Contribution of Engineers in the New Economy

Contribution of Engineers

in the New Economy

Dr Lum Kit Meng

1Contribution of engineers in the new economy

Increase speed/efficiency in problem solving◦ Computer/Info-Comm Engineering

Use of resources◦ Materials/Nano Engineering

Clean potable water◦ Environmental Engineering

Alternative sources of Renewable Energy◦ Solar Engineering and Clean Technology

Healthcare◦ Life Science/Biomedical Engineering

Underground space (Singapore context)◦ Civil Engineering

2Contribution of engineers in the new

economy

Required Innovative Solutions

Required Technologies

Required Scientists/Engineers

◦ Engineers in research, innovation and technological development; and

◦ Engineers to meet challenges in globalization and the new economy


economy

All made objects owe their existence to some kind of engineering

◦ Essential for civilization and better living


economy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z89Q6DDkvEs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z89Q6DDkvEs

Biggest Excavator – 45,500 tons, 95 m high and 215 m long

Neoplan Jumbo Cruiser – 170 passengers

Biggest Passenger Ship – 4300 passengers

Biggest Airbus, A380 – 555 passengers

Sydney Harbour Bridge – 16 lanes of car traffic

Longest Bridge, Donghai, China – 32.5 km long)

Tallest Building, Burj Khalifa – (829.8 m high)


economy

Economy

◦ Create jobs to boost economy such as in aerospace, precision engineering and many others;

Diplomacy and Deterrence

◦ Develop integrated solutions to strength the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF);

Social and others

◦ Build houses and MRT system to improve lives


economy

Economic debacle – mainly due to 1964confrontation, 1965 separation, and1967/71 British withdrawal

Economic miracle – an indicator: foreignreserve in 1965 – about $1 billion, 1975– 7.5 billion, 1985 – 29 billion and 1995– about 100 billion

7

So, how much foreign reserve now? > 300 billion ??

Contribution of engineers in the new

economy

Singapore’s success is the result of hardwork, tough choices and bold decisions.Sweat and labor, vision and headaches,leadership and determination – some of thefactors behind Singapore’s economic growth

The most important of all has been thepromotion and development of technicaleducation (all levels) which contributed tothe rapid and successful industrialization(export oriented) of Singapore.

8

!!! Why we succeeded !!!


economy

Take-off Phase (Export-led industrialization)

1965 to 1984:

Period when the economic fundamentals of prudentpublic finances, sound monetary policies, co-operativeindustrial relations, outward orientation, and market-based strategies took root;


economy

An Economic History of Singapore: 1965-2065 by Ravi Menon, MD, MAS, Singapore Economic Review Conference 2015

Economy grew by an average of about 10% per annum,and Singapore emerged as a newly-industrializedeconomy at the forefront of developing countries;

Export-led industrialization through multinationals:

◦ Shift away from import-substitution in favor of export-ledindustrialization;

◦ Attract global multinational corporations as vehicles to achieveindustrial growth.


economy

Transition from 3rd World to 1st World Phase

1985 to 2010:

Resource constraints and diminishing returns toinvestment began to set in;

The cost advantage that Singapore enjoyed began tonarrow;


economy

Liberalisation and the rise of modern services:

◦ Enhance wage flexibility;

◦ Tap more decisively into regional markets for trade andoutward investment;

◦ Step up the pace of industrial upgrading;

◦ Promote innovation, enterprise, and entrepreneurship;

◦ Liberalize various services sectors such as finance,telecommunications, and utilities.


economy

Transition towards productivity-led growth Phase

2011 to 2025:

Demographic slowdown;

Overcoming of resource constraints through a significantrestructuring of the economy;

Significant step-down in real GDP growth to 3.6% perannum;

By 2025, the economy had matured, with productivitygrowth accounting for virtually all of economic growth.


economy

Regional integration and offshore economy Phase

2026 to 2040:

Singapore’s high-end manufacturing and modernservices benefitted significantly from trade andinvestment links with these Asian giants, US and theNorth Euro Area;

Iskandar-Singapore Economic Zone (ISEZ) in 2028;

ASEAN Free Economic Zone (AFEZ) in 2020.


economy

Climate change mitigation and adaptation Phase

2040 to 2065:

Adapting to climate change thus became as important aconsideration as mitigating it;

The introduction of a carbon tax helped to reducecarbon intensity in economic activities, increase energyefficiency, and modify consumption patterns;

By 2055, the green industry emerged as the largestcontributor to Singapore’s Gross National Income,covering a wide range of economic activities.


economy

1. Singapore must increase her capacity toundertake research and development ofinternational standard. The underlyingrationale is that the development oftechnological capabilities will help to sustaineconomic growth by rooting high value-added activities in its economy.

