Full Report - DSO National Laboratories

Pushing The Boundaries
DSO Highlights 2009/10
THE DSO STORY
It has remained unchanged since 1972.
Pushing the boundaries is a calling we take very
seriously. It is the raison d’etre of DSO, and a reflection
of our critical work in pioneering technological
surprises that ensure the Singapore Armed Forces’
(SAF’s) technical superiority and dominance on the
battlefield.
We do this to make Singapore safer and stronger.
These words characterise DSO and our people. They
represent our research scientists’ and engineers’
relentless pursuit for technical excellence, and the
tenacity to look beyond the horizon for the indigenous
development of game-changing defence solutions.
Contents
04
Mission & Vision
06
CHAIRMAN’S Statement
08
CORPORATE STRUCTURE
10
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
14
MANAGEMENT TEAM
16
BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
52
MARKS OF DISTINCTION
58
STRENGTHENING EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS
Mission
To develop
technologies and
solutions that can
provide technological
surprises to sharpen
the cutting edge of
Singapore's National
Security.
Vision
To be a wellspring
of technological
knowledge, a fountain
of innovation and an
inspiration to the
R&D community in
Singapore.
Kinetic
Knowledge seeking, creation and sharing - Our knowledge base
is an asset we want to develop and exploit. We will seek, create,
share and build upon our know-how so that collectively we can
learn and grow as an organisation.
INtegrity - We uphold the highest standards of professionalism,
fairness and impartiality in our work, without compromising on
integrity, acceptable standards of probity or safety. We will have
the courage of our convictions to stand up for what is right, say
what we mean and deliver what we promise.
Excellence - We take pride in our work carried out according
to the highest standards of professionalism. Excellence is the
hallmark of our people, process, products, and services.
Teamwork - We harness the full potential of our staff and exploit
synergies by working together as a team with a shared vision
and by working towards a common goal to ensure collective
learning, economy of effort, and greater job satisfaction.
Innovativeness - We strive to be resourceful, creative and
innovative in our work to create additional value for our
customers.
Customer focus - We seek to understand the concerns, needs
and requirements of our customers, add value to them, and
strive to exceed their expectations, and so delight them.
˝These values are encapsulated in the
acronym KINETIC, which also connotes
an organisation that is dynamic,
energetic, and constantly on the move.˝
DSO Highlights 09/10 Chairman’s Statement
Chairman’s
Statement
The birth of DSO stemmed
from the far-reaching
vision of our founder, the
late Dr Goh Keng Swee,
who foresaw that in the
21st century, Singapore
would have to rely on
technology to overcome
her defence vulnerabilities.
In 1972, he established
DSO to begin research and
development in secretedge defence capabilities.
Almost four decades later, the strength of DSO has grown to
over 1,000 research scientists and engineers, and has firmly
established itself as a forward-looking national defence
R&D organisation that pushes the boundaries of science
and technology across multi-disciplinary domains to deliver
technological innovations.
DSO has played a pivotal role in the defence technology
community in supporting the SAF’s transformation into a
Third Generation fighting force. In exploiting the advances of
modern science and technology, DSO will continue to seek
and contextualise new solutions to suit the SAF’s unique
operational requirements.
As a national resource, DSO remains committed in nurturing our
intellectual capital and fostering home-grown R&D talent. We
will also continue to strengthen our collaboration with research
and industrial partners both locally and around the world, to
enhance the breadth and depth of our R&D capabilities.
I would like to thank our customers and partners for their
strong support, and to extend my appreciation to the DSO
board members for their guidance, and to the management
and staff for their dedication and contributions towards
safeguarding our home.
Dr Tan Kim Siew
Chairman
DSO National Laboratories
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DSO Highlights 09/10 CORPORATE STRUCTURE
CORPORATE
STRUCTURE
1
2
Who We Are
As Singapore’s national defence R&D organisation, DSO
plays a pivotal role in the defence ecosystem with key
customers that include the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF),
the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the Defence Science
& Technology Agency (DSTA), as well as other ministries
and various statutory boards.
Since our establishment close to four decades ago, we
have delivered superior technological innovations and
solutions to sharpen the cutting edge of the SAF, and to
strengthen our homeland security. Many critical systems
today bear the invisible imprint of our secret-edge work.
In achieving our mission, DSO has more than 1,000
research scientists and engineers that work seamlessly
across disciplines, harnessing and building indigenous
expertise in the domains of land, sea, air and cyberspace.
We also establish and strengthen strategic collaborations,
both locally and internationally, to enhance our R&D
capabilities.
Our Research Divisions
DSO organises its competencies into seven R&D Divisions
that focus on core areas of strategic importance to
Singapore’s defence and national security.
3
1. Defence Medical & Environmental Research
Institute
Combats against chemical, biological and radiological
threats, as well as enhances the safety, survivability and
performance of our troops with R&D in advanced human
sciences.
2. Electronic Systems
4
Conducts R&D into advanced electronics that are key
enabling technologies for electronic warfare systems.
3. Emerging Systems
Delves into the R&D of next-wave technologies so as
to achieve quantum improvement in present and future
defence systems.
5
4. Guided Systems
Harnesses autonomous unmanned technologies for the
R&D of unmanned systems to provide our troops with a
force multiplier effect.
5. Information
6
Focuses on R&D that provides our defence forces with
superior information assurance and effective information
exploitation.
6. Networks
7
Builds up R&D capabilities in robust communication
systems and technologies to ensure connectivity of our
troops on the battlefield.
7. Sensors
Undertakes R&D in a wide array of sensor technologies
that sharpen the senses of our defence forces, and provides
them with a recognised battlefield situation picture.
