International Organisers
The international GEC is organised by Scottish Enterprise representative, Gordon McVie. Gordon McVie is Enterprise in Education Manager for Careers Scotland, creators and organisers of the Global Enterprise Challenge, formerly known as the Enterprise Olympics. Gordon has been involved in enterprise education for over ten years and was the architect of ëDeveloping an Enterprise Culture in Scotland ñ From Primary 1 to Plcí, a strategic approach to youth enterprise that has been acknowledged worldwide.
Gordon first conceived the idea for the Enterprise Olympics after a successful challenge run simultaneously for students in Edinburgh and Dunedin, New Zealand, in June 2000. The first global event was held in June 2002, and was launched by the astronauts on the International Space Station, courtesy of NASA who have continued to support the event as has the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) a Geneva based UN Agency.
Singapore Organisers
The Young Entrepreneur Centre is the organiser for the ASEC and GEC events in Singapore.
Conception of Asian Science Enterprise Challenge
With the success of the Global Enterprise Challenge, the national rounds were renamed as the Asian Science Enterprise Challenge in 2009. With this change, a focus towards solving global issues with science, technology and engineering was made. This would encourage students to learn about science, business, innovation and creativity in designing their prototypes.
Key Personnel
Dr Ben Chan is the Executive Director of NTC’s Young Entrepreneur Centre that provides enterprise education to primary and secondary schools. This is a resource centre where young entrepreneurs come for counseling, training and consultation about their venture creation and sustenance. In Singapore, 30% of schools are in the Young Enterprise Program (YEP). The synergetic collaboration between the Centre and Enterprise Education International is an integrated reciprocal option for Singapore and New Zealand. With over 27 years experience as a strategic marketer in global markets, Ben has acquired a rich diversity of commercial and academic experiences that encompass marketing of engineering and industrial products, marketing of consumer products, services marketing and general management. As Adjunct Professor at Singapore Management University, Vancouver University and visiting professor at several universities in Australia, USA and the UK, he lectures in the international circuits on International Marketing, Services Marketing, International Business Strategies, Marketing Research, Consumer Behaviour and Entrepreneurship. Ben’s area of research is on family business succession in the Asia Pacific region. Therefore, enterprise education for youth in Singapore schools, is a strategic approach to the successful family business succession.
Dr Erwin Chan is in charge of the Asian Science Enterprise Challenge. Erwin holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Western Australia. He entered the biomedical commercialisation scene through Singapore’s Agency for Science,Technology & Research (A*STAR), Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd, under the Technology Transfer Traineeship Management (T3M) Program. He was also the IP Ambassador at the Singapore Management University’s Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. He advises on IP issues, IP strategies and the establishment of technology-based companies. Erwin helped shaped the focus of ASEC towards addressing global challenges with science, technology and engineering based solutions.
Benjamin Loh is the master coordinator and event planner who assists and ensures that the event is running smoothly. He is also the IT, multimedia & technical support for ASEC & GEC. He has been involved in ASEC & GEC Singapore since 2004.
WY SF is the chief mentor for ASEC and GEC. She has helped mentor teams and has a track record of over 3 teams entering the top spots in ASEC or GEC. Hence, she has been instrumental in training new mentors, who in turn help each team in developing the potential and achieve the best in ASEC & GEC.