TMC Industry Advisory Board
TMC Industry Advisory Boards was set up on December 2012 to fulfil TMC’s mission: “Delivering future-ready and industry-relevant courses.”
The Industry Advisory Boards facilitate the review of the TMC curriculum to ensure that they are industry relevant. The Boards advise TMC on the industry attachment and appropriate job placement opportunities for TMC students and they monitor the current industry practice and future trends, changes in the appropriate regulatory framework, and networking opportunities.
Successful members of the industry are invited to sit on the Board, whose invaluable experience will contribute much to the TMC curriculum.
Business Industry Advisory Board
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Ashok Kumar (Head, School of Business and Law)
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Shawn Loh
Psychology Industry Advisory Board
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Dr Elizabeth Nair
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Mala Khare
Hospitality Industry Advisory Board
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Gosia Kucmierczyk (Head, Hospitality and Culinary Arts)
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David Chan
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Wilard Tan
Engineering, Computing and Media Industry Advisory Board
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Tng Choon Hock (Head, School of Engineering, Computing and Media)
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Xavier Gopi
Profile of External Members (TMC Advisory Boards)
Business​
Shawn Loh
Entrepreneur and Director
TAG Alliance Pte Ltd
Mr Shawn Loh graduated from Griffith University (Brisbane) with a Bachelor degree in Visual Arts (Interior Design). He has been an Entrepreneur for the past 22 years. He set up his design firm- Tag Design Pte Ltd (1999- 2004). In 2004, he decided to switch runway to start a new trading company for packaging.
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Mr Loh set up Tag Alliance Pte Ltd April 2004 which trading Polyurethane and Polyethelyene foam for packaging. He started his converting factory in Johor Bahru, Malaysia in 2006. Under his leadership, the company grow tremendously from a trading firm to a company that provides total packaging solution to customers globally. Today Tag Alliance dealings expand from Singapore to Malaysia, USA, China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
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Apart from leading Tag Alliance as the core business, Mr Loh has also embarked on many other startups and VC projects. His startup experience ranges from F&B, mobile apps, condominium management, medical products, micro loans, etc; with various locations, with Singapore, China, Vietnam and Myanmar among some of them.
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Mr Loh is also a registered angel investors with Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).
Psychology
Mala Khare
Her family relocated to Singapore nearly twenty years back that ended her long stint of being a ‘trailing spouse’ to her psychiatrist husband. Trained in understanding human behaviour and in facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning, she started her company, “Counselling: A Map for Emotional Wellbeing” where she provides psychological counselling to Individuals, Couples and Families.
She is registered with Singapore Association for Counselling.
Previously she worked with World Health Organisation (WHO) Research on psychiatric illnesses in a Psychiatry department of a major research institution.
Her educational qualifications include B.A (Psychology Honours), a Masters in Psychology (India) and a Masters in Counselling (Edith Cowan University, Australia).
Since 2005 she has taught at SIM university, presently teaching psychology modules at the undergraduate level at University of Wollongong (SIM Global). In the past she has also taught counselling and psychology courses at various universities such as James Cook and University of Buffalo, MDIS and TMC.
Dr Elizabeth Nair
Principal Psychologist and Lead Counsellor
Work and Health Psychologists
Elizabeth Nair is a four non-consecutive term President of the Singapore Psychological Society (1984-1987, 1992-1996). She received a Bachelor of Psychology in 1973 from the University of Western Australia under the Colombo Plan scholarship, and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Nottingham, UK in 1989 supported by a Commonwealth Fellowship for MPhil (MINDEF nomination) as well as a Nottingham University PhD Studentship Grant.
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She served as a civil servant in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of National Development, including as chief psychologist in the Ministry of Defence, Head of the Personnel Research Dept. She went on to teach at the National University of Singapore (NUS) from 1989-2004 as tenured academic.
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While an academic, she had undertaken various consultancy engagements with NGOs, statutory boards, schools and the private sector. Dr. Nair served on the NUS Senate (1990-1996) and as Board Member, National Council of Social Service (1992-1996). In 2001, she received the Distinguished International Psychologist Award from the American Psychological Association. In 2003, she was given the inaugural Singapore Psychological Society Outstanding Service Award for her contribution in the field of Psychology in Singapore. This award was in recognition of her role as Organizing Chair and Scientific Program Co-chair for the International Congress of Applied Psychology (ICAP) held in Singapore in 2002.
