Speakers

Kay Vasey – MeshMinds

Schooling Digital Ninjas on Sustainable Urban Farming

Kay is a tech lawyer turned entrepreneur in the extended reality and spatial computing space, encompassing augmented and virtual reality, and 3D gaming platforms. Her company, MeshMinds, has created immersive experiences for the UN Environment Programme, Meta and Apple, building climate awareness and cultural literacy amongst youth and online communities. 

Dive into the transformative journey of Sky Farm Island, the world’s first sustainable farming game on Roblox. Blending virtual role play with the future of food production in Singapore, Sky Farm Island hopes to inspire players to grow at home, shop local and eat plant-based diets. Hear from Kay Vasey, the founder of leading “games for good” studio, MeshMinds, as she shares how the idea for the game was born, the challenges faced during development, and the thrilling potential of new features and updates powered by artificial intelligence. 

Niti Gupta – YouTurn

Debugging our Mind’s Code

Niti Gupta is a dedicated psychotherapist and serves as the clinical director of YouTurn, a thriving therapy group practice. With unwavering faith in the transformative power of effective communication, genuine connection, and creative solutions, Niti has played an instrumental role in accompanying many individuals on their profound journeys of personal growth and healing. She also is a passionate teenage mental health advocate. Through captivating workshops as well as her compelling written and video content, Niti initiates crucial dialogues on the unique challenges faced by adolescents, shedding light on their path to resilience and well-being.

In our journey through life, much like software running on a computer, our minds encounter ‘glitches’ known as cognitive distortions. These thinking errors can be as disruptive as a bug in a program, leading to a cascade of negative thoughts that often result in suboptimal outcomes. Just as programmers debug their code to create better software, we, too, can debug our minds. By becoming aware of these thinking errors and embracing strategies to bypass them, we unlock the potential to not only improve our mental well-being but also steer our lives towards more positive and successful outcomes.

Lutfey Siddiqi – London School of Economics

Why We Need More Conflict of the Constructive Kind

Lutfey Siddiqi is a Visiting Professor-in-Practice at the London School of Economics and an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore. He is a member of the advisory board of the LSE Inclusion Initiative, The UN at LSE program, and the centre for Governance and Sustainability at NUS Singapore. Lutfey was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2012.   

Making connections is a necessary condition for international understanding and appreciating diversity. However, connections do not automatically result in compassion or collaboration. Those of us privileged to have exposure to diverse settings have an obligation to act as bridge-builders, made all the more challenging with a backdrop that is fraught with fragmentation and polarizing passions. Well-meaning missions can face resistance from those who may be equally well-meaning. So making connections is not enough – we need to work through these entanglements.     

David Cox – Tanglin Trust School

It’s a Small, Small, Small, Small World

David is a passionate mathematics evangelist, keen for everyone to see the beauty and impact of maths. He is Head of Mathematics and Computing at Tanglin Trust School, and has been teaching mathematics for fifteen years, mainly at boarding schools in the UK as well as Oxford University.  

Our lives are dominated by networks – from our social groups to our ability to travel, even to our own biology. They are crucial to the flow of information and trust, as well as the spread of disease. A mathematical study of networks reveals surprising connections between all of these different networks, particularly in their robustness and the degree to which we are all essentially linked with each other. Our proximity with each other brings strength, but also introduces fragility to the system. We are never as far away as we think.

Jasmine Go – Google

Demystifying AI

Jasmine is deeply passionate about the people she meets and technology she creates. With experiences across big tech including Meta and Amazon, she now works at Google enabling digital native companies to scale through technologies like Artificial Intelligence. She’s also an avid traveler and is invested in creating technology for good that helps orphanages and children all around the world gain access to life-changing education. 

Learn how to demystify AI and learn more about the forerunning technologies today that will change our tomorrow. With an increasingly multi-dimensional corporate landscape, Jasmine also shares her experience moving into big tech from non-traditional backgrounds that will inspire you to think beyond your academic pursuits. Beyond the impact of what AI can bring, hear also about how we can step into the world of technology and create good social impact for the future – even without learning how to code.