28 Aug 2021
Fuelled by a passion for defence science and technology and a commitment to our nation, 23 budding talents embarked on their new journeys ahead with the DSTA Scholarship. They were among 84 scholarship recipients at the Defence Scholarship Awards Ceremony held on 28 August 2021.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen commended the future “custodians of Singapore’s defence”, and challenged all scholarship recipients to lead Singapore’s defence when they return from their studies, and help keep our home safe and independent.
“For MINDEF and the SAF, it will be the hands of recipients today that must hold steady our Singapore and help her navigate through treacherous situations, like we are in now, if they arise,” he said.
Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen speaking at the Defence Scholarship Awards Ceremony.
The scholarship recipients – all of whom have demonstrated academic excellence and outstanding leadership qualities – will be pursuing their undergraduate studies at various universities, both local and overseas. They will then embark on multiple career pathways for engineering and technological leadership positions in the defence technology community.
Venus Lim, one of the recipients of the DSTA Scholarship, said that her fascination with science and tech started from a young age. Her father, who was an IT professional, would often share with her the interesting technologies he used at work. That led her down the path of computer science and programming during her studies, and she has not looked back since.
To that end, Venus took on an internship with DSTA where she got to delve into data analytics and reaffirmed her passion for defence technology. It was also during her internship that she met a group of supportive mentors who spurred her to apply for the DSTA Scholarship. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in computer science at the National University of Singapore.
“I see myself innovating alongside like-minded defence engineers in the future, and I hope to harness tech to deliver challenging and impactful capabilities for our nation,” she said, adding that she hopes to inspire others to take on the mantle of women in defence technology and contribute to Singapore’s national security.
Hear what some of our other DSTA Scholarship recipients had to say about why they chose the DSTA Scholarship, and their hopes for the future!
The awards ceremony also saw the presentation of the SAF Scholarship to five recipients, the Public Service Commission Scholarship (Engineering) – Defence and Security to seven recipients, the SAF Merit Scholarship to 20 recipients, the SAF Engineering Scholarship to five recipients, the Defence Merit Scholarship to 14 recipients, the SAF Medicine Scholarship to eight recipients, and the SAF Local Dentistry Scholarship to two recipients.
The scholarship recipients will be embarking on their studies at various universities.