Team Members

CEO of the OPAL Award (The Outstanding Property Award London) and jury member of numerous international design awards. Graduated with a Masters degree with distinction at Londons at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (UAL). Formerly a creative director in the digital media industry, and has completed exclusive interior design & Property Development projects in London as well as an avid fine art photographer. The OPAL Award identifies and rewards outstanding global projects within the disciplines of Property Development, Architectural Design, and Interior Design. The Award resides in London and is open to project submissions from all over the world.

DELHOM ACOUSTICS: Who are we?

Since 1995, we offer Acoustic Consultancy Services around the globe, starting from our agencies located in France, China, and Vietnam.

We are dedicated to prevent noise issues by creating acoustic spaces that will bring well-being & comfort to our customers and users.

Our expertise: 28 years of experience have enabled us to solve noise and vibration challenges in all types of environments including #buildings, #urbanism, #industries & #windfarms.

Van Aelst I Nguyen & Partners is an Architecture and Façade Design Company combining more than 13 years of international design experience. We embrace complexity and challenges set, providing simple, elegant design solutions with a clear and strong vision.
We bring our international design experience and knowledge to each project. Our experience is world class, ranging from Europe to the Middle East, Asia, Australia and the United States. We create value and provide excellent design solutions to international standards.

With over 36 years of experience, Mr. Trung has been operating the interior design office of TTT Architects since 1992 with more than 1,000 completed projects and many national architecture awards. In 2020, he holds the position of Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Architects Association and oversees the organization of the annual CPD seminars on professional development for architects. Moreover, he is a speaker and researcher in many fields of architecture, as well as interior with valuable sharing at many seminars and in specialized journals.

Dr. Emil Jonescu, an accomplished architect associated with the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. As the Head of Research and Development at Hames Sharley, Emil is a visionary leader bridging the gap between scholarly research, private-sector innovation, and practical application. Transcending borders and fostering collaborations among academics and researchers on both national and global scales, he cultivates practice-led research that elevates the architectural profession.

Generously imparting his knowledge to emerging professionals and future leaders in the field through Dr Emil holds distinguished Industry Advisory Committee roles. His background encompasses leadership across three key sectors: government, private practice, and university academia. He possesses a unique ability to translate high-level industry research innovations into actionable solutions, a skill honed through first-hand experience addressing the intricate challenges faced by architects and designers, including the delicate balance of environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

Dr Emil excels in crafting research strategies, fostering collaboration, and ensuring the successful execution of complex projects with diverse parameters. He has secured and executed grants and orchestrated international cross-cultural research initiatives on vital topics such as urban indigenous communities, placemaking, and security. These endeavours underscore the paramount role of research in architectural practice.

Dr Emil's profound understanding of architecture's power to shape behaviour, coupled with his unwavering commitment to research-driven solutions, positions him as a driving force in shaping the future of the built environment. His work consistently yields meaningful advancements for transformative change in the world of architecture and design.

Mr. Tung Ching Yew is a multi-disciplinary designer who has vast experience from reputable international design consultancy organizations. Ching Yew has successfully accomplished projects both locally and overseas in countries such as U.S, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. He has won Gold and Bronze awards in Industry Design Excellence Awards (I-DEA) for Exhibition and Retail categories in 2014 and 2012 respectively.

Having more than 10 years of industry practice, Ching Yew established a spatial design practice, Spirit Of Design Analogy Pte Ltd (SODA) with another fellow alumnus from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

With a total of 15 years of design industry experience that includes design management and project management, Ching Yew has completed projects in major retail malls in Singapore such as Marina Bay Sands, ION Orchard, 313 Somerset, TripleOne Somerset, Iluma, Vivocity, Suntec City, Marina Square, Plaza Singapura and still counting. Some of the other mentionable projects in which he was involved as a design consultant are National Day Parade, Orchard Road Christmas Light-up, CommunicAsia / BroadcastAsia, Food and Hotel Asia, and TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition.

SODA is an award-winning spatial design firm established in Singapore that specializes in Corporate Spaces. We have completed projects in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China mainly in the Retail, Commercial Office, F&B, Showroom, Hospitality and Exhibition Design sectors. We have been actively participating in seminars as guest speakers and jury panel for the awards program.

Simon Ong spearheads the strategic planning, development, as well as its creative and brand standards of Kingsmen, a leading communication design & production group with 18 offices spanning the Asia Pacific region and North America. Kingsmen has won numerous awards, including the Asia’s Top Design Practice, President’s Design Award, Singapore Good Design Mark, SRA Best Retail Concept Award, SFIA Hall of Fame, Promising Brand Award, A.R.E. Retail Design Award and RDI International Store Design Award USA.

