INCUBATEE
SUPPORTED BY
AWARDED
ALUMNI
Our Team
Karen Cheah
Founder and CEO
Karen Cheah is a former senior media executive with over 20 years of experience working with the world’s largest entertainment companies including start-ups. Her areas of expertise are in business development, marketing and communications. She has received over 60 international awards for her creative work including the John Hendricks Innovation Award twice for CSR initiatives in conservation. Karen started AlterPacks after completing her MSc at SMU, was on the Dean’s List and a Leadership Scholar. She is one of the 100 entrepreneurs featured in SMU’s 20th Anniversary book “Imagine Better” highlighting Alumni who have made a positive impact through their work.
Herbin Chia
Chief Financial Officer
Herbin Chia has over 20 years of experience in corporate planning and strategy execution in Asia and was chief-of-staff to CEOs in the insurance industry. He designs business models with specific benefits for all stakeholders along the value chain. The modular implementation blueprints that he develops help multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams work towards a common goal. Herbin was also on the Dean’s List and a Leadership Scholar at the Singapore Management University’s Master of Science in Innovation (2019) and was Karen’s classmate.
Steven Tan Boon Heng
Chief Operating Officer
Steven Tan brings his global expertise of over 30 years in both the private and public sectors, having worked on smart cities development, big data analytics, spearheaded innovation development and operations. Prior to joining Alterpacks, Steven was the General Manager (Special Duties) at the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Company (China). He was in the Republic of Singapore Navy as the Defence Attache in Beijing, chaired a working group at the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, commanded a surface ship and a submarine, and held the appointment of Head Naval Research. He holds an MBA (UK, Distinction), MSc in Strategic Studies (China, Summa Cum Laude), and a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering (Japan, First Class Honours). Steven speaks and writes fluently in English, Chinese and Japanese.
Dr Liu Wu
Chief Technology Officer
Dr Liu Wu, heads up the only provincial engineering center for pulp molding in China, and brings his 30 years of experience in R&D and commercial application of plant fibers and natural polymer compounds to the Alterpacks team. His work has received international awards and he is recognized as a leader in the commercial production of fully degradable plant fiber products that are also florine-free. He is the doctoral supervisor of Hunan University of Technology and Nanhua University School of Packaging Materials.
• 2022: 1st Prize Dongguan Maker Entrepreneurship Competition
• 2020: 2nd Prize China Packaging Industry Science & Technology
• 2019: 1st Prize Hunan Science and Technology
• 2018: 2nd Prize China Packaging Industry Science & Technology
Julie Lee
Project Manager, Indonesia
Nur Aina Farhana Mat Nasir
Research Engineer, Malaysia
Development Partners
