Research seminars and workshops

Date: 26 February 2021

Recent research has revealed that creativity is a skill that can be taught and acquired through training. Research findings show that creativity, a vital skill for engineers in the 21st century has reduced significantly. There is a need for engineering educators to address this by introducing creative thinking in their lessons to engineering undergraduates.

Thank you to Ir Chua Yaw Loong to share his findings through this webinar. The findings from this research, link the vast improvement of creative thinking skills among local engineering students to the adoption of the intervention programme using CTSM. The products designed by the participants from the intervention group were found to be more creative compared to those from the control group.

Watch the recorded video here.

Date: 03 December 2020

Our Ecological Restoration of Impacted Ecosystems research webinar was co-organized with the Universitas Lambung Mangkurat (ULM), Indonesia in partnership with our collaborators in academia, NGOs, industry and civil societies who shared their field results of their exciting projects.

Big thanks to the speakers from UON, ULM, PM Haze, Adaro and NTU for making this session a resounding success.

This timely topic ties in with the recent UNEP announcement on “The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: 2021 – 2030” and many of our participants gained lots of valuable insights and information shared in the webinar.

Dr Charles Lee and Professor Tim Roberts introduced the objectives of this special webinar to do a small part in ASEAN and Australia, to prevent, to halt and reserve the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Hoping to inspire more young people to take up challenges to meet six of the seventeen UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDG).

Watch the recorded video

Mr Didik Triwibowo from Adaro shared his success story on developing potential use of pit lake for environmental and community.
Watch the recorded video

Mr Benjamin Tay and Ms Yukie Yokoyama from PM Haze presented on the Restoration programme of Community-Managed Degraded Peatlands in Riau, Indonesia.
Watch the recorded video

Professor Tim Roberts presented the Rehabilitation of Abandoned Mines in Australia.
Watch the recorded video

Ms Amalia Rezeki from ULM shared her research on Conservation of the Proboscis Monkey Habitat in South Kalimantan, Indonesia
Watch the recorded video

Dr Gonzalo Carrasco from NTU presented on Understanding environmental impact and reforestation efforts in mangroves in Singapore.
Watch the recorded video

Date: 17 July 2020

This event was held on 17 July 2020 as part of our Research Seminar series that UONS organises regularly.

We sincerely appreciate Dr. Hiram Ting, Dr. Yeong Siew-Wei, and Dr. Tan Kim-Lim to share their experiences and recommendations. It was a fruitful session for participants as they picked up tips from our speakers and moderator to improve their success in publishing.

Watch the recorded video here

Date: 29 November 2019
Venue: UONSingapore Board Room
Presenter: Dr Hassan Ali, Senior Lecturer and Program Coordinator

Topic: A Low Cost Wireless Ambulatory ECG Monitoring System for Deployment in Rural Communities

Abstract: Due to the rising number of heart patients and the apparent need for more robust electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring of these patients, hospitals are increasingly investing in typical cloud technology or centralized hospital server based remote ECG monitoring systems. However, the deployment these systems in rural communities is limited due to the high cost factor. To address this challenge, a low cost prototype ambulatory wireless ECG monitoring system is designed, implemented and tested. The system deploys a low cost transmission unit at patient’s end and low power ZigBee wireless communication technology between the transmitting unit and gateway PC at patient’s end. A web server on the gateway PC is implemented. A client (an off-site cardiologist, clinician or medical staff in a hospital) can use the proposed system for remote monitoring of patients via a simple web access on a PC or a mobile phone.

Date: 29 October 2019
Venue: PSB Academy City Campus, Room A05

Presenter: Dr Farnaz Arefian, Lecturer and Program Coordinator

Topic:

Resilience in practice: A multi-perspective interdisciplinary analytical model for organising resilience-building post-disaster programmes

Abstract:

City formation and maintenance - whether to be pre or post destructive crisis - rely on the delivery of urban projects and programmes. ‘Build Back Better’ is one of the priorities for action in the Sendai Framework, 2015-2030, endorsed by international community. It is expected that recovery and reconstruction activities must contribute to building the resilience of cities and communities. In practice this means facilitating change through integrating resilience-building strategies, policies and regulations in recovery and reconstruction projects/programmes, which are already complex in an aftermath of a crisis. Here is when the problem of “how to” arises. While the current international expectations emphasise on ‘what’ an ideal recovery-reconstruction should deliver, the question of ‘how’ remains under-explored.

It is based on an inductive qualitative interdisciplinary research over-arched by systems theory approach that firstly extracted common organisational characteristics of projects/programmes for urban reconstruction through content analysis of disaster-resilience literature. They provided entry points to organisation theory and directions for further examination. The research used an in-depth case study for which the presenter was also a participant-observer, enabling to reach deep levels of analysis.

The multi-perspective model will help to better formulation and implementation of complex reconstruction programmes. It will also be an evaluation tool for those implemented projects/programmes.

This seminar is presented as part of a peer-reviewed book published in 2018 by Springer International Publishing: Organising Post-Disaster Reconstruction Processes.

Date: 19 September 2019, Thursday

Venue: PSB Academy City Campus, Room A05

Professor Michael Nilsson, Global Innovation Chair of Rehabilitation Medicine and Director for Centre for Rehab Innovations (CRI) from the University of Newcastle, Australia presented and shared his research specialisation in Rehabilitation Medicine.

Topic: New avenues for long-term personalised rehabilitation supported by technology and the environment

Abstract:

The health care systems are challenged by increasing demand on all care sectors. Meeting theses challenges will require envisioning the potential value of home-based health care, creating a pathway for home-based care including rehabilitation to maximize its potential, and integrating it fully into the health care systems. Combining more diversified rehabilitation offerings with efficient patient stratification according to need, will allow for a vastly more targeted service provision, maximizing the potential for impact. Implementation of clinical decision stratification tools based on deep machine learning will allow for a more tailored approach in medical rehabilitation to match patient needs, recognising that these needs may also change over time, greatly enhancing patient care by delivering targeted treatment to the patients that are most likely to benefit. An overview of on-going projects within the Centre for Rehab Innovations (CRI) at the University of Newcastle will be provided.

