After a hiatus of 3 years, TEDxNUS is back with more speakers, more energy and a whole lot more ideas. With 12 speakers invited from both locally and abroad, covering a diverse range of topics from healthcare to comedy, audiences were given a peek inside the minds of movers and shakers of tomorrow. With an Ideas Lab set up for audience members to interact with during the break, we were also treated to interesting ideas that NUS and the Makers' community in Singapore had to offer.

University Hall Auditorium
21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, National University of Singapore
Singapore, South West, 119077
Singapore

Andrew Mark O

Student/Actor

There is almost no limit to Andrew’s innate need to entertain anyone and everyone he meets. As a result, he is now an avid theatre performer and improv comedian who has dozens of plays and musicals under his belt. He also likes to think of himself as a writer who delves into poetry, short stories, spoken word, and pretentious twitter posts. He will also pick up and play anything around him that can create sound like the guitar, the piano and/or a wooden table. Andrew also plays and sings for bars and cafes (most of the time because the resident musician called in sick) and does voiceover work for radio commercials all while trying to wake up in time for his university lectures.

Angad Daryani

Maker

Angad is a 16 year old tech developer and likes to call himself a "maker". He's been building technology ever since the age of 8 and has worked with the MIT Media Lab at their hackathons on research projects since the age of 14. He built a RepRap desktop 3D printer at the age of 13. He home schooled for his 9th and 10th grades & is back in school now.

Benjamin Kheng

Musician

Benjamin is a musician, actor, writer and spoken word artist. After his start as a Radio DJ on Lush 99.5FM, he co-founded music group The Sam Willows, playing with them on international grounds (SXSW in Austin, Canadian Music Fest in Toronto) as well as at home (F1 Grand Prix 2013-2014, Mediacorp's Celebrate SG50). Apart from music, Benjamin has acted in numerous projects, on stage (Romeo & Juliet by Toy Factory, Ah Boys To Men: The Musical) as well as screen (Code Of Law, Mata Mata, OktoLive). On the side, he scores and arranges music for various films, as well as writes and performs spoken word pieces.

Bruce Hecht

Innovator for New Product Design, Analog Devices

Bruce’s interest with electronics started with a Tektronix build-it-kit from Toys ”R” Us. He studied Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He joined Analog Devices in 1994, where he is currently with the Worldwide Quality Systems Engineering Group in Willmington, MA, USA. He builds new circuits & device technology for high-speed automated test machines & for high-precision portable health care products.

Dr. John van Wyhe

Historian of Science

Dr. John is a historian of science who specializes on Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace and the history of evolutionary theories. He holds an unusual pair of positions: Senior Lecturer at Department of Biological Sciences & Department of History in NUS. He is the founder & director of the award winning Darwin online project at the University of Cambridge. He is a Professorial Fellow of Charles Darwin University and also an Associate of the Science, Technology & Society (STS) Cluster, Asia Research Institute (ARI), Natural History Museum (London) and a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He curated the restoration of Darwin's College rooms and the Wallace exhibition at the Science Centre Singapore.

Dr. Seeram Ramakrishna

Professor PE Seeram Ramakrishna, FREng, is the Director of Center for Nanofibers & Nanotechnology at the National University of Singapore. Media giant Thomson Reuters identified him among the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds. He is a Highly Cited Researcher in Materials Science. He authored a book The Changing Face of Innovation. He designs and develops regenerative biomaterials for improved healthcare. He believes that humans’ quest for longevity drives innovation.

Joanna Sio

Academic/Comedian

Dr.Sio does improvisational comedy & is a stand-up comedian. She was a performing member with the Amsterdam based comedy group Easylaughs & has performed stand up & improv comedy with the People’s Liberation Improv at TakeOut Comedy, Hong Kong. She was the Runner Up at the 2012 Hong Kong International Comedy Competition. Together with Sharul Channa & Kristel Zweer, they form Comedy on Heels, the first all-female touring comedy troupe based in Singapore.

Kae Yuan Neo

Founder, Bare Nusessities

Being shy has not stopped Kae Yuan from embarking on the project of approaching strangers for a chat within NUS. Aptly titled Bare Nusessities, his project seeks to bare NUS to show the individuals who make up its community. Inspired by Humans of New York, Kae Yuan believes that photography can change the world. He is a Life Science student in NUS.

Kwok Jia Chuan

Co-Founder, Conjunct Consulting

As the Chairman and co-founder of Conjunct Consulting, Jia Chuan leads the Board of Directors to oversee a 200-member social impact consultancy deploying $1M of pro bono consulting services annually to Singapore's social sector. He was listed as one of Prestige Singapore's "40 under 40" young leaders in 2014 and was previously President of the AIESEC chapter in the London School of Economics, the world’s largest student leadership and exchange organization. Alongside advocating for social innovation through Conjunct, Jia Chuan is also an avid traveler, having hitchhiked from London to Amsterdam for charity, and enjoys thinking of discussing new innovations and listening to jazz.

Liyana Sulaiman

Founder, MakerBelle

Liyana is passionate about helping others succeed in life and to take up new challenges. In particular sharing her love of digital media and technology and encouraging young women to embrace careers in tech and science. She previously was the Managing Director of Girls in Tech Singapore, and based off her experience there has started her own initiative MakerBelle to help young women discover technology and become inventors. She has a love for start-ups and has worked in Silicon Valley for a company acquired by Skype (Qik). Her goals are one day to run her own tech start up as well in 3D food printing.

Nan Chyuan Tiah

Architect

Nan Chyuan is a director of FARM. He graduated in 2001 from National University of Singapore and went on to complete his professional education at the Architectural Association, London in 2004. He finds beauty in geometry and patterns, and believes that good design should be responsive, intelligent and sincere. FARM is many things at once. It is a cross disciplinary design practice, an architectural atelier, a curatorial team and community-centred arts organization. They call themselves FARM (or FARMers) because they like to cultivate a culture of imagination, and they believe in hard work. Since establishing its cross disciplinary design arm to collaborate with artists and designers in 2007, FARM has been working on projects that span across the entire scale spectrum of design that includes architecture, interior & product design. Architecture aside, Nan Chyuan likes to think that he is a semi-retired footballer.

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

office.rajendra@gmail.com

Rajendra is a versatile leader recognised for his contribution in diverse fields including Public Policy, Governance Reforms , Innovation , Healthcare , Retail & Rural Economy. In 2012, Rajendra was conferred the 'Global Healthcare Leader of the Year' award by the Sheriff of Los Angeles , USA & has been nominated and ratified by IBC as 'Leading Health Professionals of the World 2012' for making significant contributions in the field to engender influence on a local, national and international basis.

Zach Valenti

Filmmaker & Social Entrepreneur

A creator, passionate about making a difference for people & smitten by the possibilities of communication & mindfulness to transform the quality of life on earth. He runs a mental health & mindfulness awareness campaign (Project Uplift) on a mission to shift stigma & shame to empowerment & play by letting people lift the world with their mind by relaxing. As an author, he has been published on Salon.com, The Wall Street journal & New York Daily News.