95

F or Claudia Kho, Lee Xun Yong and Yap

Lin Hui, the choice was clear when it

came to choosing their career paths.

While they are at different points of their career,

they share the same feelings about their time

at the Defence Science and Technology Agency

(DSTA) and DSO National Laboratories (DSO).

Growing up, Claudia had a variety of

interests ranging from music to languages,

but was not particularly inclined towards math

or science. Her interest was only piqued after

she was introduced to the Raspberry Pi, which

inspired her to explore programming on her

own, starting with Python since “it is known to

be the simplest for new programmers”. She also

explored online forums to learn more about the

various engineering fields available.

The DSTA Scholarship Tea Session would

prove to be instrumental in her decision to take

up the scholarship, as she was deeply impressed

by the sharings and demonstrations. “I found

out about the many opportunities available to

a DSTA scholar such as studying at world-class

universities, the Global Internship Programme

and more. The engineers whom I spoke with that

day were also very passionate about their work,

and told me that knowledge and ideas were

shared freely in the organisation,” she recounts.

But what really struck her was the

importance of engineering in the context of

Singapore’s defence effort and how it involves

DSTA Scholarship

the integration of many diverse engineering and

infocomm technology fields such as artificial

intelligence, data analytics, machine learning,

Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality.

“I felt that DSTA kept up with tech advances

and I wanted to do engineering work in a place

like that!”

Starting Out

Claudia was set on applying for the DSTA

Scholarship. “The scholarship interviewers were

genuinely interested in getting to know more

about my experiences and interests,” she says.

“After the interview, I also had the chance to visit

and talk to some of the engineers at DSTA. This

further solidified my decision, as I saw that the

workspaces were conducive and the people were

very welcoming.”

Claudia soon learnt that it was not a one-

off experience as her scholarship officers kept

in touch throughout her semesters at Carnegie

Mellon University and she received regular

updates on the latest happenings within the

organisation. While still in the midst of her

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer

Engineering, she has already gained valuable

experiences as an intern at DSTA, where she

applied her newly acquired skills to develop a

speech-to-text tool for military training.

After completing her degree, Claudia is

interested in creating new solutions that have a

the sky’s the limit when you have a wealth of learning opportunities.

Words Justin Choo

photos Contributed by DSTA

Infinite Opportunities to Grow

Claudia Kho, a DSta Scholar, is currently pursuing a degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon university. Her overseas academic stint has enriched her with global perspectives on life and work.

Feature 96

“I have wonderful colleagues who will, out of their own work time, conduct weekly sessions to teach us about technical concepts.” – Yap Lin Hui

“There is a wide scope of interesting and challenging work available at DSTA with opportunities to scope out the latest technology areas such as Internet of Things, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.” – Lee Xun Yong

97

areas such as Internet of Things, data

analytics, artificial intelligence, and

cybersecurity,” he says, pointing out the

countless possibilities for those interested

in science and technology. “You should also

have a deep desire to contribute back to the

public service and Singapore and of course,

find the best engineering and technological

solutions for Singapore’s defence and

security,” he advises.

an Early Start

Lin Hui is a Defence Engineer from the

Sensors Division of DSO, working on

satellite systems. Her journey to DSO

started as early as Secondary Three, after

her exposure to Quantum Mechanics under

the Young Defence Scientists Programme.

She furthered her interest through a related

project with DSO on Quantum Entanglement

and while in Junior College, she worked on

another research project with DSTA under

Research@YDSP. It was through these

experiences that she was first introduced to

DSO’s “friendly working environment”.

It seemed inevitable that their paths

will cross again, and it did. “I’ve actually

never planned to do satellite systems,”

she explains. “Back then, I was looking to

continue my specialisation in embedded

systems and firmware programming,

which was my field of study at university.

Coincidentally, the Space Systems

Programme in DSO was looking to hire

someone with this skill set and, after

learning more about the programme, I

found the projects relevant and interesting,

so here I am!” she exclaims.

DSTA Scholarship

lasting impact on the quality of Singapore’s defence.

Particularly, she is interested in high performance

computing, which involves optimising software so

that it runs faster, or uses fewer resources. This is

essential for developing efficient machine learning

programmes. Ever eager to learn, her interests do

not stop there: “I hope to work on more projects in

the hardware area of high performance computing,

which involves register-transfer level and silicon

optimisation, either at school or through another

internship at DSTA! If possible, I think it would be

really fun to design my own chip architectures.”

Her advice to aspiring scholars? “It is very

important to be clear about the job scope that you

will be doing and to ensure that your interests are

aligned with it. This will help you decide if a career

as a defence engineer is a good choice for you!”

For Xun Yong, the choice was clear as well.

“The DSTA Scholarship represented many exciting

opportunities – studying at top universities,

exploring a wide range of technical areas for a

career, and contributing to Singapore’s defence

and security. It was easy to make a decision after

weighing out the benefits of the scholarship,”

he says.