Date: 21 August 2019, Wednesday

Venue: UONSingapore, Board Room

Details:

Associate Professor Wang Wenru, Convenor of Chronic and Long-term Care Research Programme at the Alice Lee Centre of Nursing Studies (ALCNS), National University of Singapore (NUS); and the Principal Investigator of the HOMe-based HEart Failure Self-Management Programme (The HOM-HEMP) study, presented her specialization studies with Research Associates Ms Jiang Ying and Ms Long Foon Leng:

• HOMe-based HEart Failure Self-Management Programme (The HOM-HEMP) Study and;
• A nurse-led smartphone-based self-management program for patients with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes

The insightful  seminar was attended by academics who are interested to connect and networking in the following research interests:

• Cardiovascular Nursing and Cardiac Rehabilitation
• Developing Psychometric Measurement Tools
• Chronic Diseases/ Symptoms Management
• Nursing Education
• Mental Health
• Clinical Nursing Practice

Date:     19 July 2019, Friday

Venue: PSB Academy City Campus, MBA2

Details:

UONS is pleased to have representatives from the Newcastle Business School, Professor Morris Altman, Dean and Associate Professor Frank Agbola, Deputy Head of School to share and deliver their research expertise and discuss opportunities.

Audience had the opportunity to learn and gain knowledge on research methodologies, writing and publishing as well as, time management – all are important skills to have as a future remarkable researcher. University of Newcastle lectures based in Singapore also shared their recent research projects and expertise.

Date: 10 April 2019, Wednesday

Venue: BCA Academy, Auditorium

Details:

Material Selecting in the era of uncertainties
By Dr Ali Rajabipour
Programme Coordinator and Lecturer, Civil Engineering

The lecture will give an insight on wiser material selection for reducing lifecycle costs by considering two critical factors: emerging of new materials and climate change.

The key discussion includes the common forms of long-term damage and failure of materials in the context of structures performance i.e., fatigue, corrosion, creep, UV effects and hydrogen embrittlement. Some common methods of service life prediction and efforts of climate change on long-term behavior of materials and structures, will also be discussed.

Lastly, the lecture will discuss the flexible maintenance regimes as an option to improve sustainability and durability of structures in long term.

Pathology of Building Materials – Closing the Loop
By Mr Wong Chun Wan
Technical Committee for Architectural Finishes (SPRING)
Convenor of Working Group for Ceramic Tiles and Tiling Works, Façade Technical Committee (IES)

The lecture will focus to address materials failures due to incompatibility of different systems, cases of the silent specification and lack of understanding of material properties and manufacturing process.

Increasing failures of sustainable materials will be discussed too as it has led to costly re-works or replacement with additional resources and increased waste thus negating the very benefit of using green materials in the first place.

Lastly, the lecture will conclude with the inseparableHi interplay between materials and other aspects of building design such as detailing, buildability and mechanical works in building failures, and how the pathology of construction materials can be an indispensable tool in prevention.

Date:     1 December 2018, Saturday

Venue:  NUS Cultural Centre

Details:

UON Singapore organized a Young Sustainability Innovator’s Challenge with the theme: Sustainable Society, targeting pre-university students from Junior Colleges, Institute of Technical Education, Polytechnics, International Schools and Private Education Institutions in Singapore. The main objective of this challenge is to kindle the idea of developing a sustainable society among the younger generation by encouraging the creation of products and/or services that are significant and innovative.  At the same time, influence a sustainable and scalable technological and social impact in Singapore.

Students above 17 years old from all disciplines were invited to participate, and the main idea in the proposal should be innovative, original and novel.

The competition culminate in project exhibitions, final judging and awards presentation on 01 December 2018 with 18 teams and 61 participants from ITE College East, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic. Five distinguished members of the judging panel who are influential members of the industry deliberated, and, the ‘3s Mobility Aid’ project by ITE College East, emerged as Champion and walked away with the grand prize of $3,000.

Read the event coverage here.

For more information on the competition, click here.

Date: 26 January 2018

Venue: Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations, 96 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187967

Brief Description:

Women at different levels of leadership gave talks on concerns and matters unique to their industry, providing attendees with insights on both the opportunities available to women at the workplace and the institutional and personal obstacles that can hinder their advancement.

The keynote address was delivered by Datuk Dr Wong Lai Sum, the former CEO of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE). Datuk Dr Wong has a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry, a Master degree in Public Administration, and a PhD in Business from the University of Malaya. She has served in various capacities in Malaysia's civl service since 1980. Her areas of expertise include international business, taxation, financial and corporate management, and strategic planning. Her twenty-four years at the MATRADE, under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry has given her much insight into what it takes to advance business across borders. As its former CEO, she has done extensive studies on the export competitiveness of companies from various industries. Dr Wong was actively involved in policy design and developmental projects to advance trade and economic growth for Malaysia, as well as ASEAN and OIC countries.

The seminar also include a discussion panel of women leaders from different sectors and different stages of their career.

Date: 17 January 2018 (Wednesday)

Time: 3.00pm to 5.00pm

Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, PSB Academy at 6 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square, #03-200, Singapore 039594

Overview:

In this session, we will look into and unpack specific strategies of influence and persuasion and look at how we can incorporate the science of choice into the decisions that we make (or want other people to make) in our everyday professional and personal lives. We will delve into the cognitive biases that impact and affect our decision-making ability, and look at ways to take advantage of them across a range of different circumstances and situations. We aim to help participants understand how people think and how they make decisions in certain environments and contexts, and we hope to be able to provide new thinking and perspectives on how to improve decision-making skills and how to nudge people in directions that can ultimately make their (and our own) lives better (at work and at home).

