Theme: Making Waves

Waves are anywhere and everywhere – from sound waves, to water waves, to light waves and the one thing that they have in common is that once they arrive, their impact shakes their surroundings… and everything around them is no longer the same.

We recognize that Waterloo is brimming with eclectic, innovative, and impactful ideas. This year, we’re all about showcasing people who go beyond their brilliant ideas, by turning them into something more…into reality.

They’re making waves.

Come ride the wave with us. Apply to be a delegate today!

TEDxUW 2018 will be held on Saturday, October 13th 2018, at the University of Waterloo.

Hagey Hall Theatre of the Humanities
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1
Canada

Andrea Hardy

Gut health expert and dietician

Andrea Hardy, a registered dietitian and Canada’s Gut Health Expert, is on a mission to communicate credible scientific evidence about gut health and digestive disorders. She shares her message with clients and colleagues in a way that is easy to consume and inspires sustainable action. It’s time to strip the jargon and fear-inducing language from our nutrition messages and inspire connective communication in health care. Andrea likes to say her goal is to get people to take nutrition a little less seriously – which may come as a surprise coming from a dietitian. Through humour, she injects fun into her science-based media messages. After all, poop jokes aren’t her favourite kinda jokes, but they are a solid #2. Connect with Andrea to learn and laugh on Instagram & Twitter @andreahardyrd or at ignitenutrition.ca.

Ben Thompson

Professor at the University of Waterloo

Ben Thompson completed his BSc and PhD in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Sussex, UK. He then completed postdoctoral fellowships in the Department of Psychology, UCLA, USA and the Department of Ophthalmology, McGill University. Prior to joining us at Waterloo, Dr. Thompson was an Associate Professor in Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Dr. Thompson’s research is concerned with human visual cortex development and plasticity, particularly in promoting plasticity to improve outcomes for patients with brain-based visual disorders. This has led to an interest in amblyopia, and to the development of two new and highly promising approaches to treatment.

Dillon Mendes

Student at University of Waterloo

Dillon is an 18 year old social entrepreneur, public speaker, and Co-Founder of environmental venture, PickWaste, as well as 1 of the Top 25 Environmentalists in Canada under 25. He is currently studying at the University of Waterloo, Majoring in Finance and Accounting, and minoring in environmental studies. His message is to empower youth to unleash their potential to make a change in society by committing to small consistent actions! Dillon has a huge passion for innovation and sustainability and he believes that it is the future of this world.

Harleen Kaur

Former NASA engineer, entrepreneur

Harleen, the CEO of Ground. Ground uses crowdsourced verification and patented AI tech to provide full-picture verified news. She is an ex- NASA space engineer and has had several notable jobs including COO of a Series-C funded mobile app company that she grew to 25 million users, building and launching 5 satellites, and becoming the first-ever female and youngest VP of Rolls-Royce.

Meghan Muldoon

Assistant Professor with Arizona State University

Meghan Muldoon is an Assistant Professor with Arizona State University at their recently established tourism college, HAITC, a joint venture between ASU and Hainan University, in Hainan, China. She teaches sustainable tourism as well as the cultural, social, environmental, and economic impacts of tourism development. Her research is focused on the areas of tourism and poverty, the postcolonial nature of tourism, and how we are all changed through our encounters with Others. Meghan recently completed her doctorate in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo.

Navid Nathoo

The Knowledge Society Executive Director, Curriculum Development

"Navid Nathoo is the Founder of the Knowledge Society (TKS), a human accelerator that aims to develop the potential of young innovators to successfully impact tomorrow’s world by exposing them to problem solving in different disciplines of technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Nanotechnology, and Genetic Engineering. TKS Innovators are 13-17 years old and have spoken at some of the world's largest conferences, are supported by companies like Microsoft and Google, and are working in areas including Brain-Machine Interfaces, Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and Genetic Engineering. Prior to his role at TKS, Navid was the founder and CEO of Airpost, a leading cloud security company based in Silicon Valley which was acquired by Box (NYSE: BOX) in early 2015. Post-acquisition, Navid led product for multiple groups at Box, which included overseeing product technologies in machine learning, big data, and advanced security.

Stuart Saunders

Owner and founder of Youth Leadership Camps Canada

Stuart (Stu) Saunders is the founder and owner of Youth Leadership Camps Canada (YLCC) a summer camp that works with close to 200,000 youth across Canada and around the world each year. Stu has grown YLCC beyond a summer camp. In 1999 he took over the Ontario Student Leadership Conference (OSLC) and expanded it from 600 delegates to become the largest multi-day leadership conference in Canada with more than 2300 participants. He also started the only ever national student leadership magazine “The Canadian Spirit”, created a media division (YLCC Media) that has created 2 powerful documentaries that were screened in Cineplex theaters across Canada, and started the Canadian Youth Speakers Bureau (CYSB). Since 1991 he has travelled North America and Europe speaking to students as well as many corporations. He has worked with 2 million young people worldwide and was recently named among the top 30 leadership facilitators in the world.

Tina Chan

Entrepreneur (Founder), MSc. Student, Human Computer Interaction Researcher

Tina Chan is currently a Masters of Science candidate at the University of Waterloo’s (UW) School of Public Health and Health Systems. Her areas of interest include computer based mental health solutions as well as peer to peer support. During her undergraduate career also at the UW’s Applied Health Sciences faculty, she developed the concept of a first aid kit for mental health, based off the coping skills she had to learn to be successful in academics. The idea has blossomed into a self-sustaining business (Panic, Anxiety, & Stress Support inc.), and is the alum of two UW incubators: St. Paul’s GreenHouse and Velocity Garage. PASS inc. has sold over 15 000 products to date all across North America.