Thea Kurniawan

Brainstormer, Business mentor, Change Agent, Engineer, Idea generator, Scientist, Social entrepreneur, Student, World traveler, Writer/Editor

At the age of 4 (along with her euphoric discovery of Kevlar, which she still claims is the next best thing since sliced bread) Thea declared a personal quest to find ways to make the world a happier place to live- and maybe make some friends along the way. Thea wears many hats. Professionally, she is a Research Fellow at Lehigh University's Emulsion Polymers Institute and a Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young with experience working in various industries across Australia, Indonesia and the U.S.A. Outside work, Thea is an active volunteer with organisations such as Millennium Kids Inc., an Australian environmental advocacy group that enables thousands of young people to have their say about the environment, leading to inspiring youth-led initiatives that have contributed significantly to local communities and beyond. More recently, the organisation has forged partnerships with international sustainability groups to provide pathways for Australian and Indonesian youth to travel and exchange learnings on innovating solutions to save the environment in their respective countries. If not stuck in a lab, managing capital infrastructure projects or hunting the neighbourhood for cellulose-based plant waste, you may find her in the library poring over the latest polymer chemistry innovations, binge-watching "Avatar: The Last Airbender" for the upteenth time, discovering the world through food, or working with her TEDxUWA team.

Youth Issues | STEAM Education | Polymer Chemistry | Humanitarian Engineering | Bioethics | Sustainable Communities | Food Security | Eco-entrepreneurship | Movie Soundtracks

People should not be measured by numbers

Asian Arts & Culture, Chemical Engineering, Eco Entrepreneurship, Food, Leadership, Materials Science, Polymer Science & Engineering, Project Management, Waste Management, Youth Innovation

Campanology | Horse riding | Mimicking accents