ST: Putting the oomph into physics

From the Straits Times on 28 Nov 2008:

Putting the oomph into physics

STUDENTS have been going for engineering, the life sciences and mathematics, and bypassing physics.

But physicists are needed in industries here, said Senior Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew yesterday.

Singapore's having top-notch physicists was a key factor behind the world's biggest solar company - Renewable Energy Corporation of Norway - investing $6.3 million in a solar plant here, he said.

The concern, though, is over the future supply of physicists here.

Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui was speaking at the opening of the High-Energy Physics Conference, organised to interest 58 junior college and secondary school students in the subject. Teachers and university lecturers are also attending it.

Declared open at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) yesterday, the three-day event will feature presentations by 29 eminent physicists, including Nobel laureate professors Martin Perl and Gerard't Hooft.

Top students of physics from the schools will also take part in a workshop.

The numbers tell the story of the flagging interest in physics: The number of undergraduates reading the subject at the National University of Singapore has been stagnant at around 60 in the last seven years; at NTU, 70 are studying it this year, up from 27 in 2005, when the physics programme began there.

Of the nearly 10,500 graduates in 2006, over half - 55 per cent - had gone for engineering, the life sciences, mathematics and information technology.

Associate Professor Quek Leong Chuan, who chairs the Institute of Physics, called for more to be done to promote the subject in schools.

The institute will conduct more talks and seminars for students and raise the profile of physicists working in various industries, he said.

Professor Alfred Huan, who heads NTU's School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, added that having quality teachers was key to inspiring students' interest in the subject.

Former Raffles Junior College student Krithin Sitaran, 20, who has completed national service, will be reading physics at Princeton University.

He said: 'Rather than apply a ready-made solution to a problem, physics teaches me to think outside the box to find solutions.'

This was a point RADM Lui made earlier. He said that even if physics students decided to leave the field, their training makes for a strong foundation in managerial and leadership positions.

Lui Teck Yew claims that we need physicists for industries in Singapore and cites the example of Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) moving to Singapore because of, in his own words, Singapore's 'having of top-notch physicists'. This is of course utter rubbish. on two counts.

1. Singapore does not have any real top-notch physicists if you discount part-time faculty poached from other universities like Sir Anthony Leggett who doesn't work full-time or do any research in Singapore. I can only think of at most one real Singaporean top-notch physicist but I doubt his field of research was what motivated REC to invest in Singapore.

2. The supply of trained physicists in Singapore is probably not a significant factor in REC's decision to locate its manufacturing facility in Singapore. Don't take my word for it. Check out its job adverts for vacancies in Singapore. If you search for 'Physics' jobs, there are no vacancies. Zilch, nada, zip. If you search for engineering-related jobs in the same website, all of the positions are microelectronics-related and can be filled by any person who has some familiarity with silicon technology. That person can be trained in chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or physics. There is no specific requirement for graduates holding physics degrees. Those engineering positions in REC Singapore require the same technical background as any other engineering position in a wafer fabrication facility in Singapore.

Conclusion: Senor Minister of State for Education Lui Teck Yew is talking nonsense. Either that or he's been fed misleading information by his subordinates.

ST: Expect high leakage of engineers

From the Straits Times on 24 July 2008:

Expect 'high leakage' of engineers

TRAIN more engineers and expect a 'high leakage' of these desirable talent into other industries, said Mr Philip Yeo.

It's inevitable because 'their skills of logical thinking and analysis can be applied to any field', he added.

Mr Yeo should know. An engineering graduate from the University of Toronto, he has held various public sector portfolios.

He was a Defence Ministry permanent secretary. He was also chairman and then co-chairman of the Economic Development Board from 1986 to 2006.

He was also chief of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), and is now the Spring Singapore boss.

He argued that engineers can easily cross over into finance, but not the other way round.

But what's happening today is that bright A-level students are heading into finance, an industry where he felt young people are 'grossly overpaid'.

He warned that the 'penalty will be felt years down the line'.

In contrast, Germany values engineers.

'It comes from a tradition in which you value people who can make and sell things.'

The solution: Reward engineers well, and make the industry attractive.

For now, a PhD graduate in mathematics can earn much more at a hedge fund instead of as a researcher, he said.

Singapore trains about 4,400 engineers a year at the universities here, he noted.

