Trailblazers - Judges | Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition

Ms Lim joined Keppel in 2001. She was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Keppel Infrastructure Holdings Pte Ltd (Keppel Infrastructure) on 15 February 2021.

In her more than 20 years with Keppel Group, Ms Lim has held various leadership positions. She was the Director of Group Corporate Development (GCD) of Keppel Corporation Limited and concurrently the Managing Director of Keppel Urban Solutions (KUS), an end-to-end integrated master developer of liveable, smart and sustainable precincts and townships in Asia. As the Director of GCD, she focused on harnessing collaboration and unlocking synergies across the operating businesses within the Keppel Group. As the founding Managing Director of KUS, she led the unit to develop and capture investment opportunities in sustainable urbanisation and infrastructure segments. Prior to these, Ms Lim was the Executive Director of Infrastructure Services in Keppel Infrastructure, where she stewarded the operating business performance of utility-scale energy and environmental facilities, including asset management, operations and maintenance, health, safety & environment (HSE) and supply chain strategies.

Ms Lim principal directorships include Keppel Infrastructure Holdings, Keppel Capital Holdings Pte Ltd, Keppel Energy Pte Ltd, Keppel New Energy Pte Ltd, Keppel EaaS Pte Ltd, Keppel Seghers Pte Ltd, Keppel Water Services Pte Ltd, MET Holding AG, Cleantech Renewable Assets Pte Ltd.

She is also a board member of the Ammonia Energy Association and a member of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council.

Ms Lim holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical & Production), 2nd Class (Upper) Hons, from Nanyang Technology University and an Executive Master of Business Administration from Singapore Management University

Mr Heng Teck Thai joined Building and Construction Authority (BCA) as Deputy Chief Executive Officer, BuildSG Office in August 2021. In this role, he is responsible for rallying progressive BE firms to lead transformation in their respective commercial ecosystems and also oversees BCA’s customer relations and corporate communications functions.

Teck Thai’s experience spans both public and private sectors over a period of more than 20 years.

He started his career with the Singapore Economic Development Board during which time, he closed investment deals in a diverse range of sectors including in aerospace components and high-end medical instrumentation manufacturing and medical device and software development. After the Singapore Economic Development Board, Teck Thai also spent time as a Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, consulting for a global semiconductor automation systems company.

After BCG, Teck Thai moved into private equity and venture capital, starting with Quvat Capital, a private equity investment firm focused on Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, where he was responsible for operations improvement and also the Quvat funds’ portfolio management, valuations across its portfolio companies and fund-raising. In his PE and VC career, he had also been a Venture Partner in Novo Tellus Capital Partners (NTCP) and prior to that, a Principal in NTCP, where he was responsible for dealing sourcing and execution of growth equity investments and private equity buyouts in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

From 2012-2013, he served as Commissioner of PT BNI Securities, the securities brokerage subsidiary of Bank BNI (one of the top 5 largest banks in Indonesia), where he drove change management at the Board and CXO levels, to improve the performance of the company. PT BNI Securities was successfully turned around and become profitable by the end of 2013.

Immediately prior to returning to public service with BCA, Teck Thai was a Partner at SMDV, the venture arm and digital platform of Sinar Mas Group, and concurrently CEO of a marketing affiliate and loyalty program platform incorporated in Indonesia.

Teck Thai had also developed and co-owns two hotel properties in Bali, Indonesia: for a period of four years from 2014 to 2018, he drove the conceptualization, fund-raising and financing, development, construction, opening and operations of a 96-key 4-star hotel and an 80-key 5-star resort.

Teck Thai was awarded the Glaxo Wellcome-Economic Development Board scholarship and received his BSc Industrial Engineering and MSc Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University. He also received an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

As Chief Technology Officer & Global Vice President of Technology Services, Rowena Yeo is responsible for delivering technology solutions and operational excellence for Johnson & Johnson globally. Rowena is the first woman and Asian CTO in J&J. She leads the Technology Services organization, a group that directly enables J&J’s growth, innovation, and agility, enabling the technology foundation and capabilities required to improve healthcare outcomes. Rowena has been instrumental in the transformation of the Technology Services organization. She has extensive experience leading the strategic direction for technologies, driving innovation and business priorities, as well as creating value for the employees, patients, and customers we serve.

Rowena serves on J&J’s Global Technology Leadership Team, helping translate business priorities and challenges into technology solutions. She is also a founding member of J&J’s Global Data Science Council and continues to serve on the council representing the Technology function.

Rowena joined J&J in 2016 as Vice President, CIO Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Asia Pacific. In that role, she led the strategic direction of technology to support business objectives in the region. By fostering collaboration among J&J business partners and the broader technology organization, Rowena and her team established digital and technology platforms that enabled next-generation digital capabilities in the region.

Rowena offers a wealth of experience, having spent more than 21 years at Cargill, Inc., which she joined in 1994. During that time, she held various regional and global leadership roles with increasing responsibilities before serving concurrently as the Global Group CIO for Cargill Agricultural Trading and Processing Sector and Asia Pacific Regional CIO. At Cargill, Rowena built and developed both the Global and Regional IT teams, established technology strategies and capabilities, and led Cargill through various transformations that enabled Cargill’s growth. Before Cargill, Inc., Rowena had a successful career with IBM Singapore.

Rowena’s experience in technology and business spans more than three decades in various global, regional and business roles. She has lived abroad in North America and has travelled extensively across the globe. This has empowered her to successfully lead and collaborate with diverse global teams and business partners. Rowena has received various industry recognition and awards for her leadership and contributions throughout her career.