2. Today, strong manufacturing capabilities andefficient services in the economy are definedby superior technology, innovation andhuman resources.


economy

a) Enable Singapore to continue to serve as a highly competitive industry and business hub in the region

b) Can support the shift in the manufacturing sector, from low value-added assembly activities to those with higher innovation and technological content


economy

c) Enhance Singapore’s attractiveness to the multi-national corporations (MNCs) and encourage them to root their operations here in Singapore

d) Enhance the competitiveness of the local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as firms in the services sector to enable them to develop and compete not only regionally but also globally


economy

4. Technology development is also needed to pre-position Singapore for new emerging clusters. Thiswill enable Singapore to build up a comparativeadvantage in these higher value-added industries.

5. On the whole, Singapore needs a few prominentindustry and business clusters that are sufficientlystrong to serve as anchors to enable the economyto perform well. For this to happen, Singaporemust possess world class capabilities in innovation,technology and human resources in order toposition these clusters as world beaters.


economy

1) Making it conducive for industry to undertake R&D

Singapore’s cost levels are approaching those ofdeveloped nations. The costs of doing R&D inSingapore have also risen in tandem with thegeneral costs of doing business here. Despitethese considerations, an environment must becreated where it is conducive for the industry toundertake R&D to upgrade itself.


economy

Co-Investment in corporate R&D centres throughindustry R&D grants

Development and funding of manpower-relatedgrants

Fostering of economically relevant R&D and strategicresearch in the Universities

Promotion of a culture of innovation andentrepreneurship

Establishment of a network of international linkagesfor collaborative R&D

21

What the Singapore Government is doing to create the conducive environment !!!


economy

2. Strengthening technological capability

Singapore’s technological capability still lags behindthose of the developed economies and NIEs likeTaiwan and Korea. Singapore needs to bridge thisgap by continually building up its technologicalcapability via government partnership to catalyzeindustry R&D.

Strategic development and funding of 15 ResearchInstitutes and Centres in 5 broad categories: biomedicalsciences, chemicals & related sciences, electronics,information & communication technology, andmanufacturing & automation


economy

R&D Grant – to promote and coordinate university andindustry R&D

Technology Acquisition – to help industry upgrade byacquiring the relevant technologies

Technology Sourcing – to help industry access and exploitemerging technologies from high-tech innovation “hot-spot” like the USA, Israel and Japan through licensing,manufacturing or joint ventures

Technology Capability Planning – to focus the finite R&Dresources so as to avoid costly overlaps and to create anawareness of capability gaps

23

What the Singapore Government is doing to strengthen technological capabilities !!


economy

3. Fostering innovation and commercialization

The commercialization of technology represents theacute bottleneck between technology developmentand the translation of technology into commercialbenefits. This factor has to be dealt with effectivelyto ensure that Singapore’s investments in R&D willreap the corresponding economic benefits.

Integrated one-stop innovation and commercialization centres --

Technological start-ups –

Environment for high-tech industries and start-ups to flourish --

24

What the Singapore Government is doing to foster innovation and commercialization?

4. Meeting the demand for manpower

The most critical factor in successfullydeveloping and sustaining a high level of R&Dactivities within a country is manpower. As R&Dactivities in Singapore increase, the demand forR&D manpower is expected to rise sharply.Singapore, with the constraints of its small sizeand its small population base, will need tobrace itself to meet this challenge of increaseddemand for R&D manpower and talent.


economy

Singapore’s small population and hence itslimited pool of local Research Scientists andEngineers (RSEs) requires a multi-prongedapproach to be adopted for its manpowerdevelopment, namely:

1) The Grooming of Local R&D Manpower

2) The Reliance on Foreign Talents

3) Internationalization

26

What the Singapore Government is doing to solve manpower needs?


economy

27

With a small population base, how isSingapore meeting its R&D manpower needs?

