In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

TV Studios of SRF / tpc
Fernsehstrasse 1-4
Zurich, Zürich (de), 8052
Switzerland

TRUE

TRUE are a Swiss Future R&B duo consisting of Daniela Sarda (vocals) and Rico Baumann (production and drums). The band's fan base is growing exponentially, as is their presence in mainstream media. TRUE have positioned themselves as one of Switzerland's key electronica exports and a project that those in "the know" are keeping an eye on.

Alexander Wagner

Associate Professor of Finance

Alexander Wagner is an associate professor of finance at the University of Zurich and a faculty member of the Swiss Finance Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University. In his hometown Linz, Austria, he completed studies in economics and law. Alex is an expert in corporate governance, behavioral economics, and political economy. He serves as an independent counsel for PricewaterhouseCoopers and as chairman of the board of trustees of SWIPRA.

Bob Sumner

Animation Innovation

Robert Sumner is the Associate Director of Disney Research Zurich (DRZ) and an Adjunct Professor at ETH Zurich. At DRZ, Robert leads the lab’s research in animation and games. His research group strives to bypass technical barriers in animation and game production pipelines with new algorithms that expand the designer’s creative toolbox in terms of depiction, movement, deformation, stylization, control, and efficiency. Robert received a B.S. degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He spent three years as a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich before joining Disney. At ETH, Robert teaches a course called the Game Programming Laboratory in which students from ETH and the Zurich University of the Arts work in small teams to design and implement novel video games. In 2015, Robert founded the ETH Game Technology Center, which provides an umbrella over ETH research, teaching, and outreach.

Christophe Girot

Professor, Landscape Design Innovation

Christophe Girot, Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture at the Architecture Department of the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zürich since 2001, founded there the Institute of Landscape Architecture in 2005. The LVML (Landscape Visualising and Modelling Laboratory) directed conjunctly with ETH Professor Adrienne Grêt Regamey, has been in operation since 2009. It has enabled significant advances in landscape design, ecological analysis and point cloud modeling. The LVML has contributed to a broad variety of research projects in Switzerland and abroad ranging from the “Gotthard Landscape, Myths and Technology” Project exhibited at the 2014 Architecture Biennale in Venice done in collaboration with the USI Mendrizio, to the “Bits of Kyoto Gardens” exhibition made with the Kyoto Design Lab and shown at the Art Chiyoda Gallery in Tokyo in 2016. Christophe Girot received a double Masters of Architecture (1985) and Landscape Architecture (1988) from U.C. Berkeley.

Cristina Riesen

Global Startup Entreprenuer

Entrepreneur, startup mentor and lecturer, Cristina Riesen is a technology enthusiast and an active supporter of the global startup ecosystem. An EMScom graduate, design thinking professional and lifelong learner, Cristina has more than a decade of experience in international communications and entrepreneurship. Former General Manager for Evernote in Europe, Middle East and Africa, she has been included in the Top 30 Swiss digital leaders by Handelszeitung and Top 100 Swiss leaders by Bilanz in 2015.

Dmitry Golubnichy

Happiness Multiplier

Dmitry Golubnichy tried to find his personal happiness, which would eventually impact the lives of over 8 million people in 180 countries around the world who decided to follow his idea. Since then he has quit his job to form a non-profit foundation with the sole mission of helping people find ways to their happiness.

Eric LeVine

Eric has had a distinguished career as a leader at Microsoft, as founder & CEO of CellarTracker.com, and more recently, as a stay-at-home dad.

