New complex for DSO - Singapore's largest defence R&D organisation

New complex for DSO - Singapore's largest defence R&D organisation
By Nur Afifah Ariffin Posted 21 Apr 2017 17:43 Updated 21 Apr 2017 17:50
The new DSO National Laboratories complex at Science Park Drive opened on Friday (Apr 21). (Photo: Nur Afifah)

SINGAPORE: The DSO National Laboratories (DSO) - Singapore's largest defence R&D organisation - officially opened its new complex in Science Park Drive on Friday (Apr 21).

The eight-storey twin buildings house more than 1,000 research engineers and scientists from across 200 offices and laboratories. They are also equipped with facilities that can further research in areas of robotics and artificial intelligence.

The new DSO National Laboratories complex consists of two eight-storey buildings. (Photo: Nur Afifah)

This includes the Playground - a shared space where researchers and scientists can access a wide suite of technology and tools. It also comprises an Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub, which aims to raise awareness of AI and promote innovative applications of the technologies to Singapore's defence systems.

Some of these innovations include using data for maritime security and analyzing social media to determine and extract intelligence to support counter-terrorism efforts.

Another key facility in the new complex is the Robotics Laboratory, a one-stop shop for engineers to embark on prototyping, integration, simulation and testing of robotic systems prior to field tests.

It's the first of its kind in Singapore, and is focused on making unmanned systems smarter and faster.

A demonstration of an unmanned air-to-ground teaming of a drone and driverless vehicle at the opening of the new DSO Complex on Friday (Apr 21). (Photo: Nur Afifah)

In his opening address, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen acknowledged the importance of the DSO National Laboratories' role in the defence landscape, especially in building up new capabilities for the Next Gen Singapore Armed Forces.

"As it did before, DSO's work must help us better prepare for challenges ahead. DSO's past efforts in AI and robotics since the 1990s have helped provide the SAF with unmanned platforms for land, sea, and air," said Dr Ng.



A demonstration of an unmanned air-to-ground teaming of a drone and driverless vehicle at the opening of the new DSO Complex on Friday (Apr 21). (Photo: Nur Afifah)

"With our increasing dependence on technology, the new DSO complex has been designed to encourage collaboration and spur innovations to meet SAF's future requirements."

Dr Ng also went on a tour of the Playground and the Robotics Laboratory, where he witnessed a live demonstration of an unmanned air-to-ground teaming of a drone and driverless vehicle, capabilities which could soon be deployed in SAF operations.

- CNA/mn


- wong chee tat :)

Semiconductor firms urged to work with public research institutes

Semiconductor firms urged to work with public research institutes

It is hoped that with a more systematic approach to determine research areas in semiconductors, Singapore will be able to tap new advances in technology.

POSTED: 13 Oct 2015 23:16

SINGAPORE: Semiconductor firms should work more closely with public research institutes, so as to strengthen Singapore as a hub for semiconductor manufacturing - this was one of the recommendations contained in a White Paper by the Singapore Semiconductor Vision 2020 Task Force.

Other recommendations included enhancing labour productivity and improving the talent pipeline. The task force comprises representatives from organisations including A*STAR, Applied Materials SEA, GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore, the Institute of Microelectronics, Lantiq Asia Pacific, Micron, Singapore Economic Development Board, SSMC and STATS ChipPAC.

The task force hopes that by adopting a more systematic approach to determine research areas in semiconductors, it will help Singapore tap new advances in technology as well as trends such as the Internet of Things.

Said Mr Russell Tham, regional president for Applied Materials and chairman of the Singapore Semiconductor Vision 2020 Task Force: "Singapore's ability to collaborate between the public and private sector is certainly a unique strength.

“I can tell from our experiences, the collaborations that we had create a unique competitive advantage for the company - by leveraging A*STAR's research institutes, by leveraging the ability to construct models that are complementary to Singapore's interests.”

The semiconductor industry employs over 40,000 people in Singapore and has annual output of around S$50 billion.

- CNA/xq

- wong chee tat :)

Turning Android Phones Into Satellites for $3500

- wong chee tat :)

NUS scientists isolate gene that makes plants flower faster

NUS scientists isolate gene that makes plants flower faster
By Dylan Loh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 16 January 2010 2206 hrs

	Photos 1 of 1
	Video NUS scientists isolate gene that makes plants flower faster

 

SINGAPORE: Scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have found a way to get flowers to bloom faster.