A native Singaporean, Rowena earned her Bachelor of Engineering Honors Degree from the National University of Singapore. Rowena actively champions diversity, equity and inclusion and women’s leadership. Rowena is a board member of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), a co-opted member of SCS Women in Technology Chapter Exco and serves on J&J’s Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Manufacturing and Design (WiSTEM2D) Global Steering Committee and actively sponsors the Asia Pacific WiSTEM2D Committee.

Rowena is married with three daughters and enjoys music, reading, building LEGO and searching for otters in her free time.

Basil has over 25 years of experience as the Founding Partner of AGP and an Advisor to EDBI.

Prior to this, he was the Managing Partner at EDBI where he oversaw investments in Healthcare and Emerging Technologies. Basil was a key member of EDBI’s Investment Committee, and on the healthcare front, he was involved in several investments for EDBI, including Aspen Neuroscience focused on personalised cell therapies; Biofourmis a digital therapeutics chronic disease management platform; Doctor Anywhere a full-stack online-offline healthcare service; Hummingbird Bioscience a clinical-stage precision medicine company; MiRXES a developer of RNA early disease detection tests; RVAC Medicines a company building a pipeline of mRNA vaccine and therapeutic candidates for emerging markets; US2.ai an AI software platform for echocardiography to fight heart disease; and a pre-covid investment into mRNA vaccine platform Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA). Basil has a strong interest in regenerative technologies that can restore cellular health and resilience. Additionally, Basil drove early stage deep-tech fund-of-funds investments at EDBI, covering regional healthcare funds, and as a LP Advisory Committee member in various portfolio funds, worked closely in partnership with the funds to invest in Singapore and the region. He also spearheaded EDBI’s investments in areas that would have an impact to the future of healthcare and the bioeconomy such as synthetic biology, gene edits, robotics, AI, blockchain, AR and VR. Basil pioneered EDBI's post-investment value creation and communications efforts, ensuring strong support to portfolio companies through market access, talent recruitment, strategic financing, partnership & guidance; and is often a speaker in global technology events and panels.

Prior to EDBI, Basil was a McKinsey consultant covering South East Asia, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Keppel-NUS Corporate Laboratory, the APAC President of a global semiconductor electronic design automation company, an Assistant Professor at National University of Singapore Electrical & Computer Engineering, and a post-doctoral researcher at the Cambridge University Engineering Department.

Basil is the inventor of several patents and holds a BA (1st class), MA and PhD from the University of Cambridge. He was awarded a Commonwealth scholarship, a Singapore Government Public Service Commission scholarship, and was the youngest Singaporean to win a Research Fellowship from Trinity College Cambridge.

Darian McBain is a globally experienced Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), advisor and board member. She is a world recognised expert, speaker and author on sustainability, ESG, supply chains, business human rights and sustainable finance. She is a UN SDG Pioneer for a Sustainable Ocean Economy 2021, a Fast Company Most Creative People in Business 2020, and was named one of Asia's Top Sustainability Superwomen.

Darian was the inaugural Chief Sustainability Officer for the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the first CSO for a central bank globally. Prior to this, she was Global Director of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Thai Union Group, a multi-billion dollar listed FMCG company operating globally and headquartered in Asia. In a career spanning over 20+years, Darian has held roles including Managing Director of the agency Blue Sky Green, advising business and governments on communications, supply chain, procurement and sustainability strategy; Director of Policy/Sustainable Development Executive for the National Health Service (NHS) Purchasing Agency; Communications Manager at the UN IMO for the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds; a lead with WWF on market transformation for commodities such as palm oil and timber; and worked for the environmental regulator NSW EPA.

Darian is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer with Integrated Sustainability Analysis at the University of Sydney and holds a PhD on social and environmental indicators for global supply chain analysis. Darian holds a Masters of Science in Business Strategy, Politics and Environment from the University of London, and a Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) from the University of NSW.

Darian is an experienced communications professional, working on staff and change engagement, corporate storytelling, brand profile and reputation management. She is a published author, with books, academic articles and blogs published in traditional and social media. She is a regular speaker and commentator at conferences, on television and webinars, and is a member of several not-for-profit boards. She has a passion for innovation and technology, currently working on projects including digital traceability, blockchain and virtual reality.

Professor Ng Huck Hui is the Assistant Chief Executive for Research and Talent Development, and Chief Scientific Advisor of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) , under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

Prof Ng is renowned in the field of gene regulation and genomics. His laboratory is developing diagnostic and therapeutics modalities for brain and liver diseases. Prof Ng had held several administrative positions. He was the Executive Director of the Genome Institute of Singapore and the Executive Director of the A*STAR Graduate Academy.

Prior to joining A*STAR, Professor Ng was a postdoctoral fellow with Harvard Medical School under the prestigious Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Postdoctoral Fellowship. Professor Ng is renowned in the field of stem cells, having spent more than a decade in research to understand and uncover the intricacies of gene regulation and how they relate to cell biology. He was also the President for the Stem Cell Society Singapore, which is a major platform for educating the public on stem cell research. In 2016, Professor Ng was elected to be an Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, making him the only associate member to be based in Singapore.

In recognition of his scientific contributions, Professor Ng has received numerous local and international honours and awards, including the Young Scientist Award in 2004, Singapore Youth Award in 2005, National Science Award in 2007, Junior Chamber International (JCI) The Outstanding Young Persons Singapore Awards in 2009, Singapore Youth Award (Commendation Medal) in 2010, President's Science Award (Team Award) in 2011, President’s Science Award (Team Award) in 2018 and The Public Administration Medal (Silver), National Day Awards 2019.

Outside of A*STAR, Professor Ng is very active in the local universities and organizations, and holds adjunct positions at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS Faculty of Science, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) School of Biological Sciences, and the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI). He also sits on the Board of Science Centre Singapore and NUS High School.