TEDxYouth@Shen Wai International School


David Ho   |   March 26, 2019

The first TEDx Youth event was held at Shen Wai International School (SWIS) on the 23rd of March 2019. The theme of the event was “Glass Ceilings: Breaking Norms”. TEDxYouth@SWIS is the first ever TEDx youth event organized by SWIS. TEDx is an initiative by TED to give a platform to ideas worth sharing.

邬晓莉校长、南兆旭、Jaikala Prasad

“Glass Ceilings: Breaking Norms” represent barriers set by oneself and society. The event revolved around an individual’s idea of breaking norms and brings out the uniqueness of these individuals thoughts and actions. School Director, Ally Wu, welcomed the speakers and audience on the day of the event. Seven distinguished speakers were invited to give inspiring speeches, on such subjects which included the impact of popular culture on food choices that people make and its impact on the ecosystem, robotics and gene technology as well as alternative ways to raise money for charity through various technological platforms. There was also an emphasis on the importance of breaking language barriers in order to connect and inspire the rest of the world and how it can benefit an enterprises and individuals alike. The SWIS TEDx event had an equal representation of female and male speakers. This highlighted that we live in a world of equality and that there should always be equal female representation compared to male. The theme also focused on how one can inspire themselves to do something beyond the normal convention to achieve a rewarding and satisfying career for themselves. Every talk was inspiring and unique from its counterparts on the day.

This event was very well received by the audience and a wonderful success. A huge thank you to all the SWIS staff members and student volunteers who helped and assisted with the smooth running of this event. We would like to wish a special thank you to all the speakers who spoke on the day of the event: Yu Xiao (晓昱), Zhaoxu Nan (南兆旭), Sitong Sheng (盛司潼), Jennifer Fong (房昕), Yi Dai (代毅), Di Cao (曹頔) and David Liu (刘彦良).

“I have been associated with TED for past five years and have done four other similar unassociated to TED, youth events, prior to this TEDx youth event at SWIS. In my past experience, this TEDxYouth@SWIS event definitely stands out from the rest and in my opinion, the best I have worked on and experienced so far. This event marks the beginning of a new trend of youth talks at SWIS. The all-around involvement of the school community in organizing this TEDx event, really helped and aided with its success.” – Jaikala Prasad (TEDxYouth@SWIS event organizer)

TEDxYouth@SWIS will be back next year with a renewed license and a new theme to inspire today’s youth within our society.

Guest Speaker Bio

Di Cao 曹頔

Di Cao a writer, a businesswoman, and a mother of two and is a Columbia University graduate with her concentration in Social Enterprise Administration and International Social Welfare. During Di’s studies at Columbia University, she worked with the United Nations as a Youth Advocate intern for the Sustainable Development Goals through direct public engagement, innovative communication technology (e.g. Virtual Reality) and big data.

Di has 15 years of experience in media and business. Di used to work for the Phoenix Television Network, advocating for social development in China. She co-founded her business of home appliances at the age of 27, the company has been listed in the Chinese stock market since 2013.

Di is a full-time fundraiser. Her job is to raise money for a variety of social causes.

Yu Xiao 晓昱

Yu Xiao co-founded the first international big boat regatta in China in 2006. Now it is the most professional regatta in China and the most influential regatta in Asia-Pacific. 

Yu Xiao started her career as a radio DJ and had established her reputation since then. In 2000, she launched ‘The Material World’ book club. The club has become an iconic cultural hub for book lovers and one of the most influential book stores in the city.

Being a Radio DJ and a female entrepreneur, she is also involved in many cultural and sports related activities that are not traditionally female dominated where she has become successful in both areas. Yu Xiao’s experiences are all about how to break traditional perceptions and work against stereotypes.

Jennifer Fong 房昕

Jennifer joined Stronging Automation, which is her family enterprise in 2002, to set up branches in Mainland China. Stronging is committed to becoming a leading product distributor and system integrator in the factory automation market in China. Stronging is the biggest distributors of Mitsubishi Electric automation products in mainland China.