Objectives/Content:

1. Specific strategies of influence (based on the latest in academic research) to help you become a master of choice and a master of persuasion.
2. How these strategies have and can be used to:
   • Frame the context in which other people make decisions
   • Achieve more desirable outcomes
   • Better promote yourself and your products/services
   • Build better relationships with colleagues and those around you
   • Sell and close deals more effectively
   • Attract new clients and improve acceptance, retention and satisfaction

About the Facilitator:

Hassan holds an Economics degree, a Law degree and a Master of Business Administration degree, he is an alumni and graduate of Harvard Business School, and is currently undertaking further research and study at the University of Cambridge. He is also a certified Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Hassan has spent the best part of the last decade working with leaders and helping them successfully lead significant change and transformation efforts. His work has been focused on and around Leadership Development, and enabling companies to formulate and then accelerate the implementation of their most important strategies. He has completed extensive research on Personal Leadership, Leading Change and Behavioural Decision Making, and he has studied in depth the function and practice of Leadership and its ability to mobilise people, groups, organisations and cultures to achieve and produce results. His Leadership Development firm was created to help build high performance cultures within organisations by improving/developing the capabilities of high potential and senior Leadership employees within those organisations.

UONSingapore is proud to organise a seminar titled Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability.

The key objective of this seminar is to share innovative ideas, approaches, and the drivers pertaining to corporate social responsibility (CSR) with regards to environmental sustainability. This seminar, a project supported by the ASEAN CSR Network (ACN), will also provide an unique opportunity for participants to network and exchange ideas to promote CSR.

There will be reputable and distinguished speakers at the event, and participants will have a chance to attend a workshop on CSR. Join us for a day of insightful sharing on the importance of CSR and sustainability at the individual, enterprise, industry and national levels.

Speakers

Hear from reputable and distinguished speakers at the event.

Speaker	Profile
Professor Amir Mahmood Pro Vice-Chancellor (Singapore) & Chief Executive Officer UON Singapore	Professor Amir Mahmood is the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle in Singapore. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Manitoba, Canada. Since joining the University of Newcastle, Australia in 1992, he has made a significant contribution to research, teaching, internationalisation and academic leadership. During this period, Professor Mahmood has also held a number of senior leadership positions with the University. A recipient of the Australian Government's Endeavour Malaysia Research Fellowship, Professor Mahmood has a strong research track record in the field of economics, business and management.
Mr Thomas Thomas Chief Executive Officer ASEAN CSR Network	Thomas Thomas is the CEO of the ASEAN CSR Network, a network of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) networks in ASEAN. He is also an Honorary Professor of CSR with the Nottingham University Business School, UK; member of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific’s Business Advisory Council; and the lead of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights study team on CSR and Human Rights in ASEAN. Thomas was the founding Executive Director of the Singapore Compact for CSR, the national CSR society in Singapore, and co-chaired the National Tripartite Initiative for CSR that formed the Singapore Compact. He was the Singapore focal point for UN Global Compact. He was also involved as an Expert and the Chair’s Advisory Group (CAG) in developing the ISO26000 international guidance standard on social responsibility. Thomas has been active with trade unions, co-operatives, the consumer movement, and social enterprises.  He was also a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore. He was a Chevening Scholar and holds a Master of Arts degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Warwick.
Dr Huong Ha School of Business Singapore University of Social Sciences	Dr. Huong Ha holds a PhD from Monash University, Australia, a certificate issued by University of Oxford, Department of Continuing Education, The Oxford Teachers’ Academy, and Oxford University Press and a Master in Public Policy from National University of Singapore. She is one of the moderators of the IMF elibrary forum on energy policy. Her previous positions, prior to joining UON Singapore, include Dean, Director of Research and Development, Deputy Course Director, Chief Editor, Executive Director, Business Development manager, etc. She has many years’ experience in manufacturing, marketing research, higher education and research in management related areas, such as change management, consumer protection, corporate social responsibility and governance. She has authored a number of books, and among them is a book entitled “Change Management for Sustainability” published by Business Expert Press (USA). Dr Huong Ha has been an invited member of (i) the international editorial boards of many international journals; (ii) the scientific/technical committees of several international conferences; and (iii) international advisory board of many professional associations.
Mr Roy Kimura Director and Group Executive Officer Rakuten AIP	Roy Kimura is the Director and Group Executive Director of Rakuten AIP, the No.1 online research service company in Asia. As the pioneer and expert of online research in Asia, Rakuten AIP delivered more than 6,000 online research projects in 2016, with its high quality online proprietary panels in the industry, covering 12 major countries in Asia. Rakuten AIP was founded in 1997, and Roy is one of its founding members. He understands the value of both global and local business culture because he expanded Rakuten AIP’s offices from Japan to all over the world - Korea, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Malaysia, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Romania, and created a globalized IT company. Roy has a B.A. in Policy Management from Keio University in Japan. Keio University was where he first started the Rakuten AIP business with his friends. Most of this group of students belonged to a seminar group under Professor Jun Murai, who is also known as “the father of Internet in Japan”.
Dr Soyeon Kim Assistant Professor Graduate School of Business Administration Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan	Dr. Soyeon Kim is currently Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration in Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan. She received a PhD from Korea University Business School in the field of International Business. Dr. Soyeon Kim worked at Samsung Economic Research Institute as a research analyst and participated in various research projects regarding the competitive and sustainable strategies of multinational companies. Her research interests reside in the areas of International Human Resource Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Cross-cultural Management with a particular focus on the effective leadership and communication styles of multinational enterprises in the Asian context. Her research has appeared in international scholarly journals, namely The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, and Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources.
Dr Sam Choon Yin Dean and Head of School of Business and Management PSB Academy, Singapore	Dr Sam Choon Yin is the Dean at PSB Academy. He is also the Head of School of Business and Management. Sam graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) from the National University of Singapore (NUS); Masters of Business in Finance from the University of Technology, Sydney; Masters of Social Sciences from NUS; and PhD in International Business and Management from the University of South Australia (UNISA). Sam has taught subjects in Economics, Finance, and Statistics. His current research interests are in the field of international political economy and higher education policy. He has authored two books and published numerous articles in referred journals. Aside from his responsibilities in teaching and research, Sam contributes as a member of the Examination Board and Academic Board at PSB Academy.
Mr Sun Xi Founder and Chief Executive Officer ESGuru, Singapore	SUN Xi is the founder & CEO of Singapore-based ESGuru (www.esguru.asia), a pioneering and integrated services provider on corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) related research, consultancy, and investment issues in Asia. Sun is also an independent commentary writer; his English and Chinese articles and views have appeared in most leading publications across the Asia-Pacific region. From 2010 to 2016, Sun worked for Sustainalytics, a global leader in sustainability research and analysis, providing investors and financial institutions with responsible investment solutions. In Sustainalytics, he participated in the design of an ESG rating system and focused on ESG research in Greater China and Asia. He authored several reports covering diverse ESG topics such as air pollution, food safety, family business, and China’s Xi-Li Administration. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, Sun was named one of the top (highest rank was 3rd) sustainable and responsible research as well as corporate governance analysts globally in the Thomson Reuters Extel's Independent Research in Responsible Investment (IRRI) Survey. Sun’s past work experience includes three years in investment information research and public relations for China’s Investment Promotion Agency within the Ministry of Commerce. Sun also participated in an internship program at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Sun’s research interests cover ESG issues related to socially responsible investment (SRI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR), as well as foreign direct investment, international trade and finance, and regional integration and development in Asia and the Pacific. Sun holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy specializing in Economic Policy and Analysis from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He also has two Bachelor’s degrees in Management Information Systems and International Economic Law from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China.

