Thambipillai Srikanthan Director Centre for High Performance Embedded Systems (CHiPES)

Dr Srikanthan joined Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore in June 1991. At present, he holds a full professor and joint appointment as Director of a 100 strong Centre for High Performance Embedded Systems (CHiPES). He founded CHiPES in 1998 and elevated it to a university level research Centre in February 2000. He has also served as founding Director of the Intelligent Devices and Systems (IDeAS) cluster for 2 years (2005-2007).

His research interests include design methodologies for complex embedded systems, architectural translations of compute intensive algorithms, computer arithmetic and high-speed techniques for image processing and dynamic routing. He has published more than 250 technical papers including 60 journals in IEEE Transactions, IEE Proceedings and other reputed international journals. His services as a key consultant to embedded systems industry, both locally and internationally are continually being sought for.

He contributed to all aspects of the curriculum development and operation of the undergraduate and post graduate programs. In particular, he proposed and developed a Master of Science course in Embedded Systems Engineering, based on his expertise in this emerging field of Computer Engineering. He was nominated for the ‘Best Teacher’ award for six consecutive years and won this award in 2002.

He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) on 2006 National Day in recognition of his contributions to education in Singapore.

Chris Tiong Marketing Manager, Taiwan & ASEAN Tektronix

Chris Tiong has over 17 years experience in the high tech industry and is currently the Marketing Manager for Taiwan and ASEAN. Chris entered the Test & Measurement industry in 1989. During this time he has held a number of positions as the Process Engineer at National Semiconductor, USA, Application Engineer & Sales Manager for Fluke Logic Analyzer, Oscilloscope, Data Acquisitions System, Calibration system, In-circuit Tester, W&G Protocol Analyzer and Wavetek RF equipment. Chris holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University, Utah, USA and Associate degrees (Hons) in Math and Engineering from Brigham Young University, Idaho, USA.

Francis Choi Practice Manager Telelogic

As a practice manager in Modeling Division working with Telelogic, An IBM Company, Francis Choi is responsible for both business and technical pre-sale and post-sale activities on Modeling products in the Greater China and ASEAN Region. Francis has worked with Telelogic since the acquisition of I-Logix in 2006. He joined I-Logix in 2000. Prior to the above, Francis worked in Johnson Space Center, NASA in Houston, Texas. He was a member of the engineering team which prototyped Multi-Functional Electronic Display for the Shuttle cockpit. He also worked in various projects related to the Shuttle program. Francis started his career as an Electrical Engineer. He has a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering, a masters degree in Information System and masters degree in Business Administration.

Chandran Nair Managing Director National Instruments Southeast Asia

Mr Chandran Nair is the Managing Director of National Instruments Singapore, which is the company's headquarters for Southeast Asia. He has numerous degrees from ASU and Bangalore University (Physics, Math, Chemistry, etc). Chandran was with National Instruments Corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas for 6 years and has led a team which is responsible for the product marketing of PXI, VXI, MXI, GPIB, Serial, VISA and IVI. Under his leadership, NI has achieved a significant market position in PXI.

Chai Kok Soon
Regional Technical Account Manager
Wind River

Chai Kok Soon is the regional technical account manager for AANZ region at Wind River. Chai Kok Soon was formerly a unit manager at Plexus Technology Group in Malaysia. He led a team of software engineers designing automotive, medical and networking products for a number of US companies. Prior to joining Plexus, he worked at design centers at Agilent and Motorola. He was also involved in a research project sponsored by Airbus UK at the University of Warwick. He is a regular speaker at many conferences, including the Embedded Systems Conference in Silicon Valley. He has a US patent application with two US patents pending. He holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Warwick, UK.

Colin Chew Regional Product Marketing Manager Wavecom Asia Pacific Ltd.

Colin Chew is the regional product marketing manager for Wavecom Asia Pacific Ltd. In his role, he has responsibilities in all aspects of the company including management, sales and marketing, pricing strategy, market analysis, product training and business development.

Shortly after joining Wavecom, he quickly presented a comprehensive market analysis for Wavecom to enable better visibility and formulate corporate strategy for Asia Pacific. He has generated several significant accounts for Wavecom with his successfully formulated strategies to win key markets.

As regional product marketing manager, Colin is also responsible for managing all Wavecom products for Asia Pacific, and organizes technology events to focus on the trends of the market.

Prior to Wavecom, Colin was the regional product marketing manager for Memec (Asia Pacific), a global semiconductor distributor. For Memec, Colin had responsibilities in product management, vendors, market analysis, sales and marketing and training, where his duties included managing the entire product line for Asia Pacific and acquiring new product lines.

Prior to Memec, Colin was a RFIC design engineer for IBM. There, his duties included RFIC design, analog IC design, layout of IC, customer issues support and RF testing. He led the project for the 802.11a WLAN Chip and design of the Variable Gain Amplifier block.

Prior to IBM, Colin was a product engineer for Agere Systems, a company that designs, manufactures and markets a range of wireless connectivity products. While at Agere, he focused on product engineering, yield enhancement and RMA.

Colin graduated with honors from the University of New South Wales in Australia, with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering. He currently resides in Singapore.