Our Speakers

Dr. Achalakul works in the fields of data analytics, high performance computing and software development since 2000. She has extended experiences working in IT industry and academia in both the United States and Thailand with two published textbooks and multiple journal and conference papers. During the past 14 years, Dr. Achalakul has been participating in many data analytics and software development projects in both private and public sectors and has served on an advisory board for multiple government agencies. Consulting experiences ranges from the design of data methodologies, software system, to computing infrastructure. She has also served as a committee of the National e-Science Infrastructure Consortium of Thailand.

Mr. Natwut Amornvivat is a cofounder of T2P Company Limited. T2P provides electronic wallet and payment solutions for e-businesses and traditional businesses. The company is also funded by 500 Startups Venture Capital. Examples of products are: “DeepPocket” mobile application that allows people without credit cards to make purchase online using prepaid electronic wallet with partners such as Samsung and MasterCard. Another category of T2P products is a loyalty, eWallet, and AI analytic platform for businesses with corporate customers such as Central Restaurant Group, Samsung, Siam Cement Group, S&P and BarBQ Plaza. T2P has more than 2 million users and accepted by most stores in Thailand through MasterCard network. T2P won awards for innovations and startup businesses such as Pay Award for Payment Innovation in USA, and ASEAN Startup Award. He is the Vice President of Thai Fintech Association, which is responsible for fostering an advancement of financial technology in Thailand with members including major banks and non-bank start-ups.

Dr. Chairatana (PAC) is Director of National Innovation Agency (NIA). Prior to this, he was founder of Noviscape Consulting Group, and co-founder and program chair for Technology and Innovation Management at Graduate School of Management and Innovation (GMI), King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT). PAC is a member of the International Editorial Board of the Asian Journal of Technology Innovation (AJTI) and Associate Editorial Board for African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID). As futurist, he has involved with various regional scenario buildings and future exercises since the late 1990s. For example, PAC took part in consulting Vietnamese authority on Aquaculture Foresight. He facilitates various scenarios and roadmapping projects; e.g. a low carbon society in APEC, nutraceutical and automotive electronics roadmaps, a restructure of Ministry of Science and Technology, a shift in Thai lifestyle, and a future of Thailand 2020, including a management of a regional program on Mega-cities foresight in Asia. He also involves with horizon scanning network of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Ada is Managing Director of Taejai.com, the largest crowd-giving platform in Thailand, and concurrently serves as ChangeVentures Head of Social Impact Advisory. Prior, she was a University Lecturer and a co-founding executive director of G-Lab (Social Innovation Lab) at Thammasat University. Previously, she was a project manager at the Prime Minister’s Office, leading a multi-sectoral team to develop the first National Master Plan for Social Enterprise Development in Thailand, and later served as Deputy Secretariat of the Sub-Committee on Social Finance. In her free time, she runs Thai Young Philanthropist Network (TYPN), a community of purpose-driven professionals, whose initiatives pioneered the social investment and skill-based volunteering movements in Thailand over the past decade. Ada holds MA in International Affairs from Columbia University, MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development from University College London, and BA in Development Economics from Thammasat University. She is a Rockefeller Foundation Global Fellow on Social Innovation, Asia 21 Young Leader, One Young World Ambassador and Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum.

John Chisholm is CEO of John Chisholm Ventures, a San Francisco-based entrepreneurship advisory and angel investment firm. He has three decades of experience as entrepreneur, CEO, and investor. A pioneer in online marketing research, in 1992 he founded and served as CEO/Chairman of Decisive Technology (now part of Google), publisher of the first desktop and client-server software for online surveys. In 1997 he founded and served as CEO/Chairman of CustomerSat (now part of Confirmit), a leading provider of enterprise feedback management systems. He is a trustee of MIT, past president and chair of the worldwide MIT Alumni Association, and a trustee of the Santa Fe Institute. He serves on the visiting committee of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, and previously served on the Market Research Council of the Association for Interactive Media. He is author or co-author of two US patents, and of the Amazon best seller, Unleash Your Inner Company: Use Passion and Perseverance to Build Your Ideal Business (Greenleaf, 2015). He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School. An avid mountain climber, he has summited Mounts Rainier, Shasta, Whitney, St. Helens and a live volcano in Chile.