08
09
DSO Highlights 09/10 Board of Directors
Dr Tan Kim Siew
Board of
Directors
Chairman,
Permanent Secretary
(Defence Development),
Ministry of Defence
Mr Quek Tong Boon
Chief Defence Scientist,
Ministry of Defence
BG (NS) Ravinder Singh
s/o Harchand Singh
Deputy Secretary (Technology),
Ministry of Defence
RADM Ng Chee Peng
Chief of Staff, Joint Staff and
Chief of Staff, Naval Staff,
Ministry of Defence
Mr Bill Chua Teck Huat
Prof Freddy Boey Yin Chiang
Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer,
Global Market and Investment Management,
United Overseas Bank Limited
Provost-Designate,
President’s Office,
Nanyang Technological University
BG (NS) Ravinder
Singh s/o
Harchand Singh
RADM Ng Chee Peng
Dr Tan Kim Siew
Prof Freddy
Boey Yin Chiang
Mr Quek Tong Boon
Mr Bill Chua
Teck Huat
DSO Highlights 09/10 Board of Directors
Board of
Directors
Mr Seah Moon Ming
Deputy Chief Executive
Officer & President
(Defence Business),
Singapore Technologies
Engineering Limited
Prof Seeram
Ramakrishna
Vice-President
(Research Strategy),
National University of Singapore
Mr Tan Peng Yam
Prof Tan Eng Chye
RADM (NS) Ronnie Tay
BG Tan Yih San
Mr Quek Gim Pew
Chief Executive,
Defence Science and
Technology Agency
Deputy President
(Academic Affairs) and
Provost,
National University of
Singapore
Chief Executive Officer,
Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore
Future Systems Architect,
Future Systems Directorate,
Ministry of Defence
Chief Executive Officer,
DSO National Laboratories
DSO Highlights 09/10 Management Team
Management
Team
14
Mr Quek Gim Pew
Chief Executive Officer
Mr William Lau
Chief Technology Officer
and concurrent Director
Networks Division
Dr Tan Kok Tin
Director
Guided Systems Division
Mr Chan Hian Lim
Deputy Director
Sensors Division
BG (Ret) Prof Lionel Lee
Director
Defence Medical & Environmental
Research Institute
Dr Ang Kiam Wee
Deputy Director
Defence Medical & Environmental
Research Institute
Mr Philip Chan
Director
Electronic Systems Division
Dr Tan Guan Leng
Deputy Director
Electronic Systems Division
Mr Tan Chee Seng
Director
Emerging Systems Division
Mr Yeo Kee Kong
Director
Quality Division
Mr Chia Chung Hong
Director
Project Management
Excellence Office
Mr Andrew Leong
Director
Finance & Admin Division
Dr Goh Joo Thiam
Deputy Director
Emerging Systems Division
Dr How Khee Yin
Director
Information Division
Mr Chua Poh Kian
Deputy Director
Organisation Development
Division
Mr Tan Soo Kee
Deputy Director
People Division
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
PolarFour
Compact Hyperspectral Imaging using
Polarisation Based Fourier Transform
Every object has a specific
spectral signature in terms of
its light emission or reflection,
and spectral measurement
can provide rich information
pertaining to object detection,
recognition and classification.
The use of Hyperspectral
Imaging (HSI) to obtain
information is proven with
well-known applications in
diverse areas such as medical
imaging, and sensing of
chemical and bio-agents. HSI
is also widely used in search
and rescue missions.
˝Recently, DSO invented a new HSI method
that employs a compact cascade of
specially oriented crystals, and makes
use of their polarisation rotation effects to
create optical fringes in an image.˝
The current method for HSI relies on the use of optical
diffraction gratings (or prisms) to disperse light so that
different optical wavelengths fall on different pixels of the
detector array.
The main disadvantage of HSI cameras using the
diffraction grating approach is their bulkiness, especially
when the camera is used for airborne surveillance.
Another drawback of using the grating approach is the
requirement for special re-designing of the camera’s
entire optical system to adapt to the diffraction grating
inside the camera.
Due to this reason, companies that build HSI cameras
using optical diffraction gratings often have to design
the whole camera from scratch in order to maintain
compatibility with the grating arrangement. This results
in high development costs and consequently, the steep
pricing for HSI cameras. The typical price of an industrial
graded HSI camera ranges between $50,000 to $100,000,
while an airborne version can easily cost up to a few
hundred thousand dollars.
Another improvement is its diminutive size. As a result,
HSI can be achieved by simply attaching a special
crystal attachment to any ordinary camera. This crystal
attachment can be as thin as a few millimetres with a
diameter similar to the camera lens aperture.
Moreover, the attachment can be rotated to remove
the optical fringing, thus allowing the camera to capture
normal images. A one-camera system can now be used
to capture both normal and HS images. Consequently,
this has the potential to lower the development cost of
HSI systems.
DSO recently filed a US patent for this technique. A
prototype was also displayed at the Singapore Air Show
2010 as the PolarFour Hyperspectral Camera.
Recently, DSO invented a new HSI method that employs
a compact cascade of specially oriented crystals, and
makes use of their polarisation rotation effects to create
optical fringes in an image. These optical fringes are used
to generate spectral data. By performing the Fourier
transform and appropriate signal processing algorithms
on the spectral data obtained from the optical fringes, the
HS imagery of an object is obtained.
A clear advantage of this method using the specially
oriented crystal arrangement is its robustness and
versatility. As the coherence optical interference occurs
inside the crystals, the resulting optical fringes are very
stable. The crystals are also broadband and can be used
for spectra ranging from visible to far-IR radiation.
An image from DSO’s HSI camera showing optical fringes.
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
Track-Before
-Detect
To improve the security of our territorial waters, it is crucial to detect and
track targets such as small aircraft and boats. These targets typically have
a low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), posing a challenge for existing tracking
systems, as low SNR detections are discarded by a threshold process.
The Track-Before-Detect (TBD) approach is an advanced
tracking technique in overcoming this challenge. It
eradicates the irretrievable loss of information by
considering all the raw data input, and calculates a
score from cumulating signal intensity over time. Low
SNR targets with high cumulated scores can then be
distinguished from randomly appearing noise. However,
operating on non-threshold data leads to another set of
challenging problems. These include high requirements
imposed on computation and memory, and a large
number of false tracks.
DSO has successfully developed an advanced Dynamic
Programming Approach (DPA) to overcome these
problems. DPA represents DSO’s first efficient and
effective TBD tracker for real-time applications, and
consists of TBD tracking algorithms, signal processing
algorithms and system integration with different radars.
˝Results from sea trials have
indicated that DSO’s TBD
tracker managed to consistently
outperform a well known
commercial small target tracker by
displaying further detection range,
and fewer false tracks. ˝
Track are initiated
by cumulating
intensity over
time.
Results from sea trials have indicated that DSO’s TBD
tracker managed to consistently outperform a well
known commercial small target tracker by displaying
further detection range, and fewer false tracks. This
technology has since been successfully transferred
to ST Electronics (Satcom & Sensor Systems) for
commercialisation.
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
Dr Ng Gee Wah
Programme Director
Information Division
Area of research: Information Exploitation
Years in DSO: 14
DELIVERING
THE BEST
As the Programme Director of DSO’s Information
Exploitation Programme, Gee Wah oversees the
R&D of Command and Control Systems and Combat
Management Systems to aid commanders in the decision
making process. The challenge lies in exploiting such
information in a meaningful and timely manner so that it
can be used for high quality situational awareness, early
warning, and robust decision making.
In his quest to deliver the best operational capabilities
to the SAF, Gee Wah likens the mission to “swimming
against the current.” To achieve the extra cutting edge,
there is a need to go against the technical norms of today,
so as to stay two steps ahead of evolving technological
developments.
Besides co-authoring more than 35 papers in various
journals and conferences, Gee Wah has also collaborated
with overseas partners such as Germany’s Fraunhofer
Institute in a bid to build up new research areas in
the information exploitation domain. Always on the
lookout for new knowledge to augment his professional
competencies, he took a year off from work in 2006 under
DSO’s Leave for Special Assignment (LSA) scheme to do
research on a new and exciting field called Computational
Cognitive Neuroscience, relevant to data fusion and
human-inspired computing.
20
Choosing to undertake his LSA in Boston, Gee Wah was
attached to two of the city’s most prestigious universities
– Boston University (BU) and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT). This allowed him to tap on the best
of both universities and build up new knowledge from
his exposure to top academics in his field. Collaborating
with MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory, he also co-supervised a joint project on
anomaly detection.
