Piece by piece: The road to Singapore’s first digital construction WorldSkills medal

Ngee Ann Polytechnic graduate Samuel Tan clinched Singapore's first WorldSkills podium finish in digital construction after more than 1,000 hours of training over about five months.

Singapore’s Samuel Tan (right) celebrates after winning bronze in digital construction at the WorldSkills Competition 2026 in Shanghai. (Photo: Courtesy of WorldSkills International)

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SINGAPORE: For Mr Samuel Tan, preparing for this year's WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai meant more than 1,000 hours of training over about five months.

The 20-year-old Ngee Ann Polytechnic design graduate competed in digital construction and won bronze – Singapore's first medal in the category.

His win came as Singapore recorded its best showing yet at the biennial event that brings together young people from around the world to compete in vocational and technical skills, ranging from cooking and welding to cybersecurity.

Team Singapore brought home four silver medals, four bronze medals and 19 Medallions for Excellence. The record haul of 27 awards surpassed its previous high of 22 at the 2019 edition in Kazan, Russia.

Singapore fielded 34 youths across 31 skill areas at the Sep 22 to 27 event, which drew more than 1,400 competitors from over 70 countries and regions.

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THE GRIND BEHIND THE MEDAL

Digital construction involves using technology to create and manage information throughout a construction project.

Competitors are assessed on tasks including interpreting a client's brief, creating digital building models and identifying potential clashes.

Mr Tan, who specialised in architecture at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, spent part of his preparation training with architecture firms, where he worked on real-life projects and dealt with issues that arose along the way. He also had one-to-one sessions with his coaches.

"The toughest part was consistency, doing this day in, day out," he told CNA's Singapore Tonight on Tuesday (Sep 29).

"Every day there's always something to improve on, some gaps in knowledge to patch. So it was a constant struggle to find my weaknesses."

But the industry training helped give him confidence going into the competition, he added.

Singapore's Samuel Tan competes in the digital construction category at the WorldSkills Competition 2026 in Shanghai. (Photo: Courtesy of WorldSkills International)

BUILDING WITH DIGITAL "LEGO"

At the heart of digital construction is Building Information Modelling, or BIM.

Rather than simply producing a drawing of a building, BIM creates a 3D model containing information about its different elements, which can be used and updated by people working on a construction project.

"When people think about digital construction, some may think it's a 3D modelling software. But how I like to explain it is like Lego, building a Lego model," Mr Tan said.

"So each brick has data behind it. And your job is to put the bricks together in such a way that it makes sense."

That also means accounting for the different parts of a building, from its structure to its mechanical elements, he added.

Singapore's Samuel Tan uses digital tools to create and adjust a building design during the WorldSkills Competition 2026 in Shanghai. (Photo: Ngee Ann Polytechnic)

GROWING THE LOCAL TALENT POOL

Singapore first competed in digital construction at the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition but did not win a medal in the category.

Mr Song Yu Chuan, a WorldSkills expert in digital construction and manager at Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Design and Environment, said Singapore's push to use technology to make its construction sector more efficient had been accompanied by schools preparing students in the field.

"We focus on design a lot, but there is a strong demand for digital skills," he said.

"What has happened over the last few years is in line with industry needs, the schools, we've also been preparing our students for this … in-demand skill.”

That had resulted in a stronger pool of competitors to choose from locally, Mr Song noted.

Digital construction is also continuing to evolve with the integration of computational design and artificial intelligence, he said. Such skills could eventually translate into better jobs and working environments.

FROM ONE BUILDING TO A CITY

For Mr Tan, the competition is not the end of his interest in the field and he plans to further his education.

"BIM for me is like the starting point. It branches out into many more things," he said.

One area he is interested in exploring is smart cities and how BIM could be applied to them.

Mr Tan said applying the technology to an entire city would be much more challenging than using it for a single building, and that was where he hoped to take his skills next.

“Seeing any piece of work being done in real life is really a great accomplishment to me, and showing … my skills on the world stage is something that really makes me proud,” he said.