The discovery could be useful in developing drugs to treat some human diseases.

Just like switching on and off the lights, scientists may one day be able to "switch off" illnesses such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

The key to this is a gene called Pin1. Researchers found that Pin1, which is linked to human illnesses, has an unusual effect on plants.

Assistant Professor Liou Yih-Cherng, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, said: "By switching on this gene, indeed (it) can help plant flower much earlier, by two weeks, and also by switching down this gene, (it) also can slow down the flowering, also by another two weeks."

The discovery of the gene's behaviour has implications on drug development.

Prof Liou said: "By understanding the Pin1 function, (it) can help scientists discover or design the new medicine which can help.... block the tumour formation, for example, and also in Alzheimer's disease. So by manipulating Pin1 function, they can also, perhaps, prevent the neuron degeneration in the future."

While more research needs to be done, these scientists hope their discovery will pave the way for new medical treatments that are more effective and safe.

- CNA/ir

- wong chee tat :) 

Project Updates / Status

Here are the updates for the projects:

I ought to provide some updates about the project status but I'm quite busy with other stuff and hence delay.

4th Nov: Last week , I'm very busy with project and of course the amended versions of last and the final HRM tutorial (presentation) on leadership.

My adviser told me the earlier portions of the algorithm were incorrect and needed refinements. I quickly made changes and did some refinements. Just got back the changes on Monday and these few days focused on adviser's comments and made necessary changes to the draft version.

Recheck and recheck before the final version. Don't forget 6th Nov is the deadline for the report!


5th Nov: 6th Nov is the deadline for the report! Progress? Panic.

A great deal of time spent just to check and check through the alignments, settings, configurations, and of course print and submit to respective Profs.

6th Nov: The deadline for the upcoming report!
Submitted. Now, there is still need to showcase / demo the simulations and presentations.

Just hope that everything will be fine.


// Re-edited on 11th Nov

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

I had not gave an update about the project for some time, because of lots of HRM meetings and presentations.

Finally, I met advisor on Monday and he went through some of the portions that were wrong and the areas that needed revisions. Some of the portions were not clear and needed to change.

Made the required revisions quickly and later part of the week focused on simulations results and discussions. This is a big chapter that had the most changes to do. According to adviser, part of the algorithm to compute the required values in the model were wrong and therefore unable to obtain the required simulation results.

Quickly schedule a time to meet him again to clear my remaining doubts. He took time to explain. The later part of the week spent most of the time thinking it through and checking and modifying the code and verifying the results.

Hope the computed results are correct!

Project Status / Updates

It is quite some time that I provided updates about the project. Most of the time are spent on HRM and BOS.

In these few months, most of the simulations are tested and they are consolidated and the results sent to advisor for checking.

The simulation results using low work function on the model don't seem to consistent with the typical work functions. Low work functions materials are promising because of power savings.

Some portions of code are cleaned up.

- wong chee tat :)

Men prefer pretty bimbos to ugly, clever girls

Men prefer pretty bimbos to ugly, clever girls
ANI23 March 2009, 08:00am IST

It seems that beauty is more important than brains, for a new survey has revealed that men would prefer dating beautiful bimbos than ugly, clever women. 

The study carried out by www.OnePoll.com has shown that more than 50 pct men would rather go for good looking girls because it was important to impress their friends.

Nearly 80 pct of the respondents said that they would be intimidated by a clever girl.

However, the responses from girls were completely opposite.

Almost three quarters of women said that they would go for brains over good looks because handsome men are too vain, and those with brains would be able to provide for them.

Only one in ten said that she would go for a good-looking guy rather than a clever one because the "sex would be better".

"It seems beauty is more important the brains after all," the Telegraph quoted a spokesman.

"It's only natural people go on first impressions but going on a hot date with a supermodel can only get you so far.

"Although it's worrying that we don't seem to appreciate people's intelligence. If someone is exceptionally bright then it should be congratulated - we shouldn't criticise them for not being attractive," he added.


- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

It is quite some time I gave an update on the project. Over the vacations, I had done some work on some of the topics. I will summarized them here.

1) Understanding low work functions on FE. It is known that the material work function is very dependent on the FN theory. However, to be more efficient and use less power, having a low work function material for field emission seems to be a good idea. There are already some research on going in this area, however, most of them lack finer details that I need.

