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25 Aug 2025
The DSTA Scholarship provides many promising opportunities for aspiring young defence technologists. On 23 August 2025, close to 200 students and guests attended the DSTA Scholarship Tea Session to discover the exciting scholarship prospects within the Defence Technology Community (DTC).
After a nourishing breakfast at the morning reception, students and guests heard directly from DSTA’s Chief Executive Ng Chad-Son, DSO National Laboratories’ (DSO) Chief Executive Officer Cheong Chee Hoo and Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies’ (CSIT) Chief Executive Darren Teo. They shared their own perspectives on the importance of defence technology in today’s evolving global climate, and how each organisation leverages technology for the defence of Singapore. Students were urged to pursue a career path within the DTC, and a comprehensive Question & Answer segment tied up the informational session.
Chief Executive (CE) Ng Chad-Son shared an overview of the various career paths offered within the DTC.
Question & Answer segment with DSTA CE Ng Chad-Son (left), DSO CEO Cheong Chee Hoo (centre), and CSIT CE Darren Teo.
There were also DSTA Scholars from DSTA, DSO, and CSIT who gave insights regarding their scholarship and early-career journeys through a Scholar Meet and Greet Session. Through these sessions, attendees managed to take a deeper glimpse into the myriad of opportunities and experiences that life as a DSTA Scholar brought about.
Reflecting on his scholarship journey abroad at University College London (UCL), Senior Engineer from Air Systems Programme Centre, DSTA, Tan Shao Wei explained: “When you are overseas, you meet people from different backgrounds and cultures, and you get to learn from them as well which is a priceless experience.”
Senior Engineer Tan Shao Wei (left) was among the DSTA Scholars who shared their experiences.
While the sharing took place, attendees also visited exciting project showcases at the foyer. Spanning diverse fields such as robotics, drone AI, cybersecurity, and software development, each exhibit highlighted the breadth of innovation within the DTC. Attendees had the chance to interact with experts in the field, gaining a first-hand look at how cutting-edge technologies are harnessed to create advanced defence solutions and capabilities.
Defence engineers and technologists shared their experiences and the exciting projects they work on with tea session attendees.
“The most interesting part of the tea session was being able to view the new emerging technologies that Singapore is working on for defence,” shared Ong Jiunn Xiang from Raffles Institution.
Jade Cheah from Catholic Junior College also affirmed that “This tea session allowed me to get a bigger glimpse into exactly what the various defence technology agencies are doing.”
Shazwan Aqmal who is currently pursuing a diploma in Cybersecurity & Digital Forensics at Singapore Polytechnic shared: “I wish to apply for the DSTA Scholarship as I have a passion for cybersecurity and am interested in cyber research and development to discover more creative and innovative solutions. I plan to pursue a career in this field, and hearing from the senior scholars further inspired me to accomplish that within the Defence Technology Community.”
Interested in applying for the DSTA Scholarship? Learn more about the DSTA Scholarship here.