When Gee Wah returned in 2007, he brought back not
only fresh technical insights and experiences, but also the
manuscript of a book detailing his research at BU and the
MIT. His manuscript, entitled “Brain Mind Machinery”, has
since been published by World Scientific. Gee Wah’s book
is a testament to his desire to benchmark his work against
world standards, and his passion to share his knowledge
with the international community.
This dedication to his work remains unchanged today, as
Gee Wah continues to fuse multi-disciplinary work from
different DSO R&D divisions to contextualise, develop
and deliver information exploitation solutions for the
SAF. He believes an excellent solution must be a gamechanging one, and to achieve this, Gee Wah and his team
will continue to do their best to understand and fulfil the
SAF’s unique operational requirements.
”He believes an excellent
solution must be a gamechanging one, and to
achieve this, Gee Wah
and his team will continue
to do their best to
understand and fulfil the
SAF’s unique operational
requirements.“
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
Autonomy
Module
for Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs)
The USV is an emerging system with various applications in
maritime operations. These include the effective use of USVs in
potentially dangerous tasks such as patrol sorties and the investigation of
suspicious vessels or objects to reduce human exposure to harm.
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
The USV autonomy module developed by DSO is a
software module that provides the USV with the capability
to perform safe, autonomous navigation with collision
avoidance that follows some of the critical rules in the
1972 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions
at Sea (COLREGS). It also enables higher level behaviour
such as the pursuit of a user-designated target vessel.
The modular architecture of the autonomy module makes
it easy to reconfigure it for different kinds of missions. It
is made up of the task commander, global planner, local
planner, trajectory parser, health monitor, and track
fusion components. The module is tied together by a
middleware allowing each component to interface with
internal and external systems.
In ensuring collision avoidance, the manoeuvre generator
in the local planner produces a variety of manoeuvres
based on the operator-desired navigation path. The
manoeuvre generator uses a low fidelity autopilot model
to forward simulate the trajectory that conforms to the
USV’s dynamics. The set of candidate manoeuvres are
then evaluated against a set of criteria that includes
the maintenance of a minimum distance with other
vessels.
This evaluation process also considers multiple
hypotheses on how other vessels intend to move. The
multi-stage evaluation process works by systematically
eliminating the worst candidates. The candidates are first
pruned using the top level criterion, and the remaining
candidates are passed through subsequent criteria until
only one candidate remains. This method of selection
allows multiple criteria to be met at different levels,
without having any criterion dominate the selection early
in the process.
Since the evaluation process considers multiple
hypotheses on other vessels’ intended movements at
sea, this makes the decision robust to changes in the
motion of the vessels. Less probable hypotheses are
chained lower in the selection process, and activated
only when there are candidate manoeuvres remaining.
This allows for graceful degradation in demanding
situations such as a congested environment. Higher level
behaviours, such as the pursuit of target vessels, are built
on top of this safe navigation capability.
24
USV autonomy module.
˝DSO is now integrating the
USV autonomy module with an
experimental vessel developed
by Singapore Technologies
Electronics to enable testing
during sea trials.˝
Architecture of DSO’s autonomy module for a USV.
To facilitate the testing of autonomy components, auxiliary
software tools were also developed. A simulator was built
by modifying existing open-source software. A threedegree-of-freedom ship model and sensor models were
added, while the existing 3D visualisation was extended.
An operator control station was similarly built on opensource GIS software. The control station connects via the
same middleware and allows the USV autonomy module
to be controlled through a GUI front end.
Together, the simulator and the control station provide
a test bed for the autonomy software to be thoroughly
tested before its integration with external subsystems.
DSO is now integrating the USV autonomy module
with an experimental vessel developed by Singapore
Technologies Electronics to enable testing during sea
trials.
Generation and selection of possible manoeuvres.
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
AUV technologies
have been advancing
in the past decade to meet
the challenging autonomous
unmanned operations tasks required
by both the commercial and scientific
community. In the military domain, AUVs can
be employed to effectively carry out the perilous task
of detecting and clearing underwater mines. While AUVs are
commercially available, DSO has been able to develop more
robust AUVs that can operate and perform well in the complex
and challenging operating environment of Singapore’s littoral
waters.
Autonomous
Underwater
Vehicle (AUV)
Payloads and Capabilities
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Sonar
(DF-SAS) Array
Since the early 2000s, DSO has developed two AUV
test beds, the Sea-i and Meredith AUV. The vehicles are
designed to be highly modular and adaptive to various
payload additions. Over the years, the AUVs have
demonstrated various capabilities such as waypoint
following, and depth and attitude keeping.
The AUVs have also been equipped with advanced
Obstacle Detection and Avoidance (ODA) algorithms
to perform image processing and path planning using a
forward-looking multi-beam sonar. Mine detection is
also an important capability incorporated into the AUVs
to perform Computer-Aided Detection/Computer-Aided
Classification (CAD/CAC) using a side-scan sonar. The
advanced algorithm employs complex image processing
and recognition to derive the properties and classification
level of the detected objects.
DSO has future plans to design and develop a larger and
more advanced class of AUVs to carry more sophisticated
payloads such as High Frequency Synthetic Aperture
Sonar (HF-SAS) or Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture
Sonar.
Conventional
SSS image of a
sunken vessel.
DSO and Microfine Materials Technologies (MMT) have
jointly developed a DF-SAS array based on PZN-PT single
crystal transducers.
Sea-i AUV:
DSO’s 1st generation AUV.
ODA Capability:
Demonstration of
obstacle detection
and avoidance
during a sea trial.
Mine Detection
Capability:
Demonstration of
target detection and
classification during a
sea trial.
SAS is an underwater imaging technique that provides
superior along-track resolution as well as image contrast
compared to conventional Side Scan Sonar (SSS) imaging.
Unlike conventional SSS where the azimuth resolution
degrades with increasing range, SAS along-track
resolution is range-independent. The principle of SAS is
based on the coherent summation of a multitude of pings
in order to achieve a large virtual aperture.
The DF-SAS array is designed to transmit and receive
simultaneously in both a High Frequency and a Low
Frequency band. A DF imaging system improves the
probability of detecting and classifying small underwater
objects, including partially buried ones that SSS systems
operating in much higher frequency regimes are usually
unable to detect.
SAS image of a
sunken vessel.
A comparison between
a Low Frequency SAS
image (top) and High
Frequency SSS image
(bottom). Only the Low
Frequency SAS detected
buried objects.
The use of PZN-PT single crystal piezoelectric
transducers has enabled superior bandwidth (low
Q-factor) over conventional PZT ceramics used in most
sonar systems today. In the Low Frequency band, the
transducer has a Q-factor of 2.5, and in the High Frequency
band, the transducer has a Q-factor of 5.0. Due to its large
bandwidth and SAS capability, the array is able to achieve
decimetre and centimetre SAS image resolution in the
Low Frequency and High Frequency band respectively.
When incorporated into a larger class of AUVs or
Unmanned Surface Vehicles, the DF-SAS array will
provide an added dimension to unmanned operations.
