"I studied chemical engineering and became a software engineer"
Curiosity led this fresh NTU grad to explore different disciplines and make the most of an unexpected detour
by Derek Rodriguez
Six years ago, Kim Minseo chose chemical engineering. He doesn’t regret it, even though he ended up somewhere else entirely.
Having become a Singapore citizen midway through university, the Korea-born graduate completed his National Service before returning to finish his degree. The student who came for chemical engineering is now a young man beginning a career in software engineering.
Minseo admits that the two fields are “vastly different” but his time in NTU gave him the freedom to explore his interests and realise that his ambitions lay beyond his major.
“It’s very cliché, but I liked chemistry in junior college and enjoyed building things with my hands, like with Lego. I thought I’d combine them with chemical engineering,” he says.
“The pivot towards programming came from the opportunities I had at NTU, from research attachments and online learning resources to the mentors I met.”
The first lines of code
His first forays into software engineering were through NTU’s CN Yang Scholars Programme, where students pursue interdisciplinary learning and research.
Minseo picked up coding while working on machine learning projects. One involved using deep learning models to analyse surveillance footage, and another looked at how AI could evaluate ambient sounds to determine if they were pleasant or noisy.
“That’s when I started taking programming more seriously, learning on my own outside of research.”
In his second year, he joined an NTU mentorship programme that paired him with NTU alumnus Dennis Chang, a software entrepreneur.
“He gave me a clearer picture of the industry, the different career paths available and how software development actually works in practice.”
I’m grateful that NTU gave me the freedom to explore, stumble and eventually find my footing, in my own way and in my own time.
– Minseo
A valuable detour
Then, after his third year, Minseo’s university journey took an unexpected pause. His application to become a Singapore Permanent Resident was approved. It came with an obligation to do National Service.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” says Minseo, who has lived in Singapore since he was nine and is now a citizen.
“Those two years gave me the space and time to develop my programming skills. I could ask myself what I wanted to build, rather than what I was supposed to do.”
Away from assignments and exams, he focused on personal projects such as an app to track internship applications, which he has made available for free online.
When he returned to NTU, he had a clear sense of direction. He further honed his software skills by interning with a fintech startup and GovTech, working on products used by real customers.
This reinforced what he had suspected: he enjoyed building things that made a meaningful impact on people’s lives, while collaborating closely with others.
“During these internships, I worked on real products, first integrating AI agents for financial background checks, where I got to see direct feedback from real users, and later building A/B testing tools for users to customise and track their own website banners. Working closely with product managers, data scientists and UX designers, that’s when my interest in building products for people was solidified.”
This July, Minseo joins DBS as a management associate on the technology track.
His journey is proof that sometimes, you don’t need to stick with what you started with. You can let your curiosity take the lead.
That does not mean his chemical engineering background was left behind.
“Absolutely,” Minseo says when asked whether it shapes the way he works. “In chemical engineering, you’re always asking what happens when one part of the system fails. That instinct stuck. When I’m building software, I’m still thinking about the same thing: how does this hold up when something goes wrong?”
He adds: “Looking back, I’m grateful that NTU gave me the freedom to explore, stumble and eventually find my footing, in my own way and in my own time.”
Despite entering NTU at the height of the pandemic, Minseo (top left) threw himself into campus life and led his school club as its president.
Minseo (second from right) on exchange at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Read more stories on the moments in university that changed the Class of 2026 here.
This story was published in the Jul-Aug 2026 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
