Conrad Challenge China: Judges
We are proud to present an amazing list of individuals who judged student innovations in our Conrad Challenge China Chapter’s inaugural year! Thank you for your contributions that moves us more towards our goal of designing a sustainable future!
Aerospace & Aviation
Wei Xia-Serafino
Over 25 years of experience in program and project management, system engineering, instrument/satellite experience in instrument development, data processing and software engineering for scientific satellite programs. Managed complex space NOAA and NASA program and projects interacting with multiple national and international government and non-government organizations.
Shangwen Yang
Mr. Yang Shangwen is the Chief Technology Officer of Aerospace Maker Technology Co., Ltd., and also the person in charge of the science popularization satellite and model satellite project at Beijing Bayi School. He has expertise in satellite design and telecommunication technology etc. He is the chief engineer of the Chinese Youth Science Popularization Satellite Project and a holder of four patents for educational satellite simulator.
Junfeng Qi
Mr. Qi Junng has a PhD in Engineering, and he is an Analyst of China Academy of Space Technology, Direct of Material & Process Assurance Center of China Academy of ace Technology/Beijing Satellite Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Mr. Qi serves as a member of the 4th Electric Welding Technology Professional Committee of the China Electrotechnical Society, the Academic Committee of the Key Laboratory of Laser Cross-scale Processing of the Ministry of Education, and the Expert Committee of the Additive Manufacturing Technology Innovation Center for the Defense Technology Industry Aerospace Special Construction.
Simon Glinsky
Simon Glinsky leads transformation consulting at The Glinsky Group for clients in diverse industries, including financial services, healthcare, high technology, professional services, start-up and other companies and serves as leadership counselor to C-level executives. Simon is a Venture Partner at Ai8, an international venture capital firm specialized in socially beneficial fintech and underserved populations. As an Internet entrepreneur, he co-founded Match.com, distance-learning services, a healthcare institute, Embark/Princeton Review and Clean Power Finance.
Cyber-Technology & Security
Antoine Tannous
Antoine Tannous is a Lebanese managing director, famous TV analyst and a senior lecturer. He has presented and produced many high tech shs on Lebanese, Middle Eastern and International TV and radio stations. He also delivers several courses like STEM, high tech, strategic, international, and project management at universities andigh schools. Throughout his li, Tannous has received many prestigious awards. He was selected the times as a Grand Award Judge at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
Jiucai Zhang
Jiucai Zhang is a senior research engineering at National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He got his Ph.D. in computer engineering from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 2011. His research focuses on machine learning, autonomous vehicles, and smart mobility. Prior to joining National Renewable Energy Laboratory, he designed and developed algorithms and software for smart mobility and connected autonomous electric vehicles at General Electric and A123 Systems, Inc.
YC Zhang
YC Zhang wears two hats when it comes to startups. He is the Program Leader of the Startup Leadership Program, a world-class training program tailored for startup founders bringing up a new innovation business. SLP fellows have founded 1900 startups across the globe, and raised more than $700M in funding. YC has been leading the SLP Shanghai program since 2014. Over 200 fellows in Shanghai went through the 4-month program, with many success cases including fellows receiving investment during or after the program from VC partners like Chinaccelerator.
Guoqiang Peng
Dr. Peng Guoqiang is mainly engaged in the research of Urban Hydrological Model Modeling & Simulation, Geographic Information Software Engineering Development and Service Methods etc.. He went to Pennsylvania State University for joint doctoral training in 2017, and obtained PHD degr of Cartography & Geography Information Systems in Nanjing Normal University in 2019. Dr. Peng has been engaged in software development work in enterprises, successively served as GIS software development engineer and project manager, and presided over 1 collaborative innovation project of the development and utilization of geographic information resources in Jiangsu Province.
Pingyang He
Bachelor and Master of Computer Science Department from University of Washington, USA. He used to work for Facebook and Amazon. In 2015, he launched and developed Instagram advertisements. He works for Landing AI as an engineering manager currently. He is responsible for the development of artificial intelligence platform and won the AI summit best application award. He has 7 years of work experience in Internet and AI related fields and served as a lecturer at InfoQ Global Technology Conference.
Haifeng Xu
Xu Haing is currently an assistant professor at Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He graduated from Fudan University with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Technology, and later received a PhD from the National University of Singapore. Served as a researcher in the Department of Information Systems and Analysis, National University of Singapore.
