Ms Ho Peng, Director-General of Education

 

Mr Chan Lee Mun, Principal, Nanyang Polytechnic

 

Miss Sum Chee Wah, Director, Education Programmes

 

Mentors and Representatives from the Universities, Polytechnics, and Agencies

 

Distinguished Guests and SMP Participants

 

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

Good morning.

 

1.                  I am very glad to be here with you at the 15^th Youth Science Conference of the Science Mentorship Programmes or SMP for short.  First and foremost, let me congratulate all the participants for successfully completing your research projects.

 

2.                  The availability of such research opportunities for pupils even in their early years of education is invaluable.  Not only do such opportunities enable Science to come alive, they provide pupils with early exposure to real-life problems and applications.  Such early exposure will well prepare our pupils to engage in creative and innovative R&D opportunities that are opening up as the Singapore Government increasingly invests in building up our R&D capability.

3.                  The Youth Science Conference brings together all the pupils who have participated in the 13 different research programmes under the SMP umbrella.  The SMP participants would have undergone a rigorous science research mentorship, after being selected based on their science aptitude and interest.  The Science Mentorship Programmes help to cultivate future scientists for Singapore by giving young science talent the opportunity to do quality research across different disciplines.  This contributes to Singapore’s goal of nurturing a cadre of brilliant, enthusiastic and productive individuals who will improve our lives through innovative technology.

4.                  The SMP first started in 1992 as a single programme with the Defence Technology Group, now known as Defence Science and Technology Agency.  Subsequently, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, NIE, and the NUS Faculty of Science came on board. The first Youth Science Conference was then held in 1995 to provide a common platform for participants of all the programmes to showcase their research findings.  Since then, other institutions including Nanyang Polytechnic, NTU School of Biological Sciences, NUS Faculty of Engineering, Republic Polytechnic, Science Centre Singapore, the Institute for Infocomm Research, the Institute of High Performance Computing, and NUS School of Computing have joined the SMP family.  I foresee the SMP expanding to include more partner institutions and scientists who are at the forefront of advancement in their respective fields.

5.                  The SMP is hence unique in pooling scientists from the top research institutions in Singapore, to cover the latest developments in the various scientific fields and to cater for different interests among pupils.  To this year’s participants, I hope that your SMP experience has sparked off an interest within you to pursue a career in research.  I would like to highlight a few recent developments in Singapore, to start you thinking about the exciting areas you can make contributions to in future.

 

6.                  On 20 Feb this year, MOE announced the setting up of a new Research Centre of Excellence (RCE) in Mechanobiology, with a long-term research co-operation programme with Israel’s top universities.  Mechanobiology is the study of the interrelationship of force and biology, and merges the older science of mechanics with the newer and emerging disciplines of molecular biology and genetics.  The Mechanobiology RCE is the fourth RCE to be funded by MOE and the National Research Foundation.  The three other RCEs approved previously are the Centre for Quantum Technologies, the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, both at NUS and the Earth Observatory of Singapore at the NTU, which opened recently on 19 Feb 09.  Together, the RCEs aim to build peaks of excellence in research in specific fields in the local universities.

 

7.                  Increasingly, scientists are recognising the potential of interdisciplinary research – research that cuts across many different fields.  This mixing of diverse disciplines and backgrounds will lead to new and unexpected solutions to problems that we face today.  I’m sure you have heard about the official opening of Fusionopolis in October last year.  Our R&D hubs, Biopolis and Fusionopolis, are vibrant research communities that provide exciting opportunities for young researchers like you to collaborate in various fields.

 

8.                  Another new research hub, the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (or CREATE) was announced on 28 July 09, and is expected to be completed by 2010.  This new research facility aims to become a hub for new ideas and innovation, and the first tenant at CREATE is the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology.  It is MIT's first research institute outside of its home campus in Massachusetts.  It will consist of three interdisciplinary centres: the first in environmental sensing and modelling, the second in infectious diseases, and finally, the third in bioystems and micromechanics.

 

9.                  As SMP participants, you can aspire even now to contribute to the overall body of Science knowledge.  One avenue is to showcase your project in the Singapore Science and Engineering Fair.  This year, out of 21 awards presented to secondary schools, half were projects from the SMP- 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze and 5 Merit awards.  Those who do well at the Fair may be selected to represent Singapore at the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the “Nobel Prize” of youth science competitions.  In 2007, ex-SMP participant Amelia Chang won the First Award in the category of Medicine and Health Sciences, and last year, David Yin won the Third Award in the category of Materials and Bioengineering.

 

10.             Some SMP participants have also shared their projects beyond Singapore’s shores through international science fairs.  A team of 2007 SMP participants from Raffles Girls’ School participated in the Future Scientist Conference in Korea in August 2008.  Another team of 2008 SMP participants from Catholic High School presented their project at the International Conference on Advances in Computer and Entertainment Technology, held in Japan in December 2008.  This year, two groups from Nanyang Girls’ High and Raffles Girls’ School will be sharing their work at the International Conference on Bioinformatics 2009, one of the largest annual bioinformatics conferences in the Asia-Pacific region, which happens to be held in Singapore this year.  I am sure all of you can also aspire to similar or greater heights, and achieve international recognition for your work.

 

11.       The SMP and its participants owe their success to the scientist-mentors who have selflessly devoted their time to cultivate the young in their area of potential.  I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions made by various people. Mrs Koh Siok Im, Dr Hedy Goh, Mr Richard Khaw, Assoc Prof Chia Tet Fatt and Assoc Prof Lim Tit Meng [in order of length of service] are some of our mentors who have served tirelessly in the programme.  They also sit on the SMP Committee, and have helped to steer the programme over the years to become what it is today.

 

12.       Good mentorship is about empowering your  charge/student to become more self-aware and self-directing, and develop their sense of purpose - understanding what interests them, what they want, where they are going in life.  Mentors also guide their students through experiences of success and failure, especially in scientific research, where I am sure you’ll agree that more often than not, experiments fail.  There is a saying, “We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success.  We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.”

 

13.       It is my hope that all SMP participants who have benefited from the programme also become individuals who are committed to serving society, learning from the example of their mentors.  Especially for ex-SMP participants who will engage in science research, they can be mentors to the next generation of pupils, in addition to their other contributions to society.  This may not have happened just yet because of the long road to becoming an established scientist, but I believe that one day, some will be able to return the service as mentors in the SMP.

 

14.       I understand that some ex-SMP participants, such as Lim Yee Fun and Ong Kok Haw, from the 1^st Youth Science Conference in 1995, are currently pursuing their PhDs.  Yee Fun is currently in Cornell University in the US on an A*STAR scholarship, while Kok Haw is starting his research career at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering in Singapore.  Incidentally, both of them share the same area of research: Organic Solar Cells, which have the potential to yield cheap and renewable energy, and open up new technological applications for mankind.

15.             That said, the high quality of the research projects exhibited today is a testimony to the quality of mentoring that SMP participants have received.  Teachers and mentors, your hard work is much appreciated.  It is through your efforts that we will build the future scientists and technologists so vital to Singapore's progress in the 21st century.

 

16.             I hope this conference will raise everyone’s enthusiasm and awareness of the endless possibilities in science research.  I look forward to listening to the presentations and touring the exhibits later and to learning something new!

 

17.       Thank you.