All our BrainHack participants,

To all our school representatives,

Ladies and gentlemen, A very good afternoon.

INTRODUCTION

It is a pleasure to join all of you at the BrainHack 2025, organised by the DSTA, or also what we know as the Defence Science and Technology Agency. It is my first BrainHack and I am happy to see all the excitement and energy of all our youth today as we visited the different halls and the different experiences.

The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how technology and innovation are playing a critical role, and they are playing a very different role in the battlefields. For instance, Ukraine has used commercial drones for surveillance and targeting, and employed AI-driven systems for intelligence fusion, meaning whatever intelligence you have out there, you put them together very quickly for faster decision-making.

At the same time, cyber-attacks launched across borders have disrupted communication lines, power grids, and other infrastructure, I noticed that some teams, as part of the competition, have played around with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems to try and take out power lines, and that is exactly what people will do to us if we do not know how to defend ourselves. Now this demonstrates how the digital and physical worlds are now deeply intertwined in modern conflict.

Around the world, governments are increasing their defence budgets, in recognition of the need to invest heavily to secure the technological edge. This has, in turn, spurred a surge of innovation, with tech startups entering the defence space, and top talents turning their attention to solving national challenges.

For a small nation like Singapore, these global developments are instructive. We think they are quite obvious what we need to do—We must be vigilant, agile, and forward-thinking. We must similarly invest in developing talents in defence technology. We need bold thinkers and skilled engineers who can harness emerging technologies for national defence. And I think, as I went out there, to see many of you in action, I think we have many potential ones here. I have to credit all of you and your teachers, and your friends, for coming together and really putting the effort, putting your skills to use and seeing how we can tackle some of these national challenges.

BrainHack is a forward-looking effort, designed to spark interest in students on the role that technology plays in safeguarding our country and our way of life. When BrainHack was first launched in 2019, it featured just two competitions and attracted around 1,500 participants.

Fast forward today, in 2025, BrainHack has grown in both scale and ambition. This year, we welcomed 4,000 participants from more than 100 schools in Singapore.

This edition is designed around three core pillars—COMPETE, LEARN, and EXPERIENCE. It features four competitions, three immersive workshops, and five tech showcases, all featuring cutting-edge technology in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and cybersecurity.

Under COMPETE, students challenged one another in real-world scenarios—from defending against digital threats to tackling AI challenges—that tested not just technical knowledge, but also creativity, resilience, and collaboration under some friendly competitive pressure. Some teams, I noticed, were among friends, schoolmates or internship mates. Some teams were assigned, and I thought we had very interesting groups. There was one group that I met with participants from ITE, Polytechnic and two Junior Colleges (JCs). That was a very interesting mix. This is how I think we need to also learn to bring more Singaporeans together, more youths together, to see how we can put ideas across different schools, different platforms, and see how we can solve national challenges, national defence challenges together.

Under LEARN, expert-led workshops allowed participants to build their skills and gain hands-on experiences with the tools and technologies that might not be commonly accessible in schools. These range from detecting Generative AI content in disinformation, it also teaches you how your teachers will try to scan whether you use generative AI in your homework or to deploy drone countermeasures.

Under EXPERIENCE, students explored emerging technologies and defence innovations at the tech showcase booths in an interactive and gamified fashion. These arcade-like activities help bridge the gap between classroom theory and practical, mission-critical applications.

Importance of BrainHack

This year’s BrainHack is also especially meaningful as DSTA marks its 25th anniversary. The anniversary theme, “Foundations to Frontiers”, aptly captures the agency’s journey, from building a strong foundation for Singapore’s defence systems, to now pushing new frontiers as we prepare Singapore for the threats and opportunities for tomorrow.

Reflecting this boundary pushing, the highlights of BrainHack this year included SpaceCube, a space tech challenge, where participants got to build a small satellite, as well as the debut of a humanoid robot challenge, where participants had to navigate through a maze while evading detection from the robot’s LiDAR and sensor systems. It was also the first time students deployed AI-trained robots in a dedicated arena to go head-to-head in exciting challenges. I am heartened to hear that the students found the activities fun and challenging.

BrainHack’s growth over the years is a reflection of the growing interest among our youth in emerging technologies such as AI, cybersecurity, space systems, and robotics. Defence technology has taken on even more importance in recent years.

BrainHack aims to give participants a first-hand feel of the real-world problems that defence engineers grapple with every day. We hope that along the way, it also cultivates passion for discovery, readiness to innovate, and commitment to defence.

Defence Engineers of Tomorrow

The Defence Technology Community, which includes DSTA, DSO National Laboratories and CSIT, have been instrumental in building up Singapore’s defence. Together, they design and deploy systems that support our Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) not only in combat platforms and weapon systems, but also in cyber. They are capable of building first-of-a-kind solutions that address Singapore’s unique defence needs. None of this would be possible without talented and committed people.

Many of our current defence engineers started like you—joining competitions, attending workshops, and discovering their passion along the way. One such example is Ms Han Xing Yi, a cybersecurity engineer with DSTA. She took part in a BrainHack cyber competition as a student, and this sparked her interest in technology. Today, she is part of the team that helps safeguard the security of MINDEF and SAF’s digital infrastructure.

A career in defence technology is more than just a job—it is a mission. You will be part of a team that defends Singapore’s sovereignty, protects our critical systems, and builds the technologies that keep our people safe. You will work alongside some of the best minds from Singapore and beyond, in an eco-system that prizes learning, innovation, and collaboration. Through BrainHack and other efforts, we hope to inspire more of you to take up the challenge of becoming a defence engineer.

Closing

In closing, I would like to thank the educators, mentors, and families for supporting our students on this journey, nurturing their curiosity and guiding their growth.

To DSTA, Mr Ng Chad-Son and team, congratulations on your 25th anniversary and on a successful BrainHack.

To all participants, I hope that this journey has sparked new passions, helped you build new friendships, and I hope they also ignited new dreams. Congratulations to all our prize winners, but regardless of whether you go home today with a medal, I commend all of you for daring to challenge yourself and learn something new. So, I hope everyone has a good time, and I wish you all the best and success in your endeavours ahead. Thank you so much.