KH-06

Brad Maurer in July signed on as director of marketing with Water Master International, a newly established joint venture in Hong Kong between Water Master Limited of New Zealand and Hong Kong's Windsor Group. His role is to lead the introduction of an innovative new product called CrystalWater, a machine that makes drinking water by extracting moisture from the atmosphere, to major markets around the world. The product is a brand new "water-maker machine" and will be launched in major markets around the globe, with initial focus on the United States, Europe and Australia. Water Master International will bring its product to Asian markets about a year later and expects China to be an excellent opportunity. With a global focus, this is a significant step up in Brad's career and one that provides an exciting new challenge.

David Sampson recently accepted a position as director of international business development for the medical research division of Wolters Kluwer Health in Philadelphia. In his new role David will be developing international growth strategies for medical society partners, as well as identifying and pursuing business opportunities for the division outside the States. David hopes to catch up with KH and Kellogg alumni during his international travels to Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Following 12 years in Canada and Asia with HSBC, Simon Jukes was transferred to London in October to take up a new role within the company. His mandate is to facilitate the implementation of HSBC's new global investment banking initiative. With this new appointment Simon returns to his core competency of business management and corporate banking, following his recent posting on the Asian corporate strategy team, where he worked on HSBC's $1.75 billion investment in Bank of Communications, among other projects.

While this new role has a global remit, Simon's fellow KH alumni in Asia will unfortunately be seeing a lot less of him over the coming few years. Nevertheless, both Simon and his wife Debbie express a longing for the fond friendships they built in Asia over the past decade and they look forward to returning to the region to work in the medium term.

Thomas Liu opened a new chapter of his life with a move to Beijing with his family in September. While still maintaining his role as a partner at 698 Capital, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm with primary investment focus in China, Thomas also assumed the position of chief operating officer of He Qiao Group, a decade-old real estate developer with projects in Beijing and the Yangtze River Delta.

As the real estate sector in China undergoes major transformation in the next few years to become more aligned with international practices, the He Qiao Group needs to be repositioned to become a preferred execution partner for the increasing inflow of foreign capital into the China real estate market. In his role as the chief operating officer Thomas will seek to transform He Qiao into a professional real estate asset management firm, leveraging its strong shareholder base, proven track record and established relationships in China. While setting up a new home in Beijing, Thomas also hopes to help any KH or Kellogg alumni who are going to establish a business presence or even, like him, a home in China.