• Measures to boost the local pool of researchers includeraising the profile of RSEs and the R&D career so thatmore local talents will take up R&D jobs. A holisticapproach will be adopted to address the entire spectrumof R&D manpower development.


economy

28

Primary Education – cultivate an interestin science and to participate in the TanKah Kee Young Inventors’ Award.

Secondary/JC Education – encouragestudents to study hard sciences &engineering and to participate in theSchool Adoption Scheme withtechnological companies.

Education is a holistic approach to address manpower needs!!!


economy

Tertiary Education – encourage studentsto consider post-graduate studies inScience & Engineering. National ScienceTalent Search. ASTAR/DSTA Scholarships

Post-graduate – promote the challenge &attractiveness of R&D careers, raise socialrecognition for R&D careers, andcontinuous upgrading & training of RSEs

Career Progression – technical andmanagement leadership


economy

Measures to attract foreign R&D manpower into Singapore include:

Provision of scholarships for foreign students to undertakepostgraduate studies in the local universities with a view to takingup R&D careers here in Singapore

Attractive terms and conditions for foreign RSEs to come toSingapore

Special programme to attract experienced, first rate R&D leadersand research professors to enhance technology management andresearch capabilities, and to help attract bright foreign students

30

A*STAR reaches its milestone of offering1000 scholarships in 2010


economy

To draw on the strengths of other countries andto place emphasis on international R&Dcollaborations. In this way, Singapore canexpand its international space for technologyco-development, particularly in the pre-competitive stages.

◦ Set up overseas R&D programmes/centres toaugment Singapore’s limited resource and talent base

◦ Encourage prominent overseas R&D centres anduniversities to set up branches/linkages in Singapore

31

Creating International Awareness!!!


economy

Executive Summary (Ministry of Trade and Industry Occasional Paper, Sep 2012)

1) Singapore is located in a fast growing region

More economic opportunities but also increasedcompetition

Need to calibrate our policies carefully in order tomaintain our competitiveness

Grow at a sustainable rate so that all Singaporeanscan enjoy an improving quality of life


economy

2) In the next two decades, the Singaporean workforce will grow old and start to shrink, even as it becomes more educated

The jobs that Singaporeans aspire to will naturallyshift

Even as we work towards maintaining an attractiveand vibrant economy to meet the aspirations ofSingaporeans, it will be increasingly difficult to findsufficient manpower to support lower-skilled jobsthat are nonetheless still necessary to sustain ahealthy economic mix


economy

3) To address our demographic shifts, we will need a multi-pronged approach

First, we need to continue with our drive to raiseproductivity through business restructuring andworkforce retraining

Second, we must encourage more residents toenter and stay in the workforce

Finally, we must complement our residentworkforce with a calibrated rate of immigration andforeign worker inflow.


economy

Knowledge and ingenuity (in terms oforiginality and creativity) will enableSingapore to overcome the limitations of itsgeography and population size.

Emphasis on technical education at all levelsof education:-


economy

◦ ITE (Institute of Technical Education)

◦ Polytechnics – Singapore, Ngee Ann, Temasek, Republic and Nanyang

◦ Universities – NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD, SIT and SUSS

◦ EDB Centres – company-based training centres and government-to-government training centres

◦ SAF Technical Training Schools/Institutes

◦ Continuing Education and Training – BEST, MOST, WISE, TIME, ACTS & NUS/NTU


economy

Strengthen and broaden the overall education of its peopleso that they can be more adaptable and flexible in facingglobal competition

Nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship and build atechnopreneur society

Learn to think (outside the box) rather than just learn tocarry out instructions

Life-long learning and upgrading to remain relevant/useful

Use the knowledge-based economy to help make it moreacceptable to its people in importing foreign talent to facethe global competition


economy

Documents

Contribution of Engineers in the New Economy