Mr. Noppadol is currently the SCG Vice Chairman and Chief Sustainability Officer of CP Group and the Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of True. He has played an important role in raising the bar of CP Group’s sustainability. Prior to these positions, he was True’s Deputy CEO for Corporate Development and Group CFO. Under his leadership, Thailand’s first and largest telecommunications infrastructure fund was established. He also received the 2015/2016 Best CFO Awards in technology category from IAA and was selected as the Best CFO from FinanceAsia. Mr. Noppadol received his Master Degree in Business Administration from Sasin Graduates Institute of Business Administration and Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA.

Neil is a CEO and co-founder of Siam Organic Co., Ltd, a social enterprise that was established with a mission to alleviate the problem of poverty among Thai farmers. Founded in 2011, Siam Organic solves the problem of farmers poverty through innovative organic products with a global appeal under the brand Jasberry®. Siam Organic currently works with over 1,000 small-scale farmers households in the Northeastern part of Thailand helping them to increase their income by several folds. Neil is a former investment banker from Capital Nomura Securities PCL. He holds a MBA degree from Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University, with Exchange program at Kellogg School of Management, and Dual Bachelor Degree on Environmental Engineering & Economics from University of Melbourne.

Harprem Doowa is currently the Co-founder and MD of E-Direct Thailand. Before this he was the co-founder and MD of Moxy/Orami Thailand growing the company from inception to a valuation of $50 million. Prior to Moxy/Orami, Harprem was in the financial sector working under the private equities and derivatives division of a local firm where he managed high net-worth individuals and a portfolio over 1 billion THB. He also holds an MBA from Sasin/Northwestern University with a major in entrepreneurship and international business. He also has a strong operational and sales background.

Anna Douglas is a scientist-entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of SkyNano, LLC. She is a Ph.D. student in interdisciplinary material science at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. As a National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellow since 2015, she has primarily focused her studies on next-generation batteries for electrochemical energy storage, and has developed the growth of high quality carbon nanotubes from ambient carbon dioxide, which is the basis for her startup company SkyNano. Anna is passionate about the promise of nanotechnology for next-gen energy generation and storage technologies, and currently works full time on her SkyNano venture through the Innovation Crossroads program at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Nithima has been working with early stage startups for the past 3 years, being product owner and facilitating workshops using human-centered design. She is now co-founder of yesmom, an healthtech startup that aims at empowering women to take better healthcare decisions. Breaking taboos about sexual and reproductive health, yesmom already deliver personalized and trusted medical insights for thousands of women and is currently developing an AI assisted, virtual consultation service with healthcare professionals. Nithima has always been interested in social impact, first working with NGOs and international organizations, and then turning to innovation and tech, where she believes she can reach people better.

Peter du Pont is based in Bangkok and has more than 30 years’ experience developing sustainable energy and climate programs in the U.S. and Asia. He has carried out assignments related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of clean energy policy and plans, energy finance, and climate change programs. He has worked in a variety of roles consulting and managing for non-profit and private consultancies and development agencies, with a focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, finance and market incentives, and climate change. He has a masters degree in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Delaware.

Ian Fenwick is Interim Deputy Director, Sasin School of Management (Bangkok), Professor Emeritus & Senior Scholar at Schulich School of Business (Toronto), and Visiting Professor of Marketing at Porto Business School (Porto) teaching graduate and executive programs in digital marketing. Ian co-authored DigiMarketing: The Essential Guide, Wiley & Sons, 2008. Norman Pearlstine (Chief Content Officer, Bloomberg LP) hailed DigiMarketing as “the definitive guide to marketing in the digital age”. Native language editions appeared in Japan, PRC, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Ian’s most recent venture, AnyPrep LLC, delivers streaming videos to prepare students for business school. Previous experience includes founding partner of digiAindra co ltd (a digital marketing consultancy); many years as Director of one of Canada’s top-ranked MBA Programs; Senior Branding and Marketing Consultant at Business Generation Group Inc.; and Senior Consultant to Market Facts of Canada Ltd.

Todd Glickman is Senior Director of MIT Corporate Relations that operates the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) and MIT Startup Exchange. He is responsible for strategic oversight and operations for much of the office’s activity across most of Asia, as well as aerospace/defense and related organizations in the US. Before joining the staff of MIT in 2000, Mr. Glickman was Assistant Executive Director of the American Meteorological Society from 1993-2000, and previously held a variety of management positions in the private sector. Mr. Glickman holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from MIT, and the Executive MBA from Suffolk University.