Education & Technology
Kelvin Gao
Kelvin Gao lived and studied in the US for nearly a decade. After graduation, he worked in financial services industry and then returned to China to pursue the career of an entrepreneur. As one of the young Chinese students who studied abroad in the 1990s, he has experienced boarding school education in various countries including Australia and the US, and represented schools in athletic competitions, receiving commendable results.
Chen Zhou
ZHOU, Chen is the founder of a startup company in the local services field. Prior to the venture, he served as strategy and business manager at JD.com in China, and supervisor at METROLINX’s electronic payment division in Canada. He holds degrees from MIT Sloan School of Business Management, Tsinghua School of Economics and Management, and University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. He is a member of Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada).
Marina Watanabe
Marina Watanabe is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program at Harvard University where she is one of eight Education Innovation Fellows who advise over 100 Harvard and MIT student start up teams in their education innovation ventures. Prior to arriving in Boston, she spent four years at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies conducting research on topics ranging from plant stress response hormones to stem cell identity.
Katrina Hagedorn
Katrina Hagedorn graduated from Harvard in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in Integrative Biology and a secondary field of study in Energy and Environment. Currently, she is a Creativity and Entrepreneurship Fellow for the Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship at the Harvard University Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. In this role, she helped develop course content for a new Harvard entrepreneurship seminar, advised students on how to pitch their ideas to potential stakeholders, and helped evaluate applications for $250-$10,000 funding to early-stage startups.
Rowen VonPlagenhoef
Rowen VonPlagenhoef is a senior at Harvard University studying Integrative Biology with a secondary in Energy and Environment. He is a Creativity and Entrepreneurship Fellow with the Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship at Harvard and a content co-developer for LabXchange. Rowen was a finalist in the Talents Paris 2024 startup competition for a project developed as part of the Biopolis.
Energy & Environment
Jim King
Jim King, currently Project Director and General Manager of Downstream Projects in Shell (China) Limited, has over 30 years of experience in petrochemicals business development, joint venture management, integrated project execution and operation excellence development and implementation. Jim’s expertise spans from operation safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency, new venture opportunities, to investment competitiveness and economic benefits, and major projects maturation.
Mayank Sehdev
Mayank Sehdev has been working in the field of energy and conservation for 5+years. Currently, he is working as research and development head at LAMs Research Works. Mayank is also part of the Conrad team as an Indian Representative and Champion Partner. Mayank has many national and international publications in his field with more than 40 projects. Mayank has also been working with NGO in India, in which he gets opportunity to interact with under privileged students and teach them about new technologies.
Yong Ge
Ge Yong, the founder of Green Entrepreneurship Exchange, the founding partner of Luye Investment, the co-founder of China Influence Fund and the consultant of the Asian Development Bank, was the director of the New Economy China Project, the predecessor of Green Entrepreneurship Exchange. Mr. Ge holds an EMBA from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a master's degree from Beijing Normal University. From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Ge, as an expert on the clean technology incubation network of the Asian Development Bank, promoted the construction of the domestic clean technology incubation network
Kai Ren
Mr. Ren Kai is the General Manager of Shanghai Resco Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., and the Deputy Secretary-General of the Grn Packaging Committee of Shanghai Packaging Technology Industry Association. Mr. Ren has a number of sustainable development project experience, including Recycling Expansion Project, Driven Sustainable Development Project, Life Cycle Research (LCA) Project, Urban Waste Classification Research & Optimization Project, etc.
Chan Yang
Chan Yang has extensive experience in the fields of international politics, think tanks and philanthropy. She is currently incubating a global programme at the European Climate Foundation on steel decarbonization. Previously, she worked as a policy analyst and strategist on China, green growth and industrial policy at the OECD. Chan is a longtime blockchain enthusiast and passionate about technology and investment for impact. She holds a Master's in Economics from Sciences Po Paris and a Bachelor's in Management Science from Fudan University.
Daniel Wetzel
Mr. Wetzel joined the World Energy Outlook team in 2020, and was one of the lead author’s on the IEA’s Sustainable Recovery report, and one of the co-leads on the demand analysis in the World Energy Outlook 2020. Prior to joining the IEA, Mr. Weltzel worked at the Rocky Mountain Institute in their Beijing office, leading their Power Market Reform program, and also in Colorado, where he worked as a key analyst and contributor to Reinventing Fire: China. Daniel Wetzel graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a M.S. in Energy Science, Technology, and Policy and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering.
