Singapore Semiconductor Leadership Excellence (SSLE)

Mr Lim Swee Say is trustee and Adviser of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Chairman of the NTUC-Administration & Research Unit Board of Trustees, and board member of NTUC Enterprise Co-operative Ltd.  He is also Chairman of NTUC LearningHub and NCS Pte Ltd, board member of Temasek Foundation, and serves as Independent Director on listed companies. 

Mr Lim joined the public sector in 1976.  He held leadership positions in Singapore’s National Computer Board and the Economic Development Board.  He joined the Labour Movement in 1996 and entered politics in 1997 to serve in various capacities including Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, Minister for Environment, Second Minister for National Development and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.  He also served as the Secretary General of NTUC from 2007 to 2015 and was appointed Minister for Manpower in 2015.  He stepped down from the Cabinet in 2018 and retired from politics as a Member of Parliament in 2020.

Mr. Russell Tham is Head of Emerging Technologies at Temasek, focused on investing globally in deep tech ventures grounded in STEM innovation. Prior to joining Temasek in 2020, Russell was President of New Enterprises and Ventures at ST Engineering.

Russell has over two decades of experience building and scaling new markets for Applied Materials, a Silicon Valley headquartered technology MNC, where he was President, Applied Materials Southeast Asia and concurrently held global corporate-level business development responsibilities for new markets. Russell oversaw the company’s Singapore infrastructure expansion into manufacturing, supply chain, R&D and product development for global markets.

In addition, Russell sits on multiple public and private boards, including as Chairman of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) Board.

Russell holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore.

Cher Whee Sim is the Vice President of People Strategy, Technology, and Asia Talent Acquisition at Micron Technology. In this enterprise-wide leadership role, she steers global transformation at the intersection of workforce strategy, AI-enabled productivity, and next-generation talent innovation. Reporting to Chief People Officer April Arnzen, Ms. Sim serves as a senior strategic advisor on how the company builds, deploys, and develops critical capabilities in an era defined by accelerated technological and organizational change.

With a portfolio spanning Global People Strategy and Talent Acquisition organization, Ms. Sim leads Micron’s most forward-looking workforce imperatives. She drives the Shape AI transformation, advances world-class talent systems, and designs future-fit workforce models that enhance organizational performance while elevating human potential. Her leadership influences enterprise decision-making on AI investment, capability building, and strategic talent architecture across Micron’s global footprint.

Ms. Sim is also a recognized champion of leadership development, culture, and diversity. She serves as Chair and Executive Sponsor of the Asia chapter of the Micron Women’s Leadership Network. Beyond Micron, she has contributed to national and industry-wide capability building as a board member at Singapore Polytechnics and as an advisor to multiple councils, including Eightfold.ai, Singapore’s Workforce Skills Qualifications, and the Singapore Semiconductor Leadership Accelerator Program. She is also a member of the Nanyang Technological University Career & Attachment Office Industry Advisory Panel. In 2021, she was honored with the DEI Champion Award at the National Diversity & Leadership Conference.

Ms. Sim holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the National University of Singapore and is an alumna of several premier global leadership programs, including the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program, Singapore Management University Executive Development Program, PwC Trust Leadership Institute Executive Leadership Program, the University of Oxford AI program, and the National University of Singapore Chief Strategy Officer program. She is currently completing the General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Alex Capri is a former Senior Fellow and current Senior Lecturer in the Business School at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He also lectures in the NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He teaches extensively in executive education programs for NUS and other globally renowned institutions.

Alex is the author of Techno-nationalism: How its Reshaping Trade, Geopolitics and Society (Wiley), Sept., 2024.

He has been based in Asia for 20 years.  He was the Partner and Regional Leader of KPMG’s International Trade & Customs Practice in Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong and Singapore. He also was a Director in PwC’s World Trade Management practice.

Alex  has advised clients on large scale cross-border business projects in more than 50 countries throughout Asia and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

He is also a research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation, in Singapore, where he has authored a series of ground-breaking essays on international trade, technology and geopolitics.

He is a regular panellist, author and workshop leader for the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Alex writes a column in Forbes magazine and the Nikkei Asia and is a frequent guest on global television and radio networks, including BBC International, CNBC, Bloomberg and Channel News Asia.

He holds an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, in International Political Economy and a B.Sc. in International Relations, from the University of Southern California.