John Grant is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His focus is the intersection of the domains of strategy, entrepreneurship, and strategic management. As a practitioner faculty in Action Learning courses at MIT Sloan, he mentors MBA teams working with Sponsor organizations, with particular focus in China, India and Southeast Asia. Mr. Grant’s management career was in global strategy consulting. He also has been a member of startup teams for new ventures in healthcare, energy services, and biotechnology, either as chief operating officer or chief financial officer. Mr. Grant holds degrees from the U. of Washington and MIT.

Andrew is the Head of Research & Consulting for JLL in Thailand and Myanmar. In this role, Andrew contributes to and leads the production of regular and bespoke local research publications on Thai and Myanmar real estate markets as well as contributing to global and regional research publications. Since joining JLL’s Research and Consulting group in 2013, he has successfully led or participated in more than 80 consultancy engagements, including numerous highest and best use studies, feasibility studies, portfolio analyses and market entry studies. Experience Prior to joining JLL Andrew spent seven years consulting widely across East and Southeast Asia, including extensive experience in Thailand, Myanmar the Philippines and China, for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, JICA, as well as various large public and private sector organisations including national government agencies and leading real estate developers. Andrew obtained his Bachelors 2007 from Arizona State University and Master in City Planning in 2010 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Paul was previous the co-founder of LEARNx, a platform that helps Thais communicate in English with confidence, accelerating their growth, development and careers – at scale. He’s currently an advisor to Learn Corpration (parent company to LEARNx) and an independent consultant/researcher focusing on organizational transformation and technology. Paul is also an adjunct lecturer at the Global Studies and Social Entrepreneurship (GSSE) Bachelors of Arts program at Thammasat University where he’s growing future social change leaders for a more equitable world. Paul holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Thammasat University; a Master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Tulsa, and a Doctorate in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University.

Kit Hickey is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and a Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management. Kit is co-founder of Ministry of Supply, which is a pioneer in fashion’s performance-professional category. The company uses technology and advanced manufacturing to reinvent what people wear to work. Ministry of Supply has been featured in the New York Times, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal and on the TODAY Show. While at the company, Kit led and build out numerous high performing teams, including Customer, Revenue, E-Commerce and Retail. As Chief Retail Officer, Kit spearheaded the company’s expansion into retail, opened 10 stores, managed a team of 50 and conceptualized and developed the company’s revolutionary 3-D print-knit experience. In this innovative store experience, customers could design and create blazers on demand, which are then 3D printed in the retail store, changing the conversation on traditional retail supply chain, manufacturing, sustainability and customer experience. Prior to Ministry of Supply, Kit started a nonprofit which helped entrepreneurs in emerging markets gain access to financing. The nonprofit merged with BiD Network, a Netherlands-based company with a similar mission. Before that, she worked in investment banking, where she advised early-stage companies raise Series A and Series B funding. Kit teaches two to three entrepreneurship classes per year at MIT. She is the lead instructor for the Building an Entrepreneurial Venture: Advanced Tools and Techniques, one of the most advanced classes offered for entrepreneurial teams. She also teaches Dilemmas in Founding New Ventures, which she designed to teach students who will start or join startups about the people issues and organizational challenges that innovative entrepreneurial ventures face.

Chris is a prolific builder and founder of projects and businesses that aim to push boundaries in both entrepreneurship and the creative industries. Having tried and failed at half a dozen 'traditional' careers - including being a professional chef, a music producer, a 'professional cyclist' and even a spy - Chris first embraced true entrepreneurship at MIT by creating the world's first crowd-sourced science novel with the goal of encouraging more young people into STEM and founding the celebrated venture-backed company, Libboo.com. Several high-profile start-ups later and a short tenure as the Head Teaching Fellow of Harvard University, Chris now resides in London as the Founder of We Are Optimists - the UK's leading 'Entrepreneurs for Hire' network, and the Entrepreneur in Residence at Techstars and University College London, supporting high-impact Scale-Up CEOs achieve their goals in a demanding and competitive world.

Christian founded innergy.berlin in 2013 which is a consultancy specialized in innovation management in the field of energy, clean tech and digitalization. His preferred method to bring innovation to life is building start-ups, whose development he is supporting in many ways. Among them are company builder activities, jury and mentor roles in many accelerators and start-up competitions, as well as corporate start-up collaboration and ecosystem development. He furthermore helps start-ups to receive financing and acts as an angel investor. Together with DENA he is currently bringing the second edition of the global Start Up Energy Transition Award to life. Beyond that, his recent main project has been building the innogy Innovation Hub in Berlin as well as scouting and investing in early stage startups. His current passion is the Token Economy, because blockchain based tokens are enabling whole new business models and incentive architectures, that can be a crucial building block towards a sustainable economy that we need in order to prevent climate change happening.

