TEDxTalks releases videos of presentations from inaugural TEDxVirginiaTech event
The ideas, insights, and inspiration shared at the inaugural TEDxVirginiaTech event hosted on campus Nov. 10 are now available to watch online.
TEDxTalks released the videos to the public on its YouTube page. Links to each of the presentations can be found on the TEDxVirginiaTech website.
The event’s steering committee received more than 200 nominations for speakers. The number was narrowed down to 21 faculty, staff, and students who spoke to the event’s theme of “Knowing.”
“Guests at the event left feeling informed and inspired by what fellow Hokies are doing here in Blacksburg and beyond,” said Melissa Richards, TEDxVirginiaTech Steering Committing co-chair and director of marking and publications for University Relations. “But we are glad it doesn’t have to stop there. Now, everyone can experience the event and see how Virginia Tech is making a difference through teaching, research, service, and leadership.”
Below is a list of the speakers and topics, with a link to their video.
- Mitzi Vernon, professor of industrial design in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, “Mapping the Invisible”
- Caitlin Floreal, alumna who earned a degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2006 from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, “Using a World Class Education Where It Is Needed Most”
- Peter Vikesland, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering, “Nanotechnology Will Revolutionize Water Supply Sustainability”
- Steve Matuszak of Blacksburg, Va., graduate student pursuing a master's degree in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, “The Art of Improvisation”
- Ishwar Puri, N. Waldo Harrison Professor and head of the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics in the College of Engineering, “Are Our Truths True?”
- Keith and Marie Zawistowski, faculty members in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, “Getting Real”
- Shane McCarty of Arlington, Va., a Pamplin College of Business graduate who is now a Ph.D. student in the industrial/organizational psychology program in the College of Science, “Actively Caring for People in Schools”
- Alex Endert of Spartanburg, S.C., doctoral student studying computer science and applications in the College of Engineering, “Semantic Interaction for Sense-making”
- Dan Goff, a senior majoring in geography and meteorology in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, “Our Relationship with the Weather”
- Edward Boes, alumnus who earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 2001 from the College of Engineering, “The Amazing Knowledge Machine”
- Ben Knapp, founding director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology and professor in the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science, “Emotion – the New Musical Instrument”
- J.E. Sigler, graduate student pursuing a master's degree in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, “Why Nuns Don’t Have Mid-life Crises”
- Justin Graves of Fredericksburg, Va., a recent graduate in sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is now a graduate student studying higher education administration, “Caring. Unexpectedly.”
- John Boyer, instructor in the Department of Geography in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, “More Passion, Less Pedagogy: Putting the Inspiration Back in Education”
- Moises Seraphin, alumnus who earned a degree in aerospace engineering in 2012 from the College of Engineering, “Poetic Knowledge"
- Chantelle Anderson, assistant coach for the women’s basketball team, “Call Me Miss”
- John Sangster, doctoral student in civil engineering in the College of Engineering, “Can We Live With Traffic?”
- Jerry Gaines, alumnus who earned a degree in 1971 in Spanish as well as the first African American on a Virginia Tech sports team, first black athlete to earn a full scholarship, and first black athlete inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame, “The Equation of Life"
- Jake Socha, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics in the College of Engineering, “How Snakes Fly”
- Kathleen Alexander, associate professor of wildlife in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, “Knowing and Knowledge”
The TEDxVirginiaTech Steering Committee says they plan to organize additional TEDx events in the future. To stay up-to-date, follow TEDxVirginiaTech on Twitter and Facebook. Information on nominations, dates, tickets, and other related news will be released through Virginia Tech News.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
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