The innovation ecosystem in Seattle is like no other. At the center of it all, the University of Washington acts as a hub, bringing together people from across disciplines to pioneer breakthroughs that are inclusive and help solve society's grand challenges. Our innovation mindset reaches far beyond the classroom and into our alumni network that expands around the globe. Connect to that network, hear from UW experts about Seattle's unique brand of innovation and learn how to benefit from it during compelling talks, breakout sessions and panel discussions. 

Summit Details

Welcome Happy Hour

Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Vikram Jandhyala is Vice President for Innovation Strategy at the University of Washington. He is Executive Director of CoMotion, UW’s collaborative innovation hub, and the UW co-CEO of the Global Innovation Exchange (GIX). He is a professor and former chair in the Department of Electrical Engineering and an adjunct professor in the Information School. After spending two years in the design automation industry at Ansoft Corporation (acquired by Ansys), he joined UW in 2000. His research, which has led to more than 200 papers and several PhD students at top R&D positions, has been funded by DARPA, semiconductor industries, national labs, Department of Defense, Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.  He has received awards from UIUC, IEEE, UW, NASA and NSF, including an NSF CAREER award.

Yang Bin is Vice President and Provost of Tsinghua University where he leads his university’s partnership with UW through the Global Innovation Exchange (GIX). He is also a professor of business administration working in management science. His expertise in management includes organizational leadership, ethics, non-market strategy and higher education management. He received his BS in Management Information Systems and MS/Ph.D in Management Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University with titles of “Outstanding Graduate.” He began teaching at Tsinghua School of Economic and Management after graduation and has won many awards such as “Outstanding Young Faculty Award” and “Best Teaching Award.” He is Vice-Chairman of Association of Chinese Graduate Education, Sectary-General of China National Engineering Education Supervisory Committee and Sectary-General of China National MBA Education Supervisory Committee.

Su Cheng Harris-Simpson is the UWAA Beijing chapter president and founder of SCHSAsia which serves the needs of destinations, non-profits, community organizations and bilateral associations. Prior to founding SCHSAsia, she was the Vice President of LTI Associates where she managed projects for the American Chamber of Commerce-China (AmCham), the U.S. Foreign Commercial Services, Las Vegas Trade Commission, United Technologies Corporation, World Business Council on Stainable Development, Beijing United Family Hospital, Orrick Law Office, State of Kentucky, Golden Tickets and The University of Washington. Su Cheng received her MBA with emphasis in Marketing and International Business from Seattle Pacific University and her B.A. from the University of Washington.

Leadership and Innovation Panel

Grace Gong is a well-known international broadcaster with more than 20 years of experience working in China as a television anchor and producer. She also holds a doctorate in media economics and is an adjunct professor at the Communication University of China. Her television credits include cohosting the series “Lundao” and creating first of their kind shows about charity, reading, love and relationships. She is a sought after presenter at conferences including the Boao Forum for Asia and the One Belt, One Road Conference. Through her work, she has interviewed prominent entrepreneurs, economists, and politicians, including several Presidents and Premiers.

Elaine Chang is a Vice President of Amazon and President of Amazon China, responsible for the strategy, business development and overall management of Amazon’s e-commerce business and Amazon’s reading business in China. She is the only woman currently serving as an Amazon country president and is highly committed to promoting diversity. Elaine actively participates in female leadership development internally and externally. Her passion for philanthropy inspired her to lead the launch the “Kindle book path” program aiming to narrow the “reading gap” between urban and rural students. Prior to joining Amazon, Elaine worked at Intel for nearly 20 years. She graduated from the University of Washington in 1993 with a degree in electrical engineering.

Jasmine Lau is a social entrepreneur and educator from Hong Kong. She is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Philanthropy In Motion (PIM), which provides funds, training and networks maximize the role and voice of young people in solving social challenges. Jasmine graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Economics and Peking University with a Masters in International Studies. Jasmine also founded EMBER (a girls education program in rural China) and Kliptap (a crowdfunding platform for causes). She has worked in investment banking, internet technology and with philanthropic foundations. Jasmine was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for her work in social entrepreneurship and is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. She is a recipient of the Richard Rockefeller Fellowship and the Hong Kong Youth Service Award.

Dai Wei is the founder and CEO of ofo, the world's first "station-free" bike-sharing platform. Dai graduated from the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, where he co-founded ofo in 2014 during his studies. Under Dai’s leadership, ofo became the world’s most valuable bike-sharing company. In 2017, Dai was recognized by Fortune China as “40 Under 40 Business Elite” and “30 Under 30 Asia”. Dai’s experience as a volunteer teacher instilled in him a strong belief that education is the only way to lift people out of poverty and change their destiny. Inspired by this volunteering experience, Dai launched two social campaigns called “West China Athletic Development” and “Chinese Engine of Dreams”, both focused on improving education in West China and helping alleviate poverty there.

