Home Team's science and tech agency looking for Stem talent

It is on the hunt for 500 more people to add to its staff of 1,500

- David Sun

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 1,500 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.