Chao Zhang
Dr. Zhang is an assistant professor in sociology based at Tongji University. She received her PhD degree from the University of Manchester under the UK-China Scholarships for Excellence Programme. Her primary research interests include sociology of culture and art, and sustainable consumption. Over the recent years, she has worked on sustainable field, and how ethos of sustainability is embedded in bottom-up practice in food, fashion, and etc. She teaches Environmental Sociology, Sociology of Culture, and is awarded the University Excellence Prizes in Teaching and Dissertation Supervision.
Alvin Tian
Alvin Tian is the Co-Chair of Harvard University CSSA Venture Capital Club. He is a Mason Scholar, holds a master degree of Public Administration from Harvard University, an MBA degree from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He has worked in Bejing, Shanghai and London. He has about ten years of experience in fields of Energy Transactions, Mergers and Acquisitions and Venture Capital.
Redwan Ferdous
Redwan Ferdous is a prominent and well-known tech enthusiast and dedicated activist of Robotics and Advanced technology. Currently Mr. Ferdous is leading the Electro-Mechanical Engineering department of the largest health sector chain in Bangladesh, Labaid Group. Redwan is highly trained in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Machine Learning from "Fujitsu Research Institute". Redwan is the Chief Coordinator of Bangladesh Robot Olympiad. Redwan has trained over 2000+ students directly in different nationwide training events, workshops, seminars. He is the Country Representative of International Robot Olympiad (IRO) and World Robot Olympiad (WRO).
Health & Nutrition
Ye Zhang
Dr. Zhang is a senior manager of investment in Long Hill Capital. He previously worked for Volcanics Venture, focusing on early investment in the medical and health field. Before joining Volcanics Venture, he worked as an investment manager in ZY Investments, focusing on investment in medical equipment projects. Prior to this, he was engaged in overseas market and sales of medical devices at Lepu Medical Technology. Dr. Zhang graduated from Tsinghua University with a doctorate degree in materials science and engineering.
Alvin Y. P. SYH
Mr. SYH is a BC Asset Management Centre CEO. He has managed many well-known family assets and has successfully invested in more than 120 nds and more than 300 successful companies worldwide. During the investment period, he assisted the company in merging upstream and downstream enterprises; introduced key international technologies to implement localized production in the invested enterprise; assisted the terprises in obtaining international technology authorization and technology transfer.
Nsikak-Abasi Etim
Nsikak-Abasi A. Etim, obtained a Bachelor of Agriculture degr in Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Uyo. He earned a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He also holds Doctorate in Resource and Environmental Economics from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Uyo, Nigeria and has 20 years teaching , research, mentoring and judging experience in the university. His areas of research are Development, Reurce and Environmental Economics with foci on poverty and efficiency issues in the contexts of production and environment.
Mengran Li
Mengran Li received his master degree of China Studies (Politics and International Relations) from Yenching Academy of Peking University, focusing on the research topic of contemporary China's health diplomacy. Prior to that, he got a Bachelor of Science majoring Biomedical English from the Health Science Center of Peking University, with a minor in French. During the stay at school, he won the awards for Outstanding Graduates of Beijing Municipality and Outstanding Undergraduates of Peking University.
Shaolin Liu
Mr. Shaolin Liu holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is currently the Managing Director of Cathay Capital Private Equity Investment Fund Shanghai. He has worked in Forbes 500 medical companies such as General Electric, PerkinElmer Instruments, Cardinal China and Fresenius Medical Products for more than 21 years. He is responsible for the operation management and Medium and long-term strategic planning of the medical business. He has extensive experience in Corporate Strategy, Business Development, Sales, Mergers & Acquisitions, Logistics, Engineering, and Manufacturing, etc.
Qian Zhang
Zhang Qian, Ph.D., Researcher, Postgraduate Instructor, Deputy Director of the Student Nutrition office of the Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Zng gets a bachelor's degr in Preventive Medicine at Shandong Medical University, a master's degree at the Institute of Nutrition & Food Hygiene of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, a Ph.D. at the University of Sydney, Australia. Additionally, she is a visiting scholar at the University of Western Australia and Harvard University.
Vincent Fricke
Vincent Fricke was born in Zwenkau and learned his craft there. Various stations from Leipzig to New Zealand, Spain and Düsseldorf finally led him to Munich in 2009, where he still lives and works today. As founder and managing director of HolisticFood GmbH, he runs a catering and consulting company focusing on healthy and holistic nutrition. In the spirit of ethical culinary and holistic consumption, he has already opened his pop-up restaurant “Fleischkonsum” several times, with which he takes up the idea of nose-to-tail eating.
