Veerappan Swaminathan
Lead
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Veerappan is a sophomore studying Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. Since the age of fourteen, he has founded four societies in diverse areas like web development, handicrafts and sports. In late 2005, Veerappan became a pioneer partner at Jivin' Hive Pte Ltd, an agency specializing in youth-centric marketing services, and only recently left due to educational commitments. At present, he is actively involved in a social entrepreneurship project spearheaded by him involving the development of solar fruit dryer systems for farmers stricken by poverty in the Indian state of Maharashtra. In the years to come, Veerappan hopes to gain a steady, growing income via his entrepreneurial pursuits so that he can positively impact the lives of the less fortunate.

Lee Min Xuan
Vice Lead
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Min Xuan is a sophomore majoring in Finance and minoring in Technopreneurship at the National University of Singapore. She is also the President of the NUS Entrepreneurship Society and Vice Lead of Start-Up@Singapore 2008. However, her interest in entrepreneurship started much earlier. At the age of fourteen, her team won an award in the Central Singapore CDC Youth Entrepreneurship Programme for having the best business plan. Three years later, she turned a hobby into an enterprise and founded her design company, Ming Lee International. Her entrepreneurial journey culminated in a pioneering expedition to Silicon Valley which inspired her to dream big. Min Xuan is currently going on to her second year in the NUS Business School and living life by her passions - as a designer, photographer and musician.

Vikram Parsani
Vice Lead
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Vikram is a junior majoring in Electrical Engineering and minoring in Finance and Marketing at the National University of Singapore. He is currently the Teaching Assistant for TR2202 Technological Innovation (a technopreneurship minor module) and the Vice President and Co-Founder of the West Asian and North African Studies Society (a consequence of having grown up in the Middle East). Vikram is also in the midst of designing a new tri-city Global Programme to Singapore, Jakarta and Brussels for the University Scholars Programme. Vikram's personal exploration of his entrepreneurial inclinations has led him to work stints at tenCube (Business Development Team) and HSBC India (SME Business Banking Division). He hopes to continue this exploration in the months to come.

Lee Huay Chay Felyna
Honorary General Secretary
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Felyna is a sophomore studying Accountancy at the National University of Singapore. Her first big step into the world of entrepreneurship was to join Start-Up@Singapore 2008 as our Honorary General Secretary. She enjoys making music and currently holds the post of Assistant Conductor in her college alumni choir, Hwa Chong Voices. While continuing to pursue her interest in playing the piano, Felyna spent her first year in university exploring other passions such as community work and ballroom dancing. She also teaches the piano to children and hopes that more of them discover the joys of music at a younger age. Driven by service unto others, Felyna loves interacting with people and hopes to make a difference in Singapore's service industry.

Cheng Si
Finance Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Cheng Si is a sophomore studying Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. During her first year in university, she was actively involved in organizing a number of hall-based and university-wide activities. She also had one of the best experiences of her life in Start-Up@Singapore 2007 where she thoroughly enjoyed working with her colleagues and gained an immense sense of satisfaction from seeing her labour bear fruit in the form of well-organized events. In addition to this, her exploits last year helped her acquire much knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship, networking, innovation and creativity. This year, she hopes to continue learning as much as possible and help make Start-Up@Singapore 2008 a huge success.

Lee Seng Jea
Technology Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Seng Jea is a sophomore studying Electrical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. He has a considerable amount of experience in Adobe Systems and open-source Content Management Systems (e.g. Drupal). Since the age of thirteen, he has been teaching himself how to write programs and scripts in various computing languages, such as PHP, HTML, JavaScript, CSS and MySQL, by reading self-teach guidebooks. On top of this, his other interests include social work. In the past, he has helped organize training conferences to raise the awareness of various social issues amongst students and guide them in thinking of ways to affect change. While in university, he has made frequent trips to the National University Hospital to visit elderly patients and befriend them.