Initial results from simulations (2-3eV) seems in line with typical results (my working model as well as from the articles).

When the work function is made to be lower (< 1eV), on the first look, it follows the typical results. But on closer examination, it doesn't seemed to be so.

2) Tracking electron trajectories follows the classical laws of Physics.

Found some old sources and they revealed interesting behavior. Tempted to write for relativistic regimes but I better not to so.

3) Compiling xoopic doesn't seem to work. I got interested after reading Koh's thesis and from other articles especially from Journal of Applied Physics, but the package were dated in 2002. Searched and tested for the latest 2009 version produces lots of funny error messages. Note: Not a standard package.

4) Report writing

5) Planned for simulating for 2nd model using Zuber, etc. The program (2nd model)already completed and working in just a few days after the last paper.

I did not explore further into the space charge analysis and study the FE behavior due to lack of time. Anyway ,adding the model along with the results would bloat the report!

- wong chee tat :)


                               

Some information about Field Emission

I was searching through the net for some information and I came across this article.

Field Enhanced Emission

The current density in Thermionic-Schottky emission is weakly dependent on the magnitude of the applied electric field. Experimentally it is known that if the field is increased then a point is reached when the emission current starts to exceed the predictions of this theory. There are two models which may be used to explain this behaviour. First though we should discuss the Enhanced Electron Emission concept. If the field is increased above some finite level, then the width of the surface potential barrier becomes small enough that a considerable fraction of the electrons in the bulk material can 'quantum tunnel' through it. The number of electrons at or close to the Fermi energy (for cool metals (T less than T(Fermi)) in particular the bulk of the electrons exist just below the Fermi energy) is very much larger than at the high energies corresponding to the height of the surface potential. Therefore when the width of the barrier becomes such that these electrons can tunnel out, the emission current becomes very sensitive to the electric field. This field emission current quickly becomes much larger than the thermionic current. However the experiments indicate that this happens when the electric field strength is a few orders of magnitude less than theoretical considerations would indicate.

At this point we meet the two competing models: both are based on the concept of surface discontinuities

i) The difference between experiment and theory can be explained if one assumes that on the surface of a cathode, micron sized discontinuities having the form of an outward spike exist. If the length of the spike is>10 times its base dimension then it is relatively easy to expect the local electric field to be enhanced by a considerable amount (> x1000). Then the theoretical model discussed above applies to the surface of the discontinuity. It is interesting that the enhanced emission current from a handful of such micron sized sites can exceed (by many orders of magnitude) the total thermionic current from the bulk cathode at sufficiently high electric fields. Such discontinuities have been observed on real cathode surfaces, and in some experiments at the University of Strathclyde specially manufactured Field Emission Arrays consisting of millions of such individual tips machined in a semiconductor surface have been used as a source of a high quality, highly controllable, electron beam.

ii) The other model is based on the assumption that the onset of Field Enhanced Emission at such a low electric field can be attributed to insulating inclusions (micron sized) in the cathode surface. Electrons emitted from the bulk cathode into the conduction band of the insulator are accelerated towards the vacuum, collisions with electrons in the valance band of the insulator cause an 'avalanche' of electrons. In this model it is assumed that electrons are emitted from the insulator by the thermionic process and the temperature is described in terms of the electric field that has accelerated them through the insulator. This yields a close match to many experimental measurements of Field Enhanced Emission.**

**R.V. Latham, 1983, "Prebreakdown Electron Emission", IEEE Trans. on electrical Insulation, EI-18, pp194-203

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

It is quite some time that I provide some updates about the project. In the last post, I mentioned that I am working on particle trajectories due to the field emission caused by different current regime.

At the first look, the problem seems to be quite difficult. But is it that hard? To track the particle trajectories, understanding Newtonian physics or classical physics is needed and apply the equations of motions to the problem would solve it.

Now, let's us stop and think about the problem.

But is simply applying the equations using classical mechanics valid at high electric fields? If not, how can we modify to make them valid at space charge conditions?

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

I'm supposed to provide an update last week but I'm busy testing out different sets of simulations, so hence the delay in providing the updates. Anyway, here is a quick update regarding the project.

Previously, testing out different , but related components gave me new insights to the problem.

Currently, I'm working on the problem on particle trajectories due to the field emission caused by different current regime. The first set of "correct" simulation data is just out. I will analyze and see if it make sense or not. If not, I'll have to modify it. I guess this will take a while and hopefully, I can finish the simulation as quickly as possible.

