Meet a CQTian: Low Teck Seng

“We see the opportunity to move CQT to a national entity, coordinating and facilitating the growth of the quantum science and technology knowledge ecosystem,” says Low Teck Seng, the new chair of CQT’s Governing Board.

CQT welcomes Low Teck Seng as Chair of CQT’s Governing Board. He takes over from Quek Gim Pew, Senior R&D consultant to MINDEF, who was Chair since November 2016. Formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) from 2012 to 2022, Teck Seng is now Professor and Senior Vice President (Sustainability & Resilience) at the National University of Singapore (NUS).  

As NRF CEO, you oversaw some of Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) plans, of which quantum is a part. How has the country’s quantum landscape changed over the years? 

In the 15 years since CQT’s inception, the landscape in Singapore has changed dramatically. Nationally, there is a view that quantum would be one of the next big opportunities for us in terms of industries to be developed. Quantum technologies have also advanced in Singapore beyond the confines of CQT, which allows us to look at how we should take quantum to the next bound in Singapore. The last thing I did at NRF was to start looking at the funding structure for CQT to ensure its continued viability beyond the Research Centres of Excellence programme. 

In what direction do you think this is going? 

Globally, a lot of money is being poured into quantum. Singapore will need to have a strategic approach in using the limited resources we have to enable us to compete. We see the opportunity to move CQT to a national entity, coordinating and facilitating the growth of the quantum science and technology knowledge ecosystem. I see it as the only way forward. Once we have this in place, we can build partnerships with the many different groups that we need to work with to support our quantum ambitions.  

What do you expect to do as CQT Governing Board Chairman? 

There are challenges of making sure there is adequate funding, attracting the best talent to Singapore, and managing the work done by our colleagues to ensure that they are developing the best ideas and the best science. Beyond this, the bigger challenge is how do we ensure our national CQT ambition of bringing the whole community together.  

You are also co-chairing the National Quantum Steering Committee with a national quantum strategy in the works.  

CQT is a very important piece of the national quantum strategy. At the national level, we see the basic science that needs to be done and continue to be funded. This will continuously give new things for us to build on in a pathway to translation. Other important pieces are the development of the national platforms and a strategy to develop industry. Without an industry receptacle for our best science, our national resources will not accrue benefits to Singapore. All this in totality will be driven by the National Quantum Steering Committee that is supported by the National Quantum Office. 

What would be the hoped-for outcome of a successful strategy for Singapore, if we look 10, 20 or more years into the future? 

For me, there are three key outcomes that will show some measure of success. One obvious initial outcome is the continued vitality of our research ecosystem which can be measured by publications for example. That is a proxy measure to ensure that we’re competitive with the best research groups in the world.  

The next is the vibrancy and effectiveness of our translation. For example, a lot of our basic science in quantum key distribution has been translated into a company like SpeQtral and corporate work in the NUS-Singtel Cyber Security R&D Lab.  

Lastly, how has the quantum industry developed? It is measured by how many big quantum companies come to Singapore and invest here; how many foreign quantum startups see the vitality of our ecosystem, come here and develop their businesses from Singapore; how many companies our universities and CQT are working with; and how many startups there are.  

All these are quantitative and qualitative proof. You can count the number of companies, but the qualitative aspect is the vitality of these companies and the breadth of things that they do with our research ecosystem.  

The quantum ecosystem is still nascent now.  

Quantum is still very nascent, but we have all the necessary pieces here and we need to capitalise on that. With nascent areas, Singapore can be in the leading pack. In the past – in microelectronics, magnetics, chemicals – we always started from behind the curve, but we learnt fast.  

What lessons from your experiences developing other fields in Singapore may apply here? 

I’ve been involved very intimately with the magnetics industry, to a certain extent the microelectronics industry, and watching our efforts in biomedical sciences. A few things come to mind. For us to compete, we cannot compete in isolation, for example as a single NUS. We are too small. As a country, we need to work together in a cohesive fashion. Next, as much as we want to bring the vibrant multinational companies to Singapore, we also want to see how we can venture build companies from the technologies that come out of our investments in science. We tried to do that in the biomedical sciences. It took a long time, but now it is happening. Lastly, it is clear to me that we must continue to fund basic science.  

How should we attract and develop talent?  

The competition for talent is not confined to quantum. Singapore has three attributes that makes it attractive to talent. One, the consistency of funding. Two, in the areas that we choose to invest in nationally, we’ve put up very good facilities that compete with the best in the world. Three, Singapore is a nice place to work. A person of any nationality can easily adapt and integrate into the community.  

Attracting the best talent in the world to come here and continuing to provide the best opportunities for our own young people has always been our talent policy nationally. Our interest is also to bring talent across a broad spectrum, from the youngest to the most senior. We need the right mix to come to Singapore.  

When NRF announced that you were stepping down as CEO, they said you were retiring. But you seem very busy!  

Basically, I’ve come back home to NUS. I’ve always been a professor at NUS and I was on secondment to NRF. When I left NRF, my term of secondment ended, but because I was 67 and they’ve considered me so much a part of them, they were very nice to say that I’m retiring from the service. My main responsibilities now are with NUS in sustainability and resilience. I coordinate, facilitate, and perhaps catalyse, activities in these two areas.  

What do you enjoy outside of work? 

Food is important to most Singaporeans, same to me, and travel is always interesting. I’ve been to many places and continue to travel for work. One of my preferred pastimes is going to art museums. When I was in Paris this year for work with Paris Sciences et Lettres, I visited the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie, where you can see pieces by Monet.  

If I have free time in London, I go to the National Gallery. One artist who interests me there is Turner. He usually paints scenes of ships coming into port and his play of light is wonderful. Another is Constable, who painted very classical still life and landscapes. He painted places that are very familiar to me because they are close to Southampton, where I went to university.