Evolution of Venture and Angel Investing Panel

Ralph Cheng is Chief Investment Officer of Tmesis Capital Management, an AI-driven hedge fund that utilizes deep neural networks and deep reinforcement learning in making trading decisions. As a graduate of UW, Cheng founded Tmesis with fellow UW alumni Jason Huang and Scott Liu. He is able to combine his background in political science and his special insights in trading with the latest AI technologies to derive unique trading strategies. The fund quickly drew the industry’s attention, receiving awards from multiple financial media, including “Most Innovative Hedge Fund Manager – East Asia” from Acquisition International and “Best Hedge Fund Management Firm 2017 – Asia” from Wealth & Finance Magazine.

Anna Fang is the CEO and Partner of ZhenFund, an angel investment fund active in China’s technology, media and telecom sector. Anna oversees the fund’s investments, portfolio management and operations. Since starting the fund in 2011 with Xu Xiaoping, Anna has managed more than 300 early stage investments. She also sits on the Boards of many of ZhenFund’s investments. Before joining ZhenFund, Anna worked at GE China in Corporate Business Development. Anna started her career as an investment banker with J.P. Morgan in the New York office covering consumer and retail companies. Anna received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University, and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Zhonghua Li is the general manager of the investment department of Chine Merchants Venture Capital (CMVC), the corporate VC arm of China Merchants Group. CMVC is an 5-billion RMB balance sheet fund of FOF and direct investment. CMVC has investments in China and internationally. They focus on early stage startups in fintech, housing-tech and logistic-tech. Zhonghua is a seasoned veteran of venture capital investment and has worked in China Merchants Group’s investment arm for more than a decade. He has also worked for PwC, CDH Investment, Vanke Evergrow Investment during his career in private equity industry. He received his undergraduate degree from University of Washington and graduate degree from Tsinghua University and Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Kia Hong Lim is the Chairman of SiS Asset Management as well as the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of SiS International Holdings Limited, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Mr Lim founded SiS in 1983 after receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington in 1981. He is credited with transforming SiS from a small privately owned family business in Singapore to one of the dynamic international business group in Asia with interest in IT Distribution, Venture Investment, Real Estate, Hotels and Asset Management. In short 10 years after its founding, SiS was successfully listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange; Mr Lim went on to lead SiS with 3 successive listings of SiS companies in Thailand, Bangladesh and SiS mobile in Hong Kong. In 2011, SiS acquired Ringku Gate Tower in Osaka Japan – The 2nd tallest building in Japan then. Mr Lim was elected and currently sits on the Executive board of Global Technology Distribution Council in USA and Ngee Ann Kongsi in Singapore; both are prestigious non-profit organisations. He also serve as adviser and board member to businesses and mentor to several start ups companies. Mr Lim is an entrepreneur, corporate strategist and business leader.

Breakout Session Speakers

Michael Bragg joined the University of Washington in July 2013 as the dean of the College of Engineering. He serves as the chief academic officer for the college and provides leadership to over 240 faculty and more than 6,800 students. Prior to joining UW, Michael held numerous leadership positions in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, including head of the aerospace engineering department, associate dean for research and administrative affairs, executive associate dean for academic affairs and interim dean. Michael earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. He is an international expert on the effect of ice accretion on aircraft aerodynamics and flight safety. Michael has been nationally recognized for his research and teaching. He has authored over 200 technical publications, and continues to maintain an active research program.

Gordon Nuemiller is the director of the UW Foster School of Business MBA Global Consulting Program. He was formerly Director of Trade Development for the Port of Seattle and an international trade and logistics consultant. In his current position he directs teams of MBA students who work with companies to improve their global competitiveness. As marketing director for the Port of Seattle, one of the largest container ports in the U.S., Gordon traveled the world and has a wealth of global trade and business experience. He holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of North Dakota and has lived and worked in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and now, Seattle.

Zahr Said is an associate professor of Law, and Lead Faculty Director of CASRIP (Center for Advanced Study and Research of Innovation Policy). She holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard University, a J.D. from Columbia (where she was a Kent Scholar and served as Articles Editor for the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts) and a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa). She taught at the University of Virginia School of Law for three years as a visiting professor, and will teach at Stanford Law School during the 2018 academic year. Said’s research applies humanistic methods, theories and texts to problems in legal doctrine and policy. Her work has appeared in the Iowa Law Review, the Cardozo Law Review, the North Carolina Law Review, the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, the Stanford Technology Law Review and the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts, among others.

Scott Schumacher is the Director of the School of Law’s Graduate Program in Taxation and Federal Tax Clinic. He teaches courses in taxation and White Collar Crime. Prior to joining the UW law school faculty full-time 2001, he was an attorney with Chicoine & Hallett, P.S., in Seattle, where his practice focused on civil and criminal tax controversy and litigation. He also served as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division and an attorney-advisor to the Hon. Arthur L. Nims, III, Chief Judge of the U.S. Tax Court. He is admitted to the bars in Washington state, the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous federal courts.

Program

Registration for the summit is $125 USD (RMB 840) and includes the welcome happy hour on Oct. 12, a light breakfast and buffet lunch. Registration does not include travel, accommodations or the optional Huairou excursion. If you are interested in traveling to Huairou, you can learn more about the excursion on our website. 

Looking for more details about accommodations or other International Alumni Weekend events? Please visit our website.

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