Theme: At Crossroads

TEDxUIUC 2015: At Crossroads is about embracing the choices we come across every day. Whether trivial or life-changing, decisions overwhelm our day to day lives, and sometimes it helps to hear the thought processes of other individuals when tackling challenges

I Hotel and Conference Center
1900 South 1st Street
Champaign, Illinois, 61820
United States

Ann-Perry Witmer

At every Crossroads in Ann-Perry Witmer’s life, she’s surrendered control a little bit more. After working a decade as an investigative reporter, environmental columnist and editor, she left the news business to become a stay-at-home mother. Flexibility of thought and schedule were necessities as she corralled a five-year-old, a four-year-old and an infant -- at the same time completing a civil engineering degree here at the University of Illinois -- and she carried those skills forward as an engineering consultant serving public water utilities for the next 12 years. During that time, strong currents pulled her toward international service work, and as quickly as she dipped a toe into this endeavor, she was swept away. She now teaches in the College of Engineering, bringing to the freshmen program all the lessons she’s learned in her own life about flexibility, change, adaptability and pragmatism.

April Winslow

April Winslow, MS, RDN, CEDRD is a Psychiatric Registered Dietitian and the founder of Choose to Change Nutrition Services. Her nutrition practice aims to promote self-efficacy and agency to use food to explore the world including non-traditional approaches to healing such as rock climbing and culinary adventures. April speaks nationally on clinical signs of malnutrition in Psychiatric conditions and believes in educating professionals to recognize food as a powerful non-verbal communication tool and symbol of emotional attachment. Currently, April is conducting research on the nutrition patterns of individuals with anxiety disorders as a Pre-doctoral research fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign within the Department of Food Sciences and Human Nutrition.

Athena Lin

Athena is a sophomore at the University of Illinois majoring in materials science and engineering. Her experiences in college have motivated her to become involved in engineering education. She is a student advocate for Big Beacon and launched an initiative this year to engage students in change efforts in higher education.

Dr. Ray Lauk

Dr. Ray Lauk is the owner and founder of Dr. Ray’s Toffee in LaGrange, IL, and he is also the Business Manager of the Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview School District 89. Ray performs storytelling and stand-up comedy in Chicago and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ray holds three UIUC degrees—a Ph.D. in Educational Administration, an MBA, and a Master’s in Elementary Education. He is an adjunct professor of educational finance in the Department of Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership. Today, Ray’s topic is FUEL for Success: Lessons from a Serial Entrepreneur.

Eric Snodgrass

Eric Snodgrass is the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He advises all undergraduate majors and minors in atmospheric science (~100 students) and supervises graduate teaching assistants and master’s students. Snodgrass’ research initiatives focus on K-12 science education as well as weather forecasting applications in financial markets. He is the co-founder of Global Weather and Climate Logistics, LLC. which is a private company that provides logistical guidance and solutions to weather sensitive financial institutions. Recently, his company has merged with Agrible Inc., a precision farm management and predictive analytics company, where he is also co-founder and senior atmospheric scientist.

Esteban Gast

Esteban Gast teaches creativity at the University of Illinois and has founded two social businesses. He works as a comedian performing in comedy clubs, colleges and the back of noisy bars across the Midwest. He also writes and creates videos, most recently premiering a musical about Pluto the planet which got rave reviews from astronomers and non-astronomers alike.

Jeffrey Loewenstein

Jeffrey Loewenstein is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's College of Business. His research examines how people generate, learn and apply knowledge, primarily through studying analogy, categories, and vocabularies. His work provides guidance for how to negotiate, make decisions, communicate and work together more effectively. He received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and taught previously at the Kellogg School of Management, Columbia Business School and The University of Texas at Austin.

Jon Henricks

Jon Henricks is a Junior in Mechanical Engineering. This past year he served as Director of Engineering Open House, which is the largest student run event on campus and brings over 20,000 visitors to campus each year.

Kevin Lehtiniitty

Kevin founded what has now grown into TINITT in the beginning of 2011. Before founding the company, he had already been working as a computer consultant since 2008 for Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School and various other current TINITT clients. He has also been designing and developing websites since 2007. In his free time, Kevin plays tennis and works on his other ventures.

Kunal Mehta

Kunal Mehta is a former Investment Banker, author of DISRUPTORS, the founder of OutPatient and a strategy associate at charity: water. For Disruptors, Kunal has spoken with the founders and key business leads of several game-changing companies such as Pinterest, Foursquare, Venture for America, FEED Projects, charity: water and Dwolla to reveal the early failures or heartbreaks entrepreneurs face. Kunal is currently working on OutPatient, a mobile venture that will connect patients and doctors through a secure video platform.

Maria Ludeke

Maria Ludeke is the founder and CEO of Creative Health, a design company focused on transforming the way we approach health. By applying the creativity and branding usually seen in fast food companies to ventures that are rooted in health and wellness, she's on a mission to make health fun, affordable, and attainable for everyone.

Randy Deutsch

Randy Deutsch AIA, LEED AP is an architect responsible for the design of over 100 large, complex sustainable building projects, and an Associate Professor in the school of architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he helps students bridge the gap between school to practice. He is the author of two books focusing on the use of digital technology, and the leveraging of data, in the construction industry.

Terry Howerton

Terry Howerton is the founder and executive chairman of TechNexus, a venture development firm building a new, collaborative model for leading corporations to engage and extract value from the global entrepreneurial ecosystem. TechNexus also operates a start-up incubator from its headquarters in Chicago. To date, more than 200 ventures have grown at TechNexus. Terry is a lifelong entrepreneur, founding his first company at age 15. He has spent a career starting and leading ventures, mentoring other entrepreneurs and building organizations.

Yali Sharon

Yali Sharon is the founder of live unbound, a new kind of company centered around unlocking human potential. His talk "follow your fears" is about how to navigate through the pursuit of finding meaningful work and exploring your true capabilities. He'll talk about how he left his cozy job editing Emmy award winning tv shows to focus on spreading a message which is now reaching millions.