Mr Bernard Nee Seng Soon

Deputy President (Industry & Community Group), Office of the DP (Industry & Community), Singapore Institute of Technology

Mr. Bernard Nee is Deputy President (Industry & Community), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). He assumed the role on 1 April 2023 after being appointed Vice President (Industry & Community) on 1 Jan 2022. The group is responsible for industry and future sensing, corporate communications, as well as collaborations with companies and agencies for applied learning and research. Bernard actively engages companies, trade associations, government agencies and various interest groups to advance SIT’s mission and vision.

He brings along deep experience garnered from previous leadership roles at the Economic Development Board (EDB), National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Energy Market Authority (EMA). As the Deputy Chief Executive of EMA (2012-2021), he managed over $200 million in energy R&D funding, and forged partnerships with PSA Singapore, Sembcorp Industries, Keppel Offshore & Marine, SP Group and Shell to nurture the energy ecosystem. His team launched the Energy Story (a national blueprint enabling Singapore’s energy transformation), introduced regulatory sandboxes, nurtured a competitive industry workforce and pushed Singapore’s solar and energy storage ambitions. His portfolio also included oversight of EMA’s corporate functions.

Prior to 2012, he was with EDB for 18 years, where he assumed senior management roles as Executive Director in charge of Natural Resources, Strategic and Corporate Planning, as well as the Chief Information Officer. He seeded a team to incubate high-growth clusters that could contribute $1 billion to Singapore’s GDP within 10 years. In 2005, he was seconded to the NRF as the pioneering Director to establish policies, processes, and systems to manage the $5 billion RIE2010 budget.

A recipient of the EDB scholarship, Bernard possesses a Masters in Management of Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduated with an MSc and BSc (with University Honours) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.