Travis joined MIT in 2016 to support the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT REAP). MIT REAP works with up to 8 regions annually on strategies to support innovation-driven entrepreneurship (IDE). Travis was previously the Director of the Quincy Center for Innovation (QCI), where he expanded the program to support over 50 startups spanning 16 industries. During this time at the QCI, Travis oversaw partnerships with private and public organizations, expanded programming, and brought together funding opportunities for incubated startup companies. Travis also has a strong personal interest in real estate development and sustainability.

Dan Itsara is Chief Operating Officer at Glazziq, an ecommerce retailer of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. He focuses on building digital products to deliver a seamless customer experience, automate complexity within the supply chain, and ultimately build a business that scales like a cloud service. Previously, he served in the US Air Force as an experimental flight test engineer, where he developed strike and unmanned aircraft technologies, and was a product manager at Amazon Instant Video, where he managed video data services critical to Amazon's expansion into the UK and Japan.

Dan holds a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, a Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from the Michigan Ross School of Business.

Jarung Kiatsupapong is Managing Director of Kasikorn Soft Co., Ltd, a member of KBTG (Kasikorn Business Technology Group), a technology arm of Kasikornbank. A banking veteran with over twenty years of experience, he is responsible for the development of all banking applications and oversees the entire application architecture at Thailand's leading bank. Previously, Jarung held technology leadership positions at Bank of Asia, and United Overseas Bank. Among many contributions to Thailand’s banking system, he recently implemented the world's first blockchain-based LG (Letter of Guarantee) service. Jarung holds a Bachelor of Computer Engineering degree from Kasetsart University, a Master of Science in Information Technology from King Mongkut Institute of Thailand and an Executive MBA from Sasin School of Management.

Aung Kyaw Moe is the founder and Group CEO of 2C2P, a Singapore-headquartered payment solutions company serving financial institutions, e-commerce merchants and consumers across Southeast Asia. 2C2P has offices in nine Southeast Asia countries. He hails from Myanmar but has now lived in Singapore and Thailand for the past twenty years. Aung is the leading expert in digital payment and thought-leader in the FinTech industry.

Aung holds an Executive MBA from the Sasin School of Management. He also holds ACE from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management. Aung is currently participating in the Owner/President Management program at Harvard Business School.

He was recognized as one of Asia's Top 25 Entrepreneurs by Business Week Magazine in 2009, and by the World Economic Forum as a think-tank member. Aung has also won several programming competitions throughout his career, including winning the Grand Prize at Nokia Calling All Innovators (2009), and the Mobile Payments Solution award at the Global Mobile Innovation Show (2010).

Dr. Jiraporn Laothamatas is the Director of Advanced Medical Imaging Center at Ramathibodi Hospital of Mahidol University. She is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist and physician-scientist. Her most recent work includes innovative ways of detecting neurologic changes and chronic traumatic injuries through radiographic imaging in the pediatric population, particularly child boxers. Dr. Laothamatas received her MD from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand with honors in 1981, and pursued Neuroradiology Fellowship at Hahnemann University Hospital, Pennsylvania in the US in 1990.

As a Managing Director of Casean, Karndee Leopairote aims to build a networking platform for collaboration among startups and future generation across the region to support the development of ASEAN community through various connectivity initiatives. Prior to C asean, Karndee was an assistant professor at the Department of Operations Management, Thammasat Business School and an executive director of the Future Innovative Thailand Institute. As an academician and a thought leader in Thailand, Karndee has put her continuing effort to improve innovative and global mindsets to the young startups and the future generation.

Karndee holds BEng in Industrial Engineering from Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, MS and PhD in Industrial Engineering from University of Wisconsin - Madison, USA.