Programme

Program for the day

Time	Activity
9:00 am	Registration
9:30 am	Welcome Speech
9:40 am	Opening Remarks
9.50 am	Address by Keynote Speaker
10:20 am	Tea break & Networking
10.40 am	Presentation by Guest Speaker
11:10 am	Panel Discussion
12.00 pm	Presentation of Token of Appreciation
12:10 pm	Lunch
13:10 pm	Workshop by Guest Speaker
14:10 pm	Closing Remarks
14:20 pm	Networking and End of the Seminar

Photo Gallery

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UONSingapore is proud to organise a seminar titled Innovation and Lifelong Learning for Singapore’s Smart Nation Future.

The key objective of this seminar is to bring lifelong learning practitioners together to share innovative ideas, approaches, and the drivers pertaining to lifelong learning in the Singapore context. UONSingapore hopes to contribute in achieving Singapore's vision in making lifelong learning more appealing, effective, and efficient as the nation moves towards becoming a smart nation.

This seminar (a project supported by LearnSG Seed Fund, an initiative by the Lifelong Learning Council) will also provide a unique opportunity for the participants to network and exchange ideas to promote lifelong learning.

There will be reputable and distinguished speakers at the event, and participants will have a chance to break-out into groups for a hands-on workshop.

Join us for a day of insightful sharing on the importance of lifelong learning in driving innovation and productivity at the individual, enterprise, industry, and national levels. Learn how innovation plays a part in increasing productivity at work and in daily life.

Itinerary

Participants are encouraged to stay throughout the day to gain maximum impact from the event. For those who have indicated their interests to join the workshop, you will be clustered into groups of 4 to 6 participants.

Program for the day

Time	Activity
8.45am	Registration
9.30am	Welcome Speech
9.40am	Opening Remarks
9.45am	Address by Keynote Speakers
10.45am	Presenting Token of Appreciation
10.50am	Tea Break
11.00am	Panel Discussion
12.00pm	Lunch & Networking Session
1.30pm	Presentation by Guest Speakers
2.30pm	Tea Break
2.45pm	Workshop - Smart Nation – Smart Learning Objective: To discuss scenarios which aim to help participants envision their learning needs in the next several years in the context of a smart nation. By Dr Huong Ha, Academic Coordinator and Senior Lecturer (UON Singapore)
3.45pm	Closing Remarks
4.00pm	End of Event

Speakers

Hear from reputable and distinguished speakers at the event.

Welcome Speech - 9.30am

Speaker

Profile

Professor Amir Mahmood Pro Vice-Chancellor (Singapore) & Chief Executive Officer (UON Singapore)

Professor Amir Mahmood is the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle in Singapore. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Manitoba, Canada. Since joining the University of Newcastle, Australia in 1992, he has made a significant contribution to research, teaching, internationalisation and academic leadership. During this period, Professor Mahmood has also held a number of senior leadership positions with the University. A recipient of the Australian Government's Endeavour Malaysia Research Fellowship, Professor Mahmood has a strong research track record in the field of economics, business and management.

Opening Remarks - 9.40am

Speaker

Profile

His Excellency Mr Bruce Gosper Australian High Commissioner to Singapore

Mr Bruce Gosper was previously CEO of Austrade, the Australian Government agency responsible for promoting trade, investment and international education, and tourism policy, programs and research. Prior to Austrade, Mr Gosper was Deputy Secretary with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australia’s senior trade policy official, responsible for all trade negotiations. His career includes serving as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. During that time Mr Gosper chaired the WTO General Council and the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. Mr Gosper was previously Minister (Commercial) in the Australian Embassy in Washington, and Minister-Counsellor (Agriculture) at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. Mr Gosper is a current member of the Asia Society Advisory Council. He has previously served on the Australia Japan Business Co-Operation Committee (AJBCC), the European Australian Business Council (EABC), the Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF), the Australia Korea Foundation (AKF), the Australian Pork Corporation and the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) Board.

Keynote Speakers - 9.45am to 10:45am

Speaker

Profile

Dr Denis Hew Director APEC Policy Support Unit (PSU) Topic: Rethinking Skills Development in the Digital Age

Dr. Denis Hew is currently the Director of APEC Policy Support Unit (PSU). In this position, he is responsible for the work program and operations of the PSU, which is the research and analysis arm of APEC. Before taking up his current appointment, Dr. Hew was Regional Cooperation Specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where he managed technical assistance and coordinated efforts on regional cooperation and integration in the Southeast Asia department. From 2001 to 2008, Dr. Hew was Senior Fellow and Program Coordinator (Regional Economic Studies) at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Singapore. He was also for many years the Managing Editor of the ASEAN Economic Bulletin, a leading academic journal that focuses on policy-relevant economic issues in Southeast Asia. Dr. Hew has written extensively on regional economic cooperation and integration, especially in ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region. Dr. Denis Hew holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom and MSc and PhD in Finance from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.