˝The AUVs have also been equipped
with advanced Obstacle Detection
and Avoidance (ODA) algorithms to
perform image processing and path
planning using a forward-looking
multi-beam sonar.˝
28
Man-Machine Interface (MMI): A graphical user interface
displaying vehicle telemetry and playback of various stages in
the image processing and path planning results within the ODA .
Low Frequency and High Frequency transmitter/receiver array
arrangement and associated transmit beam pattern plots.
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
The Sensor
Array
Research
Programme
(SARP)
In collaboration with Temasek Laboratories at Nanyang Technological
University (TL@NTU), the SARP was established in 2007 to expand
DSO’s indigenous capabilities in communication exploitation.
Another research pursuit that has yielded exciting
results is in Parsimonious Array Processing. This has led
to the development of an extremely compact Direction
Finding (DF) solution. Conventional DF approaches require
multiple antennas and a matching number of receivers to
determine the Direction Of Arrival (DOA) of co-channel
sources and multi-paths impinging the array. The
proposed approach is able to achieve similar capability
with power measurements from a single antenna. This
was achieved by an innovative reformulation of the DF
problem of locating a string of Diracs sparsely distributed
in the angular space, which in turn allows the application of
compressive sensing methodologies for DOA estimation.
The algorithm has been verified and has shown promising
performance in real data evaluation.
Beyond Array Processing, the SARP has also built up core
competencies in sensor development and wireless geolocation technologies. Moving forward, DSO will continue
to work closely with the SARP to contextualise upstream
research relevant to defence applications.
As a proof-of-concept, the SARP built a DF System according
to the block diagram above. Experiments were conducted
using two spatially separated antennas transmitting singletone sinusoidal at 900Mhz. 16 power measurements were
collected when the DF antenna was mechanically rotated
randomly from 0 to 360 degrees. A digital compass was used
to record the steering direction with respect to true North.
Since its inception, the SARP’s scope of research has
grown from the physics of the signal processes and
sensors, to mathematical formulations and algorithm
developments, as well as implementation issues and
experimental investigations.
With DSO’s research engineers as adjunct Research
Scientists working closely with NTU academia and
eminent scientists from various countries such as
Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and USA, the SARP has
been developing innovative sensor array processing
technologies.
Signal enhancement with the SARP’s robust
adaptive array beamforming algorithm.
One example is in the area of Robust Array Processing
where the SARP successfully developed a novel
adaptive beamforming algorithm that is robust against
general array and signal uncertainties. Its efficacy
was demonstrated in a real data environment where
it consistently outperformed other robust adaptive
beamforming algorithms reported in literature. This
technology has been transited to DSO to further improve
and refine the proposed algorithm for use in an operational
environment.
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
”For Samson,
pushing the
boundaries
goes beyond
achieving technical
excellence. He
works with young
researchers to
groom the next
generation of
research scientists
and engineers, and
enjoys identifying
the next big
challenge.“
Dr Samson See
DISTINGUISHED MEMBER OF TECHNICAL STAFF
Networks Division
Area of research: Communications Signal Processing
Years in DSO: 18
EXPLORING
UNCHARTED
TERRITORIES
Samson’s fascination with signal processing research
began during his university days. Given the opportunity
to investigate his supervisor’s concept of communication
channel equalisation using ideas from pattern recognition
techniques, the project provided Samson an insight into
the amazing results that signal processing could achieve.
It was an inspiring experience that seeded in him the value
of exploring ideas beyond the traditional.
possible performance. His research could no longer rely
on traditional methods. New mathematical ideas beyond
the traditional domain have to be explored.
When Samson joined DSO in 1992, he recalled investigating
the problem of antenna array calibration. He was able
to achieve better performance when the receivers and
antenna coupling were appropriately compensated. It was
an intriguing experience; one that helped set his research
goal – to develop array signal processing algorithms that
work robustly in a real environment.
Besides being the Programme Head at DSO’s
Communications Research Laboratory, Samson is also
an adjunct Principal Investigator of the Sensor Array
Research Programme; a unique collaboration between
DSO and TL@NTU to develop innovative sensor array
processing technologies.
To do so, Samson is faced with the constant challenge of
breaking performance asymptotes of current approaches.
With each new signal type, he believes there are new
structures to be uncovered, new models to be formulated,
and algorithms to be developed to achieve the best
32
Over the past 18 years, Samson has published more than
50 peer-reviewed journals and conference papers. He
has also served as the Associate Editor of the prestigious
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
For Samson, pushing the boundaries goes beyond
achieving technical excellence. He works with young
researchers to groom the next generation of research
scientists and engineers, and enjoys identifying the next
big challenge. As every dedicated researcher like Samson
would put it, “this certainly cannot be left to chance.”
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DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
Studying the
Genetics
of Military Relevant Diseases
As biology advances and becomes more accessible
to the average man on the street, the potential to
cheaply and conveniently unmask our genetic
codes is fast becoming a reality. The revelations
from the human genome will have a
tremendous impact on society,
with implications on both clinical
and military applications.
DSO’s work in genomic and proteomic technologies
has led to new ways in which these technologies can be
harnessed and applied to military medicine. Genomic and
proteomic technologies are exciting, not only because
of the depth and rigour of the science, but also the
opportunity to translate this knowledge into the hands
of prospective users as quickly as possible. The challenge
is to establish gene, protein or metabolite markers that
associate specifically to a particular disease. Conditions
such as obesity, hypertension, heart rhythm disorders
and trauma have serious consequences to safety, training
and performance in the military.
By better characterising these diseases, DSO aims to
develop solutions to identify individuals at risk, perhaps
even before symptoms become apparent, and transform
the standards of care, protection and treatment in the
SAF.
Dr Mahesh Uttamchandani, from DSO’s Defence
Medical & Environmental Research Institute specialises
in microarrays – one of the key drivers of genomics
and proteomics research. He recently co-edited a
book entitled “Small Molecule Microarrays”, which was
published by Humana Press in 2010.
A diagram of the SCN5a protein, which forms a channel that opens
and closes at specific times, to control the flow of sodium ions into
cardiac cells. Mutations in the gene result in changes to single protein
building blocks (amino acids) in the SCN5a protein, affecting its function.
These mutations cause heart rhythm disorders, such as Long QT and
Brugada syndromes, that can result in sudden cardiac death. Identifying
mutations prevalent amongst Singaporeans may help in stratifying
individuals at risk early, even before symptoms become apparent.
Cell
exterior
Plasma
membrane
Cytoplasm
Mutations responsible for
Brugada Syndrome
Long QT Syndrome 3
Brugada and Long QT Syndrome 3
Platforms like microarrays facilitate rapid screening of genetic and
proteomic biomarkers. On a single glass slide, tens of thousands of
biochemical tests may be conducted in high-throughput, providing large
datasets for comparative biomarker analysis, as shown in the coloured
heatmap.
75mm
A microarray layout with zoomed
image showing the word 'DSO'.