Jennifer worked for an international Shenzhen bank before joining her family business. She was in-charge of foreign exchange business, import and export financing, corporateand syndicated credit. Jennifer is one of the first locals to become a senior manager of a foreign bank in Shenzhen. 

Jennifer has a passion for food and is called ‘Breakfast Mum’ by her friends. She shares her breakfast recipes and her thoughts about life and work through her social media account which has regular and high readership. 

Sitong Sheng 盛司潼

Sitong Sheng is the brain behind the HYK gene sequencing company. HYK Gene was officially established in Shenzhen in 2008 but the R&D began before, while he was doing research at his own laboratory in Charlottesville, Virginia. Sheng already had an idea to start a company and commercialize the technology but didn’t know if it was better to do it in the US or in China. Encouragement of the then-Minister of Health of China, Minister Chen Zhu, helped Sheng to take his novel technology to China to establish a truly Chinese innovative gene sequencing company – with its own independent intellectual property rights and patents. Sheng was therefore invited back as one of the first batch of China’s ‘Thousand Talents Plan’. HYK Gene is a product company. While China is now a global giant in the field of genome sequencing, the vast majorities of players here do not have their own products but rather, act as users or distributors for foreign products.

Zhaoxu Nan 南兆旭

Zhaoxu Nan is a most well known face in Shenzhen. He is the author of Memory of Shenzhen, Behind the Old Files of Shenzhen, Notes of Landscape in Shenzhen, and Natural Notes of Cross-waters. Nan is also the producer of many documentaries such as Migration, Memories of People in Shenzhen, and Traveling Across Time and Landscape: Life of People in Shenzhen. 

Zhaoxu Nan moved to Shenzhen in 1980s. In his young age, Zhaoxu Nan worked and taught in universities.Starting from mid -1990s, Zhaoxu Nan started to explore and do natural research at various mountains, rivers and seashores in and around Shenzhen. He also trod over villages and rural areas, discovering, analyzing and documenting what hesaw and researched from the perspective of a writer, a teacher, and a publisher.

Yi Dai 代毅

Yi Dai – Shenzhen Overseas High-level Talent (Peacock Project), Senior Engineer.

In 2012, Yi Dai served as the Managing Director of Shenzhen Bominwell System Engineering Co., Ltd. In 2014, he founded Shenzhen Bominwell Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., serving as the Chairman and Chief Technology Executive Officer, and is responsible for major technology development within the company. This year, Dai received the Science and Technology Innovation Individual Award in Shenzhen Longhua New District. In 2015, he was awarded the Overseas Personnel Innovation Fund set by the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee.

Having received several Science and Technology Innovation Individual Awards in the city, Dai’s company has its multi-functional special robot platform “Dinosaur” was awarded the featured products of Shenzhen Longhua New District in 2015. Bominwell’s Peek series periscope is currently the most advanced homogenized product in China. Bominwell is also a leading company in China specializing in vascular network detection robots and cloud platform management systems for urban underground space. Using robots to improve urban security, has always been the goal of Dai and his company.

David Liu 刘彦良

David Liu is a user experience practitioner, graduated from University of British Columbia with a degree in Engineering and Commerce. David has more than 15 years of experiencein user experience design and management across various sectors: E-commerce, Search, Information Security, Education and Charity. David also actively participates in volunteer consulting and various charity activities.

David is currently the lead designer for Tencent Charity, with a mission to connect Charity organizations and CSR with the public by delivering innovative experiences.

Chinese Name: 深圳外国语学校国际部(SWIS)

Place Address: Shen Wai international School, No. 29, Baishi 3rd Road, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China 518053 中国深圳市南山区白石三道29号, 深圳外国语学校国际部 邮编:518053

Website:Shen Wai International School’s Website

Place Phone: 86 (755) 86541981/86541963

Email:[email protected]

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