Hi-tech entrepreneur uses daughter as inspiration

A restless, curious spirit has led Yang Dan to register 20 patents and launch several hi-tech start-ups. But it is her concerns as a mother rather than her expertise in fibre-optics and network transmission that have inspired and driven the newest of the tech entrepreneur's ventures.

Observing her young daughter's fascination for smartphones and tablet computers, Yang began thinking about how quickly young children picked up new technology and how she could channel this interest into real learning.

Three-year-old Hera, the younger of her two daughters, has been "addicted" since she was 12 months old, she says.

"We could do everything with her as long as she was on an iPad. But I became concerned about her immersion. One of my nephews was extremely smart when he was little. But by the time he became a teenager, he would spend all his time on video games. I didn't want her to grow up to be like him," she says.

Trying to stop her playing on smart devices would be futile, but she figured "if there are appropriate learning systems, tablets can be great learning tools as everything is touchable and responsive and the touchscreen is intuitive".

The result is Rullingnet, a company developing educational devices for young children, with an award-winning tablet that has just been released in Hong Kong.

Mainland-born Yang has built a career out of venturing into alien territory. After earning her masters and doctorate in Paris, she taught optics and photonics in a college there. But in 1993, Yang and her husband, Lu Zibin, gave up their comfortable life in France and emigrated to Canada in search of greener pastures.