Speaker

Profile

Mr Lau Yin Cheng Advisor | Connector | Encourager Chairman, Singapore Computer Society (SCS) Career Compass Topic: Lifelong Learning in a Digital Future of Possibilities and Probabilities

YC has close to 20 years of MNC and Government HR & OD leadership experience in Hi-Tech, Telecommunications, Hospitality, Start-Up, and Supply Chain Management sectors across Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. He advises C-level executives, start-ups, and boards in tackling complex people challenges, connects them with relevant partners via his network, and encourages them to realize their full potential in a digital future of possibilities. Living in the intersection of Technology, Human Resources, and Organisation Development, he helps organisations and leaders be "Future Ready". YC was previously Chief of HR & OD at Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore where he built an award-winning HR & OD team and elevated IDA's employer brand to be among Google & Facebook based on Universum rankings. Together with key IDA leaders, he  developed a digital team of software engineers, design thinkers, data scientists, and cyber-security professionals, resulting in the creation of Government Digital Services that is behind key digital services under Smart Nation. He also helped establish BASH (“Build Amazing Start-ups Here”) that aggressively transformed the Singapore start-up ecosystem. Prior to IDA, YC served as the CHRO of the Ascott Group, one of the world's largest serviced residence owner-operator with residence units in key cities of the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. YC led a team of HR professionals across multiple countries during a period of rapid expansion for the main board listed company then and he partnered with the Ascott CEO and leadership team to ensure that the organization structure, HR systems, and manpower base could sustain rapid growth. YC also set up Ascott's Global Learning & Development Centre, the Ascott Centre of Excellence, to support Ascott's aggressive growth plan and manpower needs. Before Ascott, YC was the CHRO SembCorp Logistics, one of Asia's largest third party logistics provider specializing in supply chain management services. He was concurrently VP of Strategic Development where he partnered McKinsey on SembLog's global strategy followed by Stern Steward on SembLog's financial strategy using EVA. During YC's tenure, the main board listed company achieved significant geographic and revenue expansion through its Business and HR strategy to be a Global Champion in supply chain management services for consumer goods, healthcare, high-tech, automotive, industrial, retail and defense/government sectors. YC started his career in the Ministry of Manpower with stints in Labour Relations and Employment Pass where he collaborated with the Unions and various Economic Agencies in various national level initiatives. He is an electrical engineer by training, obtained a Masters via research from NUS, and published numerous papers on simulating electromagnetic waves using supercomputers. He has a Graduate Diploma in Organisation Development by  NTL Institute in the US and Civil Service College. He is also an active member of the Singapore Computer Society and chairs its Career Compass Committee that aims to promote senior ICT professionals helping fellow ICT professionals in career transition and personal development.

Panel Discussion - 11am to 12pm

Speaker

Profile

Mr Frederick Tan Managing Director Adam Khoo Learning Centre Pte Ltd

Frederick  Tan  holds  a Master’s  in Education  with  major  in Organisational Leadership  from  Monash University (Australia) and  a  Specialist  Diploma  in Franchise  and Enterprise  Management (FEM)  from Ngee  Ann  Polytechnic (Singapore). Frederick is also a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) accredited by International Franchise Association. Frederick  spent  his  first seven  years working  in  Singapore  International Monetary  Exchange  where  he has  a consolidated experience  in  performing activities  related  to trading  in  complex interest  rates indexes  and forecasting macro  and  microeconomic  market studies. As  a  father  of  four, his  innate interest in  nurturing  love  for learning  amongst children  led  him  to  quit his  career  in the  financial  industry to start education businesses where he has accumulated more  than  13 years  of experience  in education  franchise management, international marketing and  business start-up strategies.

Speaker

Profile

Mr Leong Sze Hian Chairman Singapore Professional Centre

Mr Leong Sze Hian has served as President of four professional bodies, Honorary Consul of two countries and a Founding Advisor to the financial planning associations of two countries. Behind the statistician, Sze Hian is a regular contributor quoted over 1,500 times in the media, has been a radio talk show host, a newspaper daily columnist, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, CIFA  Advisory Board member and an executive  producer of Ilo Ilo (which won 40 international awards). His educational achievements include three Master degrees, two Bachelor degrees and thirteen professional qualifications. He is also an alumnus of Harvard University and has authored four books.

Speaker

Profile

Ms Sandra Davie Senior Education Correspondent The Straits Times (ST)

Sandra Davie is Senior Education Correspondent with The Straits Times (ST).  Sandra joined ST after teaching for a few years.  As a young reporter she covered a range of topics from health, religious cults to education. She honed her investigative journalism skills further at the Philadelphia Inquirer on a Knight Ridder fellowship. Sandra was made education correspondent in 1998 and has written extensively on education from pre-schools to higher education and won several awards for her work. Sandra shares her expertise with educators and parents through university boards, school talks and informal meet-up sessions. She fields parents' queries through the regular Ask Sandra columns, produces video clips to explain schemes and help parents make informed decisions in addition to her regular opinion pieces on education. Sandra has a BA from the National University of Singapore and a MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Guest Speaker - 1.30pm to 2.30pm

Speaker

Profile

Er Dr Michael Teng Chief Executive Officer Singapore Innovation and Productivity Centre (SiPi) and Center of Corporate Learning Singapore Manufacturing Federation Topic: Future-proof your career

Er Dr Teng is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Innovation and Productivity Centre, (SiPi) a national productivity centre as well as the Centre for Corporate Learning under Singapore Manufacturing Federation. SiPi spearheads the Business Model Innovation to assist Small Medium Enterprises to transform their business models. Er Dr Mike Teng is the author of the best-selling book "Corporate Turnaround: Nursing a sick company back to health", in 2002. His book isendorsed by management guru Professor Philip Kotler and business tycoons Mr Oei Hong Leong and Dr YY Wong. He had authored more than twenty seven management books mainly in the productivity and innovationtopics. His latest book is entitled: Business Model Innovation: Introduction to Implementation. He has more than 30 years of experience in leading corporate and business model transformation in the Asia Pacific region. Of these, he held Chief Executive Officer’s positions for more than 20 years in multi-national and publicly listed companies. He also used to advise several boards of directors of publicly-listed companies. Er Dr Teng served as the Executive Council member for fourteen years and the last four years as the President of the Marketing Institute of Singapore (2000 – 2004). He is currently the President of the National University of Singapore MBA Alumni and the past President of the University of South Australia alumni as well as the past Chairman of the Chartered Management Institute, Singapore Branch. Er Dr Teng holds a Doctor in Business Administration (DBA) from the University of South Australia, Master in Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering (BEng) from the National University of Singapore. He is also a Professional Engineer (P Eng, Singapore), Chartered Engineer ( C Eng, UK) and Fellow Member of several prestigious professional institutes namely, Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM), Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), Institute of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), Marketing Institute of Singapore (FMIS), Institute of Electrical Engineers (FIEE) . He is also a Practising Management Consultant (PMC).

