Let's ask nature for Solutions
Biomimicry Team - Singapore
The team comprises of people from diverse fields - biologists, engineers, entrepreneurs, designers, architects, lawyers and more.
FOUNDER MEMBERS
Dr. Anuj Jain
A tropical ecologist, conservation biologist, and engineer, Anuj is part of an elite Biomimicry Professional program that consists of professionals handpicked by the Biomimicry 3.8 team (Montana, USA) to train and mobilize an international, networked community of professional biomimics. Anuj has a Bachelor's degree in engineering and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the National University of Singapore. He headed the Butterfly & Insect Group at Nature Society (Singapore) from 2012 - 2016 where he lead projects such as a public vote to select Singapore's national butterfly. He has experience in landscape ecology and management and leads illegal wildlife trade monitoring and an international program on leadership for young conservationists in Asia at BirdLife International. As an ecologist and biomimic, Anuj explores nature’s genius in diverse ecosystems and likes to share this new way of viewing and valuing nature through biomimicry walks, expeditions and talks. Anuj believes that biomimicry offers a huge untapped potential in species and habitat conservation. Email: anuj@biomimicrysingapore.net
Sriram Nadathur
Managing Director of Nadathur Fareast Pvt Ltd, Sriram has a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial engineering and Masters in Finance, and now is an aspiring biomimic pursuing a Masters degree in biomimicry. In his role at Nadathur Group he is responsible for the overall group but his focus is on supporting the growth of the existing businesses and incubating new businesses for the group. Sriram concurrently heads Group Lifespring, the Healthcare and Life Sciences division of the group and has since led pioneering ventures such as Connexios, a first-of-its-kind biotech company focused on Type-2 Diabetes and related metabolic diseases and Indegene, an innovative marketing company focused on pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. Sriram is an active philanthropist, has a keen interest in several charitable causes and has trekked the Himalayas. Email: sriram@nadathur.com
CORE MEMBERS
Kirtida Mekani
Kirtida is a passionate environmentalist, pursuer of education, successful businesswoman and a devoted artist. She served as the founding Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council from 1993 to 1997, is a Community in Bloom (CIB) ambassador, a member of the environment committee at Southwest CDC and serves on the board of the Garden City Fund Singapore. Her partnership with National Parks has seen the creation of the Plant-a-Tree programme. In collaboration with the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA), Kirtida supported the creation of the Rainforest Restoration Project – specialized plant nurseries run and managed by students for many threatened rainforest species. For her many contributions, Kirtida was awarded the President’s Award for the Environment in 2015. Kirtida is an ardent advocate of biomimicry, promoting its awareness and adoption in Singapore and strongly believes that biomimicry is the path forward for science and engineering.
Kevin Sullivan
Kevin has been a carpenter, community organizer, educator, and environmental entrepreneur. Since 2008 he has been a founder and CEO of two sustainable design consulting firms in India and Singapore. He is currently the Director of the Singapore Office of IEN Consultants, one of the leading sustainable design and engineering firms based in SE Asia. Kevin is trained as an architect and urban planner and writes and speaks widely on urban and environmental issues. He has an MCP in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MA in Urban History from Columbia University. He pioneered the first low-cost urban green homes in the US and was also an Adjunct Professor in the Urban Environment at Queens College as the City University of New York. Kevin is an expert on green schools and has worked with top international schools across Asia to create innovative, “living” campuses and integrate sustainability principles into school curricula.
Priyanka Sancheti
A business startup consultant and a Company Secretary practioner, Priyanka is a fellow member at the Indian Institute of Company Secretaries (ICSI) and a Law graduate with experience in company incorporation, corporate restructuring, compliances, legal and secretarial work for a wide clientele of companies. To widen-up the ambit of practice in corporate secretarial area, she is now in the process of transferring her membership of Company Secretary to Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), London. Her new found love is in the field of environmental law and legal issues in sustainable design.
ADVISORS
Dr. Carlos Alberto Montana-Hoyos
An Industrial Designer with communication skills in Spanish, English, Italian and Japanese, Carlos has a bachelor's degree in Industrial Design from Javeriana University (PUJ), Columbia and an MAID and a PhD from Kobe Design University, Japan in Biomimicry and Design for Sustainability. As a design practitioner, Carlos has worked in-house in several industries in the areas of packages, electric appliances, furniture, lamps, ceramics and handcrafts, with experience in Colombia, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Australia and many of his projects having received international design awards. From 2006 to 2010, Carlos was a Fellow and Assistant Professor in the Industrial Design Program, National University of Singapore. He currently lives and works in Australia, where he is an Associate Professor in the Industrial Design Course at the University of Canberra. Carlos has taught Biomimicry in design at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and conducted numerous workshops and guest lectures on these topics.
Dr. Richard Kwok
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd (ST Kinetics), Dr. Richard Kwok has a Master of Science in automotive engineering and Ph.D. in technology management. He is also the chairman of Intellectual Property Right Committee in Singapore Technologies Engineering since 2000. Dr Kwok was the recipient of the prestigious Defence Technology Prize 2002 (Individual Engineering Award) and the Defence Technology Prize (Team) Award 1999 by the Ministry of Defence Singapore and the Cheng Fook Choon Gold Award in Engineering Process Innovation & Improvement by Singapore Technologies in 1997. In December 2006, he also won the Lifelong Learner Award. His areas of interest and research include robotic technologies, survivability & protective technologies, nano & novel materials, power transmission, weapon platform, renewable energy, Intellectual property and business management. Dr. Kwok turns to nature for innovation and is a believer of TRIZ.