WOrKing WitH tHE BESt

Like Claudia, he has no doubt that the scholarship

has given him an education beyond comparison. His

time at Imperial College London introduced him to

a wide range of engineering fields such as control

engineering, software engineering and robotics,

while his Master’s degree armed him with industry

applications and experience: “I was also able to

take up a Master of Science in Mobile and Satellite

Communications from the University of Surrey,

UK, which had established good working relations

with major satellite industry players such as Surrey

Satellite Technology Ltd, Airbus and more. There

were ample opportunities for me to learn from

senior industry leaders who spoke at seminars, and

to collaborate with the industry for my master’s

thesis project.”

Xun Yong also had the opportunity to participate

in DSTA’s Global Internship Programme, where he

was attached to MBDA Missile Systems in France

for a month. “My mentor, an expert in Guidance,

Control, and Navigation, also taught me more

about how Control Engineering is applied in the

algorithms that control a missile’s autopilot

system,” he adds. During other summer vacations,

he explored a wide range of technical areas and

learnt about analytics and datalinks as an intern at

DSTA and DSO.

a nEW SpaCE paraDigM

These days, Xun Yong is a Senior Engineer at DSTA’s

Air Systems Programme Centre, where he supports

government agencies through satellite technologies.

This includes haze monitoring, air crash search and

rescue, and humanitarian assistance and disaster

relief. “It is an exciting time to be in the space

industry as the whole industry is undergoing a

tremendous evolution, which we have termed ‘New

Space’. Investments are shifting the economics and

use-cases in this field, driving increased access to

space, spurring rapid technological advances, and

lowering costs and time to develop small satellites,”

says Xun Yong. He hopes to be able to lead a

programme to deliver new and advanced satellite

solutions to improve support for government

agencies, and beyond that, have a leading role in

creating next-generation solutions.

“The DSTA Scholarship gave me the opportunity

to pursue a world-class education in Electrical and

Electronic Engineering and Satellite Engineering

which has served as a solid technical background

in my daily work, and also enabled me to continue

growing on the job,” he reflects. In his years on the

job, he also developed skillsets in other domains

such as cybersecurity, system engineering, project

management, and leadership.

“There is a wide scope of interesting

and challenging work available at DSTA with

opportunities to scope out the latest technology

(rE)unitED WE StanD

Thus, Lin Hui became reacquainted with DSTA/

DSO, who gave her many opportunities to build

her skillsets and experience. “I completed

an internship with the C3 (Command,

Control and Communications) Development

Programme Centre in DSTA. My time at DSTA

included helping out in the development of a

maritime surveillance software and picking

up a new programming language, C++,”

Lin Hui elaborates.

Learning how the technology development

process and reviews worked was instrumental

in preparing her for her current role: building

a research payload that will be launched into

low Earth orbit and exploring new techniques

and creating technologies for use in future

space missions. Along with assistance from her

seniors, she was able to pick up the relevant

skills and concepts quickly. “Thankfully, I have

wonderful colleagues who will, out of their own

work time, conduct weekly sessions to teach us

about these technical concepts,” she says. Within

the first year, she and her team were tasked to

put together a ship-targeting Inverse Synthetic

Aperture Radar (ISAR), despite her lack of

experience. But with help from senior engineers,

her team managed to integrate an old radar with

a new, non-compatible module and managed to

test and validate the new technology.

a CarEEr liKE nO OtHEr

“The projects that are done in DSO and DSTA are

unlike research in universities or other research

organisations,” says Lin Hui. “Here, Research &

Development is done to solve specific problems

faced by our stakeholders, that impact our

national security. My advice (to students) would

be to read up on defence technologies or defence-

related problems to broaden your perspective

and better understand our work. There is a wide

variety of career opportunities that are available

to DSTA scholars. The projects handled by DSTA

and DSO span across multiple disciplines and,

hence, require expertise from various fields. Even

within my department, there are engineers doing

software, hardware, firmware, mechanical and

even thermal design.”

For Lin Hui, the sky is literally no longer the

limit as she hopes to make her own breakthrough

someday: “My personal dream would be to one

day come up with my own technology and see it

through from the fundamental stages of research

to the final development and to launch it on

a satellite!”

lee Xun yong delivers advanced satellite solutions for Singapore government agencies as a Senior Engineer in DSta’s air Systems programme Centre. He is a recipient of the DSta Scholarship and holds an honours degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from imperial College london as well as a Master in Mobile and Satellite Communications from the university of Surrey.

yap lin Hui is currently working on the development of satellite systems as a Defence Engineer in the Sensors Division at DSO. She is a DSta Scholar, and holds a Bachelor as well as a Master in Engineering (Electrical Engineering) from the national university of Singapore.

This article was first published in BrightSparks Volume 1, 2020. Republished with permission from CareerBuilder Singapore. To explore scholarships and higher education opportunities, visit www.brightsparks.com.sg