Navigating The Future of Hospitality: Innovating Sustainable Designs & Spaces for Next-Gen Experiences

Speakers

Moderator's Profile:

Associate Professor Peer Mohideen Sathikh is from the School of Mechanical Engineering at NTU and a REP fellow at the Renaissance Engineering Programme. Peer Sathikh joined NTU in 2008 after 22 years as a practising Industrial designer. Today, Peer Sathikh is an expert on the design of operation-critical control centres for rapid transit systems. A serial entrepreneur, Peer co-founded Teknovate Plastics Pvt Ltd in 2007, an injection moulding company located in Chennai, India. Awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) during the Singapore National Awards in August, Peer was the president of the Designers Association Singapore from 2003 to 2007. He has earned many accolades, including the Chicago Anthaeum Award and the Singapore Design Award. He is a member of the Design Society, UK and a member of the Royal Society for the Arts (RSA). Peer's current research interests are in immersive experience, designing for mobility and transportation.

Speaker's Profile:

As Executive Director of Hospitality & Tourism Talent, Rachel drives the strategic transformation of Singapore's hospitality industry while spearheading human capital development across the tourism sector. Her dual portfolio encompasses forging strong industry partnerships to drive sustainable growth and innovation in hospitality, identifying emerging opportunities and implementing forward-thinking solutions that shape Singapore's hospitality landscape, while also leading the development of robust talent pipelines through strategic policy formulation and programmes to support the tourism sector's continued evolution. Previously, as Senior Vice President, Americas, she successfully led regional planning, business development and destination marketing efforts. A highlight of her career is steering the US market to achieve an unprecedented tourism receipt of USD1billion annually, making a significant milestone in post-pandemic recovery.

Speaker's Profile:

Kok Yong is one of the co-founders of The Afternaut Group, an experience design consultancy based in Singapore. He has led a wide variety of design and build projects in China and Singapore, creating experiences that make a positive impact on the community. The projects innovate experiential concepts and incorporate elements of business, technology, spatial design, sustainability and user experience. Kok Yong believes that in every project, 1% of it contains an unknown variable. As someone who constantly challenges the boundaries of what is asked of him, Kok Yong always questions what that unknown is and seeks to design for it. Kok Yong currently leads a team of spatial designers, visual designers, account managers, and business strategists at The Afternaut Group, working on projects in placemaking and the built environment.

Speaker's Profile:

Nan Chyuan graduated from the National University of Singapore and the Architectural Association, London, on a scholarship from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. He is Director at FARM, a cross-disciplinary design practice that won the President’s Design Award Design of the Year in 2010 and was featured in Wallpaper’s Architects’ Directory 2018. Recognised as one of Singapore’s emerging architects in URA’s “20 Under 45” (2017), he actively contributes to design advocacy, having co-curated iLight Marina Bay 2012 and served on the Design Advisory Panel (Conservation), the Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board, and as a speaker at platforms including SUTD, TEDxNUS, and NUS. A passionate educator, he has taught at NUS since 2009, where he is Adjunct Assistant Professor, and serves on advisory committees for Media Arts and Design School, Singapore Polytechnic, and School of Design, Ngee Ann Polytechnic. He is currently President of the Singapore Institute of Architects.