A new scholarship aimed at attracting engineers to the public sector has been introduced for next year's intake.

The Public Service Commission Scholarship (Engineering) will build in its scholarship holders deep technical skills that will be relevant to the complex problems and issues Singapore will face as the country enters the next phase of development.

After graduation, scholarship holders will join a ministry or statutory board under the engineering cluster that they are attached to: defence and security; infocomm technology and smart systems; and infrastructure and environment.

The PSC scholarships are among the most prestigious here and can trace their history back to 1885, during colonial days.

The scholarship programmes have nurtured many leaders in government and the popularity of the scholarships has not waned - this year, the PSC processed more than 2,700 applications for PSC and ministry scholarships, with 73 PSC scholarships given out.

The introduction of the PSC Scholarship (Engineering) scheme and the announcement that the salaries of public-sector engineers will be raised will do much to raise the profile of the profession here.

Well-trained engineers are needed as Singapore undertakes plans to integrate technology into multiple sectors, including healthcare, finance and defence.

These engineers can also venture into growing fields such as business analytics and geospatial technology, besides traditional areas of study like civil and electrical engineering.

There has been a shortage of engineering talent in both the public and private sectors in the last few years.

But the recent changes should go a long way towards getting university-bound students and undergraduates excited about engineering as a profession.

Yuen Sin