Dr Tay has more than 30 years of experience in the engineering industry, with special interests in energy conservation, materials, composites and plastics throughout his career, either in research, development, fabrication or consultancy. With a Masters in Fire Engineering from University of Western Sydney, Dr Tay is a registered Fire Safety Engineer with the Singapore Civil Defence Force.  Dr Tay has worked on fire engineering projects involving commercial high-rise buildings, retail, residential and mixed development, industrial, etc.  His projects in Singapore and overseas include Resorts World Sentosa, Universal Studios of Singapore, South Beach Development, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1, National Heart Centre, 100 storey Al Quds Tower (Qatar), Ministry of Interior (Qatar), Kempinski Hotel (Qatar) and many others.

Dr Tay holds patents in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA for the development of cold room materials with special interests in material fire properties.  Dr Tay is also a Green Mark Professional registered with the Building Construction Authority.