Theme: A World Reimgained

Imagination is perhaps one of our greatest powers! We look at the world not just to observe what is, but to also ask what if? We are not merely slaves to how things are. Through the ability to reimagine our lives and relationship with the environment, we have overcome adversities and built new systems, tools, and models of the world that have enabled us to thrive. With the ongoing pandemic, we are facing the crisis of a generation. Many have asked if one could have imagined this and be prepared for it. Many are re-imagining their lives during these challenging times. What we consider normal is swiftly and decisively being altered. Thus, at the centre of any creative process, is imagination and re-imagination. We celebrate this in our 10th edition of TEDxNTU.

Through reinventing our routine, remodelling our diets at different stages of life, etc., we learn, unlearn, and relearn - all of which are important steps of reimagining our lives. We reconstruct our reality constantly as we learn new things. This is the process through which we fit our thinking to how the world works. At TEDxNTU 2020, we aim to celebrate those who not only reimagined but also believed that their reimagination could be reality. Those who were brave enough to bring about change through their actions - those who dared to challenge the status quo and believed that the world can always be a better place - those who realised that when it comes to the world this is not it, we have more to offer, and we can always make it better. Let us reimagine our world together!

Nanyang Auditorium
50 Nanyang Avenue
Singapore, North West, 639798
Singapore

Ian Mathews

MedTech Advocate

Ian Mathews is an Emergency Medicine Physician practising in Singapore, with the National University Health System (NUHS). He has an avid interest in global health and technology’s application to healthcare, particularly in emerging fields such as blockchain, medical devices and artificial intelligence. Part of his hospital role includes data analytics and developing artificial intelligence solutions for clinical problems. Outside of work, Ian helps MedTech start-ups in various fields to navigate the complex journey of MedTech. Ian firmly believes that technological solutions can provide greater access to healthcare and help reducing inequity in global healthcare delivery.

Markus Schläpfer

Urban Complexity Researcher

Markus Schläpfer is an urban researcher whose goal is to gain a science-based understanding of cities and to explore how urban planning may foster sustainable development. Having a highly interdisciplinary background in both engineering and science, he makes use of the increasing availability of large-scale data on urban activities to develop a comprehensive view of city dynamics. He has published widely on the topic in leading venues worldwide and is currently applying his insights and tools to urban planning in Singapore. In his view, any meaningful planning intervention should consider the hidden ‘laws’ of how people actually make use of urban space.

Michelle Chiang

Researcher of Loss

Michelle Chiang, inspired by Samuel Beckett, started the exploration of embodied lives in absolute systems that persistently fail to account for lived experiences. After the publication of Beckett’s Intuitive Spectator: Me to Play (Palgrave, 2018) where she examines how the artist’s dramatization of loss appeal more to the audience’s intuition than the intellect, she turns to a more in-depth consideration of loss in absurdist literature which she observes had anticipated the impact of medical and technological systems on lives today. Her literary research intersects with her medical humanities interest in narratives of loss in healthcare settings: the loss of physical control, the witnessing of loss, and the experiences of dying. Interdisciplinary projects, including a qualitative stroke study funded by the Rehabilitation Research Institute of Singapore (RRIS), contribute to Michelle’s central work The Posthuman in Literature, Medicine and Technology.

Olivia Choy

Biopsychosocial Criminologist

Olivia Choy is a criminologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research focuses on the etiology of criminal behaviour in adults and antisocial behaviour in children, as well as interventions for such behaviour. Olivia examines biological factors, together with psychological and social environmental variables, to gain a more complete understanding of the mechanisms underlying antisocial behaviour. Specifically, she studies psychophysiological factors such as heart rate, brain mechanisms using non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroimaging methods, and nutrition in relation to crime and antisocial behaviour. She has authored publications on crime, delinquency, aggression, antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, and psychopathy.

Pierre Robinet

Technology Optimist

Pierre is a business and digital senior consultant leading global brand’s transformation agenda. Passionate about the positive impact deep technology has on our life and business, he is supporting businesses and governments in designing new human-centric experiences and services that matter. He is the founder of Live With AI, a non-profit organization running advanced research on several topics such as the future of work, data privacy regulation, and new healthcare decentralized models. Their latest work was recognized and published in the National AI Strategy of Singapore in 2019. He strongly believes that AI is everyone’s concern. To him, it is our human responsibility to positively drive our AI revolution and leverage AI to build a sustainable future for our business and our societies, accessible to all and for all.

Sean Lee

Digital Artist

Sean is a digital artist with a passion for adventure. He has created visual artworks using photo manipulation to recreate scenes of his daily life in Singapore in an alternate universe. As an artist, he works on visualizing futuristic scenarios such as Singapore submerged underwater or the MRT embarking on space travel. He believes that with imagination you can turn even an ordinary everyday life into an epic adventure. And better still, he hopes that by sharing these worlds with the people around him, he gets the opportunity to inspire others and ignite the flame of imagination in them as well.

Sujatha Asokan

Head Chef

A chef of humble beginnings, Head Chef Sujatha Asokan’s strong interest and dedication to culinary arts steered her to pursue a Diploma in Baking and Culinary science. Since graduation, she has worked at 1 Altitude, Pollen and Esquina. Sujatha has helmed the kitchens of The Garage since 2017, conceptualising and executing creations for the restaurant, Botanico and garden café, Bee’s Knees. At Botanico, Sujatha takes pride in introducing new ways to meld her Asian heritage with contemporary European culinary techniques, so as to highlight seasonal produce at their freshest and best. She also works alongside a team of young talents to run the operations at Bee’s Knees, dishing out scrumptious all-day favourites for diners and visitors of Singapore Botanic Gardens. In her illustrious career, she has bagged several coveted awards including World Gourmet Summit Rising Chef of the Year 2018/2019 and Straits Times Top 5 Female Chefs.