An ardent advocate of education, Simon is actively involved in the creative industry as a board director of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, an Honorary advisor to the Society of Interior Designers of Singapore and an ambassador of Red Dot Design awards.

Simon served as the Chairman of the design sector of Singapore Workforce Development Agency, member of the advisory board of Design Business Chamber, the School of Design & Environment at the National University of Singapore and a board member of SHOP!, a leading Association of Retail
Environments in USA. In 2019, he was inducted into the SHOP! Hall of Fame in recognition of his significant contributions to the industry.

Simon graduated with a master degree in design from the University of New South Wales and an MBA from the University of South Australia.

Professor Lau is the current Pro-Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Swinburne Sarawak. He has over 18 years of extensive experience in teaching, research, and leadership at higher education level. His qualifications include a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Civil Engineering and a PhD from the Oxford Brookes University, UK, and a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching from Curtin University. He is also a Professional Engineer with practicing certificate registered with the Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM) and a Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineers Australia (EA). Professor Lau’s expertise is in cold- formed steel construction with broader research interests in construction waste management and sustainable development. He has published many journal papers, conference papers, book chapters and conference proceedings, and technical articles in these research areas.

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Ms. Danh Tran is a Vice President of VDAS Design Association and Founder of VMARK Vietnam Design Award. She graduated from the university with a major in Brand & Communication Design and has trained in many countries around the world in skills to develop the national creative industry (Denmark, Italy, UK, Japan, Korea...)

With over 20 years of management experience in the design industry and the diverse activities related to the design field, she knows all of the aspects of her job. The process from concept to production, strategic planning, to customer contact. Her understanding of the local, international market and potential of the creative industries in Vietnam has connected her with international business partners, design organizations and multinational companies.

Ms. Danh Tran has strong Creative Entrepreneur skills. She has in-depth knowledge of the different creative segments and is able to communicate effectively.

Ms. Danh’s goal is to grow and nurture the next generation of Vietnamese designers through education, awareness, and work experience. She and her colleagues founded the Design Association in Vietnam with the goal of building a Vietnamese Creative and Design Community with a solid identity, connectivity & global recognition.

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As Okamura's business development director across the Asia Pacific region, Shawn is adept at identifying new markets, and opportunities, and changing consumer demands in the workspace.

A firm believer in sustainability and agility in business innovation, he is at the forefront of impactful value creation.

Based in Singapore, Shawn has been featured in multiple publications such as the Business Times, The Straits Times, Zao Bao, and Nikkei Asia on notable projects and topics such as Work Goes Hybrid.

Born: the United States, 1970

Education:
BA Japanese Studies - University of Arizona (1992)
A minor degree in Architecturereside: Kawasaki, Japan (1993)

Experience:
I have worked at Okamura since 2002. I was in the domestic foreign sales department from 2002 to 2021.

Since 2021 I have been working in the international sales department. I have experience giving presentations and doing sales to multi-national companies in Japan as well as US military bases across Japan and I have extensive Japanese/English translation experience.

Mr. Duong Ho is the President of VDAS Design Association, an organization belonging to the Industry & Trade Department of Hochiminh City, Vietnam. The main mission is to plan and develop national design strategies to connect Vietnamese creative designers, businesses, design educators, national and international organizations. VDAS also enhances the creative design industry in Vietnam and promotes the design thinking process to change the perception of society in regards to overcoming national challenges and to build up Vietnam's design identity with the sole purpose of being recognized globally.

Mr. Duong Ho has a background as an interior designer who has worked for more than 30 years in many different fields related to creative design, both locally and overseas. He is one of the first and leading interior design experts in Vietnam since the opening of the Vietnamese economy in the 1990s. He has contributed and participated in the design of many diverse interior projects, and lifestyle products for many famous global brands. With the opportunities to participate in overseas workshops, training courses and international events worldwide, he is always dedicated to the development of changing the mindset for Vietnamese design with the new trends and contemporary styles from Northern Europe, applying and bringing new materials and technology into the Vietnamese interior market.

He is also the founder of VMARK Vietnam Design Institute, which was established with a clear mission to become a unique and leading professional design institution in Vietnam, specializing in providing design education and incubation on multiple levels of professional development for people who love creative design.

