A world of opportunities The Economic Development Board offers its scholar Lee Wei Sheng plenty of room to grow By Lim Yann Ling ECONOMIC Development Board (EDB) scholar Lee Wei Sheng, 27, took up industrial engineering at Northwestern University in the United States, because “it offered the most flexibility”. “I appreciate things being flexible and having room to play in instead of being pigeon-holed,” says the former softball player from Victoria Junior College. “Similarly, what I like about my job now is that I can see myself making a difference on several levels of the big picture — from account management, where I interact with people on a one-to-one basis, to policy planning, where I see myself making a difference across the industry, helping it to grow in its reach.” Mr Lee obtained a master’s degree in management science and engineering from Stanford University in 2005 after earning his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Northwestern University in 2004. In his current job as a senior officer, logistics, at EDB, he deals mostly with logistics giants such as DHL, FedEx and TNT. He says: “EDB’s overarching goal is to promote foreign direct investments. “In logistics, this means reaching out to companies to explore the possibilities of further expansion and locating new activities in Singapore. If they don’t have an office in Singapore yet, we work towards bringing them in. The end goal is to create jobs — good quality jobs.” While most engineering disciplines apply skills to very specific areas, industrial engineering — also known as operations management — is applied in virtually every industry. “Industrial engineers typically use computer simulation, especially discrete event simulation, for system analysis and evaluation to streamline processes, make them more efficient and increase productivity,” says Mr Lee. The flexibility of his training is clearly a good fit at EDB. “Here, we are placed according to industry verticals, which means given a background in biomedical engineering, one might be placed in the group charged with developing the biomedical science industry. “But periodic job rotations mean that you could end up in an entirely different field and will have to pick up new knowledge and new skills,” he says. His knack for adapting to different challenges has landed him a three-year overseas posting to Chicago in the US, where his alma mater Northwestern University is. The thoughtful mix of interests at EDB seems to have struck a positive chord with Mr Lee. Not only did he get an opportunity to study overseas and see the world, he also has found a job that resonates with his interest and per-sonality. “I took up the scholarship because I wanted to study overseas, but with only a brief idea of what exactly I might end up working as,” he says. “During my freshman year, I came back for an internship with EDB, which gave me a taste of the actual job upon graduation. I was matched to logistics, which was very close to what I was studying in uni-versity and I liked it. “Over the past couple of years, I have grown to appreciate being able to apply to this job both analytical thinking, as required of an engineer, as well as people management skills, which I naturally enjoy.”