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Dunman High School student Colin Ng spent part of the last December school holidays in a laboratory. He was mixing chemicals to produce a strong yet lightweight material which could one day be used as armour or to make planes.
Colin was among the 91 students who displayed their enthusiasm when they proudly exhibited their projects at the Young Defence Scientists Programme (YDSP) Congress held on 12 March 2008.
To inspire students in the area of defence science and technology, the Research@YDSP, a programme under the auspice of YDSP, was established by DSTA and DSO National Laboratories (DSO) in 2005.
Another of the projects was a palmsized gas sensor developed by Victoria Junior College students Jin Zheng and Owyong Pu En with the help of their mentor from Temasek Laboratories@ Nanyang Technological University.
“We were very excited when we found that we could develop something small and handy, yet able to detect different gases with the use of nanotechnology,” said Owyong Pu En.
The next step for them would be to further develop this gas sensing technology to detect toxic substances, especially chemical warfare agents.
Speaking at the Congress, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean noted that for the SAF to maintain its edge, it needed people with the passion to lead cuttingedge defence research and development in MINDEF’s defence science community. Mr Teo also encouraged budding researchers to consider joining the ranks of the 5,000 engineers, scientists, logisticians and procurement professionals who help keep the Singapore Armed Forces fit.
“Our defence scientists and engineers look forward to working with aspiring, young, energetic and creative scientists, mathematicians and engineers like yourselves who are able to bring new ideas and enthusiasm into the defence technology community,” he said.
Over 80 students received more than $40,000 worth of scholarships and awards at the congress.
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