Pita Limjaroenrat has been the Executive Director of Grab Thailand since October 2017. He is primarily responsible for providing strategic guidance in leveraging business efficiency and strong collaboration with all relevant stakeholders with the goal to bring betterment to the community of driver-partners, passengers as well as to society. He also serves as managing director/ Co-Founder of CEO Agrifood Co., Ltd., the third largest rice bran oil producer in ASEAN. At the age of only 25, he became a successful tycoon who had turned the family business after his father's death. He was awarded APEA Entrepreneur of the year 2015 for Thailand. Prior to joining Grab Thailand, Pita had a wide range of public private partnership experiences. On public sector, he served as National Economic Development officer under Dr. Suvit Maecinsee, Minister of Prime Minister's office in 2006, Assistant to the Thai Government’s Foreign Affairs Committee from 2013 – 2014 and an Advisor to the Industry Minister from 2012 – 2013. On private sector, He worked at Merrill Lynch Phatra and Boston Consulting Group. Pita graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Thammasat University in 2005. In 2012 he concurrently earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Apart from being a successful businessman,Tim also enjoys Thai boxing, Oil painting, and photography as well as spending his free time with his wife and young daughter. 

Jun Lin is in charge of Business Development and Business Intelligence at 17zuoye.com (a.k.a Homework Together), the largest online homework platform, also a unicorn company for K12 students in China. Jun has 3 years of experience with China market expansion and partnership strategies in EdTech field. Jun is also a Global Shaper under World Economic Forum, where she takes part in different projects to create positive social impact. Jun receives her education from the London School of Economics and has prior experience in management consulting and building startups of her own.

Ketan Makwana is a renowned international & TEDx Speaker, serial entrepreneur, author and mentor that has started, scaled a sold multiple businesses in the last 7 years. Ketan launched Enterprise Lab in 2011 which has evolved into an award winning disruptive agency supporting businesses to engage ideation, innovation and leadership through auditing, consultancy and training; since launching Enterprise Lab having served 500,000 people across the world. In 2012 Ketan founded and delivered Youth Enterprise Live the UK’s largest event focussed on Education, Employment and Enterprise for 15-30 year olds… leading on from this took a position as Special Advisor to the former Prime Minster (David Cameron) on Youth Policy. Ketan is an advisor to UK & International Governments/Ministries on Enterprise Eco-System Development; he sits on many advisory boards and panels including the British Council and is an ambassador of UKTI and Foreign & Commonwealth Offices related to Enterprise development in countries across the globe.

Wicharn is the CEO and co-founder of Taamkru, Thailand’s leading EdTech company, which won the e27 Echelon’s 2014 Most Promising Startup award. Taamkru offers a variety of education applications catering to students of all ages, parents, and schools. Every year, Taamkru products have enhanced academic performance of hundreds of thousands of students, improved operational efficiency of thousands of teachers, and given parents and school management access to in-depth students analytical data they never thought possible. Prior to Taamkru, Wicharn has co-founded Haamor.com, #1 healthcare portal of Thailand, serving the daily needs on medical information of millions of Thai people. Wicharn holds an MBA in Global Management from Thunderbird and a BS in Chemical Engineering and a BA in Economics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Benedetto Marelli is the Paul M. Cook Career Development Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research group works in the area of structural biopolymers and self-assembly with applications in agriculture, food safety and food security. By combining biofabrication strategies with bioinspired materials, Benedetto’s research aims at using Nature’s building blocks as advanced materials to liaise the biotic and abiotic worlds and to build a sustainable future. Benedetto’s research interests include synthesis, extraction and assembly of structural biopolymers, biocomposites, additive manufacturing, and emerging technologies.

Sarah Jane Maxted accelerates innovation ecosystems whether it is within an institution or in the community, a broader region, or globally. This is clearly highlighted by her current position leading the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT REAP) where she fosters innovation and entrepreneurial (I&E) growth strategies for regions globally. Her responsibilities at MIT also include being a Director in the MIT Office of International Programs as well as mentoring and evaluating start-ups, and serving on several I&E boards across the institute. Of note, she launched the inaugural MIT Innovation Ecosystem Symposium. Originally from Colorado, she went to Duke University where she double majored in Policy and Cultural Anthropology; Minor in Dance. She has also spent significant time in Washington, D.C. working for President Obama’s Administration.

Nick Meyer is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship where he mentors students. Nick has spent his career founding startups and been product or engineering lead for software companies in industries as diverse as social, video, travel, music, and gaming. While still in high school, Nick co-founded the MMOG (multi-player massive online game) Kings of Chaos, which saw hundreds of thousands of players daily. During his one year at MIT, Nick founded Reble.FM, a peer-to-peer streaming music service that was partially funded through Y Combinator and was acquired by Playlist.com three years later. He then co-founded MileWise in 2009, a travel metasearch engine, where his roles included UI design, PR and marketing, and fundraising, until the company was acquired by Yahoo! in 2013. His most recent company was Sup, a mobile video app that was funded by Khosla Ventures. Nick is an IASI certified ski instructor and coach and a PADI certified scuba instructor.

