FLYING HIGHER

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) sent its first postgraduate award recipient to Cranfield University late last year. PIONEER speaks to Military Expert (ME) 5 Reuben Lim to understand how the qualification will help the Air Force stay above all.

Pursuing doctoral studies has always been ME5 Lim's aspiration. So when the SAF Postgraduate Award (SPA) (PhD) scheme rolled out in May last year, the 33-year-old was one of the first few applicants.

Armed with a portfolio of aircraft engineering work accumulated over 11 years with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), ME5 Lim is the first recipient of the award, and is currently pursuing his doctorate at the United Kingdom's Cranfield University.

Deeper specialisation

Targeted at senior MEs, the SPA (PhD) scheme arose from an organisational need to build and sustain a more knowledge-intensive engineering workforce. ME5 Lim's research will help produce practical field applications and go a long way in enhancing the RSAF's engineering competencies.

"What I hope to derive from this PhD is the development of our own solutions for maintenance engineering that caters to our unique needs and requirements, rather than going back to the producers of the aircraft and depending on them for solutions," said ME5 Lim, an aero systems branch section head who works with ground staff to ensure that maintenance processes and procedures on aircraft are carried out properly.

He also investigates and comes up with engineering solutions to address the reliability problems of aircraft components.

Made in Singapore

Of course, ME5 Lim is certainly no stranger to developing and implementing engineering solutions for the RSAF's assets.

"Two years ago, the Apache helicopters performed aerobatic displays at a series of air shows. Because of these manoeuvres, we had to perform extensive maintenance because we did not know the damage accumulated in the aero-mechanical components," said ME5 Lim, who also holds a Masters in Civil Engineering from the National University of Singapore.

He added: "I downloaded data from the aircraft and wrote a programme to process the information, which, when replayed, simulated the flight path flown. With this, we were able to quantitatively calculate if there was any damage to the aircraft's components and prescribe just the amount of maintenance required."

Apart from these technical studies, ME5 Lim has been involved in life extension studies for aircraft like the A4-SU Super Skyhawk and Aermacchi S-211. He was also involved in the upgrading of the RSAF's KC-135R tanker aircraft and C-130 transport aircraft.

Said ME5 Lim: "We may buy the same planes as everyone else, but the kind of environment we fly in is unique. No aircraft manufacturer can tell you exactly how to maintain your aircraft. So when we face a problem unique to us, it is quite satisfying to develop the solutions that fit our needs precisely."

"What I hope to derive from this PhD is the development of our own solutions for maintenance engineering, rather than going back to the aircraft producers and depending on them for solutions."

- ME5 Lim on what he wants to achieve from the SPA scheme