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In 2004 Dr. Nair. started her own consultancy, Work & Health Psychologists (WHP). She leads a team of Associates in delivering Organizational Development and Employee Assistance programs incorporating crisis counselling, stress management and mental wellness talks and workshops and conducting organizational and health psychology research. WHP conducts psychological assessment for corporations, individuals and families and Dr. Nair is an executive coach for high potential individuals.
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On the international platform, she has served as Council Member on the International Test Commission from 1986-1989. From 2000 to 2008, she served on the Executive Board of the International Union of Psychological Science (www.iupsys.org) and as National Capacity Building Workgroup Chair from 2004. She served as Treasurer of the International Association of Applied Psychology (www.iaapsy.org), 2006- 2014.
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Elizabeth Nair is a Registered Psychologist and Supervisor with the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS) and Registered Counsellor, Registered Clinical Supervisor and Registered Trauma Counsellor and Fellow with the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC). Completed ACRA Directors Training Program in 2018. Dr Nair is a certified Associate Mediator at the Singapore Mediation Centre and is on the Panel of Coaches and Assessors. She mediates at the Supreme and Subordinate Courts of Singapore and plays an active role as a Board Member of the Special Interest Group for Counselling Psychology, Singapore Psychological Society.
Hospitality and Tourism
David Chan
Honorary Secretary (General)
Association of Bartenders and Sommeliers
David Chan serves as the Honorary Secretary (General) of the Association of Bartenders & Sommeliers, Singapore and is instrumental in the organization of the local and overseas competitions such as National Cocktail Competition, the Asia-Pacific Bartender of the Year Competition, the Wine Sommelier Challenge, and the Wine Gastronomy Masterclass.
He is a Certified Food & Beverage Executive (CFBE – a professional designation from the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association), and an USA Certified Trainer for Training for Intervention Procedures, a Responsible Service of Alcohol program for the bar and retail industry which he has taught more than half a thousand of employees with the support of the Employment & Employability Institute (e2i).
He is also an UK Wine & Spirits Education Trust nominated wine educator, was accredited as Wine Tutor by the Bordeaux Wine School, France and awarded a Certified Tea Sommelier by the Australian Tea Masters.
He holds a Bachelor of Education and Training (HRD) from the University of Melbourne / Singapore Institute of Management, Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) from the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), Executive Program in Hospitality Management by Cornell University / National University of Singapore, and the DePaul University / SHATEC Advanced Leadership program.
Tan Wei Le Willard
Director/Lead Consultant
W Training and Consulting
Willard has more than a decade of career experience in a management capacity conducting audits, strategic gap analysis, and optimising business processes alongside his acclaimed academic expertise.
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As teaching is his passion, he simultaneously works as a teaching faculty member and research supervisor with various Universities and Institute of Higher Learning. He is also a faculty Personal Development trainer, sharing best practices in applied learning and teaching, and a strong believer in the community of practice.
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Willard holds a Master of Research in Higher Education, MBA (Distinction) and a BA in Hospitality & Tourism Management (Distinction). He is also a certified IRCA ISO Lead Auditor, CQI Practitioner, CSML (Harvard), ACTA, SDALT (RP), CIDTT (Cambridge), Advanced (WSET), CSW (Society of Wine Educators, USA), and completed his Sommelier Exams (Court of Master Sommeliers).
Engineering, Computing and Mass Communications
Xavier Gopi
Nominee Director, CEO (SG Office)
KnowledegeHut Singapore
Xavier Nominee Director and CEO (SG Office) at KnowledgeHut Singapore, the leading technology workforce development company that helps companies and people around the world to transform with technology. Xavier specialises in academic/vocational program development and modelling, government funding development, competency mapping and design skills. Xavier’s pleasant demeanour is infectious, and he leads by example in the workplace to show the way for all others, whether under his charge or not, to give off their best in their work ethics, attitudes, and attributes.
He is a pracademic with over 20 years of experience working alongside the executive team of several private institutions in Singapore. In his career of corporate investment, Xavier undertook improvements in understanding customer needs, competitors, business opportunities, industry changes, and their impact on the company. Previously, he was associated with Training Vision Institute Pte Ltd, Informatics Education Ltd., James Cook University Australia, Singapore Campus, Management Development Institute of Singapore and MacPherson Secondary School.
In his free time, Xavier likes to read, write and publish articles. He has also published a book recently called “The Looping Effect” which is available on Amazon.