Home Team’s science and tech agency tapping talent in Stem field to join its ranks

SINGAPORE – In the James Bond movies, scientists in white coats hunch over equipment in the spy agency’s Q branch, fine-tuning their field agents’ tools.

The Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), formed in 2019 under the Ministry of Home Affairs to develop science and technology capabilities for Home Team operations, has its own Q Team.

The team works on projects that can be quickly deployed to tackle emerging trends using the latest in technology.

For example, it is developing software to detect radical and extremist content but is not yet ready to provide details.

Some of the things it does are visible. They include life-saving robotic dogs and a mobile counter-drone vehicle.

The agency is pushing to become Singapore’s leading science and technology agency for homeland security, and looking to recruit 500 people to boost its current 1,700 staff strength.

To do so, it has reached out to talent in the Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field.

Ms Lim Chin Chin was running her own outfit – providing forensics reconstruction services in Singapore and overseas, and serving as an expert witness in many civil cases involving insurance and accident claims – when she got the call.

The 54-year-old said a friend encouraged her to join HTX, to help it build Singapore’s reputation in the field of forensics. Before starting her company in 2013, Ms Lim worked as a forensic scientist with the Health Sciences Authority for more than 18 years.

She was involved in high-profile cases – including the murder of eight-year-old Chinese national Huang Na in 2004, and the death of American researcher Shane Todd in 2012.

Ms Lim, who has a background in chemistry, was among the first batch of forensic experts who recreated crime scenes in the courtroom, such as in

the Huang Na case.

The girl, who lived with her mother in a small room on the upper floor of a fruit and vegetable company at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre,was killed by a man she treated as an uncle.

Her body was found stuffed inside a brown cardboard box dumped in dense undergrowth at Telok Blangah Hill Park.

Investigators found only two drops of blood in the storeroom where Huang Na was believed to have been killed. But they also found smears of mango under a table in the storeroom.

Ms Lim said they knew the girl liked to eat the fruit. Using forensics, they concluded that the smears appeared to have been made by the hands of a child.

Together with other evidence they examined, the forensics team managed to help secure a murder conviction. The man, a vegetable packer at the wholesale centre, was later hanged.

In the case of Mr Todd, there were allegations of a conspiracy and foul play. But Ms Lim and her team were able to show that he died of asphyxia due to hanging and that there was no foul play.

Ms Lim said it took a year of persuasion before she joined HTX in 2021. She is now the director of its Forensics Centre of Expertise, developing Singapore’s capabilities in forensic science. “One of the things that attracted me to HTX was how it brings together science, engineering and digital technology all into one organisation, bringing new potential for forensic science to not just be reactive, but also proactive.”

By working with experts in digital and engineering fields, forensic scientists are now able to change the way evidence is collected and recovered.

She shared that in examining handwriting, the traditional method required a laborious and time-consuming exercise of checking each letter in a word against the next. The similarities and differences are then placed in catalogues.

With machine learning, her team is able to automate the process, including identifying similarities and differences.

She added: “It’s very exciting, because at HTX, we can work on bigger projects that can reshape entire fields in science and technology.”

Dr Daniel Teo, 46, was conducting research and developing robotics solutions for companies to improve their profit margin when he got the call.

“It came to a point when I asked myself if these companies are profiting through my knowledge and skills, why am I not using my talents to help the wider society?” he said.

He was part of the pioneer batch of HTX officers in 2019, and has since developed initiatives such as an Automated Passenger In-car Clearance System for the land checkpoints and a motorised stretcher for the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

The motorised stretcher needs only one person to operate it, compared with three for the manual one.

“I see technology as something that should save and enhance the quality of lives. At HTX, every day is fulfilling, because everyone here is brought together by the common goal of using technology to serve the Home Team and people,” said Dr Teo, who is deputy director at the agency’s Robotics, Automation and Unmanned Systems Centre of Expertise.

In a speech in Parliament in February, Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo said HTX has developed deep expertise in areas from biometrics to robotics to automation.

She added that its partnerships with local research institutions and foreign counterparts have enabled it to be at the forefront of new technological developments.

But more Stem talent are needed, she added. The statutory board will be holding a career fair at The Meeting Point @ JTC LaunchPad in Ayer Rajah Crescent, from 10am to 5pm on June 1.

One recent hire is Mr Arka Ray, 27, who joined HTX’s Q Team as an engineer in 2021.

A large part of his work involves software engineering and he is developing a tool to detect radical and extremist content.

He said: “There’s a lot of dangerous content out there being used to radicalise vulnerable individuals, and part of my job is to come up with technology to detect and stop the spread of such material. There’s a cool factor about what we do. It’s exciting and exhilarating.”

He added that HTX has allowed him to explore areas outside of programming, including open source intelligence, which is intelligence gathered from publicly available data and information.

He said: “I’ve spoken to a lot of friends and I don’t believe any of them feels as excited as I do about their careers. If you want to work on really cool things that you can see being used, and to be nurtured and encouraged to explore new areas, then this is the best place to be.”

Correction note: An earlier version of this article said HTX’s current staff strength is 1,500. The agency has clarified that it should be 1,700.