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义安理工学院毕业生陈山明经过大约五个月、超过 1000 小时的训练，在数字建筑项目中为新加坡赢得了世界技能大赛的首个领奖台名次。

新加坡选手陈志远（右）在上海举行的2026年世界技能大赛数字建筑项目中获得铜牌后庆祝。（图片：世界技能大赛国际组织提供）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

新加坡：对于陈先生来说，备战今年在上海举行的世界技能大赛意味着在约五个月的时间里进行了超过 1000 小时的训练。

这位 20 岁的义安理工学院设计专业毕业生参加了数字建造比赛，并获得了铜牌——这是新加坡在该类别中获得的第一枚奖牌。

他的胜利正值新加坡在两年一度的国际青年技能大赛中取得迄今为止最佳成绩之际。该赛事汇聚了来自世界各地的年轻人，让他们在从烹饪、焊接到网络安全等职业和技术技能方面展开竞争。

新加坡队共获得4枚银牌、4枚铜牌和19枚卓越奖章。此次共获得27项奖项，创下历史新高，超过了2019年在俄罗斯喀山举行的比赛中创下的22项的最高纪录。

新加坡在 9 月 22 日至 27 日的比赛中派出 34 名青少年选手参加 31 个技能领域的比赛，该赛事吸引了来自 70 多个国家和地区的 1400 多名参赛者。

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奖牌背后的艰辛

数字化施工是指在整个施工项目中运用技术来创建和管理信息。

参赛者需完成的任务包括解读客户简报、创建数字建筑模型以及识别潜在冲突。

毕业于义安理工学院建筑专业的陈先生，在备考期间曾多次到建筑事务所实习，参与实际项目并处理过程中出现的问题。此外，他还接受过导师的一对一辅导。

“最难的部分是坚持，日复一日地做这件事，”他周二（9月29日）告诉亚洲新闻台的《新加坡今夜》节目。

“每天都有需要改进的地方，总有一些知识上的不足需要弥补。所以，找出自己的弱点一直是个难题。”

但他补充说，行业培训帮助他增强了参加比赛的信心。

新加坡选手陈志远（Samuel Tan）在上海举行的2026年世界技能大赛中参加数字建造项目的比赛。（图片：世界技能大赛国际组织提供）

用数字“乐高”进行搭建

数字建造的核心是建筑信息模型（BIM）。

BIM 不仅仅是绘制建筑物的图纸，而是创建一个包含建筑物不同元素信息的 3D 模型，供建筑项目工作人员使用和更新。

“人们一想到数字化建造，有些人可能会认为它是3D建模软件。但我更喜欢用玩乐高积木来解释，就像搭建乐高模型一样，”谭先生说。

“所以每一块砖背后都有数据。你的任务就是把这些砖块拼凑起来，使之有意义。”

他还补充说，这也意味着要考虑建筑物的各个组成部分，从其结构到其机械部件。

在2026年上海世界技能大赛期间，新加坡选手陈志远（Samuel Tan）利用数字工具创建并调整建筑设计。（图片：义安理工学院）

扩大本地人才库

新加坡首次参加2022年世界技能大赛特别版数字建筑项目的比赛，但并未在该类别中获得奖牌。

世界技能大赛数字建筑专家、义安理工学院设计与环境学院经理宋宇川先生表示，新加坡大力利用科技提高建筑业效率的同时，学校也在培养学生在该领域的专业能力。

“我们非常注重设计，但市场对数字技能的需求也很大，”他说。

“过去几年发生的事情符合行业需求，学校也一直在为学生培养这项……热门技能。”

宋先生指出，这使得本地有更多更强大的竞争对手可供选择。

他还表示，随着计算设计和人工智能的融合，数字化建造也在不断发展。这些技能最终有望转化为更好的就业机会和工作环境。

从一栋建筑到一座城市

对谭先生来说，这场比赛并没有结束他对该领域的兴趣，他计划继续深造。

“对我来说，BIM就像一个起点，它能延伸到很多其他方面，”他说。

他感兴趣的研究领域之一是智慧城市以及如何将BIM应用于智慧城市。

谭先生表示，将这项技术应用于整个城市比将其应用于单个建筑物要困难得多，而这正是他希望接下来运用自身技能的方向。

“看到自己的作品在现实生活中得以实现，对我来说真的是一项巨大的成就，而能够在世界舞台上展示我的技能，真的让我感到非常自豪，”他说。

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