Alumni-Student Networking Session – Alumni Profiles

Alumni-Student Networking Session – Alumni Profiles

Details of Past Networking Session:

Date: 18th October 2019, Friday
Time: 6.30pm to 9pm
(Registration starts at 6.15pm)
Venue: Multipurpose Room, Level 2 (above air-conditioned Frontier)
Attire: Smart Casual (with Dress shirt/Blouse)

Registration has closed. Do look out for next session this year!

Arts & Culture

Ms. Shirley Khng

Manager, Education & Outreach, Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics (2007)

Mathematics and art may appear to be disparate disciplines but to Shirley, they are like two sides of the same coin. With a belief that inter-disciplinary connections are crucial skills in today’s working world, she took the leap of faith in pursuing Fine Arts at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts a few years after her degree in Applied Mathematics at the National University of Singapore.

Having honed her analytical skills from her study of applied Mathematics, together with her aesthetic sense, she applied these skills extensively at her previous stint in the Singapore Art Museum.

Shirley continues to apply these skills at her current workplace, the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, and get to grow new skillsets such as using Mandarin in a business setting. She tackles new challenges with a positive mindset, especially since she knows that language is a powerful soft skill which can travel places. She currently manages school groups, develops resources and spearheads partnerships at the Centre.

Biotechnology

Mr. Ting Jun Xiang

Customer Lab Services Associate, Kemin Industries

B.Appl.Sc. (Hons.) in Applied Chemistry (specialisation in Materials Chemistry) (2014)

Jun Xiang started his career as a Chemist in a third-party testing laboratory after graduation. He was initially trained to perform analyses to investigate the failure mode of the samples for customers, before he was transferred and responsible for the analyses relating to GC/GCMS. Soon, he was promoted to Executive Chemist and given the role to train and supervise the junior staffs as well as manage the laboratory quality system.

As a person who loves to challenge himself, Jun Xiang switched his career after 3.5 years with his previous employer. He is now with Kemin Industries under Animal Nutrition & Health Division, Asia Pacific as Customer Laboratory Services Associate. Apart from performing analyses using various analytical instruments to help customers understand, maintain and achieve greater quality in their feed and feed ingredients, the job requires him to develop in-field assessment test kit and travel to conduct training workshops for the customers.

Consultancy

Mr. Wan Muhammad Fazlan 

HR Consultant (APAC), Airswift

B.Sc. in Life Sciences (2016)

Wan Nordin is a HR Consultant with passion in Diversity & Inclusion strategy to enhance people’s dynamics & organizational performance. “People & Performance” – that is his DNA code, & he believes that diversity improves work performance.

Wan has been volunteering since his freshman year. Presently, he volunteers with Mendaki Club as a HR Lead to drive good HR standard & practices in a community organization context.  With his NUS-mate, He founded CONNECTUS to improve the way of work for community organizations in their event management to be more efficient, effective & collaborative using cutting-edge technology. He is also an Ambassador of Roses of Peace, a youth-driven ground-up movement across faiths & ethnicities to enhance social empathy & cohesion in Singapore.

Wan is currently with Airswift, specializing in HR professional services for clients across the Asia Pacific such as on talent acquisition, global mobility, total rewards, culture & diversity & inclusion.

Education

Dr. Joe Tan Da Yang 

Lecturer, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Physics (2012)

Ph.D. in Physics (2016)

Da Yang is currently a lecturer in Singapore University of Technology and Design teaching undergraduate Physics and Mathematics courses. Prior to that, he was with Nanyang Technological University, first as a research fellow in traffic management of unmanned aircraft, and then as a research fellow in Mathematics and Mathematics Education Academic Group in National Institute of Education, working on mathematics education research.

Da Yang believes that his studies in Faculty of Science and in particularly the training in Physics has enabled him with the ability to switch between fields readily. Most recently, he has been dabbling with the symbiosis between music and physics through music acoustics, and he has been exploring means to study the acoustical properties of erhu and dizi with his students. He is also interested in complex systems, such as traffic and social systems and seek to view such systems from the viewpoint of physics.

In his free time, he also conducts at Bukit Batok Chinese Orchestra and plays the erhu. He also has a public Instagram account @dayang_tan, where he shares some random musings and memes in Science and Mathematics.