Smrithi Prasad
Events Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Smrithi is a junior studying Psychology at the National University of Singapore. In addition to her role as the Events Director of Start-Up@Singapore 2008, she also takes a keen interest in pursuing her love for Indian classical music and is an active member of the NUS Indian Instrumental Ensemble. Since the age of seven, Smrithi has been learning Carnatic Music and derives a deep sense of satisfaction from it. She has also visited numerous villages in India and feels passionately about gender-related social issues. In the future, Smrithi sees herself working towards the emancipation and empowerment of women.

He Zhen Zhen
Judging Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Zhen Zhen is a sophomore studying Electrical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. Three years ago, she started a new page in her life by coming to Singapore on scholarship to get an undergraduate degree. Following this, she became the President of the 8th SM2 Executive Committee and organized numerous activities for the SM2 scholars in areas such as sports, arts and design. In university, she is an active planner of hall-based and university-wide activities. She enjoys working with people and derives a deep sense of satisfaction from organizing efficient and well-run events. Zhen Zhen hopes to continue finding happiness in working for the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation here at Start-Up@Singapore.

Lek Sze Min
Judging Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Sze Min is a sophomore majoring in Finance and Marketing at the National University of Singapore. She is a key driver of social entrepreneurship at the NUS Business School and is actively involved in organizations that have social entrepreneurship as their core mission. Since a young age, Sze Min has actively involved herself in community work among the youth and has a myriad of interests in areas such as social work, sports and the arts. Working together with social enterprises and forming connections with those in the region and beyond, she seeks to bring social entrepreneurship to the forefront in Singapore. Always putting others before herself, Sze Min hopes to help people through her efforts and create systemic changes in society.

Lau See Chin Ivan
Marketing Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Ivan is a sophomore studying Industrial & Systems Engineering at the National University of Singapore. His passion for leadership, learning and public speaking took off during National Service where he trained to be a Combat Engineer Officer and later served as a Platoon Commander. Since then, he has been actively sharpening his leadership skills. In his first year in university, he was the Vice-Welfare Director of the University Scholars Club and Marketing Director for Big Hands Bigger Hearts 3, a Youth Expedition Project to the Philippines. In addition to this, he has always enjoyed the fine arts and is currently volunteering as an art teacher at Art Outreach. Ivan believes strongly in honesty and compassion, and aspires to be an effective leader by making a difference where it matters most.

Manu Mohan
Marketing Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Manu is a sophomore pursuing a double degree in Electrical Engineering and General Business Administration at the National University of Singapore. Being interested in a diverse range of activities, Manu recently took up a research assignment on Micro-Optical Velocimetry at the Data Storage Institute and also represented Singapore at the Harvard Model United Nations in Boston. His entrepreneurial inclination has led him to work stints at start-ups like Nineo and tenCube where he worked as a Creative Consultant and helped out in their marketing activities and campaigns. He has traveled extensively and aims to become a widely-traveled globetrotter. Manu also hopes to learn as much about entrepreneurship as possible so as to help him in building a successful venture of his own in the future.

Chandrakant Kanoria
Sponsorship Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Chandrakant is a sophomore studying Industrial & Systems Engineering at the National University of Singapore. In addition to being the Sponsorship Director of Start-Up@Singapore 2008, Chandrakant is also the Co-Founder and Vice President of Varsity Drama, the only all-NUS Drama Society. His passion to explore unharnessed areas of technology led him to a research stint on Digital Signal Processing at the Nanyang Technological University in 2004. He later continued his love for research by doing an internship with I2R, an A*STAR agency, in 2007. He hopes to make Start-Up@Singapore a huge success by making it financially possible to run stellar events.

Tan Wenyou
Sponsorship Director
Start-Up@Singapore 2008

Wenyou is a sophomore who is currently in the Engineering Science Programme at the National University of Singapore. After completing his National Service as a military officer, he began to pave his path into the entrepreneurial world by opening up his first F&B outlet and practicing as a Financial Services Consultant. His passion for volunteering has seen him helping out at elderly homes and also performing musicals to raise funds for noble causes. Wenyou is also a chorister with the National Junior College Alumni Choir and devotes his time to performing with the choir once a year. He enjoys travelling and goes backpacking once a year. He hopes to gain experiences and make life-long friends through his stint with Start-Up@Singapore.