Speaker

Profile

Mr Shabir Aslam Director, Education British Council Singapore Topic: Update, Upskill. Improve: Repeat – The lifelong learning journey from an IT Professional to an Education Director

Mr Shabir Aslam was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire. He studied at the Crossley and Porter Grammar School before leaving for University where he graduated with a first class honours degree in Management Studies from the University of Lancaster. Shabir has over 20 years’ experience within the commercial and academic industries. In his early career, Shabir completed various consultancy projects in Education, Management and IT Management as well as lecturing in Managing and Maintaining Organisational Effectiveness, Managing Change and Managing Information Technology before embarking on a career as an IT Professional servicing commercial and academic environments.  In this capacity, Shabir acted as a consultant for various sectors, advising on infrastructure design, implementation, rollouts, and the use of technology. Shabir co-wrote 2 publications on the theme of virtualisation and simulation as aids for business development and progression. Over the last ten years Shabir has worked extensively within the further and higher education fields internationally, initially within the development and implementation of educational technology infrastructures and the design and development of curricula supported by technological innovation and latterly looking at effective partnership developments. Shabir’s experience within the commercial, vocational and academic sectors led him to the position of Director of Education at the British Council in Singapore which he has held since 2013.

Workshop - 2.45pm

Speaker

Profile

Dr Huong Ha Academic Coordinator and Senior Lecturer (Business and Management) UON Singapore Topic: Smart Nation-Smart Learning

Dr. Huong Ha holds a PhD from Monash University, Australia, a certificate issued by University of Oxford, Department of Continuing Education, The Oxford Teachers’ Academy, and Oxford University Press and a Master’s degree from National University of Singapore. She is one of the moderators of the IMF elibrary forum on energy policy. Her previous positions, prior to joining UON Singapore, include Dean, Director of Research and Development, Deputy Course Director, Chief Editor, Executive Director, Business Development manager, etc. She has many years’ experience in manufacturing, marketing research, higher education and research in management related areas, such as change management, consumer protection, corporate social responsibility and governance. She has authored a number of books, and among them is a book entitled “Change Management for Sustainability” published by Business Expert Press (USA). Dr Huong Ha has been an invited member of (i) the international editorial boards of many international journals; (ii) the scientific/technical committees of several international conferences; and (iii) international advisory board of many professional associations.

Testimonials

	Name:  Richard Soh Message about the love for learning:     Keep up with the changing world. How learning has positively impacted your life? Yes, as I am in tune with the changes in the world. Something specific that you have learnt during the event/workshop: Mindfulness.
	Name:  Bernice Ang Message about the love for learning:     Continuous learning helps you to improve yourself. How learning has positively impacted your life? Learning helps you to know yourself and adapt to changes. Something specific that you have learnt during the event/workshop: Be like water.
	Name:  Lim Chong Lye Message about the love for learning:     Learning is fun. How learning has positively impacted your life? Learning from school, attending college and making friends has impacted my life. Something specific that you have learnt during the event/workshop: Experience and knowledge sharing by the Keynote Speakers provides me with a lot of information and ideas about lifelong learning.
	Name:  Alex Wong Message about the love for learning:     Sense of achievement and stay competitive. How learning has positively impacted your life? It has taught me to stay ahead and lead others. Something specific that you have learnt during the event/workshop: Cultivate mindfulness, possibility and probability thoughts.
	Name:  Brandon Low Message about the love for learning:     Even at 80 years old, we have to keep learning. How learning has positively impacted your life? More skills (especially non-technical ones) have enabled me to appreciate and understand my employer more. Something specific that you have learnt during the event/workshop: Embrace the digital age and continually upgrade myself to stay employed.
	Name:  Darren Tan Message about the love for learning:     -I will encourage everyone young and senior to keep an open mind-set. There is always a better way of doing things – one that may be more effective or efficient. -Embrace changes and technology and actively thinking about how the changes or technology can help you both in terms of work or personal life. -Be open to sharing, teaching or mentoring. You will also learn through the teaching process. How learning has positively impacted your life? -Learning from people’s life experience through talks and presentations I had two good managers who took the time and patience in mentoring me and providing good advice. -On-the-job learning Something specific that you have learnt during the event/workshop: -Students should think about their mission and what they hope to achieve in life, instead of choosing a specific major. -Care-giving professionals that provide real values should not be underpaid. -Some senior folks or retirees still very much love to give back to society.

Gallery

Innovation and Lifelong Learning Seminar

Presenter: Associate Professor Jim Jose Deputy Head of Faculty Assistant Dean of Research    Newcastle Business School, Faculty of Business and Law

Date: 2 August 2016 (Tuesday)

Time: 10.30am to 11.30am

Details:

In 1871, John Stuart Mill appeared before the Royal Commission on the Administration of the Contagious Diseases Acts. He testified that these Acts violated the principle of the ‘security of personal liberty’, not just for prostitutes but potentially for all women. He did not concede that the rationale for these Acts, namely the greater good of protecting public health, should trump personal liberty as a matter of course. Mill’s testimony provides a unique perspective from which to consider the relationship between law, liberty, and the greater good. A close examination of Mill’s testimony in the context of his broader political philosophy would suggest that this relationship is rarely a straightforward trade-off between the public good and personal liberty. Rather it reveals the way in which the law masks its particularity while claiming to mediate between two assumed universals, namely liberty and the greater good.