Entrepreneurship

Mr. Lai Weichang

Co-Founder, Otaku House

Co-Founder, Linkcious LLP

Co-Founder, ManyTutors.com

Co-Founder, TriplePoint Media, (Acquired by Techinasia)

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Theoretical Physics (2008)

Armed with the experience of tossing snowballs in Europe during an exchange program at ESIEE (Paris), Weichang founded his first company (PINKCUBE) at the turn of the millennium in his mind when he was in his late teens. It was only formalized 2 months after he was diagnosed with cancer as an NUS student in 2004. The illness was so serious then that no one dared to ask for a prognosis. Knowing that he had nothing to lose, Weichang tried and failed many times at various entrepreneurial endeavours in between his chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions.

Weichang never gave up, and with the help of his partners, he founded 1) the largest tutors network in South East Asia – ManyTutors.com and 2) Otaku House – a lifestyle retail brand specialising in anime related gifts and novelties that is a recognised around the globe.

Mr. Lum Chune Yang

Co-Founder and CEO, SpeQtral

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Physics (2004)

Special Programme in Science

Chune Yang Lum is co-founder and CEO at SpeQtral, a spin-off company from the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) that is developing and commercializing space-based quantum communication systems. He was previously Head of Strategic Development at CQT, with a concurrent appointment as Deputy Director, Industry Engagement and Partnerships at NUS, where he was responsible for activities and engagements with industry and government stakeholders in the commercialization of quantum technologies.

Prior to joining CQT, Chune Yang was responsible for business development in Asia-Pacific for SES, a global satellite operator. In this role, he led engagements in satellite programmes with commercial and government customers and market entry strategies across APAC. He also led various internal innovation initiatives. Before his stint at SES, he was a management consultant with ZS Associates, where he advised MNCs in the US and China markets.

F & B Industry

Ms. Chen Yi Hsin

Researcher, Kikkoman Singapore R&D Laboratory Pte Ltd

B.Appl.Sc. (Hons.)in Food Science and Technology (2014)

Kikkoman Singapore R&D Laboratory offered the perfect fit to Yi Hsin’s love for research with the aim of discovering new findings while working in a Japanese company. As the pioneer local researcher working there, she has been actively involved in all facets of the laboratory operation, from administration to experimental set ups. The position not only allows her to be uniquely exposed to working with both local researchers from NUS and A*STAR, but also connect with overseas researchers from Japan and Thailand. The different themes in the projects challenge her to be attentive to detail and enables her to troubleshoot any problems along the way.

Today, Yi Hsin has become a full-fledged researcher and her portfolio includes more than 5 completed projects and 3 patents in submission. But even more than the work, her greatest pleasure comes from the people and the invaluable experiences gained there.

Dr. Turkay Kondakci 

Senior Manager – Global Feedstock Processing, AgriProtein

Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology (2015)

As Senior Manager in Global Feedstock Processing, Turkay oversees the feed plant process development as well as operationalizing the data and learnings from R&D to improve the yield and bioconversion globally.

At present, he is also looking into the optimum nutrient strategy to support excellence in the biology process as well as the final product quality in global operations.

Since his university days, Turkay had known that his career would be the amalgam of Food Science and Engineering industry. He likes to solve everyday problems with multi-disciplinary expertise. In AgriProtein, he is focusing on a new industry called nutrient recycling. Using fly larvae fed on existing organic waste, AgriProtein has developed and tested a new large scale and sustainable source of natural protein and the first to deploy factories in multiple continents simultaneously.

Prior to his present appointment, Turkay was Head of Food Science and Technology in Zimplistic to develop first of its kind food robotics for flatbread applications.

Turkay is a cross-cultural analytical leader and had the opportunity to cover vastly different and dynamic work environments with functional expertise in the agricultural, food and animal nutrition industries.

Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry

Mr. Chong Wei Jie Berwyn

Research Specialist, Beauty Care Analytical, Procter & Gamble Singapore Innovation Center

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry (2013)

With a passion to solve problems, Berwyn already knew he wanted a career in Science. After passing the interviews, he was hired as a Researcher for P&G’s Asia Home Care Business, which included brands like Joy, Ambi-Pur and Febreze. Working in a global team, he had the opportunity to solve technical problems that the business was facing, using data from analytical instruments to support recommendations and “tell the story behind the data”. This enabled ideas to translate from drawing board into products that benefited the lives of people.

Today, Berwyn is now with the Beauty Care category, supporting brands like Olay and SK-II.

Ms. Rachel Zheng Zhiqing

Category Buyer Base Powder, Asia Pacific, Danone

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Statistics (2015)

During her penultimate year, Rachel started to explore opportunities for her career as an procurement intern in Danone which is a world leading food and beverage company that owns Evian, Volvic, Dumex, Aptamil and Danone (yoghurt).

