Theme: Pushing the Envelope

Pushing the Envelope, is a phrase used in an aeronautic context by test pilots who were determining just how far it was safe to go with the aim of doing better than before.
For us, the envelope symbolizes the upper and lower limits of the various factors in our life, whether it be academic, career or personal decisions.

Through the ‘talks’ the theme will encourage us to recognize and accept our own potential by going the extra mile to make our ambitions work. To take the risk and see just how far we go.

Here in TEDxCityUHongKong, everyone is a pilot. Join us now by being our partners to push the envelope -

Pilots! It's time to leave the ready room and fly high!

Our registrations start at 1:15 p.m. so make sure to come early so that you get great seats and goodies!

Tickets Sold-Out! Walk-in is welcome at 1:45 p.m. for remaining available seats!

Joseph Lee Hall (3505)
3/F, Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Academic Building (AC2)
83 Tat Chee Avenue, City University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 852
Hong Kong

Dagmar Boettger

Innovation Leadership Coach and Consultant of Ignition Global Ltd.

Dagmar Boettger is an expert on leadership and talent development with 20-year experiences in the field of strategic human resources and change management in Europe, Hong Kong and China. She is the founder, principal coach and consultant at Ignition Global Ltd, a consultancy company supporting leaders, teams and organizations to cope with change, initiate innovation and continue to learn. She has always been where change took place to facilitate the process. In France, she successfully helped enhance cross-selling in the European sales Teams. In Hong Kong, she headed the development of regional leadership development program which is still in use today across Asia Pacific. In China, together with her team, she managed to turn a former joint venture into one of the best performing and innovative sites in China for her employer, BASF.

Jian Lu

Vice President (Research &Technology) at CityU and Distinguished Material Scientist

Professor Jian Lu is the Vice-President of Research and Technology, the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Director of Centre for Advanced Structural Materials at CityU. He is well known for his research in science and engineering with more than 300 SCI journal papers published and 10 inventions patented. His latest work was published on Nature, and the was selected as the cover story. He was awarded The French Knight Order of National, Gold Medal with Mention in the 56th World Exhibition of Innovation, Research and New Technologies at Brussels Expo. He was an Academician of the National Academy of Technologies of France, also a Fellow of the Society for Experimental Mechanics, to name a few.

Kinni Mew

Founder of Mindlayer Ltd

Kinni Mew, a CityU graduate from Electronic Engineering, is the founder of Mindlayer Limited. It is one of a few FinTech startups in Hong Kong applying AI in their business model. He leads the company's research team and works on bringing state-of-art artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to companies especially in the Cantonese-speaking market. Mindlayer's deep learning powered Natural Language Processing (NLP) engine empowers businesses to build AI applications smarter and faster. Using big data and AI, Mindlayer developed chatbot to provide customer service for banking. Recently, Kinni has joined the panel discussion in Google Think 2020 where he shared his view on Digital Transformation in Hong Kong. He was an awardee of the Cyberport University Partnership Programme before joining the Cyberport incubation program. Mindlayer was also a part of the DBS accelerator program.

Lori Granito

The AmCham Women of Influence Entrepreneur 2016 Awardee and Director of the Board of the HK Women's Entrepreneur Network

Lori Granito is an accomplished speaker with 3 TEDx talks under her belt, and is the founder of Success, Leadership and Mindset coaching company, Legendary Life Coaching Limited. She is a breakthrough business mentor helping high achieving creative entrepreneurs push past fears and gain more confidence in order to build thriving businesses. She is also a serial entrepreneur and also the owner of several other restaurants and catering companies, including the award winning Magnolia private kitchen. In 2013, she founded Kitchen Sync, Hong Kong’s first culinary incubator for startup food entrepreneurs. Lori was formerly the Chairwomen of the Hong Kong Women Business Owner’s Association and Vice-Chair of the Soho Association. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the HK Women’s Entrepreneur Network. She was awarded the ‘AmCham Women of Influence Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2016’ by American Chamber of Commerce and ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ by SKAL Hong Kong, for her work.

Neelam Tewar

neelam.tewar@gmail.com

Neelam Tewar is a poet, writer, entrepreneur, mentor and spiritual teacher. The core components connecting her work together are creativity, modern philosophy, compassion and conscious entrepreneurship. Her personal experience of being born and raised across four continents: Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States, has helped her to develop tolerance and ignited her passion to travel and see the world. In 2016, she gave up her life in New York City, her home for over a decade, to focus on her art, teaching, exploring and creating magic. Subsequently, she started a company with a mission to help as many people as possible to live a purposeful and connected life. She has supported and guided many of her clients to change and transform their lives to bring back joy and fulfillment. In addition, she has set up a not-for-profit foundation - Invisible Threads, to support educational programs and provide mentorship for the underprivileged communities in India and around the world.

Sidhant Gupta

Inventor of Smallest Robot in India and Member of Mensa (HK)

Sidhant Gupta is a young influencer who aspires to think and create something “out-of-the-box”. Hence, he spends a lot of his free time exploring different coded, electronics and tools. He is a member of Hong Kong Mensa and in the process of authoring his own book. Furthermore, at the age of 16, he broke a national record in India by creating the smallest bipedal robot in the country. He is currently leading the Vayu Project at HKU aiming to break a Guinness World Record this year by building the world's fastest robotic fish. Since April 2017, he has commenced the Open Source Remote Education Initiative - a project that brings electronically aided education to hundreds of children in Vietnam, India, Philippines, Kenya and remote areas of Mainland China through tablet computers. He also handled another ongoing project - Mindorobots Ecological Project that focused on using swarms of robots to sustainably map and protect coral reefs from environmental damage.

Sonia Samtani

Managing Director of All About You and Licensed Hypnotherapist

Sonia Samtani is the Managing Director of All About You, a centre for physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. She is the only facilitator in Asia who is also a licensed Clinical Hypnotherapist, Qualified Life Coach, Certified Corporate Trainer, Accredited Image Expert, and Presentation Coach. Sonia’s success stems from her innate passion for her work and her ability to reach out and touch her audience. She inspires her clients to take action and accountability for their lives, making their aspirations a reality. Having earned credibility and respect as a leader and motivator amongst both individuals and corporates, she has become a sought-after speaker in the Hong Kong circuit for mental, emotional and spiritual transformation. Sonia has been a Senior Mentor on the team of Anthony Robbins, the world famous motivational success coach. Through her own life experience and over 12 years of practice, she has now personally trained, coached and healed over fifteen thousand people to a

Tom Tse

CityU student, Radio Host and Writer

The story of Tom Tse, Year 1 student majoring in Media and Communication at CityU, provides us with an excellent example of how age does not matter when it comes to doing something great in life. Since a very young age of 15, Tom has been exploring his passion and talent in event management and communications. He began his career in 2014 as the Master of Ceremony for the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education Events and contributed greatly to the success of the events. Since then, he has continued to polish his communication and event management skills by becoming the Program Assistant at DBC Broadcasting Limited as well as the Program Host at RTHK. In addition, he has also acclaimed several achievements including the Service Learning Competition Bronze Award from the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, and the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Award from Youth Arch Foundation. His success story has proven that anyone can be extraordinary by pushing themselves out of their comfort zo