Carrie Ling

Senior lecturer, integrated systems and design, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

When Carrie Ling was 10 years old she visited the then-new Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and told her mother she wanted to be a lecturer at a university when she grew up. It’s fair to say she has realised her dream.

You would expect someone who chased their dream in a STEM field to be a whizz kid at school. “I wasn’t a top student at all,” says the mother of three. “My grades were just good enough to get into the advanced classes.”

There is no doubt that Ling has the academic credentials, with a doctorate in mechanical engineering and having completed a fellowship at the prestigious Stanford University in California.

Ling enjoys teaching students to mix design and engineering while instilling an entrepreneurial mindset. “I would encourage anyone to follow their passion,” says Ling. “I wasn’t the most outstanding student but loved maths and physics. When you are doing what you love, you will do everything you can to turn it into a career. I do not feel like I am working when I am at work at all.”

Stephanie Ko 

Senior country manager, Ava

So much can be achieved on smartphones nowadays; calling a car, booking flights and sharing photos. But when it comes to female health, technology-backed solutions are a lot more limited. However, Ava has seen a gap in the femtech market for a device that monitors women’s hormonal cycle.

Stephanie Ko, is excited to be helping the women of Hong Kong through technology.

“Hong Kong working women put a lot of thought and effort into their appearance, but when it comes to female reproductive health, there is a lot less emphasis, which shouldn't be the case as our female hormones have a huge impact on the way we look, feel and behave,” Ko says.

Hong Kong is Ava’s first foray into Asia where female health issues such as the hormonal cycle, conception and pregnancy can be sensitive topics. “Fortunately, I’m not shy, I have soldiered on with a straight face in many awkward situations and conversations. I am proud that Ava has now established itself in Hong Kong as an avant-garde company in the femtech industry.”

Vince Chan

Co-founder and managing partner, Creta Ventures

Five years after graduating from Yale School of Management, Vince Chan founded, created and managed a 15-person investment team to look after US$1 billion institutional credit fund employing an original long-short defensive strategy. At the peak of the credit crisis, the fund performed better than similar credit funds in terms of rating performance and resilience.

Chan then co-founded Creta Ventures, a venture capital company that focuses on investments in global education technology and innovations. “The global market for transformative education economy is worth US$6 trillion and is projected to grow to US$8 trillion by 2025,” she says. Governments are struggling to fund education, presenting a serious challenge given worldwide population growth, and venture capital investors see favourable dynamics for the global education and training market, raising their investment from US$2 billion in 2014 to US$8 billion in 2018.

What about the role women in tech investment or just within the venture capital firms? According to Chan, “Awareness of gender diversity have been raised in recent years, but meaningful changes are yet to be made. It will require fundamental and cross-generational changes inside and outside the industry to move forward. Education will be a change agent in driving sustainable changes for good.”

Catherine Tan

Chief strategy officer and founder, Notey Labs

Catherine Tan left a comfortable job in banking to jump headfirst into the tech realm where she started Notey, a blog search and discovery platform, with her husband. “I found a problem I wanted to fix in a scalable way, and the best way to build a solution that had maximum impact was with technology. Since then, it’s been incredibly inspiring, not to mention eye-opening the number of opportunities there are for fast, nimble technology teams.”

The company has expanded to provide solutions to enterprises to bridge technological gaps between China’s internet and the rest of the world.

Asked what advice she would give budding entrepreneurs, Tan says it helps to be organised and focused. “It makes sense to talk to people, do your research and think about what you want. Give yourself a fixed timeline with an agenda such as, “Two days to meet people, gather information”. While part of a start-up is doing your own thing, another aspect is being part of a vision you truly believe in, and working with people you both respect, and enjoy being on that journey.”

Power up girls. The world is yours for the taking.

Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter