Speech by Minister of State for Defence, Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, at the Young Defence Scientists Programme Congress, at Orchard Hotel

Permanent Secretary (Defence Development),
Board Members and Management of DSTA and DSO,
Principals and teachers,
Parents and students,

Ladies and gentlemen,

A very good afternoon.

I am very delighted to be here at the Young Defence Scientists Programme Congress today. This is the 9th year that this Congress has been held. Each time I attend the YDSP Congress, I am always amazed by the new ideas and solutions that our young participants come up with. Last year, more than 400 students from 19 schools took part in the YDSP activities, and you saw them in the video earlier.

Thank you for your participation and contributions.

Engineers and technology have transformed the world

Technology is shaping and transforming our lives at a rapid pace. Let us imagine the history of human civilisation compressed into a day. How would this day have unfolded?

We begin at daybreak around 7am or 10,000 years ago. Man would have spent the morning, afternoon and evening as a hunter-gather or farmer, tending to his crops to feed himself and his family.

It would only be late at night or late into the night, perhaps at 11.34pm, that he welcomes the Industrial Age, moving from his village to work in the city. Advances brought by the steam engine, electricity and telecommunications would allow him to travel and connect with others around the world.

Shortly after, at about 11.56pm, personal computers would enter his life, followed by the Internet minutes later, and Google seconds after, bringing the world to his home.

Close to midnight, at about 11.58pm, there would be the smartphone and social media. He would have a robot vacuum his house while a package ordered on Amazon is air-dropped at his doorstep.

I am not sure what will happen at midnight, it's for us to imagine, but seeing how technology is advancing so rapidly, it will quite certainly be a very different yet exciting world, limited only by our imagination.

Last year, I spoke about Wolfram Alpha, a Q&A engine that helps answer science questions. Recently, I came across another new app called Photomath. It works like a scientific calculator with a camera. Just point your phone at the maths formula and the app will give you a step-by-step guide on how to solve it. Let me show you a short video of how it works.

Wow, isn't it amazing? It's really amazing. Imagine combining both apps with digital assistants like Apple's Siri or Google Now, and we may have a digital assistant for scientists in the future!

Long before there were pocket calculators and smartphone apps like Photomath, engineers and scientists of the past had to rely on rudimentary instruments such as the mechanical slide rule. I'm sure some of you have seen that - the older ones amongst us, the younger ones probably have not seen that before. Today, the slide rule is an antique collector's item. I suppose not many of you have seen or used one previously.

This is how a slide rule looks like, you can see it on the screen.

Let me describe how it works. The slide rule consists of different rulers joined together so that they can slide along one another. Using it to calculate a simple problem like a square root is actually quite a tedious process. You would slide one ruler to the value you want to calculate and then read off the answer by comparing the markings across the other rulers, and then you would have to write the answer down on paper.

But this certainly did not discourage engineers of the past from inventing technology marvels such as the steam engine, submarines and automobiles.

Anyone can dream about the future, but engineers are the ones who turn ideas and concepts into reality. Today, the ability of engineers to invent, design and create new possibilities has been increased many folds by modern technology.

Defence engineers have transformed defence and shaped Singapore's future

One of the pioneer engineering communities in Singapore are our defence scientists and engineers. Collectively, they are referred to as the Defence Technology Community and its roots can be traced to the early days of our nation's independence.

Just last month, we bade a sad farewell to our founding father the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. From the onset, it was Mr Lee's conviction in the need for Singapore to defend itself that started our journey towards building a strong and capable SAF. Mr Lee said in 2012, and I quote, "From the day we started, I knew that we needed a strong SAF, and I believe that still remains today" unquote.

I believe that this conviction has inspired our defence engineers and scientists to help transform the SAF into a modern and capable military force, and create new possibilities in shaping the future of Singapore. In fact, many innovations and technologies in the SAF today were not brought in from other countries, but designed and developed indigenously by our defence engineers and scientists. This is a remarkable achievement for a small country with limited human talent. Indeed, without our defence engineers and scientists working quietly behind the scenes, the SAF will not be what it is today.

One example is our Island Air Defence or IAD System. In our early days, air defence comprised individual radar sensors and weapon systems controlled by different command and control systems or C2 systems. This required close co-ordination and communication between operators. Our defence engineers have integrated these complex systems and transformed them into a state-of-the-art networked IAD system. This greatly shortened the time it needed to detect and neutralise threats while reducing the number of operators required.

Our defence engineers have also ventured underground, challenging conventional design and transforming our old ammunition depots into the Underground Ammunition Facility or UAF, one of the most advanced in the world. The UAF reduced land-use by 90%, freeing up over 400 football fields or about half of Pasir Ris New Town for redevelopment. Now, the same expertise is supporting the Jurong Rock Cavern, the first underground oil storage facility in South-east Asia.

Over the years, through the use of advanced simulators and computer-aided learning, we have also improved our training effectiveness significantly and shortened full-time NS from 2 ½ years to 2 years. That is a significant saving - 6 months for each for the more than 20,000 NSFs per year.

The work of our defence engineers is never complete. Bigger challenges await, and we have given YDSP participants the opportunity to explore them during the Science and Technology Camps and research projects.

How can unmanned systems and robotics keep soldiers safe? What opportunities can Space offer us? How can we better secure cyberspace as systems become increasingly inter-connected? While the challenges are clear, finding the right solutions is not that straight-forward. We would need young and innovative engineers like yourselves to join us in this exciting journey of discovery and creation.

I am glad to see the future generation stepping forward from amongst you. Take for example Yap Lin Hui, an ex-YDSP participant in 2011 and 2012. Her YDSP experience and supportive mentors had shown her the importance of engineering and research to defence, and inspired her to take up the DSTA Scholarship. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor's degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering at NUS, and has recently been offered admission to the NUS global engineering programme.

We need the best minds to tackle Singapore's challenges of the future.

We need more bright and passionate engineers like Lin Hui. So if you are enthusiastic about science and technology and want to make a positive impact to Singapore's future and security, then consider an exciting career as a defence engineer, one where your passion can be stretched beyond your limits, that you would never imagine.

Lastly, I would like to thank all YDSP mentors and supporters who have contributed towards making the event an exciting and enriching learning experience for our participants. I am confident that you have been true inspirations to our young scientists.

My heartiest congratulations to all the participants who have completed the YDSP here, and to our 30 scholarship recipients and 65 academic award winners. I look forward to many of you joining the exclusive fraternity of Singapore's defence scientists and engineers in the near future.

Thank you and have a pleasant day.

More Resources

• Inspiring young minds for defence