- wong chee tat :)

Swine Flu Update: WHO Declares Pandemic In Response To Ongoing Global Spread Of Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Virus

Swine Flu Update: WHO Declares Pandemic In Response To Ongoing Global Spread Of Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Virus

ScienceDaily (June 12, 2009) — On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6 in response to the ongoing global spread of the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus, which causes swine flu. A Phase 6 designation indicates that a global pandemic is underway.

More than 70 countries are now reporting cases of human infection with novel H1N1 flu. This number has been increasing over the past few weeks, but many of the cases reportedly had links to travel or were localized outbreaks without community spread. The WHO designation of a pandemic alert Phase 6 reflects the fact that there are now ongoing community level outbreaks in multiple parts of world.

WHO’s decision to raise the pandemic alert level to Phase 6 is a reflection of the spread of the virus, not the severity of illness caused by the virus. It’s uncertain at this time how serious or severe this novel H1N1 pandemic will be in terms of how many people infected will develop serious complications or die from novel H1N1 infection. Experience with this virus so far is limited and influenza is unpredictable. However, because novel H1N1 is a new virus, many people may have little or no immunity against it, and illness may be more severe and widespread as a result. In addition, currently there is no vaccine to protect against novel H1N1 virus.

In the United States, most people who have become ill with the newly declared pandemic virus have recovered without requiring medical treatment, however, CDC anticipates that there will be more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths associated with this pandemic in the coming days and weeks. In addition, this virus could cause significant illness with associated hospitalizations and deaths in the fall and winter during the U.S. influenza season.

Background

Novel influenza A (H1N1) is a new flu virus of swine origin that first caused illness in Mexico and the United States in March and April, 2009. It’s thought that novel influenza A (H1N1) flu spreads in the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread, mainly through the coughs and sneezes of people who are sick with the virus, but it may also be spread by touching infected objects and then touching your nose or mouth. Novel H1N1 infection has been reported to cause a wide range of flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. In addition, many people also have reported nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea.

The first novel H1N1 patient in the United States was confirmed by laboratory testing at CDC on April 15, 2009. The second patient was confirmed on April 17, 2009. It was quickly determined that the virus was spreading from person-to-person. On April 22, CDC activated its Emergency Operations Center to better coordinate the public health response. On April 26, 2009, the United States Government declared a public health emergency and has been actively and aggressively implementing the nation’s pandemic response plan.

Since the outbreak was first detected, an increasing number of U.S. states have reported cases of novel H1N1 influenza with associated hospitalizations and deaths. By June 3, 2009, all 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were reporting cases of novel H1N1 infection. While nationwide U.S. influenza surveillance systems indicate that overall influenza activity is decreasing in the country at this time, novel H1N1 outbreaks are ongoing in parts of the U.S., in some cases with intense activity.

CDC is continuing to watch the situation carefully, to support the public health response and to gather information about this virus and its characteristics. The Southern Hemisphere is just beginning its influenza season and the experience there may provide valuable clues about what may occur in the Northern Hemisphere this fall and winter.

CDC Response

CDC continues to take aggressive action to respond to the outbreak. CDC’s response goals are to reduce the spread and severity of illness, and to provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this new public health threat.

CDC is issuing updated interim guidance in response to the rapidly evolving situation (see: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/recommendations.htm).

Clinician Guidance

CDC has issued interim guidance for clinicians on identifying and caring for patients with novel H1N1 (see: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/identifyingpatients.htm), in addition to providing interim guidance on the use of antiviral drugs (see: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/recommendations.htm). Influenza antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaled powder) with activity against influenza viruses, including novel influenza H1N1 viruses. The priority use for influenza antiviral drugs during this outbreak is to treat people hospitalized with influenza illness, and to treat people at increased risk of severe illness, including pregnant women, young children, and people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes and other metabolic diseases, heart or lung disease, kidney disease, weakened immune systems, and persons with neurologic or neuromuscular disease.

Public Guidance

CDC has provided guidance for the public on what to do if they become sick with flu-like symptoms, including infection with novel H1N1 (see: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/sick.htm). CDC also has issued instructions on taking care of a sick person at home (see: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance_homecare.htm) and the use of facemasks and respirators to reduce novel influenza A (H1n1) transmission (see: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/masks.htm). Everyone should take everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs, including frequent hand washing and people who are sick should stay home and avoid contact with others in order to limit further spread of the disease.