Upon graduation, Rachel accepted the offer from Danone Singapore as a procurement analyst where her main tasks was market analysis, spend analysis, project management and day to day procure to pay operational support. She was supporting the global ingredients sourcing team remotely.

In 2017, Rachel was promoted as category buyer which is an all rounded procurement role. She is in charge of category sourcing strategy ideation and implementation. Traveling is an essential part of the job which she both loves and hates.

Finance

Mr. Liu Hanpeng

Associate, Promontory Financial Group, an IBM Company

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Statistics (2015)

After graduation, Hanpeng started his career at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and had experience in both the banking and insurance departments. His scope of work included supervision and risk assessment of a domestically systemically important bank and a leading local insurance group.

Hanpeng is now an associate at Promontory, advising financial service institutions on AML/CFT, regulatory compliance, and risk management issues.

Mr. Tan Hiang Tat

Credit Trader, Maybank

Ex-Head of Fixed Income, CGS-CIMB Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Quantitative Finance (2013)

Hiang Tat joined as a Credit Trader with OCBC Bank upon his graduation. He progressed within the firm and was the market-maker for the SGD Corporate Bond franchise business in OCBC. He left the bank in 2018 to head up the Fixed Income business in Singapore for CGS-CIMB Securities. In the short span of 1 year, he has grown the business to offer Bonds CFD, Margin Financing to customers of the firm.

Hiang Tat has since left the firm and is beginning the role as a Credit Trader with Maybank.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Mr. Bucky Hussain

Business Development Analyst APAC, Google

B.Sc.in Life Sciences (Environmental Biology) (2013)

Bucky helps build Google’s sales strategy to acquire new advertisers in APAC, with a focus on SEA.  He started his career while still in NUS, as a researcher with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Program. After graduation, he became a recruiter and helped build Airbnb’s APAC business from the ground up as an early employee. After building and setting the recruitment strategy for the region, he transitioned to a role developing and driving business strategy for the $xBn APAC business. After his stint at Airbnb, Bucky joined a Singaporean people analytics startup, leading their Product & Innovation functions.

In his spare time, Bucky is involved in co-leading Google’s house band, trail running (so he can continue to eat and drink like an undergrad) and volunteering with his neighbourhood committee. He’s keen to share his experiences with alternate career paths, working in tech/startups and strategy/operations/analytics with NUS undergrads.

Mr. Edwin Kheng

Head of Cross Broder Solution Design, Lazada Group

B.Sc.(Hons.) in Life Sciences (Specialisation in Biomedical Sciences) (2009)

MBA (2013)

As Head of solution design in Lazada Regional office, Edwin oversees the company’s logistics solution, designing novel methods to get overseas products into SEA. As the market for e-commerce grows regionally, there is greater demand for highly customizable delivery solutions that are tailor made for different type of buyers and sellers on Lazada.

Prior to working in Lazada, Edwin was working for Rakuten in Japan and Alibaba in China. He holds an MBA from NUS Business School and Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

Mr. Wilson Lauw

Head of Data Engineering, Ruangguru

B.Sc.(Hons.) in Applied Mathematics with Minor in Statistics (2013)

As the Head of Data Engineering at Ruangguru, the largest and most comprehensive technology company in Indonesia focusing on education-based services, Wilson is responsible for the entire data engineering initiatives in the company. It includes but not limited to data analytics, data science, and business intelligence. Handling the entire engineering aspects of the data, a wide range of skillsets is necessary here, from planning, development, devops, infrastructure, and cloud computing.

Prior to his current appointment, he was the Head of Data Engineering at Traveloka, a leading Southeast Asia online travel company that provides a wide range of travel needs in one platform.

Mr. Seth Lee Sheng Chow

Solutions Delivery Consultant, Thomsons Online Benefits

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry (2016)

Joining the benefits management solution provider in February 2019 as a Consultant, Seth manages and executes end-to-end implementation and system enhancement programmes for clients around the world. It is here that Seth first experienced working in the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) sphere, one of the world’s most fast-paced industries.

As a rapidly growing company with global ambition, Thomsons Online Benefits seeks to improve employee benefit visibility worldwide. Aligning with his Company’s vision, Seth often engages in proactive client engagement to understand requirements, and participates in creative solutioning with his team to develop unique and efficient system builds. Despite his short stint thus far, Seth is looking forward to future exciting projects that aim to shape how employees view and think about their benefits.

