Speakers
​MEET Dr. Tim Taylor
Language allows us to take our raw life experiences and rewrite them as a coherent narrative, which then becomes the story of our life. As an English teacher, Tim has been teaching writing for almost 30 years, including at the primary, secondary and university levels. He has lived and worked in the United States, Papua New Guinea, Israel, China and – for 18 years now – in Hong Kong. If he weren’t an English teacher, Tim would be probably be an anthropologist, as he finds people, culture and history so endlessly fascinating. Currently, he is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English Language Education and the University Field Experience Coordinator at the Education University of HK.
​MEET Dr. Manisha Lakhekar
Dr Manisha Lakhekar has been practising Homeopathy for 9 years. She is now based in Hong Kong. With a unique mix of traditional and modern practices in Homeopathy
combined with her profound knowledge about human anatomy and various disease, diagnosis skill and ability to intercept various medical reports, she helps in providing long term relief to patients. She is also assisted with latest and leading cutting edge software in Homeopathy till date to solve complex case mysteries. Over the years she has conducted seminars and workshops for the practitioners, enthusiasts and students in Hong Kong. She is also Co-Director at Hong Kong Academy for Homeopathy where there are many courses related natural and alternative medicines taught and major one being the 1 Year Essential Course in Homeopathy. This course provides a solid foundation in the principles of classical homeopathy as laid down by Dr Samuel Hahnemann and the old masters of homeopathy in the same league as Hahnemann. It's probably the first of its kind in Hong Kong with great emphasis on the philosophy of Hahnemann and method of Boenninghausen.
​MEET Dr. Li Man Wai, Liman
Dr. Li Man Wai, Liman, is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology, the Education University of Hong Kong. She is fond of exploring different cultures not only in her research program but also in daily life. Besides Hong Kong, she also lived in South Korea, Canada, and mainland China. Liman believes that life-long learning can be achieved in her journey of cultural exploration.
​MEET Dr. Ravindra S. Goonetilleke
A former Ergonomics consultant in New York, a researcher at a footwear company in Portland Oregon, and now Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Ravi is the Director of the Human Performance Laboratory and a Co-Director of the Dual-Degree program at HKUST. He is a multi-disciplined Engineer who now teaches user-centered design, and believes in inspiring students to think and act beyond classroom learning.
​MEET Yiannis Bien Pimentel
Yiannis Bien Pimentel likes to call himself a "3C": a comedian, a cosplayer and a college student, though he wishes one of those Cs could have stood for "competent person" or "capable individual". He is in his second year of his bachelor's degree at the Education University of Hong Kong, handling two specializations in education and language studies. Seemingly honed for the stage from the get-go, he has numerous public speaking and declamation accolades under his belt. From his victories at Hong Kong School Speech Festival competitions, he has since shifted his expertise in public speaking to his passion for making people laugh.
When he's not in school, he may be found all dressed up in cosplay battle armor during anime conventions or in cyberspace, complaining about his bad luck in Granblue Fantasy. He also enjoys doing productive things such as writing satirical articles like this bio and wondering how in the world he made it this far against master degree and post-graduate students.
​MEET Sonia Samtani
Sonia Samtani is the Founder and Managing Director of a wellness centre in Hong Kong called 'All About You'. She is a licensed Clinical Hypnotherapist, qualified Life Coach, certified Corporate Trainer, accredited Image Expert, Family Constellation Facilitator, certified Transpersonal Regression Therapist, and Public Speaking Coach. Sonia has an inherent mission to raise global consciousness and inspire people to take accountability for their lives, which is reflected in her seminars, workshops and bespoke individual consultations. Sonia has been practicing hypnotherapy, coaching, regression therapy and inner child healing since 2005, and has achieved unprecedented success and appreciation in coaching people to overcome lifelong issues and heal traumas that could possibly date back to past lives.
MEET Solomon Au Yeung
SOLOMON AU YEUNG is currently an in-service teacher of a local primary school in Tai O, Lantau Island. He finished his high school education in Diocesan Boys' School and his undergraduate studies (in Risk Management and Business Intelligence) in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). For his postgraduate study, apart from taking a PGDE in EdUHK, he is taking a part-time Master programme offered by University of Oxford, in Learning and Teaching. Solomon likes to explore issues related to Education in local setting and internationally. He has published articles in Economic Journal, The Huffington Post, The Buzzfeed and HK01, and has presented his research findings twice in the Global Chinese Conference on Computers in Education, consecutively in 2016 and 2017, sharing his experience with the fellow teachers, professors, graduate students on the use of IT platform on Learning and Teaching, and how they can affect the learning outcome when used appropriately. He has also joined a summer programme on language teacher training organized by the University of Oxford and actively takes courses via Coursera on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Positive Psychology, and Social Norms Changes.