From 2019, Mr. Duong Ho, with his partner, has initiated the launching of the VMARK Vietnam Interior Design Week & Vietnam Design Awards, which is, to this day, the FIRST professional CREATIVE DESIGN AWARD in Vietnam to evaluate and reward the best-applied designs in Vietnam for better awareness for businesses and citizens about the importance of vitality in design from their daily activities to the country's competitiveness.

Since leading VDAS Design Association, Mr. Duong Ho has been invited to many international interior design events in Asia-Pacific and Europe, and has been invited to be the juror of some of the most authoritative design awards, such as the Singapore Interior Design Awards, Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards, CIDA China Design Awards, International Industrial Design Awards, etc.

Daniels has more than 23 years of experience in architecture design and technology. He leads ONG&ONG Group’s multidisciplinary digital transformation by way of managing enterprise-wide strategic digital framework, implementation of BIM, Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) and Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) technologies. Daniels has been implementing BIM since 2003 for a variety of projects including health facilities, infrastructure, mixed-use, commercial, master planning as well as residential developments. The scope of BIM implementation ranges from conceptual design and construction through to facility management. Under his digital technology leadership, ONG&ONG Group has won BIM competitions and awards including Platinum Awards for organization category in the BCA IDD Awards 2021 and BCA BIM Awards 2016. In addition, the firm become one of the pioneers in Singapore to be accredited in ISO 19650 Part 1 & 2 (International BIM standards). Prior to joining ONG&ONG Group Daniels has worked with several leading architecture firms in Sydney, Australia where he spent over a decade of his career. During his time there he contributed his design and technology expertise to several high-profile Australian commercial and government projects in which he successfully implemented BIM technology. Some highlights from his previous BIM project experience include major healthcare and infrastructure projects in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Professor Do is an accomplished executive leader with extensive experience and consummate achievements in multiple internationally recognised and awarded-winning global research and scholarship. The teaching programs and projects he leads have sustained a record of success in attracting local, state, federal and international backing through numerous funding sources.

• Award-winning senior-level professional and educator with experience as a director, executive and lead of public and private sectors in university-wide and professional communities for over 20 years.

• A highly analytical decision-maker in the methodology of creative systems thinking. Experienced in establishing and implementing strategic plans for turning around challenging and complex situations to deliver positive operational outcomes, along with a proven history of increasing productivity and impact value scalability.

• A highly self-motivated trailblazer who consistently wins highly competitive large grant funding with impactful education programs locally and internationally.

• Seasoned executive with in-depth knowledge of emerging global pedagogy in international education and commercial market opportunities, having established academic and industry relationships across Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

Hames Sharley’s National Head of Design Education in Practice, Professor Do, leads the design knowledge development, supporting the best practices with the approach of a scholarly in-practice design research methodology.

Born in 1979 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Professional career
2023
Professor of Kyoto University of the Arts
2022
Winner of International Competition of Tran Hung Dao Bridge, Hanoi, Vietnam
2020
Winner of International Competition of Saigon River footbridge, HCMC, Vietnam
Establish Takashi Niwa Architects Japan in Tokyo

2018
Establish Takashi Niwa Architects in Hanoi
Visiting researcher of Vietnam Japan University (VJU)
2010-18
Partner of Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTN architects), Representative of VTN Hanoi office
2005-10
Architect of Noriaki Okabe Architecture Network (NOAN)
Education
2004
Winner of Groundscape Design Workshop
2003
M.Eng. (Architecture and building science), Graduate school of Tokyo Metropolitan University
2001
B.Eng. (Architecture and building science), Tokyo Metropolitan University
1999
A. Eng. (Architecture), Ishikawa National College of Technology

David has worked under the auspices of BEP Malaysia, Chartered Architects Malaysia and Chua Ka Seng Singapore. Between 1989 and 1995, he was Jurong Bird Park's Director of Planning & Development.

He has also ventured into China, India and Vietnam. He set up a full-fledged multi-disciplinary firm in Ho Chi Minh City in 2007 and was the main contractor of a 1500-unit social housing development in Danang City.

My core skill is the ability to identify, validate and redefine a company’s value proposition in alignment with the current and future opportunities, I do this while also developing the routes to market and organisational structures that support sustainable growth.

While business success might be measured in numbers, its longevity is built on what a brand is communicating and providing to its customers as unique value. I bring the two closer together while building enterprise value and market leadership. Simply, I help organisations to define their purpose and shift the conversation from price to value, from numbers to results, and from transactional thinking to long-term partnerships.

Strategy is, of course, nothing without execution. As a result, I have overseen the top-down transformation of organisations, changing how business think, feel and operate, from culture to process to leadership teams, changing service-delivery models and carving out new market niches.

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