The Ministry for Trade and Industry announced last week that 43-year-old military officer REAR Admiral (RADM) Frederick Chew Chih Chiang will become the very first Chief Executive Officer of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).
RADM Chew will take on his new role from April onwards. The military officer, who is also presently a Board Member of the Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA) and DSO National Laboratories, will also be appointed as board member of A*Star.
A naval officer by vocation, RADM Chew is currently Deputy Secretary (Technology) at the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) – a position he will continue to helm until mid-2019. He has previously held top positions in MINDEF and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), such as the positions of Director of Joint Operations, Commander Maritime Security Task Force and Head of Naval Plans.
RADM Chew, an SAF Overseas Scholar who is also a recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship and Fulbright Award, holds a Masters of Engineering (First Class Honours) from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine as well as a Masters of Science in Management from Stanford University.