We’re super excited to have pulled together an extraordinary roster of speakers for the second installment of TEDxOldham:
Professor Monica Grady, leading British space scientist
Tim O’Brien, Associate Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics
Andy Powell, mastermind of the Hack Oldham Maker Space
Johnny Chiodini, senior producer at Eurogamer.com
Rebecca Rae, activist. strategist. Working with Reason Digital and Pirate Party UK
Dr. Natalie Butcher, senior lecturer in psychology at Teesside University
Nancy Elizabeth, musician and performer
Jacqueline Hall, Oxfam Fashion worker
Tickets for TEDxOldham are limited - previously selling out well in advance.
We're already seeing similar demand for tickets at this year's event, which we expect to sell out again.

Oldham Library
Oldham Library
Greaves Street
Oldham, Oldham, OL1 1AL
United Kingdom

Andy Powell

Andy Powell grew up in Oldham, and has worked in most IT roles, he set up web design company Caffeinated Projects 5 years ago and has focused on internet technologies since. In the last year he has been working to build Hack Oldham, a community maker space in the heart of the independent quarter, bringing technologies like 3d printing and laser cutting to the masses, the project has gone from strength to strength soon to move from its humble beginnings to a 3000 sq ft former night club on the high street.

David McLean

Owner of Tombed Visions, Musician, Improviser, Christopher Walken Impersonator.

Jacqueline Hall

Deputy manager of Oxfam Festival Shop. Vegetarian cyclist who climbs. And codes

Jenny Read

Jenny Read runs a multidisciplinary research lab examining many aspects of visual perception, especially 3D or stereoscopic vision. She began her research career in physics, doing a doctorate in theoretical astrophysics at Oxford University before moving into visual neuroscience. After spending four years in the USA working at the National Institutes of Health, in 2005 she returned to the UK with a research fellowship from the Royal Society, Britain’s national academy of science. She is now Professor of Vision Science at Newcastle University’s Institute of Neuroscience in the beautiful North East of England. Current projects include modelling how visual cortex encodes binocular information, developing a new 3D vision test for children (http://research.ncl.ac.uk/asteroid/), and uncovering how insects see in 3D (http://www.jennyreadresearch.com/research/m3/).

Johnny Chiodini

Johnny Chiodini is a video games journalist and Senior Video Producer for Eurogamer.net. He has been working in the games industry for the past seven years, during which time his work has earned several award nominations. More recently, he has turned his attention to covering mental health issues with specific reference to video games and their consumers. It is his hope to challenge some of the stigma surrounding mental health and help facilitate more open discussion.

Monica Grady

Monica Mary Grady, CBE is a leading British space scientist, primarily known for her work on meteorites. She is currently Professor of Planetary and Space Science at the Open University. She is also a regular contributor on the BBC and has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Disc’s

Natalie Butcher

Dr. Natalie Butcher is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Teesside University. Her primary research involves investigating factors that influence our ability to recognise the faces of others, particularly the importance of facial motion information and race of the face. She is also interested in how these factors influence the recognition ability of people with developmental prosopagnosia (AKA ‘face blindness’). Natalie obtained both her PhD (2009) and her BSc (hons) Psychology (2006) from the University of Manchester, she is a committee member of the British Psychological Society’s Cognitive Psychology Section and has both national and international research collaborators.

Rebecca Rae

Strategist, commentator, lecturer, and internet activist: Rebecca Rae is Strategy & Insight Lead at digital agency Reason Digital. Specialising in creative digital strategy that gets tangible results in the charity, fundraising and non profit sector. Rebecca is also Campaigns Officer and on the NEC for Pirate Party UK. Rebecca Rae has worked in the creative and digital sector for over 9 years working with well known commercial entities such as PZ Cussons, Virgin, and O2 and with non profits including Age UK, Virgin Unite, Trussell Trust, Bentley CSR.

Tim O'Brien

Tim is a Professor of Astrophysics and an Associate Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at The University of Manchester. Tim’s research concentrates on the study of exploding stars using telescopes around the world and in space, working across the spectrum from radio waves to X-rays. Tim is passionate about astrophysics and its power to inspire. Well known for his regular contributions to science on TV and radio, he is Jodrell Bank’s host for the hugely popular BBC TV Stargazing Live series and has a monthly space discussion programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. In 2014, jointly with Professor Teresa Anderson, he was awarded the Kelvin Medal of the Institute of Physics for innovative public engagement, and in 2016 he was elected as President of the UK’s Society for Popular Astronomy.