Ng Yoon Chun Nicholas
Computer Engineering
College of Computing and Data Science
Summary
Nicholas is a tech innovator who is passionate about emerging technologies, such as robotics, drones, Internet of Things (IoT), and additive manufacturing. He believes that the disruptive forces behind the shift to Industry 4.0 are benefiting employment, economic growth, and environmental protection in a sustainable manner.
He had more than 7 years of software engineering experience - developed contactless payment solution, enterprise cloud platform, and mission-critical control applications. Moreover, he was a product manager with strong business acumen focusing on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
An alumni of Nanyang Technological University. He is also a corporate alumni of Garuda Robotics, Thales, Advanced Digital Sciences Center (ADSC), and IBM.
Featured Skills
Work Experience
Head, Mobility Engineering Sep 2020 - Present
Garuda Robotics SingaporeA position previously held by the CEO. Envisioned and established the Aerospace Design Engineering (five-member) and Onboard System Engineering (five-member) teams.
Product Manager Aug 2018 - Sep 2020
Garuda Robotics SingaporeDrove product development, vision, strategy and execution across engineering, UI/UX and marketing teams and 4 commercial drone products
● CoverFlight, Singapore’s first digital drone insurance platform: Pioneered the product vision and mobilised cross-industry partners, Acorn International (insurance broker) and Allianz Singapore (underwriter).
● Plex Pilot, a flight control app for simplified drone operations: Acquired more than 1,000 users organically in 3 months.
● Plex Horizon, a flight simulator software: Devised and implemented the beachhead strategy to engage institutes of higher learning through Plex Horizon Education. Acquired NUS’ Department of Mechanical Engineering as an institutional client.
● Garuda Plex, a fleet management platform: Revamped the pricing strategy and acquired paying customers.
Solution Architect Aug 2018 - Aug 2020
FutureFlight Consortium SingaporeChief Solution Architect in the Future Flight Consortium, a 2-year project to develop a connected urban airspace management system for unmanned aircraft.
● Headed a team of solution architects across four partner drone companies based in Singapore and USA to propose a unified control system for DJI-based and Ardupilot-based multirotor drones
● Managed stakeholder relations between eight other consortium members
● Implemented BVLOS flights demonstrating (1) drone command and control via 4G public and private networks, (2) delivery drone technology, (3) surveillance drone technology and (4) detect and avoid technology
● On behalf of the consortium, pioneered the submission of AC-UAS-2(0), CAAS’ assessment for BVLOS Operations for Unmanned Aircraft.
Engineered IoT and 5G RD solutions
● Led the production of MyDroneFleets, 100 IoT drone tracker devices custom-built for CAAS to monitor commercial drone activities nationwide.
● Demonstrated first drone usage of 5G technology in Singapore, in collaboration with Singtel and Ericson.
Software Development Engineer Feb 2016 - Aug 2018
Garuda Robotics SingaporeLead Android developer for Plex Pilot, a flight control app for simplified drone operations
● Achieved crash rate of 2% for 500 active users
● Applied MVP design pattern, utilized RxJava and Retrofit for modular and testable code
● Mentored and equipped junior software engineers with Agile methodology. In the process, enabled a student group to reduce development time by 30% on a six-month software engineering project.
Sole developer for Garuda CoPilot, an onboard computer (ARM, Linux, Dronekit-Python, OpenCV) to enable 4G secure connection on drone
● Achieved 300ms latency for command and control, 1s latency and 1080p24 resolution for live video streaming
● Achieved 100% reliability on more than 20 flights demonstrated to CAAS, A*STAR, DSO, NUS and MPA
Mentored an electronic engineering intern (three months) for PCB design and development
Product design for Garuda TowerSight, an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for telecom tower survey and management.
● Customized Garuda M06A drone to integrate with Aaronia RF Spectrum Analyzer
● Showcased product capabilities to Maxis in Malaysia and Globe Telecom in the Philippines
Rapid prototyping of robotics solution - Developed and delivered robotics crawler for Accenture IOT Centre Center of Excellence.
Licensed CAAS instructor (UOP/0013) with more than 50 hours of practical teaching and more than 100 hours of industrial operation experience.
RD Software Engineer Aug 2014 - Feb 2016
Gemalto (now Thales Digital Identity Security) SingaporeJAVA CARD applet to support EMV specifications for MasterCard tokens on Secure Element.
● Completed a year-long, multifaceted project (one-year effort) on time as a team player (two senior and three junior engineers)
● Wrote more than 1,000 unit tests for 95% path coverage
● Developed a test case generation tool - reduced test writing time and increased code coverage
● Coordinated with MasterCard team in France for M/CHIP 1.1 certification
● Conducted knowledge sharing of MasterCard Application Cryptogram (AC) generation to colleagues
● Filed patent memo
Education
Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering) Aug 2011 - May 2014
Nanyang Technological University SingaporeSecond Upper Honours
Chairperson, Adventure Sports Committee, NTU Outdoor Adventure Club
2014: Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition, Category D Semi-Autonomous Championship Award (2nd Place) and Best Performance Award
FYP: Android smart phone based participatory sensing
Other Skills
Q&A with Ng Yoon Chun Nicholas
How do you effectively manage your work?
I just simply divide time blocks for COLLABORATION and MAKER mode.
- Upvote | 1
- Posted 3 years ago
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What was the most significant event that made you the way you are now?
I went through a 2-years Call-For-Proposal project with Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) as a Solution Architect. My role is to propose and demonstrate technology on connected urban airspace of unmanned aircrafts. It was really eye opening experience working the top industry players within the frontier of regulation.
- Upvote | 1
- Posted 3 years ago
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What are the tools or technology that you enjoy using for your work?
When I am lazy, I liked using IntelliJ IDEA and Microsoft Visual Studio. When I want to spice things up, I will turn to Sublime Text
- Upvote | 1
- Posted 3 years ago
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What excites you about the field that you are in?
He believes that the disruptive forces behind the shift to Industry 4.0 are benefiting employment, economic growth, and environmental protection in a sustainable manner.
- Upvote | 1
- Posted 3 years ago
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How would you describe yourself in one sentence?
A tech innovator who is passionate about emerging technologies, such as robotics, drones, Internet of Things (IoT), and additive manufacturing.
- Upvote | 1
- Posted 3 years ago
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What are your strongest skills that have contributed to your success in this field?