Mike is the co-founder and managing director of EdTech Asia, a consultancy and convening organization that serves to catalyze a collaborative and cohesive learning innovation ecosystem throughout the APAC region. Founded in 2013, EdTech Asia provides education market intelligence, business development and research services for Asian markets. Additionally, EdTech Asia community programs have organized over 60 events in 11 countries including an annual learning innovation summit, bootcamp, hackathons, and workshops. In addition to his current position he has 10 years of experience as a technical consultant within the international development sector working for multilateral and bilateral organizations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, and USAID. Mike is also regionally active in the entrepreneurship community having organized and/or judged numerous Startup Weekends, the KIES Edtech awards, BETT Asia, and GSVC. Mike holds a BSc from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an MEd from George Mason University and has taught social entrepreneurship relevant coursework at both Thammasat's Business School and School of Global Studies in Bangkok since 2009.

Hélène Michel is a professor of Innovation Management at Grenoble Ecole de Management (France). She is also a game designer. Her research work is focused on the use of games to support innovation and inspire entrepreneurship. She developed several serious games (Tech it!, Superwisor, Game of Deans) and gamified innovation methods (Cubification) that are now used by companies, international organizations such as United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and higher educational institutions. The games she develops have an international recognition (MBA Innovation and Re-Imagine Education Awards). Prof. Michel never moves without her Rubik's cube!

Megan Mitchell is the Fellowship and Student Programs Manager for the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining MIT in January of 2017, Megan managed UBS Americas’ Elevating Entrepreneurs initiative, a portfolio of philanthropic partnerships and programs focused on driving toward a more inclusive entrepreneurial landscape. This included Project Entrepreneur, a collaboration with Rent the Runway Foundation to increase the pipeline of women building economically impactful companies. Prior to UBS, Megan oversaw co-curricular and experiential learning activities for Wharton Entrepreneurship, including the annual business plan competition and global internship program. She also served as a member of the Venture Initiation Program management team, and led development of the department’s venture development programs at the school’s San Francisco campus. Megan holds a BA in Economics and Public Policy Studies from Duke University and a MSEd from University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.

I'm Giang Nguyen, or you can call me Johnnie. I based in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. I'm currently working at Grab as an android developer. My job is writing code as the other software engineers and take care of accessibility of the Grab passenger app. In my position, I hope that I can brings more confort to blind people who using our app everyday.

Rohan is the co-founder and CEO of Cialfo, a college guidance platform. He co-founded Cialfo with the vision to help 1 million students globally reach their dream colleges by 2020. Cialfo's college guidance platform is his second venture, his first, an college education consultancy, was acquired by ChangedEDU, an education private equity group, backed by Verlinvest, a Belgian family office. Cialfo has been named the winner of EdTechX Asia awards, named among the top 5 startups to watch in 2017 and been featured in CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Straits Times, Sohu, Times of India to name a few. Rohan is a double Gold Medalist from Nanyang Technological University with a background in Engineering, Economics and Entrepreneurship. He is also a member of International Association for College Admission Counselling (IACAC), HECA and has been invited to speaks at various conferences such as Echelon, EdTech Asia, EdTechX, GET summits. When he is not thinking about education, he is either painting or diving off boats to be with the underwater world.

Dip is an an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. Prior to MIT, Dip co-founded and sold Ecovent, the only intelligent home zoning system that delivers complete room-by-room climate control through easy-to-install, self-configuring sensors and vents. Dip devised the idea of Ecovent and launched the company in 2013, while earning his MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management. Over the course of 5 years Ecovent went from idea to suscessful product launch! Prior to that Dip spent eight years at Lockheed Martin working in engineering, program management, and sales for its radar, electronic warfare, submarine and ballistic missile defense programs. In addition to his MBA, he received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and his Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Dip lives near the water with his awesome wife Sandy and dog Pi, you can find his place by following the scent of delicious barbeque.

Trairak Pisitkun is a physician-scientist who is now directing a biomedical research team at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. He is also a volunteer scientist at the National Institutes of Health, USA. His interest is in the application of systems biology approaches using proteomics, next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics, and advanced antibody technology to address unmet needs in clinical medicine, especially in the cutting edge treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. His current projects include the development of personalized cancer vaccine, the generation of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for cancer immunotherapy, and an initiative to sequence whole genomes of Thai population for delivering future precision medicine.

