecurity, and the management and control of infectious diseases, to name a few. Hence, innovation is imperative for our country's survival. We must thus continue to equip ourselves and especially our younger generation with the knowledge, skills and drive to creatively solve the challenges that Singapore faces today and will face tomorrow.

I am heartened that there are many inspiring and aspiring young innovators amongst you and I will like to share some examples.

Singapore wants to strengthen our resilience against supply shocks and disruptions in the area of food because we import the majority of our food supply. For that reason, nationally, we have set a goal of "30 by 30": to aim to produce 30 per cent of our nutritional needs by the year 2030. In line with this, a young team of innovators have started their journey in helping Singapore achieve our food sustainability goals by tapping on under-utilised spaces. The team developed a proprietary simplified vertical farming technology that can grow up to 25 types of vegetables, while minimising waste and minimising the use of water. In fact, in 2020, that team had already been able to produce up to 4 tonnes of vegetables monthly by using the top floor of a HDB multi-story carpark. So do not be surprised when we start seeing more "floating" gardens in our urban landscape.

As I mentioned, some of the challenges can also be global and climate change is an example of that and it is certainly also something that affects Singapore. As a small low-lying city-state with an open economy, Singapore is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. With carbon emissions being a key driver of climate change, a group of aspiring innovators have come up with an interesting idea of using bacteria to reduce carbon emissions. The team came up with a bacteria driven vehicle biofilter prototype that will consume the carbon dioxide of exhaust fumes. This is a very existential challenge globally as well.

We also live in a digital era and cybersecurity is key to protecting our critical infrastructure and sensitive information. However, digital protection is complex and onerous. In response to this, a group of young cyberwarriors created a user-friendly cybersecurity scanner for the Internet of Things, or IoT, devices. This scanner leverages near-field communications between IoT-enabled devices and a mobile phone, allowing users to initiate a cybersecurity scan using just a mobile app.

Developing these technological solutions is not easy and is not solely dependent on knowledge. The primary reason for their success is one's mindset and how one gets to mobilise and bring together the capabilities beyond oneself, into the team and remain nation-focused to achieve that success. We can see some of that shared by the participants just now during the video as they had to tackle this. We could see them learning about not being afraid to fail, not repeating their mistakes, being unafraid to experiment and learning from others so that even as one improves, one helps everybody else improve. In that teamwork, they are able to produce surprisingly important and path-breaking innovations. Our young Singaporean innovators approached challenges with creativity, drive, and a can-do spirit, allowing them to make a difference – a difference to the community and to the nation. This is why innovation is truly a journey, and for many, a fulfilling one too.

Similarly, it is important for innovation to be the key driver of our national defence ecosystem. I have witnessed how our DSO engineers and scientists have contributed greatly to the nation through their commitment, expertise, and ingenuity. As an example, Mr Tan Weiheng who is part of this year's organising committee, was also an ex-SAFMC participant. He started participating back in 2011 and he came back for every edition thereafter, except during his National Service where he honed his skill in a different area. Year on year, he deepened his expertise in designing, building, coding, and programming drones. I am glad that he decided to join DSO as a Defence Engineer last year, putting what he had learnt into practice in developing mechanical systems that allow unmanned aerial vehicles to manoeuvre in flight. These are systems that cannot be bought off-the-shelf, creating an indigenous edge for our national defence. Weiheng is just one of the many young innovators who are now making a real difference with DSO.

As a national defence R&D organisation, DSO attracts many young talents like yourselves to join them in pushing the boundaries to develop unique technology and solutions to solve important national problems. For those who want to push the boundaries beyond the area of robotics, do not worry, DSO has no lack of complex problems for you to solve in its diverse field of work. I invite everyone to really consider and explore the limitless possibilities that defence science and technology has to offer.

Conclusion

A society can only be as innovative as its people. Hence, competitions like the SAFMC are important to imbue a sense of wonder and discovery in our participants who are embarking on their own innovation journey. I would like to convey my appreciation to the organisers for their hard work in organising this year's competition and to the teachers for your support and guidance. To our participants, I applaud all of you for your efforts and I am assured that the next generation is more than ready to tackle any challenges that may come our way. Continue to carry and live the spirit of the SAFMC by dreaming big. Be bold, be ready to fail, but never give up and you shall achieve.

Thank you very much.