Skip to main content

Filed under:

American engineer's death in Singapore raises questions

Share this story

Shane Todd was a gifted engineer working for the Singaporean research agency Institute of Microelectronics. But in June 2012, he was found dead in his apartment. Police ruled the death a suicide, but Dr. Todd's family believed otherwise, lobbying the FBI and members of Congress into bringing attention to the case. Dr. Todd was working on a galium nitride amplifier, a powerful new technology with military and commercial applications potentially worth billions. His parents believe his work on this sensitive technology, possibly for a project with the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, may have led to his untimely death. On May 13, 2013, the Singapore government launched a 12-day public coroner's inquest to determine the cause of Dr. Todd's death.