LEE SIEW HUA

Is the solution really to train more Singaporean engineers when more of them are crossing over to non-engineering sectors of the economy? When more people cross over, this means that the market doesn't really need so many engineers. Also, companies won't pay engineers more simply because someone says so, even if that someone is Philip Yeo.

The comparison with Germany is not really suitable. The kind of engineering jobs we have in Singapore are mainly the repetitive low-level technical types, those that can and will be outsourced to China. On the other hand, a good deal of those in Germany are those that involve tailoring the product for the customer. Those jobs in Germany require a great deal of technical proficiency whereas the ones in Singapore are mainly the Ctrl-C-Ctrl-V types.

Take for example, the field of electronics. Although Singapore has a large microelectronics industry, most of the equipment is imported from overseas. If a machine breaks, they'll just fly in someone from the US to fix it. Singapore doesn't make high-precision optics; countries like Japan and Germany do. Because most Singapore engineers don't make or design things like high-precision optics, they stand to lose their jobs in the next 5 years to some guy in Vietnam or China. On the other hand, German or Japanese engineers have a lot more job security because they perform precisely those kind of services.

Rather than increase the number of engineering graduates, I believe that better solution would be to cut the number of engineering graduates and instead, focus on improving the quality of the education and training engineers receive in Singapore. In Germany and many other European countries, engineers undergo a very rigorous technical training and their degree courses take 6 years. Competition to gain entry to engineering institutions is fierce and engineers are very well-paid. In Singapore, people with C's for A-level are dumped into the engineering schools of NTU in the mistaken belief that the more sub-par engineers we have, the better off we are.

ST Forum: Engineers' body will work to draw top brains into industry

From the ST Forum on 2 June 2008:

Engineers' body will work to draw top brains into industry

I REFER to the article, 'His worry: Is Singapore becoming high cost, low tech?' (May 22).

In it, Mr Ngiam Tong Dow, a former top civil servant, highlighted the importance of Singapore ensuring that the best and brightest students become engineers. He was quoted as saying: 'How do you become a knowledge-based economy except through science and technology? As a result, if the cream of the education goes to Shenton Way instead of technology and industrial parks, I think we are done for.'

Coming from someone with a strong economics background, this statement is especially significant.

The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) shares Mr Ngiam's view.

In another article, 'Engineers have role in community building' last Monday, our president, Ms Lee Bee Wah, said that, in order for Singapore to take the next leap, we need a core group of very good engineers. This is because technology will play an important part in the next phase of our development.

She also expressed her hope that top students will make engineering their top choice at university.

Engineers have made significant contributions to nation building and improving the quality of life in Singapore. Almost every aspect of our daily activities, be it at work or at play, involves the work of engineers.

As Singapore moves towards a more knowledge-based economy, engineers will be called on to perform ever more complex and cross-disciplinary tasks. It is for this reason that schools and other institutions need to strive continually to ensure that our bright and talented youth do not turn away from taking up engineering as a lifelong career.

IES will continue to work with government agencies, engineering industry stakeholders and educational institutions to explore ways to attract top students into engineering.

Chong Kee Sen
Honorary Secretary
Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES)

The reason why top students don't want to go into engineering is actually pretty simple - engineers in Singapore are paid less relative to people in finance, law or accountancy. Engineering is one of those things in Singapore that get outsourced very easily. Furthermore, it is extremely easy to import engineers from India and China. Therefore, job security is minimal in Singapore.

Singapore students are not stupid. After years of conditioning, the Singaporean has become the archetypal rational Homo Economicus. To compete more effectively in the job market, they have to use their comparative advantage (relative to competitors from China and India), which would be soft skills like their command of the English language and familiarity with the local culture. Fields like Law and Business remain local bastions where Singapore students can call their own. Witness the collapse of the computing as a discipline in our local universities. A much sought-after degree in the heydey of the internet boom, it is now avoided by local university applicants mindful of the fates of their predecessors languishing in a job market saturated with Indian IT workers. As for engineering, even the best local graduates from local universities are headhunted by banks in their recruitment drive and they gladly let their heads be taken.

So what if Singaporean 14 year-olds have the best math and science scores in the world? There are always foreigners with better math and science skills than you who are willing to work for less. However, there aren't that many foreigners with English skills better than the average student. Yet. And those with enough English skills wouldn't even bother to use Singapore as a stepping stone.

For now, there is no stopping the gravitation of local students towards the non-sciences and the non-engineerings.