Screened against thousands of analytes
25
˝DSO’s work in genomic and proteomic technologies has led to
new ways in which these technologies can be harnessed and
applied to military medicine. ˝
m
m
Samples
1 2 3 4
0%
Relative
binding
intensity
100%
Raw data from an
individual grid.
34
Processed microarray data.
35
DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
Better Protection Against
Emerging
Infectious
Diseases
The combined production capacity of global vaccine suppliers is insufficient
to meet global demand during the initial phase of a pandemic. This
contributes to the tremendous stress and uncertainty imposed on a
country’s economic and social well being, as exemplified by the SARS
outbreak and the H1N1 pandemic in recent years.
Advances in molecular biology have allowed influenzaspecific neutralising antibodies to be manufactured in
vitro, and stockpiled in large quantities prior to a pandemic
as an alternative mitigation option. Initial exploration of
this approach by DSO and St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital in the United States, has shown that antibodies
targeting the hemagglutinin of highly pathogenic
H5N1 when used as prophylaxis or therapy can be
protective. Using the human Fab library to select for
broadly neutralising antibodies that recognise conserved
targets in the hemagglutinin, protection efficacy of
these antibodies against multiple influenza strains was
evaluated.
Five of these antibodies revealed the ability to neutralise
the uptake of H5N1 virus-like particles, and were able
to provide a high level of protection against lethal
virus challenge with attenuated H5N1 virus, with
two antibodies (anti-HA#4 and anti-HA#12) showing
complete protection. These antibodies were also shown
to be effective against a number of H1N1 influenza viruses,
including an isolate from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
Influenza A viruses can be classified broadly into two
phylogenetic groups based on the conserved structures
of the hemagglutinin; Group 1 (H1, H5 etc) and Group
36
2 (H3 and H7 etc). Currently, efforts are focused on
isolating antibodies which can bind the second group
of hemagglutinins. If successful, together with the
antibodies described here, we will have a small panel of
protective passive antibodies that will provide a viable
strategy in fighting an emerging influenza pandemic
caused either by the H5N1 or H1N1 virus, or viruses with
other hemagglutinin subtypes.
In recent years, the innate immune system has been
recognised to play a pivotal role in vaccine-generated
immunity. One of DSO’s research objectives is to develop
effective medical countermeasures for emerging
infectious agents through better understanding of our
immune system.
˝One of DSO’s research objectives
is to develop effective medical
countermeasures for emerging
infectious agents through better
understanding of our immune
system.˝
37
DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
In collaboration with NewBioMed PIKA and the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an
institute under the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
in the United States, DSO has evaluated the feasibility
of mobilising the innate immune system as a strategy
to circumvent limited vaccine supply, and to maximise
vaccine coverage in pandemic situations. The results
demonstrated that when incorporating an analogue of
double-stranded ribonucleic acid, PIKA, robust immune
responses were achieved using only a fraction of the dose
required from administering the influenza vaccine alone,
and showed complete protection against a number of
highly pathogenic avian H5N1 viruses (commonly known
as ‘bird-flu’) in mice.
This finding has important implications given the
projections of a limited supply of pandemic influenza
vaccines.
DSO also discovered that PIKA could be used as a
prophylactic antiviral drug. When administered alone intranasally, it inhibited the replication of different subtypes
of influenza viruses, including swine H1N1 and avian H5N1
influenza viruses in mice. The co-administration with
oseltamivir (Tamiflu) also led to a synergistic effect in
inhibiting H5N1 viral replication which could slow down the
appearance of a Tamiflu-resistant mutant. Furthermore,
as PIKA activates the anti-viral mechanisms of the innate
immune system rather than inhibiting specific pathogens
directly, it opens up the possibility of using one drug for
treating multiple viral pathogens.
With the promising results from these animal studies, DSO
is currently evaluating the potency of PIKA in activating
human cells as a proof-of-principle study to support the
use of PIKA as a broad spectrum, anti-viral and adjuvant for
human use.
Animal studies highlighting
protective efficacy against lethal
challenge with H5N1 or 1934
H1N1 viruses and non-lethal
challenge with 2009 H1N1
‘pandemic’ virus. Antibodies
were added either 1 day before
(prophylaxis) or 2 days after
(treatment) infection.
(Above) Data demonstrating that administration of PIKA inhibited replication of a broad
spectrum of influenza viruses in the lungs of mice.
(Left) Data demonstrating that co-administration of PIKA improved the
immunogenicity of an H5N1 subunit vaccine, with an antigen-sparing effect.
38
˝With the promising results from
these animal studies, DSO is
currently evaluating the potency
of PIKA in activating human cells
as a proof-of-principle study to
support the use of PIKA as a broad
spectrum, anti-viral and adjuvant
for human use.˝
39
DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
Bioelectronics
Models of biology provide
inspiration for improving
the performance of
engineering systems.
Complex biological
systems such as the
cochlea, our organ for
hearing, and the vocal tract,
our speech production
apparatus, may be
modelled with electronic
circuits and provide
engineering inspiration for
building better artificial
hearing and speaking
systems. At the same
time, circuit modelling
of biology can provide
engineering insight into
biological systems. For
example, circuit models of
the heart can shed light
on cardiac and circulatory
malfunction.
A time domain waveform and spectrogram of the word “Technology” synthesised by an integrated circuit model of the vocal tract.
in an analysis-by-synthesis feedback loop. In biological
systems, feedback loops play a crucial role in ensuring
robust operation in changing environments. In this vein,
DSO has been working on a speech analysis and synthesis
system that combines an auditory processor with a lowpower bionic vocal tract in a feedback configuration. This is
the first known experimental prototype of an integrated
circuit vocal tract that is based on a physiological model
of the human speech production system. Such a bioinspired vocal tract can improve speech recognition in
noise by re-synthesising clean speech from noisy speech.
Bio-inspired circuit architectures can also be derived for
the visual system. Vision processing tasks, such as motion
sensing and tracking, are essential for navigation and
robotic systems. Presently, the computational algorithms
for such tasks have a huge processing overhead and
consequently, require dedicated, power-hungry parallel
hardware for real-time performance. Using a circuit model
of the human eye, the external plexiform layer of the
retina can be modelled with coupled resistive networks of
interconnected photodetectors and analogue processing
elements. This enables the implementation of highly
parallel, low-power electronic circuit architectures for
spatial and temporal filtering.
From an engineering perspective, bio-inspired systems
excel in noise-robust, ultra-energy-efficient sensing
and signal processing tasks. Using the engineering
insight derived from studying biology, DSO aims to
achieve compact, high performance front-ends for
audio and vision processing systems through Very Large
Scale Integration (VLSI) on silicon. Such bio-inspired
devices could dramatically improve the performance
and operational capabilities of current battlefield sensor
networks.
The human speech and hearing system, comprising the
vocal tract and ears, synthesises and recognises speech
40
A block diagram representation of a bio-inspired feedback loop that
models the human speech and hearing system.
While gleaning insight from biological systems can
potentially lead to better engineering, there is a need to
do so discerningly and in the appropriate engineering
context. DSO will continue to evaluate bio-inspired
architectures with the same objective rigour applied to
traditional engineering systems, and understand where
the engineering impact could be derived.