Presenter: Dr Patricia Johnson, Lecturer, Newcastle Business School (Tourism)

Date: 14 July 2016 (Thursday)

Time: 2:00pm to 3:00pm

Details:

This seminar will introduce the basis of a new collaborative research project based on the impact of short term mobility programs (STMPs) on student development. In the new degree program format, the Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Commerce offers BUSN badged courses as both directed and electives.

This seminar will introduce these courses and explain what they entail, and importantly how interaction and student assessments become the source of rich qualitative data for analysis. On a discipline level, this research seeks to address one of the most pressing issues forecast for tourism in 2017 which is to understand the transformative effect that tourism has on the geopolitics of socio-economic progress (Edgell 2016). This research seeks to examine STMPs and their role in developing global citizenship in our graduates, increasing cultural literacy, transforming the self through travel, transforming the self through directed study and shaping identity to create narratives of self.

Presenter: Associate Professor Tilak Abeysinghe, National University of Singapore, Department of Economics

Date: 8 April 2016 (Friday)

Time: 10:00am to 11:30am

Details:

It is now well recognized that preventive health care requires going beyond the immediate causes of diseases and understanding their fundamental socio-economic determinants. Cancer is one of these diseases that has emerged as the top killer, both physically and economically, in many high-income countries. Does stress contribute to these increasing trends in cancer incidence and deaths? This is a question that does not have an easy answer.

Opinion surveys tend to over-estimate or under-estimate the role of stress in causing cancer. Although it is not possible to conduct human experiments similar to those on animals, stressful events like the Chinese Cultural Revolution are a natural choice to study this link. Cancer incidence among the cohorts born in the 1950s in two of China’s largest cities, Shanghai and Tianjin, shows similar increasing patterns. A regression analysis of the data from Shanghai shows a robust link between the Cultural Revolution and cancer; young adults who faced the Cultural Revolution had become more susceptible to cancer as they aged.  These results bring out an unexpected link, a link to the so called ‘lost generation’ of China, those born in the 1950s. It shows that the plight of the lost generation has gone beyond the already documented socio-economic circumstances to other manifestations such as cancer. The talk will also focus on other aspects of cancer research. Full paper at: http://brainimmune.com/category/stress-immune-link/

Presenter: Dr Ralf Wilden, Senior Lecturer, Newcastle Business School, Faculty of Business and Law

Date: 26 February 2016 (Friday)

Time: 11:00am to 12:00pm

Details:

Service-dominant logic (SDL), the dynamic capability view of firm strategy and open innovation have had significant impact on business research. Almost 20 years since Teece et al. published their landmark article on dynamic capabilities, a decade after Vargo and Lusch published their seminal article on SDL and Chesbrough introduced the idea of open innovation, it is relevant and timely to conduct a systematic review of business research to analyze the theoretical underpinnings of these fields. This research combine modern bibliometric methods (co-citation analysis and text mining) to uncover existing structures and patterns of these emerging schools of thought. Interestingly, Dr Wilden identify influential author constellations, crystallize different research foci across various methods, and illustrate alternative research emphases across time. Although touchpoints between these three research streams are identified, there is limited overlap between these. Dr Wilden further identifies significant potential for cross-disciplinary integration.

Presenter: Mr Pavan Gandhok, Affiliate Faculty & India Initiatives, International Office, Singapore Management University (SMU)

Date: 9 October 2015 (Friday)

Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm

Details:

Mr. Pavan examines the issue of 'slow' intuition and it's complex interactions with analytic thinking, especially in the context of breakthrough ideation. In addition, he will share findings from the effect of popular external stimuli and the effect of individual differences in preferences for analytic vs. intuitive thinking styles on the number of high quality strategic options generated by a sample of experienced executives.

The most interesting findings from this study are that although the conventional view typically associates effective strategy formulation with conscious analytic thinking, however this study's findings support the view that perhaps we need to better appreciate the role of the intuition end of the cognitive continuum and participants' 'Cognitive Versatility' (i.e. their high engagement in both analytic and intuitive thinking styles) for strategic option generation. There is also some preliminary evidence of an interesting interaction effect where the external stimulus option generation technique that is opposite to the individual's preferred thinking style yields better results.

Presenter: Professor Jian Wang, School of Public Health, Shandong University, China

Date: 2 October 2015 (Friday)

Time: 3.00pm to 4.00pm

Details:

Jian Wang is a Professor in health economics at the School of Public Health, Shandong University. He holds a Master of Public Health in Social Medicine from Shandong University, a MA in health economics at the University of the Philippines, and a PhD in economics from the University of Newcastle, Australia. He has research expertise in health financing and the economic evaluation of the chronic disease in China. Professor Wang was a key local expert on "Technical Assistance for EU-China Social Security Reform Co-operation Project" - Component 2: Social Security Systems/Administration Development".

He has undertaken intensive consultancies for the World Bank, EU, DFID, UNICEF in China and Myanmar. In addition, Professor Wang is a board member of public policy China Healthy 2020 committee. He has published papers in Vaccine, Diabetic Medicine, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Health Policy Plan, Journal of Asian Economics, International Journal of Healthcare Finance and Economics.

He was a semi-finalist of Global Development Awards and Medals Competition 2009, a Japanese award for Outstanding Research on Development. He was granted project from the Ministry of Science and Technology, National Foundation of Scientific Committee, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and National Population and Family Planning Commission of China, and the World Bank.

Presenter: Dr Akhtar Hossain, Associate Professor of Economics, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Australia

Date: 3 August 2015

Time: 3.00pm to 4.30pm

Details:

This research highlights the issue of persistent inflation volatility in Malaysia from the late 1950s and draws implications on monetary policy for stabilizing inflation and economic growth. The findings provide some justification for deployment of a monetary aggregate as an instrument of monetary policy for price stability, especially when the flexibility, and hence the effectiveness, of a zero-bound interest rate has become doubtful as an instrument of monetary policy in a low-inflation environment.