Pawoot Pongvitayapanu (Pom), often called Thailand's E-commerce Pioneer, is an internet entrepreneur, and CEO & Founder of TARAD.com and the efrastructure Group. He's been active in the internet community since 1999, and is a start-up investor in more than 10 companies. He is also a columnist and radio host. He has two Masters degrees in Internet & E-Commerce from ABAC University, and an Executive MBA from Sasin School of Management. He is also President of the Thai E-Commerce Association and founder of the Thai E-Payment Association and the Thai E-Logistic Club. He also serves on the Thailand Fintech Association, the Thailand Tech Startup Association, Consultant for Thai Webmaster Association.

Mr. Ritter graduated with honors from the University of Southern California in 2006. He spent ten years working in private equity, specializing in cross-border real estate investments between Asian countries and the U.S. In 2014, Mr. Ritter served as the Project Director at Donghu Group Investments (now an affiliate of the Shanghai Airport Group), managing a project portfolio with an asset value over $1 billion USD. His portfolio included marquis projects in New York City and Melbourne. In 2016, Mr. Ritter headed the Hongwei Investment Center, a joint venture between DGI and Five Bulls Fund, one of China’s largest private equity platforms. In addition to his long experience in the finance industry, David was an early-phase investor in Bitcoin and has participated in early-phase investments in a number of large crytpocurrency projects. Mr. Ritter currently serves as the CEO of Penta Global Foundation.

Jonathan Ruane is a Lecturer in the Global Economics and Management group at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a Digital Fellow at MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE). His interests are at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, strategy and international markets. He is a Professor at Trinity College Dublin and a former Fulbright recipient. Ruane cofounded the ‘Global Business of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics’ graduate course with Prof Simon Johnson in addition to faculty teaching positions across MBA, EMBA, and Executive Education courses at MIT. He worked closely with Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson on “Machine Platform Crowd.” Prior to coming to MIT, Ruane was CEO of Eventovate, a VC backed SAAS startup that he cofounded and subsequently sold. The business was listed in the Techcrunch Euro Top 100, and Ruane himself was named in the Top 40 Irish Entrepreneurs Under 40. He started his career with Procter and Gamble. Ruane serves on the board of the UCD Cantillon Research Centre for Entrepreneurship, Design and Innovation.

Mr. Chanond Ruangkritya is President & Chief Executive Officer at Ananda Urban Tech. He is on the Board of Directors at Ananda MF Asia Chongnonsi Co., Ltd., Ananda MF Asia Samyan Co. Ltd., Ananda Mf Asia Asoke Co. Ltd., Ananda MF Asia Co. Ltd., Ananda Mf Asia Ratchathewi Co. Ltd., Ideo Condo Co. Ltd., Agent (Property Expert) Co., Ltd., Helix Co. Ltd., Work Community Management Co. Ltd., Baan Niravana Co., Ltd., Bira Rt Kart Co. Ltd., Ananda Development Two Co. Ltd., Bira Circuit One Co. Ltd., Ananda Development One Co. Ltd., Bira Kart Co. Ltd., Bludeck Co. Ltd., Maduro Co. Ltd., Kloset Design Co. Ltd., Pimanda Development Co. Ltd. and Ananda Development Public Co. Ltd. Mr. Ruangkritya was previously employed as Chairman by Ananda Development Co., Ltd. He also served on the board at Chiangmai Green Valley Co., Ltd., Chiangmai Green Valley Country Club Co. Ltd., Windmill Architect Co. Ltd. and Bira Circuit Co. Ltd. Mr. Ruangkritya received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a graduate degree from London School of Economics & Political Science.

Dr. Twarath Sutabutr is Director-General of Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) since July 2015. He has experiences in a wide range of energy policy coordination and initiatives such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and international energy cooperation. His other current positions include Board of Directors of PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited and Advisor to the Board of Directors of Thai Green Building Institutes. Prior to joining EPPO, he served as Deputy Permanent Secretary and Deputy Director-General of Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency. Moreover, when he served as Director of Policy and Strategy Coordination Office, he assumed parts of the work with National Economic and Social Development Board in energy infrastructure development planning and involved in liberalization of electricity and natural gas sectors. Dr. Twarath holds Sc.D. in Civil and Environment Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, Master of Geotechnical Engineering from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

Dr. Num Tanthuwanit obtained his medical degree from the University of Melbourne Medical School, Australia, in 1996, undertook a residency in Internal Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and completed a Fellowship in Rehabilitation Medicine through the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. His sub-specialty is Cardiac Rehabilitation, and he has practiced in both public and private hospital settings in Australia, the UK, and Thailand. He also served as a medical officer with the Royal Thai Air Force for three years. He was a Sloan Fellow at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, USA, from July 2013 to June 2014, and received an MSc in Management after this time.