˝DSO will continue to evaluate
bio-inspired architectures
with the same objective rigour
applied to traditional engineering
systems, and understand where
the engineering impact could be
derived.˝
41
DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
”Keng Hoong
believes in making
a difference; both
in the lives of his
students, and
to the defence
capabilities of
the SAF.“
Dr Wee Keng Hoong
Senior Member of Technical Staff
Electronic Systems Division
Area of research: Advanced Electronics
Years in DSO: 11
Making A
Difference
Keng Hoong’s passion for electrical and electronic
systems was sparked when he received his first computer
in secondary school. Since then, he has not looked back,
graduating with a Master's in Electrical Engineering
from Tohoku University, Japan. He later pursued a PhD
in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Complementing his work at DSO, Keng Hoong is also an
Adjunct Assistant Professor in the National University
of Singapore’s Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering. This allows him to stay updated with the
latest developments in his field of research, and to share
his passion for research with students to inspire the next
generation of scientists and engineers.
His current research focus is in bioelectronics – the
development of biologically inspired electronic devices.
Keng Hoong believes that these devices hold the key to
enhancing the performance and capability of battlefield
sensors, providing the SAF with a crucial force multiplier
effect. “On the battlefield, it makes a huge difference
when you can hear better and see further.”
Keng Hoong believes in making a difference; both in the
lives of his students, and to the defence capabilities of
the SAF. There will be many unknown challenges ahead
in Keng Hoong’s quest to develop electronic devices
that mimic biological systems, but they do not deter him.
And it is this determination that will inspire Keng Hoong
to continuously push the boundaries of science and
engineering to make a difference.
Through his work in bioelectronics, Keng Hoong derives an
immense satisfaction from understanding the deep nature
of things. It is the pursuit of this insight that has allowed
him to make new discoveries in his research. One such
example is the development of a bio-inspired integrated
circuit vocal tract – the first known experimental
prototype of its kind. However, biological systems are
much more complex and comprise distributed control
architectures that operate over multiple scales in space
and time. It is not trivial to construct a similar system with
state-of-the-art engineering that is robust and stable.
So, while some crucial progress has been achieved, there
are still more discoveries to be made.
42
43
DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
Mixed-signal
Radio
Frequency
Integrated
Circuit (RFIC)
Miniaturised electronic subsystems are becoming key enabling
technologies for advanced military systems as they offer many
advantages in performance, size, weight and reliability.
With the recent developments in silicon device
technologies for Radio Frequency (RF) and microwave
applications, it will be possible to implement low cost
and highly integrated RF chips, such as transmit/receive
modules for sensor and communications applications,
using Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)
technology in the future. The main benefit of CMOS
technology is the incorporation of all the microwave
functions, complex digital functions and Direct Current
(DC) conditioning circuits in a single silicon chip.
DSO has been building up its capability in the design of
high density CMOS Integrated Circuits. Recently, a RF
CMOS Amplifier and a Single Pole, Double Throw (SPDT)
Switch capable of operating across 100% bandwidth, a
Bandgap reference and a Digital Controller have been
successfully taped out at a foundry. These were jointly
designed by DSO and Nanyang Polytechnic’s (NYP)
RF Amplifier
Chip Area: 1 x 1 mm2
44
SPDT Switch
Chip Area: 0.2 x 0.1 mm2
Innovation Centre for Application Specific Integrated
Circuits (iCASIC). With these circuits as a base, the
development of a complete mixed-signal RFIC design
capability is the next step.
The key challenge in mixed-signal RFIC design is the
substrate coupling noise from the digital blocks into
the RF and analogue circuitry due to the lossy silicon
substrate. Scaling has also brought challenges to the
Analogue/RF design. Although scaling of the CMOS
technology has improved the speed (ft/fmax) of the
CMOS transistor and digital processor, it has also
increased the gate leakage current, 1/f noise, degraded
linearity and resulted in low voltage headroom.
DSO will continue to adopt new paradigms in Analogue/
RF design to overcome the limitations imposed by the
scaling of CMOS technology.
Bandgap Reference
Chip Area: 0.5 x 0.25 mm2
Digital Controller
Chip Area: 35 x 5 um2
45
DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
˝Technological advancements have enabled multiple functions
and a wide operating frequency
range to be incorporated within a
RF module.˝
Defence systems require RF modules to be small,
lightweight with low power usage. It must also be
ruggedised and ready for harsh environmental conditions
such as mechanical shock, random vibrations, acceleration
and extreme temperatures.
Currently, most RF modules are designed with multiple
channels and have a wide dynamic range. Despite the
increase in architecture complexity, RF modules are
expected to achieve better electrical performance. Other
challenges in RF modular design include achieving good
isolation between channels, typically better than 65dB,
and efficient thermal management due to high dynamic
range active components within a module size of only
16cm x 10cm x 2cm.
Radio
Frequency (RF)
Module
Technology
RF modules are an essential subsystem in sensing, imaging and
communication systems. Technological advancements have enabled
multiple functions and a wide operating frequency range to be
incorporated within a RF module.
46
During the prototyping phase, the structural integrity and
thermal behaviour of the RF modules are predicted by
analyses and validated by qualification tests. Prototypes
also undergo a Functional Qualification Test (FQT),
Environmental Qualification Test (EQT) and Highly
Accelerated Life Test (HALT) to determine if the design
meets stringent requirements before production takes
place. These help to ensure that DSO’s RF modules
are ruggedised to withstand severe environmental
conditions.
DSO has been building up its capability in the
miniaturisation and production of advanced RF modules
to overcome these challenges. The miniaturisation of RF
modules is made possible through the use of Monolithic
Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) bare dies, with
DSO designed thin film passive components on mixed
dielectric multi-layer Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs).
Components are packaged into two separate
compartments in a 2cm-thick metal chassis. Two multilayer PCBs are densely populated with low profile surface
mounted components on both sides, and channels are
isolated by metal walls to prevent Electromagnetic (EM)
cross-coupling. The compartment housing the hybrid
microelectronics assembly is laser hermetically sealed to
prevent exposure to humidity and corrosion.
(Above) MMIC dies and thin
film passive components on
mixed dielectric, multi-layer
PCB, isolated by channelised
wall.
(Left) Dual compartment
packaging concept for high
component density design.
85
86.379
87.758
89.137
90.516
91.896
The multi-layer PCB structure and signal transition design
enables the criss-crossing of high frequency signal
traces in the inner layers of the PCB. Component and high
frequency transition designs are simulated and optimised
using EM simulators to reduce iteration cycles.
93.275
94.654
96.033
97.412
98.515
Thermal analysis to identify
hot-spots on a RF module.
47
DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
TwoDimensional
(2D) Braiding
Technology
Braiding is a simple interlocking of two or more fibres or fibre bundles
to produce a near net-shape fibrous preform. Virtually any fibre with
a reasonable degree of flexibility and surface lubricity can be braided
into fibrous structures and turned into composites. Typical engineering
fibres include Aramid, Carbon, Ceramics, Fibreglass and Quartz.