The article draws conclusion that a rule-based monetary policy, such as monetary targeting or inflation targeting, remains appropriate for an open-economy like Malaysia to maintain low and stable inflation provided that it adopts a more flexible, if not perfectly floating, exchange rate system, with or without some market-based capital controls.

Presenter: Dr Akhtar Hossain, Associate Professor of Economics, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Australia 

Date: 4 August 2015

Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm

The workshop outline includes the following:

• Academic research: some observations
• Fields of research
• Research strategy
• Publication strategy
• My research: background and profile
• My research and publication: the way I work or worked
• Chronological evolution of my research and publication
• Publishing in top ranking journals
• Concluding remarks
• Comments, questions and discussion

Date: 29 April 2015

Venue: Nanyang Polytechnic, Centre for Professional and Leadership Development 

Presenters: Professor Carol Miles and Mr Keith Foggett, Centre of Teaching and Learning, University of Newcastle

Brief Description:

In today's world of higher education, teaching and learning has become paramount in empowering all students to take ownership of their own learning, resulting in active learners who are independent, resourceful, flexible and innovative. In order to achieve this, student engagement with the lecturer and fellow students is necessary, and methods of engagement continue to evolve with the student body. The workshop conducted by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Newcastle, will also cover the concept of the Flipped Classroom, an instructional methodology that encourages more active learning and engagement between instructor and student, and how it can contribute to desired learning outcomes.

Presenters:

Dr Lisa Robyn Barnes, The University of Newcastle, Faculty of Business and Law

Dr Norman Cameron Croker, Consulting Engineer, Abundance Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong

Date: Friday, 13 March 2015

Time: 3.30pm to 5.00pm

Details:

The Hong Kong construction industry ("HKCI") comprises a small number of large local and overseas contractors. They are dependent upon (primarily SME) sub-contractor firms for which the concepts of Social and Environmental Responsibility are still poorly understood. The aim of this research is to empirically investigate the drivers of improvements in Social and Environmental Sustainability in the HKCI. The results of the study partially fill gaps in the Social and Environmental Sustainability literature relating to firms in the construction industry; and, confirm that the level of social and environmental maturity of HKCI firms is similar to their Australian counterparts.

Presenter: Mrs Elizabeth L. Ratnam, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Newcastle

Date: Friday, 13 March 2015

Time: 4.30pm to 5.30pm

Details:

We propose a linear programming (LP)-based algorithm to schedule battery storage co-located with residential solar photovoltaics (PV), when excess generation is compensated via net metering. While the objective of this LP-based approach is to maximize the operational savings that accrue to customers, an undesirable consequence to the utility is reverse power flow during the peak pricing period. We show that it is possible to balance the objective of the utility in limiting reverse power flow with the customer objective of increasing operational savings, in the context of net metering, using a quadratic programming (QP)-based algorithm for battery scheduling. Both the LP-based and QP-based scheduling algorithms are applied to measured load and generation data from 145 residential customers located in an Australian distribution network.

Presenter: Professor Alison Dean, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle

Professor Alison Dean has two major areas of research interest. The first is service marketing and management, which includes customer loyalty, consumer participation in service delivery, co-created value, and service quality. Alison is particularly interested in the connections between elements of marketing theory and how each element contributes to effective practice. She is currently engaged in a study about consumer participation and responses in different industries. Alison's second area of research interest is pedagogy in business courses, with special emphasis on graduate attributes and assessment. She was the lead in the Newcastle team  in a collaborative ALTC project with Griffith University on commencing students' perceptions of assessment (2009-2010).

Alison has extensive teaching experience in distance, online, face-to-face and block modes. Her areas of teaching speciality include service marketing and management, marketing research, and business research methods. She has a long standing interest in generic skills development, graduate attributes and technology-enabled learning. Alison has been the recipient of various teaching awards, including the 2009 University of Newcastle Vice Chancellor's Faculty Award for Supervision Excellence (Faculty of Business & Law). She has supervised more than 20 Honours, Masters and PhD students to completion.

Topic 1:  Using Feedback to Improve Teaching

Date: Thursday, 19 June 2014

Time: 10.30am to 12.30pm

Topic 2: Service Quality and Process Mapping

Date: Friday, 20 June 2014

Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm

Topic 3: The History of Service Thought

Date: Friday, 20 June 2014

Time: 2.30pm to 4.30pm

Presenter: Professor Morris Altman, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle

Date: Monday, 9 February 2015

Time: 3.30pm to 5.00pm

Morris Altman is Dean and Head, Newcastle Business School and Professor of Behavioural & Institutional Economics at the University of Newcastle, Australia and Professor Emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He was formerly the Head of the School of Economics and Finance and Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

A former visiting scholar at Cambridge, Cornell, Duke, Hebrew, and Stanford Universities, he served as Editor of the Journal of Socio-Economics for 10 years and is currently the Editor of the Review of Behavioural Economics. Morris has published about 100 refereed papers on behavioural economics, x-inefficiency theory, institutional change, economics of cooperatives, economic history, methodology, and empirical macroeconomics and five books in economic theory and public policy.

Date: 24 November 2014

Venue: A*STAR - Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Center for Life Sciences (CELS)

Presenter: Professor Caroline McMillen, Vice Chancellor and President of the University of Newcastle, Australia

Brief Description:

There is a U shaped relationship between birth weight and adult fat mass, with a higher prevalence of adult obesity occurring in individuals with birth weights at either the low or high end of the birth weight distribution. Currently more than half of all adults in Australia, the US and other developed countries are either overweight or obese including women of reproductive age and there are now concerns about the emergence of an 'intergenerational cycle of obesity'. For heavy mothers, there appear to be separate contributions of maternal weight before pregnancy and glucose intolerance during pregnancy to birth weight, infant fat mass and the risk of later obesity. This presentation will review a series of experimental studies which have investigated how exposure to either maternal overnutrition and/or weight loss at different stages of development, including around the time of conception, can program the metabolic health of the offspring. Experimental studies highlight that there may be separate influences of maternal obesity during the periconceptional period and late gestational on the adiposity of the offspring. Development of dietary interventions for obese mothers during the periconceptional period requires a stronger evidence base which allows the effective weighing up of the metabolic benefits and costs for the offspring.