Dr Num Tanthuwanit was the CEO of Bumrungrad International Hospital from July 2014-2017. Prior to this appointment he was the hospital’s Medical Director from 2012. During his time at Bumrungrad he oversaw the development of several new clinical programs with emphasis on integrating new technologies, continuous quality improvement, improving the patient experience, organizational alignment, exploring new markets globally, and operational improvements. In April 2018, he will be taking on the role of Group CEO of Omni International Hospitals in Jakarta, Indonesia, overseeing 4 hospitals across Indonesia.

Tracy Tan is the Director of MicroMasters at MIT Open Learning. She drives the development and growth of the MicroMasters programs offered and helps shape and build MITx MicroMasters global ecosystem, including strategic engagement with partner universities, collaborating companies, and MicroMasters learners. Tracy has spent almost all her career in higher education. In her previous job, she managed a portion of the global portfolio at Harvard Business School Executive Education. She also managed educational programs and large events at Emerson College and Wheelock Collage. Prior to coming to the US, Tracy taught management classes at a Chinese University. Tracy has a Bachelor’s degree in Management and a Master’s degree in Intercultural Management.

As president of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Sauwanee saw the opportunity to create a stronger entrepreneurship ecosystem for Thailand, by bringing together the business community, government organizations, universities, investors, and entrepreneurs. She launched a partnership with MIT’s Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP) and created the UTCC Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship Center to run the major initiative of the MIT/REAP Partnership: the Thailand IDE Network, linking universities, research centers, and innovation nodes across the country. Sauwanee is a Fullbright Scholar and was trained as an economist. She has extensive advanced training in entrepreneurship, innovation, and design thinking.

Anthony Vanky, Ph.D. is a lecturer in Urban Design and Planning at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also currently serves as the programs director for MIT designX, the academic platform dedicated to advancing innovation and entrepreneurship in design, cities and the human environment. Until recently, Anthony was also a project lead at the MIT Senseable City Lab. He also served as the Lab’s partner and outreach strategist, where he connected companies’ and governments’ interests in smart cities to the research of the Lab and MIT. Further, Anthony’s own research considers the use of digital data and pervasive sensing technologies in designing, planning and evaluating urban environments, and spans the disciplines of urban design, urban technologies, innovation studies, and public health.

Rodrigo Veloso is a serial entrepreneur and investor who believes in responsible industry leadership, which translates into creating profitable growth in harmony with environmental sustainability. He is the founder of O.N.E. Coconut Water. As the CEO of O.N.E., Rodrigo built the O.N.E. brand into a multi-million dollar business with distribution in over 25,000 retail stores in the US and Canada. Nearly 2,000 jobs were generated by the partnerships and supply network for O.N.E. Coconut Water he established in Brazil, The Philippines and Indonesia. Mr. Veloso is also the principal of O.N.E. (Opportunity Never Ends) a boutique investment firm. The fund currently operates in the United States and Brazil. Rodrigo’s latest venture is O.N.E. One Natural Energy (www.onenaturalenergy.com) a tires to energy company. O.N.E. believes that the increased demand for energy can be met in part by transforming waste into electricity.

Chanikarn or Mint is a faculty member at King Mongkut University of Technology (KMUTT) at Thonburi, pioneering quantification of grit, happiness, and cognition. She founded EATLAB as a spinout from KMUTT. EATLAB is the first company in the world to serve leading food and beverage production companies by scientifically measuring consumer response to their new products. She serves on various committee such as Science, Technology and Innovation reform; and provide consultancy to various agencies about innovation, data analytics, affective and cognitive modeling, and commonsense artificial intelligence. Prior to joining KMUTT, Chanikarn was a quantitative researcher at WorldQuant, and co-founded a social enterprise, Matternet, as a part of her participation at Singularity University program. Matternet is a drone delivery network now partnering with Mercedes-Benz, and WHO. Chanikarn received her academic training in Mechanical Engineering. She graduated from MIT with a doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Political Science, master degree from MIT Media Lab, and bachelor degree from Carnegie Mellon University with double minors in Robotics and Computer Science.