Testing

CDC has developed a PCR diagnostic test kit to detect this novel H1N1 virus and has now distributed test kits to all states in the U.S. and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The test kits are being shipped internationally as well. This will allow states and other countries to test for this new virus.

Vaccine

Vaccines are a very important part of a response to pandemic influenza and the U.S. Government is aggressively taking early steps in the process to manufacture a novel H1N1 vaccine, working closely with manufacturers. CDC has isolated the new H1N1 virus, made a candidate vaccine virus that can be used to create vaccine, and has provided this virus to industry so they can begin scaling up for production of a vaccine, if necessary. Making vaccine is a long multi-step process requiring several months to complete.

Stockpile Deployment

CDC has deployed 25 percent of the supplies in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) to all states in the continental United States and U.S. territories. This included antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices. The influenza A (H1N1) virus is susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir. These supplies and medicines will help states and U.S. territories respond to novel H1N1 virus.

Surveillance

Novel influenza A (H1N1) activity is now being detected through CDC’s routine influenza surveillance systems and reported weekly in FluView. CDC tracks U.S. influenza activity through multiple systems across five categories. While our influenza surveillance systems indicate that overall influenza activity is decreasing in the United States, novel H1N1 outbreaks are ongoing in different parts of the U.S., in some cases with intense influenza-like activity. Most of the influenza viruses being detected now are novel H1N1 viruses.

Shared Responsibility

Individuals have an important role in protecting themselves and their families.

* Stay informed. Health officials will provide additional information as it becomes available.
* Everyone should take these everyday steps to protect your health and lessen the spread of this new virus:
o Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
o Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
o Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
o Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
o If you are sick with a flu-like illness, stay home for 7 days after your symptoms begin or until you have been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer. This is to keep from infecting others and spreading the virus further.
o Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social
distancing measures.

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

Nothing much progress for these few days except for tuning up the codes and reading and re-reading the papers. Totally unexpected and unacceptable.

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

I ought to give an update on Friday or so, but I'm busy. Well, never mind, a quick update is posted here:

One of the selected 2D models were refined and used. The latter model was not used because the model would be too long and too complicated for a typical reader and can be hard to debug too.

The 2D model quite agreed with the literature.

The main specs as discussed last week were analyzed, tested and completed.

The next steps to consider:

1) Applying classical mechanics to study the ejected particles. Had long forgotten my classical mechanics, and I need to read up a bit and clear my cobwebs. Oops,.... Now you know..... =D

2) Validity of the model in generalized Nth-D and extension of CL Law in Nth-D. Possible? or too hard? =) I have no ideas but it will be fun to explore into the unknown.

3) etc....



- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

This little blog post is to provide a quick update about the project that I am currently working on.

After meeting with Prof on Friday, he gave me new tasks to do.For my part, I gave him updates about my progress and he explained that the methods that I used in the 5 different models (Yes, I programmed 5 different models) are correct for planar models only, and the equations, unfortunately, do not apply to what we are doing or researching on. :(

He explained that in order to do that, the methods or rather the equations have to be changed , of course.

So for the weekends, I came up with some simple methods in order to solve the new tasks. I will provide more updates later on.

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

Code Fixing:

- A more efficient method to compute current of a specific field emitter model

A more efficient method is needed to compute surface current of a specific field emitter model without going through the hassle of using complicated integration.

Currently, the simplified version used to solve the above mentioned problem proved to be slow and at times error prone. (See C4)

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

Code Fixed:

- Area determined for one of the field emitter models found to be computed incorrectly

Applied a too low minimum voltage to one of the field emitter models (V approx. 2V therein ) can sometimes caused area computed incorrectly and the current obtained was inconsistent with other models even though it was thought to be in agreement with the theory.

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates / Status

Exams are over!

And now I continue to do the assigned project. I am quite busy these few days because I have been reading one of the PhD's thesis (Thanks Dr K! =) )and digging through the local campus database for more information and more reading, and programming too.

- wong chee tat :)

Project Updates /Status

Exams are coming and I will temporarily stopped coding and ought to focus on my exams. Will continue after exams.

I will provide more updates after my exams!

Good luck to all!


- wong chee tat :)