Professor of Education and Engineering | The Pennsylvania State University

Christine M. Cunningham is a vice president at the Museum of Science, Boston, where she works to make engineering and science more relevant, accessible, and understandable, especially for underserved and underrepresented populations. As the founding director of the ground-breaking Engineering is Elementary (EiE) project, she has developed engineering curricula for preschool through middle school students and professional development for their teachers. As of August 2017, EiE has reached 14 million children and 172,000 educators nationwide. 

Cunningham has previously served as a director of the Tufts University Center for Engineering Educational Outreach, where her work focused on integrating engineering with science, technology, and math in professional development for K–12 teachers. She also directed the Women’s Experiences in College Engineering project, the first national, longitudinal, large-scale study of the factors that support young women pursuing engineering degrees. Cunningham is a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). She has been awarded the ASEE K–12 and Pre-College Division Lifetime Achievement Award, the IEEE Pre-University Educator Award, the International Society for Design and Development in Education Prize, and the Alpheus Henry Snow Prize. 

In 2017 her work was recognized with the prestigious Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education. She holds a BA and MA degrees in biology from Yale and a PhD in science education from Cornell University.

The Science Nomad | Director, Science and Learning | Kellyware Pty Ltd

Dr Kohlhagen is a Professor who dedicated his career to science and learning and supporting the professional development of educators around the world. He has worked with Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre in Canberra for almost 40 years and has vastly contributed in shaping and delivering many of the programs, shows, and demonstrations that form a key part of the centre’s activities and outreach programs.

He is a creator of The Science Nomad – a project aimed at supporting support educators and learners through the use of humble materials to provoke powerful learning and to gather and share from indigenous communities across the world indigenous knowledge and knowledge systems regarding science, technology, design, and innovations. For years, he has been implementing effective STEM education approaches and preparing educators for jobs of the future, all around the world.

He is also the designer of several public artworks – relating to a number of natural phenomena and has created a number of public encryption/code-based artworks. He has been awarded a Creative Fellowship by Wonder Walk Victoria to develop the concepts for several public science/art installations for the Melbourne CBD.

In 2000 he was awarded a Public Service Medal for his contribution to informal science education, and in 2013 won the “Iron Science Teacher” competition at the renowned San Francisco Exploratorium’s Teachers Institute.  He graduated from ANU with a PhD (working on drug resistance and energy metabolism in parasites with Chris Bryant).

National Sciences & Science Education (NSSE) | National Institute of Education

Teo Tang Wee is an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is currently the Co-Head of the Multi-centric Education Research & Industry STEM Centre at NIE (meriSTEM@NIE). She has been involved in STEM education and research for more than a decade. Prior to her doctorate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, she was a chemistry teacher at a STEM school. Her PhD work was about a U.S. STEM teacher doing reform work. She has published extensively in STEM education research and delivered keynotes at multiple STEM conferences. Her current research interest is inequity issues in STEM education.

Tang Wee was awarded the Singapore Ministry of Education Teaching Award to read Chemistry at the National University of Singapore. She was an active member of the Special Programme in Science and Talent Development Programme. In 2018, she was the recipient of the NIE Research Excellence Award and the Xilong Scientific - Singapore National Institute of Chemistry Industry Award in Chemistry Education.

In 2007-2011, she received the National Institute of Education Overseas Graduate Scholarship to pursue her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. 

Senior Assistant Director | Sciences Branch, Curriculum Planning & Development Division 1 | Ministry of Education, Singapore

Shi Qian is the Senior Assistant Director (Science) at the Curriculum Planning & Development Division of the Ministry of Education, Singapore. She has previously worked in two secondary schools as an educator and served in several divisions in government agencies.

Prior to her current position, Shi Qian was the Head of Department (Special Projects) at Hong Kah Secondary School. She was instrumental in starting the school’s STEM Applied Learning programme named “Real-World Learning through Electronics”. She worked with teachers and partners (e.g. STEM Inc at Science Centre Singapore) to introduce electronics to students and teachers. As an educator who was new to the foray of STEM, Shi Qian kept herself abreast of the latest STEM issues and actively shared her learning with teachers and students.

Shi Qian believes that students should own the learning process and through purposeful play, students embrace the joy of learning. She is an advocate of learning by doing, experimenting and tinkering in groups. Shi Qian was awarded the 2017 Outstanding STEM Teacher Award by the Singapore Ministry of Education, for her contributions to the STEM Applied Learning Programme.

Head of Education, Google Cloud, Southeast Asia

As the Head of Education for Google Cloud in Southeast Asia, Gary is responsible for helping to transform the government and education agenda in this digital transformation of industries through successful executions of a broad set of initiatives within Singapore and the ASEAN region. He engages with Educators, Government Elites and Policy Leaders as their trusted advisor to ensure all stakeholders are provided with the latest in education technology to enhance learning environments and ensure a steady pool of future-ready individuals.

Gary also sits on various advisory boards where he contributes his time and insights with the primary focus on skills development in the infocomm sector. Gary has previously held key appointments in other private sector companies like Microsoft as well as the public sector. Gary is also currently serving as a Strategic Advisor of Inclus, a not-for-profit organization aimed at helping to create an inclusive society for people with disabilities.

Gary graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Master’s Degree in Computing.

* The programme is preliminary and subject to change as more information and details are confirmed and received.