THE INVENTORS
I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. It is so hard. You put so much of your life into this thing. There are such rough moments in time that I think most people give up. I don’t blame them. Its really tough and it consumes your life.
STEFAN CHEW
Chief Executive Officer
A multi-award winner and resourceful marketing specialist, Stefan is also an avid inventor of 12 amazing innovations (grand winner of 3 Gold + 1 Silver) granted with 50 patents internationally and has published some papers in the field of gerontechnology. Stefan started project “iMagic Technologies” in 2009 and currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) and as Lead Inventor. Stefan responsibility is to provide a leadership and execution role in defining and delivering iMagic Technologies continued development of its deliverables and ensured that they are equipped with the right strategies for smooth and unimpeded growth. As chief technology officer, Stefan’s area of particular focus has been spent mainly in the R&D and production of many new and innovative inventions. His other responsibility in the company is to pushes and guides his team members on how to pursue and develop the new ideas they conceived so that it can be turned into a commercial viable project.
In addition to Stefan’s hands-on experience, he has a background in designing and creation of many packaging containers of which many of them are still widely used in the market. In his early years Stefan was actively involved in many engineering based projects as well as being a member of a number of renowned societies which include Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and Society of Tribologist & Lubrication Engineers, etc. As his reputation continues to grow, he was picked by SAE to become their International Advisor for a 3-years period during which his role was not only to look after their members but also act as liaison officer between SAE and the Government of Malaysia. By the end of his stint, he managed to successfully bridge and brings to fruition many remarkable projects between the two parties as well as some private party’s projects too.
Stefan also has an illustrious history relating to the R&D of many scientific products. He was CTO of Ecotree BioScience a science company that specializes in the production of biobased & biodegradable lubricants. In 2007 Ecotree signed a joint R&D collaboration agreement with Malaysian Palm Oil Board to produce a commercially viable palm-based biodegradable lubricant & mosquito repellent. After going through exhaustive research, Ecotree's products were sent to many countries for on-site testing; notably amongst them was the collaboration with Hi-Force Australia whereby their products were tested on the heavy earth-moving equipment owned by Alcoa Aluminum.
In 1998, Stefan's reputation was given an immediate boost when he successfully organized a tripartite trade alliance between Myanmar, Maldives & Malaysia whereby an agreement of historical importance was signed. Under the agreement, the Malaysian party, represented by Stephen Hansford supplied Myanmar with lubricants on a 3-year contractual basis. In turn, Myanmar substituted their payment with rice exports to the Maldives. On receipt of the rice, Maldives paid Stephen Hansford accordingly.
In 2007, Stefan was invited by Kobe City Government via JETRO to visit Japan to share his green technology with Japanese conglomerates. As a recognition of his outstanding contribution, Stefan was awarded the prestigious Asia Entrepreneur Award in 2010. In 2019, Stephen Hansford was officially recognized by Superbrands Malaysia as a Superbrand after a strict selection process. Superbrand is a globally known brand promotional platform aimed to recognize and promote their recipients on its branding excellence as well as its ability to provide quality products and services to consumers.
MOHD YAZID BIN MALEK
Chief Design & Technical Officer
Mohd Yazid Bin Malek serves as the Chief Design & Technical Officer of iMagic Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd. His responsibility is to assist Stefan in bringing to reality his ideas and concepts of his innovations through technical drawings and prototyping etc. At the same time Yazid also help other team members to improve or enhance their designs by making them more attractive and inspiring. Yazid has been described as the kind of person who take a direct and methodical approach towards the execution of his responsibilities with the goal of creating the most appealing product imaginable. His philosophy is always based on the principle that whenever any of our team members developed something considered truly new and game-changing, the company must not hesitate to support such an individual by ploughing in more time, effort and monies to explore and develop this innovation so that the team member have no doubt that we really mean what we say.
TAN SRI DR SALLEH MOHD NOR
Business Advisor (Universities Sector)
Tan Sri Dr. Salleh Mohd Nor is the Secretary General of the Malaysian Academy of Sciences. Born in Negeri Sembilan, Dr. Salleh obtained a B.Sc. Forestry at Adelaide University and a Diploma in Forestry from the Australian Forestry School, Canberra on a Colombo Plan scholarship in 1964. Upon returning home, he joined the Forestry Department, Peninsular Malaysia where he rose to head the Forest Inventory Unit and was responsible for the first national forest inventory. He then pursued a Diploma in Photo Interpretation at The International Centre for Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences in Delft, Holland in 1969, and later a M.Sc. and Ph.D. at Michigan State University in 1974 and 1977 respectively. In 1994, he followed a three month Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, USA.
In 1977, he was appointed as the Director of the Forest Research Institute Kepong and when it became a statutory body in 1985, Dr. Salleh became its first Director General until he retired in 1995. He was an Adjunct Professor at University Putra Malaysia from 1994 until 1996 and an Adjunct Professor at University Malaysia Sabah since 2001.
CLIFF SIAW
Chief Strategy Officer
Prior to iMagic-BOX, Cliff was the Founder and CEO of a ventured-back technology company, as well as serving as senior business development manager in QEOS Group, a world renowned technology company co-founded by Prof Nick Holonyak. Jr, the Inventor of LED. QEOS has more than 100 patents issued and pending.
Cliff Siaw is an entrepreneur, executive and strategist. He is Chief Strategist Officer of iMagic-BOX, where he leads and oversees the strategic global brand development, product marketing, and partnership initiatives. He is also the Head of Management of F3 Capital Group, an Investment and Property Development Company where he led cross-functional teams to execute key brand initiatives, including finding innovative ways to grow higher margin businesses and improve revenue.