Background

At the Committee of Supply Debate 2022, MINDEF announced the establishment of Heat Resilience and Performance Centre (HRPC) to address the long-term challenges that rising ambient temperature pose to training and operational readiness for the SAF. Formed through a tripartite partnership between the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the National University of Singapore (NUS) and DSO National Laboratories, the Centre will have a 1,000 square feet specialised research facility at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine), NUS, housing top-of-the-line climate simulation, performance evaluation and recovery science technologies.

Purpose

HRPC serves as a dedicated research institution with core research expertise and capabilities focused on addressing the challenges associated with living, working and training in rising ambient heat. The centre will be a key platform bringing together local and global expertise in this field.

Mission

"The mission of HRPC is to create holistic and forward-looking solutions that boost human resilience to rising ambient heat."

Vision

"HRPC’s vision is to be a global leader in thermal research centred on helping humans to thrive in a warming world."

Roles of Tripartite Partnership

NUS will (1) lead the development of basic and translational research roadmaps in heat resilience and performance; (2) contribute its expertise and networks, both local and international, in the area of human potential and integrative physiology research; and (3) serve as a node to connect and contribute to national level initiatives addressing climate change challenges.

DSO will (1) lead in research and knowledge management, sustaining the deep expertise and maintaining the heat research "knowledge repository" to meet MINDEF/SAF’s long term needs; (2) co-develop and manage research and development roadmaps; and (3) serve as the node linking the Defence Technology Community to the wider R&D ecosystem.

The SAF will (1) provide the operational context for HRPC’s research objectives; (2) facilitate the operational testbed to support HRPC’s research; and (3) translate research outcomes into tangible implementation for the SAF.

Organisational Structure

Core Team. Associate Professor Jason Lee, internationally recognised for his research in extreme and thermal physiology and for his work in translating research to enhance heat health and human potential, is helming the Centre with co-director, Ms Lydia Law, an experienced research programme manager with over fifteen years of experience leading and managing human performance research. The SAF’s Centre of Excellence for Soldier Performance (CESP) will provide operational inputs and facilitate the transition of research outcomes into rapid implementation for the SAF. The core team of HRPC will be staffed by research management and administration teams to drive the research focus and lead activities of HRPC.

Governance Board. HRPC will report to a governance board co-chaired by the Dean of NUS Medicine, CEO of DSO and the Army’s Chief of Staff-General Staff, which will steer the overall research focus, approve research plans and oversee research progress.

Research Focus

HRPC will focus on three key thrusts anchoring a comprehensive research strategy to achieve its mission. These thrusts encompass research areas that allow the centre to develop holistic initiatives at the organisational and individual levels, with translational outcomes applicable across the entire spectrum of contexts and applications.

1. Discover - Laying the foundation for in-depth understanding and discovery of new knowledge. This thrust aims to build a robust database through the aggregation and analysis of existing and emerging data which allow the development and continuous refinement of physiological research models. These data-driven capabilities will sharpen the Centre’s research focus, drive the testing of new research hypothesis, and uncover new mechanisms and predictive factors. This will enable HRPC to be at the forefront of discovering, developing and refining solutions for heat resilience. Research areas in this thrust includes:

i. Data Aggregation. Physiological data from past and prospective projects will be consolidated for further research to find innovative approaches for active surveillance, continuous monitoring, and data collection.

ii. Data Analysis. Aggregated data will be analysed to build predictive models to test research hypothesis. Such hypothesis will help to develop new strategies to interpret and transform data into new knowledge and new capabilities.

2. Detect - Visualising and making sense of an individual’s heat-health and readiness status. This thrust focuses on developing the capability to visualise and interpret the heat-health status of individuals in real-time, allowing for the development of personalised training programmes for heat management, active risk management and training optimisation. These algorithms can not only predict the risk of heat injury, but also personalise training to be more time efficient, improve performance and yield greater results from heat resilience training. Research in this thrust includes:

i. Heat Health Visualisation. New approaches toward physiological sensing will be explored to increase accuracy of predicting and managing the risk of exertional heat injury. Physiological data specific to the causative mechanisms of exertional heat injury will be investigated. Research will also focus on exploring methods to increase the fidelity of physiological sensing by leveraging on the concept of a sensor network to build a more comprehensive heat health map to better analyse the heat health status of an individual.

ii. Training Personalisation. Further research will utilise deep data analytics to develop predictive models and algorithms, indices, and decision support systems applicable for different populations, training, and operating contexts.

c. Strengthen – Developing state-of-the-art tools and technology-enabled approaches to boost heat resilience. This thrust explores different advanced technologies and approaches, to develop more efficient strategies for heat resilience in humans. Investigations into these technologies will be guided by in-depth understanding of physiology, biology, psychology, as well as the social and behavioural responses to rising heat. Examples of some of these strategies include:

i. Advanced Material Technologies. New technologies in advanced materials can potentially be used to enhance body cooling either actively or passively. Examples include adaptive fabrics which changes its structure in response to environmental conditions, and super hygroscopic nano fabrics to absorb moisture.

ii. Role of Gut Microbiome. Microorganisms in our intestines, or the gut microbiome, may have a significant role in a human’s heat health and could be a potential indicator of heat stress. Investigations into this area of study can allow us to predict and improve heat resilience through measuring and manipulating the gut flora.

iii. Urban Heat Effect of Environments and Urban Infrastructure on Humans. Understanding the urban heat effect of environments and buildings through the development of virtual models provides insights on how infrastructure can be used to improve passive heat resilience and promote active cooling.