Low Cheaw Hwei

LowCheaw Hwei, formerly Head of Philips Experience Design and Government & Public Affairs(G&PA) for ASEAN Pacific, was responsible for developing design consulting as a strategic creative capability for the company, focusing on transdisciplinary design as a business innovation practice in the domains of consumer electronics, consumer lifestyle and especially healthcare transformation and solutions. He was also Philips Global Head of Product and Spatial Design, where he spearheaded the creative direction for Philips’ global portfolio, positioning design as a core contributing discipline to brand experience and product quality, creating many of the iconic Philips branded products we see today.

An accomplished designer himself, Cheaw Hwei has built international design teams and held various creative leadership and design management roles in Europe and Asia and led the teams to many global design accolades. Over the years, Cheaw Hwei has served in various design platforms, committees and boards such as the Design Singapore Council, Singapore Design Masterplan 2025 Committee, Committee for Future Economy for innovation and capability development, ICSID World Design Congress etc. and contributed extensively to the developing design and was awarded the Singapore Public Service Medal in 2017 for his contributions to design especially through education.

Cheaw Hwei is currently chairperson of the Design Education Advisory Committee (DEAC) a national level initiative appointed by Ministry of Trade and Industry(MTI), supported by Ministry of Education(MoE) to push the agenda of design into the industry and education sector, championing design as a creative problem solving capability necessary to meet future economic needs and social demands. Presently as an independent consultant, Cheaw Hwei provides strategic design consultation in the area of healthcare experience design, design-led business innovation and creative direction to product and spatial experience design; he is also busy building a design think-tank.