DSO has installed a seven-axis 2D braiding machine
coupled with an in-house proprietary Computer Aided
Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
software. DSO’s braiding machine is capable of continuous
braiding over a wide variety of mandrel shapes and sizes. It
has the ability to produce braids in single or multiple layers
with tremendous hoop strength, as well as longitudinal
strength and rigidity.
The high productivity of braiding makes it a costeffective alternative to traditional wet-laying and prepreg/autoclave processes in producing composites.
This relatively low-cost, reliable and reproducible
manufacturing technique in net-shape braiding is also
emerging to become the fabrication technology of choice.
By virtue of its ability to conform to complex shapes, the
braids can be used in the production of components such
as fuselages, wings and even frames for Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles.
DSO’s 2D braiding machine opens new avenues in the
design, development and fabrication of multi-functional
and smart composites.
48
Bi-axial Braid.
Tri-axial Braid.
˝DSO’s 2D braiding machine opens new avenues in
the design, development and fabrication of multifunctional and smart composites.˝
49
DSO Highlights 09/10 BUILDING INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES
DATA FARMING
For Robust Operations Analysis
Operations Analysis (OA) plays an important role in our
military’s decision support framework. As the operational
context becomes increasingly complex, there is a need to conduct
simulation-based experiments and studies to help commanders
explore more scenarios to better understand the potential outcomes.
Due to the exploratory nature of these studies, it is
desirable to explore as many factors as possible, over a
wide range of levels.
However, these requirements pose several challenges
to conventional OA capabilities. Classical Experiment
Designs such as Factorial Designs become inefficient
and even inadequate when the number of experimental
factors and levels grow too large. For example, a Full
Factorial Design of 20 factors at 10 levels each, will result
in 1020 variations. This large amount of data generated
also makes analysis difficult.
DSO has developed a Systematic Data Farming (SDF)
capability to overcome these challenges. DSO’s SDF uses
Latin HyperCube (LHC) designs to identify a set of good
experimental design points; fast-running simulations
in High Performance Computing (HPC) clusters for data
farming; and a Clustering and Outlier Analysis for Data
Mining (COADM) tool to discover, and visualise interesting
clusters and outliers in the data farming output.
˝With SDF, ART and ACE as
key technology components,
DSO has achieved a
capability that significantly
contributes to robust OA. This capability has been used
and will continue to be used
to support many OA studies.˝
50
This allows the exploration of a more complete landscape
of possible system responses, rather than attempting
to pinpoint one answer. This thus enables the making of
more informed and robust decisions.
DSO has also developed two additional capabilities
to complement its SDF technology. The first is an
Automated Red Teaming (ART) one-sided optimiser
that uses Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs), HPC and fastrunning simulations to uncover exploitable gaps in military
operational concepts to complement the Manual Red
Teaming effort.
The second is an Automated Co-Evolution (ACE) twosided optimiser that uses Competitive Co-Evolutionary
Algorithms (CCEAs), HPC and fast running simulations to
study the dynamics of competition in a military context.
Both ART and ACE search through the parameter space
to identify the optimised value for each parameter with
respect to the objective of the OA study. With SDF,
ART and ACE as key technology components, DSO has
achieved a capability that significantly contributes to
robust OA. This capability has been used and will continue
to be used to support many OA studies.
DSO will continue to work closely with the International
Data Farming Community, whose activities are organised
under the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
Modelling and Simulation Task Group 88. These activities
include the study of problems linked to Maritime Security,
Peace Support Operations and Urban Operations.
51
DSO Highlights 09/10 Marks of Distinction
MARKS OF
DISTINCTION
Passionate, Determined and Bold. These are the qualities that distinguish
DSO’s research scientists and engineers, empowering them to push the
technology envelope to succeed at our core mission.
In pioneering technological advancements to strengthen
Singapore’s national security, they have continuously
demonstrated their ability to seamlessly blend multiple
disciplines of science and technology to innovate cuttingedge defence applications for the SAF.
As a testament of our success, DSO has been a consistent
recipient of the prestigious Defence Technology Prize,
including six awards in 2009.
Individual Award, R&D Category
Dr Geoffrey Tan Eng Beng
Distinguished Member of Technical Staff
Guided Systems Division
Over the years, Dr Tan has designed and developed
several advanced and innovative energetic systems for
the SAF. He has also spearheaded the development of
critical test facilities for energetic systems to ensure
their safety and effectiveness. For his outstanding
achievements and contributions to Singapore’s defence,
Dr Tan was awarded the 2009 Individual Defence
Technology Prize for Research and Development.
Individual Award, Engineering Category
William Lau Yue Khei
Deputy Chief Research and Technology Officer
(Sensor Systems)*
Ministry of Defence
*Currently Chief Technology Officer and concurrent Director,
Networks Division, DSO
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Mr Teo Chee Hean
presenting Individual Awards to Dr Geoffrey Tan Eng Beng (left) and
William Lau Yue Khei (right).
52
William has made significant contributions to our
defence eco-system. Starting out as a research
engineer in DSO, William was one of our early pioneers
in real-time command and control systems. He was also
instrumental in the development of many other critical
capabilities in MINDEF, including advanced software and
information security capabilities. Through his various
appointments in the defence eco-system, he has also
contributed significantly to acquisition management,
technology collaboration and R&D master planning.
For his outstanding leadership and contributions to
Singapore's defence, William was awarded the 2009
Individual Defence Technology Prize for Engineering.
53
DSO Highlights 09/10 Marks of Distinction
TEAM AWARD, R&D CATEGORY
The Advanced Antenna Team
The Advanced Antenna Team from DSO's, Emerging Systems Division
has developed critical in-country antenna capabilities over the last
decade, and delivered a number of highly innovative antenna solutions
in support of many defence system developments for the SAF. In
recognition of the Team’s outstanding achievements, it was awarded the
2009 Team Defence Technology Prize for Research and Development.
Team Members
Mr Peng Beng Tian Lab Head
Dr Chia Tse Tong Distinguished Member of Technical Staff
Dr Zhang Xian Zhong Principal Member of Technical Staff
Dr Lu Jian Principal Member of Technical Staff
Dr Chio Tan Huat Principal Member of Technical Staff
Mr Ang Teng Wah Principal Member of Technical Staff
Ms Soh Guat Choo Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Lim Wai Yean Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Oh Hock Kwee Senior Member of Technical Staff
Ms Huang Yingying Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Loh Kar Wing Isaac Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Lum Wai Keong Member of Technical Staff
Mr Lim Zi Wei Member of Technical Staff
Ms Ho Kwee Yian Member of Technical Staff
Mr Gan Theng Huat Member of Technical Staff
Mr Wong Hon Seng Daniel Senior Assistant Engineer
Mr Chee Sing Woh Senior Assistant Engineer
Ms Poh Chiew Yen Associate Engineer
The Advanced Radar Team
The Advanced Radar Team from DSO’s Sensors Division has successfully
developed a radar system, incorporating innovative radar concepts that
will significantly enhance the SAF's surveillance capability. In recognition
of the Team's outstanding achievement, it was awarded the 2009 Team
Defence Technology Prize for Research and Development.