Mr. Tay Yu Xuan

Data Scientist, Traveloka

B.Sc.(Hons.) in Statistics (2014)

As Data Scientist in the Recommender Systems team, Yu Xuan develops, builds and serves recommendation and ranking models in Flights, Accommodations, Experiences and Eats products across Traveloka mobile application and website. This involves investigating and understanding customer interactions and conversion funnels through large scale data tracked from the app. He works with product teams to use this information to improve the user experience by facilitating better product discovery through relevance ranking and personalisation.

Previously, Yu Xuan has worked in the data science teams in Lazada and GovTech and has been in the field for more than 4 years. While most of his data science and software engineering skills are self-taught, the technical foundation gained from a Science education has been very relevant and important.

Pharmaceutical & Healthcare

Mr. Phil Cheng Liyan

Operations Manager, Pioneer Polyclinic, National University Polyclinics

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Life Sciences (Biomedical Sciences) (2007)

MBA with Specialisation in Strategy and Organisation (2014)

Phil joined National Healthcare Group Polyclinics (NHGP) in 2008 and has been serving in public primary care for over 11 years.  He joined as an Operations Executive in Bukit Batok Polyclinic and was rotated to Jurong Polyclinic and HQ.  With his experience in running clinic operations, he was designated as the Operations Manager for the new Pioneer Polyclinic, where he was heavily involved in the conceptualization of the new polyclinic design and services. In 2017, MOH re-clustered the 2 polyclinics clusters into 3, thus Phil was transferred to the new National University Polyclinics (NUP). He continued to function as Operations Manager in Pioneer Polyclinic and as lead for the service transformation efforts in NUP.

At present, he is looking into future development projects that could change how patients access care and improve patient empowerment to prepare for an ageing population with increasing chronic diseases burden.

Mr. Fadhli Z. I. Adesta

Product and Patient Care Manager, Nalagenetics Pte Ltd

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Pharmacy (2015)

Fadhli has always been fascinated by the role of genetics in human health and precision medicine since his days in Junior College. Intrigued by the idea of tailor-made medicine, his first job after being a licensed pharmacist was in a local compounding pharmacy, creating personalized medicine for patients with doctors’ prescription. In this company, he collaborated closely with doctors and patients to understand their needs and to formulate medicine that is most appropriate for these patients. His role required him to ask good questions and listen empathetically, on top of having a good grasp of chemistry and pharmacology.

Today, he has since moved to a MedTech startup offering clinical decision support to doctors based on patient genetics. Being the product and patient care manager, his job requires him to listen closely and understand the doctors and patients as well as manage a team of competent professionals.

Dr. Ng Hui Ping Daphne 

Technical Writer, Vela Diagnostics

B. Sc. (Hons.) in Life Sciences (Molecular Cell Biology) (2009)

Ph.D. in Microbiology (2015)

Special Programme in Science

Daphne is a microbiologist by training. She graduated from the National University of Singapore with a B.Sc. degree in Life Sciences and a Ph.D. degree in Microbiology. Before swapping the micropipette for the keyboard/pen as a technical writer at Vela Diagnostics, Daphne was a research fellow at Nanyang Technological University. As a technical writer, Daphne writes and edits user manuals, product inserts, MSDS and other technical documents.

Daphne also volunteers as the Communications Lead at Biotech Connection Singapore (BCS), a non-profit organization that promotes and supports entrepreneurship in life sciences, biotech, medtech and healthcare. As the Communications Lead, Daphne manages the editorial content of BCS. She is the writer and editor of an article series on topics in bio-entrepreneurship.

Daphne writes popular science articles as a hobby. When she is not writing or editing, Daphne draws humorous scientific cartoons.

Public Sector

Mr. Wong Songhan

Exectuive Meteorologist, National Environment Agency

B.Sc. (Hons.) in Physics (2012)

Songhan joined the Meteorological Service Singapore, National Environment Agency shortly after graduation. He was sent to Australia for overseas training, before starting out as an operational meteorologist where he provided round-the-clock weather services and warnings to users from various sectors. He later moved on to develop and operate several key IT and specialised systems that support the agency’s critical operations. He also worked on side projects related to media and communications including video production and media interviews.

During uni days, he was an active resident during his stay at Kent Ridge Hall, and was involved in various hall activities. He attended a summer exchange program at UCLA and joined the Physics Department Immersion Trip to Germany.

He believes that climate change is the biggest challenge of our generation. During his free time, he enjoys learning new skills such as machine learning, or goes around food hunting with his family.

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