Barbara Chai
Barbara is the co-founder and director of plant technology alliance. (Note: all small letters here for pta.) She used to work in the New York City representing a Chinese media headquartered in Hong Kong. Before graduating from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University, she was commercial diplomat posted in China's Consulate General in New York. By establishing plant technology alliance, she is committed to the mission of environmental sustainability.
Hanna Legleitner
Hanna Legleitner has been managing director at RESTLOS GLÜCKLICH e.V. since 2018. She studied cultural sciences (M.A.) and has worked in various areas of youth education before joining RESTLOS GLÜCKLICH e.V. As a trained intercultural project manager, she conceptualized workshops for youngsters, created projects for students that are about to graduate and implemented workshops for an educational project on “nutrition and teambuilding”. In the field of political and environmental education Hanna Legleitner was able to plan projects and workshops for associations like the Borneo Orang Utan Survival Deutschland e.V. as well as for Polis180, a Grassroots-Thinktank.
Guochong Chen
Dr. Chen received his bachelor's degree from Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University and PhD degree from Soochow University, and he was a joint PhD student at the National University of Singapore during 2006-2018. Dr. Chen is currently an Instructor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the United States. In the past ten years, Dr. Chen has been focused on population studies of nutrition and risk of metabolic diseases, and published more than 60 research papers in international journals (including several that were published in the top nutritional journal, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition).
Zheng Zhang
Dr. Zhang graduated from the School of Public Health, Soochow University, majoring in nutrition and food hygiene. During the doctoral period, he mainly engaged in research on nutrition and the prevention and control of chronic non-communicable diseases. The specific research directions are: milk protein and obesity, milk protein and atherosclerosis, milk protein and breast cancer, etc. The research results have been published in international authoritative journals such as Small, Theranostics, Nutrition and cancer.
Andreas Lehmann
Andreas Lehmann is a healthcare & technology enthusiast with 10+ years of experience in commercial strategy, market access, business development and commercial law in Europe, the US and Greater China. He holds a Master of Law degree from Universities of Berne and Geneva and an MBA from INSEAD, and is currently based in Zurich, Switzerland. Most recently, he was a Senior Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company focused on pharma & biotech commercial strategy (2016-2020) and is now a Director of Pharma Strategy at Novartis. In addition, Andreas has been an advisor and investor in multiple early stage start-ups for 5+ years. He is fluent in German, English and French, and business proficient in Mandarin Chinese.
Oceans: The plastic pollution problem
Lin Cui
Cui Lin, the deputy director of the Ocean Energy Technology Research Office of the National Ocean Technology Center, is mainly engaged in the research of wave energy power generation and offshore renewable energy power supply systems. He has participated in and presided over a number of major national marine renewable energy research projects, including national “908 Special Project” of the Bureau of Oceanography, the public welfare scientific research project of the marine industry, the special fund project of marine renewable energy, and the key international cooperation projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Sheng Wu
Dr. Wu is a professor (researcher) of Intelligent Science and Engineering, Harbin Engineering University. Dr. Wu is engaged in research and teaching in the fields of Environmental Monitoring Systems, Marine Renewable Energy Power Supply, Ecological Protection, etc. His research focuses on Marine Ecological Environmental Protection & Sustainable Development, especially for Smart Environments Technical research on Monitoring System & Ecological Environment Restoration. His main projects include the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key Research and Development Program, and the international cooperation projects between the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Songqiao Yao
Ms. Yao is the founder of WildBound, an Antarctic expedition expert and a senior polar protection expert. She obtained her MBA degree from Oxford University, and her Master degree of Geography from Cambridge University. Ms. Yao is an explorer and educator. She is committed to reconnecting young people with nature and inspiring them to take action in China and around the world to solve ecological challenges. She can lead a team to explore Antarctica, sharing stories by the campfire, or playing with children in nature. In 2016, Ms. Yao was invited as a lecturer to participate in Homeward Bound's first large-scale female scientist Antarctic expedition leader program.
Ting Yu
With a PhD in Physical Oceanography, Dr. Yu is currently working at the Division of Science and Technology Planning and Management, National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS) of China. As the technical principal investigator, she participated in many national/international projects including National Natural Science Foundation Project, 973 project, China APEC Foundation project, and Foundation for Asian Regional Cooperation Project, etc. She is now serving as the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (DBCP) Vice-Chair (Asia), Teaching Assistant at OceanTeacher Global Academy (OTGA) RTC, Tianjin, and the manager of many national/regional nodes (such as ODINWESTPAC, NEAR-GOOS).