Team Members
Mr Tan Ngee Leng Programme Director
Dr Ang Wee Peng Lab Head
Mr Low Hwee Min Charles Principal Member of Technical Staff
Ms Li Ai Ping Principal Member of Technical Staff
Dr Lu Jian Principal Member of Technical Staff
Mr Quek Yee Kian Senior Member of Technical Staff
Ms Tey Shuwen Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Ang Eng Hian Senior Member of Technical Staff
Ms Liu Xiao Ping Senior Member of Technical Staff
Ms Wei Ping Senior Member of Technical Staff
Ms Sim Hwee Kiang Member of Technical Staff
54
The Infocomm Security Team
The Infocomm Security Team from DSO’s Information Division has
established an in-country capability that significantly enhances the
security of the SAF's infocomm infrastructure. In recognition of its
outstanding achievement, the Team was awarded the 2009 Team
Defence Technology Prize for Research and Development.
Team Members
Mr Tan Sze Yan Principal Member of Technical Staff
Mr Cheong Chee Kum Kenneth Principal Member of Technical Staff
Mr Ong Chee Eng Principal Member of Technical Staff
Mr Wong Yip Heng Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Tan Chee Wei Alvin Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Ng Sy Jang Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Seah Bee Huat Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Toh Chi Keong Raymond Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Tan Hua Min David Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Oo Fock Ming Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Tan Chee Leong Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Sing Jiun Shin Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Khoo Wei Ming Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Tey Chee Meng Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Lim Beng Hwa Daniel Senior Assistant Engineer
Mr Chen Kin Siong Member of Technical Staff
TEAM AWARD, ENGINEERING CATEGORY
Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Team
(DSO, the Singapore Army, DSTA and ST Aerospace)
The Mini UAV Team from DSTA, DSO, the Singapore Army, and ST
Aerospace, has successfully designed, developed and produced
indigenously, a man-portable mini UAV for the SAF to enhance its
tactical surveillance capability. In recognition of its outstanding
achievement, the Team was awarded the 2009 Team Defence
Technology Prize for Engineering.
DSO Team Members
Mr Lim Kok Yong Programme Manager
Mr Loh Hon Leong Boyd Senior Member of Technical Staff
Mr Teng Chee Peng Alvin Senior Member of Technical Staff
˝As a testament of our success, DSO has been a
consistent recipient of the prestigious Defence
Technology Prize, including six awards in 2009.˝
55
DSO Highlights 09/10 Marks of Distinction
Dr Geoffrey Tan
DISTINGUISHED MEMBER OF TECHNICAL STAFF
Guided Systems Division
Area of research: Energetic Systems
Years in DSO: 21
An
Unwavering
Belief
Geoffrey attributes his passion for defence science to
growing up with war comics and model airplanes. In 1989,
he started work at DSO in the area of structural dynamics.
When he returned with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering
from Cambridge University in 1997, Geoffrey found that
DSO’s structural dynamics programme was already well
established. This defined his biggest challenge in DSO and
his foray into energetic systems, which DSO was trying to
establish an indigenous capability in.
It was a secretive domain about which other experts
in the field were unwilling to share their knowledge.
However, the lack of prior knowledge did not deter
Geoffrey, and he took to task the difficult journey of
building up DSO’s capability in energetic systems. It was
an area with unexplored potential, and Geoffrey believed
that the achievements ahead could lead to a significant
contribution to the SAF’s capabilities.
In the early days, Geoffrey credits the support from
management for providing him with the critical
opportunity to test his work in realistic conditions and
scenarios. He is thankful to a strong team, both within and
outside DSO that supported his work.
56
”As a dedicated
research engineer,
Geoffrey believes that
for DSO to be relevant,
there can be no letup
in the desire to develop
new capabilities and
the need to expand
the spectrum of
advanced designs.“
From concept design to full scale development, Geoffrey
has found energetic systems to be a technology area
that holds tremendous excitement for him. This feeling
remains unchanged today, and he feels a special sense
of elation when difficult trials succeed, and a sense
of satisfaction when his designs are finally fielded in
operational systems.
Over the span of two decades, Geoffrey has won three
DTP awards including an individual DTP award for R&D
in 2009. For Geoffrey, winning the 2009 DTP award is a
vindication of his work in developing effective energetic
systems for the SAF, and providing them with a decisive
edge on the battlefield. He was also given two Best
Teacher Awards in the National University of Singapore’s
Temasek Defence Systems Institute.
As a dedicated research engineer, Geoffrey believes that
for DSO to be relevant, there can be no letup in the desire
to develop new capabilities, and the need to expand the
spectrum of advanced designs. He has ambitious plans
to design the next generation of advanced energetic
systems and to expand DSO’s capability in this technology
area.
57
DSO Highlights 09/10 STRENGTHENING EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS
STRENGTHENING EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS
DSO’s win-win partnerships with research institutes around the world have expanded our
resources and enhanced our capability build-up. In 2009/10, we hosted numerous visits for our
global partners, as we continue to collaborate and benchmark our work against international
standards.
2009
May
IGA Nathalie Lelaizant Guillou,
Director, The French Centre for
Higher Studies in Armament,
France
August
Mr Joe Sciabica, Executive Director,
The Air Force Research Laboratory,
USA
November
Dr Warren Harch, Deputy Chief
Defence Scientist (Information
and Weapon Systems),
Defence Science & Technology
Organisation, Australia
58
July
Mr René Larose, Chief of Staff for
the Assistant Deputy Minister
(Science and Technology), Defence
Research and Development
Agency, Canada
October
Mr Paul Stein, Director-General
(Science & Technology), Ministry of
Defence, United Kingdom
November
IGA Laurent Collet-Billon, DirectorGeneral, Délégue Générale Pour
L'Armement, France
2010
July
Mr Erwin Bernhard, Director,
Research & Technology, RÜ
IV, Bundesministerium der
Verteidigung (Federal Ministry of
Defence), Germany
October
RADM Nevin P. Carr, Jr, Chief of
Naval Research, USA
January
Dr Steven Aoki, Deputy
Under Secretary of Energy for
Counterterrorism, United States
Department of Energy, USA
April
Dr Igor Vodyanoy, Programme
Manager, Human & Bioengineered
Systems Division, War-fighter
Performance Department, Office of
Naval Research, USA
June
Prof Viktor Meineke, Head,
Bundeswehr Institute of
Radiobiology, Germany
February
Dr Werner J.A. Dahm, Chief
Scientist, United States Air Force,
USA
May
LCDR Gary T. Brice, Bureau of
Medicine & Surgery Officer,
United States National Defense
University, USA
September
Dr Narayana Das, Controller R&D
(Naval Systems, Material & Human
Resource), Defence Research &
Development Organisation, India
April
Mr Keith B. Webster, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of the
Army (Defence Exports and
Cooperation), USA
May
LG Thitinant Thanyasiri, DirectorGeneral, Defence Technology
Institute, Thailand
October
Mr Douglas Bruder, Associate
Director (R&D), Defense Threat
Reduction Agency, USA
59
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