Speakers

Get to know our Speakers

Dr Ling Ka Yi

Group Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder,
Shiok Meats

Dr. Ling Ka Yi is a developmental and stem cell biologist with over 10 years expertise in tracing and studying stem cells during development. Ka Yi received the prestigious A*STAR National Science Scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor’s and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked closely with stem cell and developmental biology experts like James Thomson, Davor Solter and Barbara Knowles. Following graduation, Ka Yi did her postdoc at IMCB, A*STAR in Singapore.

She is an active science communicator since her days in Madison; and frequently takes part in science outreach and speaks at food sustainability and career management events. She also did a podcast called “Science Now” and “Life after PhD” with fellow colleague/scholar. Ka Yi is passionate about marrying her experience in biotech research and her love for food to produce sustainable food products. In August 2018, she co-founded the cultivated crustaceans startup Shiok Meats, along with Dr Sandhya Sriram. Today, she acts as both the Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Shiok-Meats and leads a team of scientists to grow sustainable and environmentally- friendly crustacean meats by cultivating stem cells, which is a pioneer in food tech.

Mr Paul Fong

Country Director,
DOW Chemical Singapore & Malaysia

Paul is responsible for the first-in-the-world permanent shoes waste recycling eco-system in Singapore. This is one of his contributions towards a more sustainable and healthier future through engineering. In his role as country director of DOW, he is responsible for exploring growth opportunities through action-driven business development in Singapore and Malaysia. He actively drives the Sustainability and Inclusion & Diversity agenda in the industry and is a member in Singapore’s Standard Technical Committees on Surface Coating and Circularity of Materials for 2021 and 2022 . He has also been part of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce Circular Economy Committee since 2018. He sits on the Board of Directors at the Chemical Industry Council of Malaysia (CICM) and Singapore Chemical Industry Council (SCIC). Paul joined Dow in 1994 and has since assumed various management roles before he took on his current role in June 2017. In his more than 28 years in Dow, he also had two overseas stints with Dow’s joint ventures in Malaysia and Thailand.

Ms Jayden Ong

Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer, Soil Social

Ms Jayden Ong is the co-founder of Soil Social, a local biotechnology startup that converts local waste streams into high-quality compost to boost soil fertility and enhance plant nutrition, supporting a regenerative and sustainable food future. She is also part of a local innovation community, Audacity, that supports innovators to reimagine and build a humanity-centric future.

Prof Tan Thiam Soon

Institute Professor, Singapore Institute of Technology

Professor Tan Thiam Soon is the Institute Professor, Singapore Institute of Technology. He was the President from 2013 to 2021. He obtained his BEng in Civil Engineering from University of Canterbury and subsequently his Ms and PhD from California Institute of Technology.

Professor Tan is a civil engineer and his main research interests are in land reclamation, deep excavation and soil improvement. Professor Tan received the ASTM’s C.A. Hogentogler Award in 2007 and the Best Research Paper Award 2008 from the Japanese Geotechnical Society. He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2008, Minister of Transport’s Distinguished Innovation Award in 2008, Ministry of National Development’s 2015 Minister’s Award (Team) and the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2017. In addition, he was conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Education by Wheelock College in 2018, and an honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering by the University of Glasgow in 2019.

Professor Tan is a registered Specialist Professional Engineer (Geotechnical). Currently, he is the Deputy Chairman of the Building Construction Authority, a Board Member of the Land Transport Authority and member of the 44th Council of Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan. He also chairs MINDEF’s External Advisory Panel for Environmental Sustainability.

Dr Dong Xuecheng

Senior Scientist I, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, A*STAR

Dr. Dong Xuecheng is a Senior Scientist in Smart Separation and Segregation, under Sustainable & Circular Production Technology. Over 9 years in A*STAR Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), he initiates and manages competitive research grants and industry projects with focus on industry sustainability, closed-loop continuous manufacturing, smart collection and sorting, as well as projects sponsored by public trust fund, local and overseas universities.

Dr Luo Yifei

Research Fellow, Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR

Dr. Luo Yifei obtained her Ph.D. in Materials Science from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore under the A*STAR Graduate Scholarship. She is currently a Research Scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR. Her research spans the broad spectrum of flexible electronics and focuses on plant wearable sensors for both biological study and agricultural application. Dr. Luo developed her interest in science communication during her Ph.D. time, and her thesis presentation emerged as the winner of Three Minute Thesis 2020 Asia-Pacific Final. She believes the power of storytelling in science communication to reach and inspire a wider audience.

Dr Sreenivasulu Reddy Mogali

Assistant Professor & Head of Anatomy, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, NTU

Asst. Prof. Mogali is the Head of Anatomy in Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, NTU. He received both MSc and PhD degrees in Medical Anatomy from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, India. Prior to this appointment, he worked in Kasturba Medical College International Centre, Manipal University, India in the capacity of Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Asst. Prof. from 2004 to 2012. He was then appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia from 2012 to 2014. He taught all areas of anatomy to medical, dental and allied health students.

Asst. Prof. Mogali has made important contribution in clinical anatomy and morphology, with his works published in several peer reviewed journals. He has received national and international prizes for his presentations at scientific conferences. He has also served as a reviewer for various international journals. Asst Prof Mogali is passionate in exploring innovative teaching resources for anatomical education, such as 3D printed anatomical models, virtual anatomy (AR and VR) models and student-centred learning methods. In 2016, he was awarded the prestigious Nanyang Education Award for excellence in teaching.

Asst. Prof. Mogali has started a cutting edge interdisciplinary research project in the field of 3D printing in collaboration with engineers in NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing. This project aims to develop multi-colour and multi-material 3D printed human anatomical models to not only simulate the appearance of human tissues and organs, but also their feel, and also investigating their educational value.

Professor Chua Chee Kai

Head of Pillar, Engineering Product Development, Cheng Tsang Man Chair Professor, SUTD

Professor Chua Chee Kai is an active contributor to the Addictive Manufacturing (AM or 3D Printing) field for over 29 years, where his re-design of AM processes for innovative devices such as tissue engineering scaffolds are highly regarded by the scientific community. He won the prestigious International Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Excellence (FAME) Award in 2018 and has contributed to more than 300 technical papers, generating more than 11,000 citations, and co-authored four AM books.

Associate Professor Stylianos Dritsas

Associate Head of Pillar (Education), Architecture and Sustainable Design (ASD), SUTD

Stylianos Dritsas is a pioneering faculty of Architecture and Sustainable Design Pillar and Singapore University of Technology and Design. His research interests are in Design Computation and Digital Fabrication. He develops innovative Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing software, and robotic 3D-Printing systems for large-scale sustainable bio-composites. In the past, he has taught at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, the Architectural Association in London. He is a registered Architect Engineer in Greece and Architect in the United Kingdom.

Dr Tan Mei Xuan

Senior Lecturer, SUTD

Dr Tan obtained her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics from the National University of Singapore (NUS). She went on to pursue her doctorate with the NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (NGS). During her PhD, she spent 4 years at the A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN). Her research was committed to the development and synthesis of porous organic polymers for various applications in green chemistry, which include carbon dioxide adsorption, water purification and metal-free catalysis.