Evelyne Binsack

Outdoor Mountaineer

Evelyne ist the first Swiss woman to summit Everest and has started her expedition "90° North - 100% Commitment" to the North Pole on May 21, 2016. Evelyne is a certified Swiss Mountain Guide, Certified Ski Instructor, and licensed helicopter pilot based out of Interlaken, Switzerland. She is an accomplished technical climber, her favorite accomplishment being her 3 climbs of the North Face of the Eiger. One in Winter, where she was the star of a film documenting her ascent. Other mountain experience include an expedition to the Karakorum/Pakistan to climb a 6000M peak, Fitz-Roy in Patagonia in 1996, and various technical climbs in the French and Swiss Alps. Evelyne is well known for her technical rock climbing in Switzerland, and after returning from Everest, her nation´s inhabitants voted her the 4th MOST POPULAR SWISS PERSON Of course, as Evelyne says, "mine is a country of people who love the mountains." Everest was Evelyne´s first time to high altitude over 8000m (she had cli

Marcel Blattner

Data Specialist

Marcel Blattner is a data enthusiast and currently developing all kinds of machine learning algorithms for data voodoo at Tamedia. Before he started to explore the ‘data universe’ he spent several years as a researcher in academia where he got his PhD in theoretical physics. He speaks frequently at conferences and gives lectures in Artificial Intelligence.

Nora Blum

Founder & CEO of Selfapy

Nora is the founder and CEO of the startup Selfapy, an online psychotherapy program,which gives people suffering from mental illness the chance to get help immediately. Prior to founding Selfapy, Nora studied Psychology at the University of Cambridge. She worked in psychiatric hospitals, clinics and the company builder Rocket Internet. It is Nora’s goal to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and eventually create a world in which people think differently about mental health.

Peter Fanconi

Chairman of BlueOrchard

Peter A. Fanconi is the Chairman and former CEO of BlueOrchard. Prior to this, Peter demonstrated his entrepreneurial competencies in various positions, including CEO of the Vontobel Private Bank, a Swiss listed bank and CEO of Harcourt Investment, a global leader in alternative investments. Peter’s previous roles include Managing Partner at PwC, Managing Partner and Founder of MAP AG, Member of the Board of the Liechtenstein Landesbank (LLB). Peter holds a Master of Law from the University of Zurich. Besides lecturing at various business schools, Peter is the co-author of the bestseller Small Money – Big Impact as well as Power to the Poor, both published by NZZ Libro Verlag. Peter serves today as Chairman of the Graubündner Kantonalbank (GKB), a Swiss listed bank, as President of ROKPA International Foundation and as Member of the Global Executive Council of the Brandeis University Business School in Boston.

Stella Cruz

Musical Composition

Stella Cruz is a writer and performer, with deep cultural inspirations and a grounded soul. Cruz was born with a passion for sounds, languages and curiosity for life. She graduated in 2010 from Zurich University of the Arts. Post-graduation, Cruz went to the Philippines, her mother’s roots, following the ancient call. Travelling from the sea to the mountains, the singer left the islands with heaps of impressions she put together on the album ‘Simplify’. The journey went on and led to another album named PHOENIX.

Suzie LeVine

Diversity & Female Leadership

Ambassador LeVine was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein on May 30, 2014. She took up her position in Bern on June 2, 2014. LeVine took her oath of office while placing a hand on a Kindle and thereby became the first U.S. official to be sworn in on an e-reader. Entrepreneurship, innovation, diversity and the apprenticeship model have been focal points during LeVine’s tenure in Switzerland. She has also championed female participation in technical fields, supporting women in both corporations and university.

William Schabas

Professor of International Law

Professor William A. Schabas is professor of international law at Middlesex University in London. He is also professor of international human law and human rights at Leiden University, emeritus professor of human rights law at the National University of Ireland Galway and honorary chairman of the Irish Centre for Human Rights. Professor Schabas holds BA and MA degrees in history from the University of Toronto and LLB, LLM and LLD degrees from the University of Montreal, as well as several honorary doctorates. He is the author of more than twenty books dealing in whole or in part with international human rights law and international criminal law, including the European Convention on Human Rights (Oxford 2015), The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The travaux préparatoires (Cambridge 2013), Unimaginable Atrocities (Oxford, 2012), The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute (Oxford, 2010), Introduction to the International Criminal Court (Cambridge, 2011).