Theme: EVOLVE

TEDxYouth@Newtown seeks to empower and inspire youth through the promotion of entrepreneurship and youth activism. This conference will bring together some of the best and brightest youth entrepreneurs, leaders, social and environmental activists in the PA and NJ area. Through the power and recognition of TEDx, this event will help catalyze the next generation’s agents of social change.

Virtual
2025 Trowbridge Drive
Newtown, Pennsylvania, 18940
United States

Ashmit Dewan

KARI - multi-functional transportation assistant

My name is Ashmit! I am a high school sophomore at West Windsor North. I love to design and create impactful devices and today I'll be talking to you about Kari, a multi-functional transportation assistant that is made out of an army of mini-bots. If you want to help with Kari, you can reach me at 609-955-0310! About my topic: Kari, a personal transport device that upgrades what is being done. A shape-shifting transportation bot that can act not only as a personal transport but also as a delivery and detection bot. This graphene bot will be able to take various different shapes, for different purposes. Kari is not only one, it is made up of an army of graphene mini-bots which is what allows it to form different shapes.

Jon Ye

The assisted evolution of coral reefs

Due to climate change, the temperature of ocean waters has been rising at an alarming rate and as a result, mass coral bleachings have been occurring more and more frequently. Coral bleaching is a serious concern because bleached corals are much more susceptible to diseases that result in coral death and the degradation of coral reefs as a whole poses a threat to the stability of marine ecosystems. To combat reef degradation, many scientists are researching a genetic solution and conservationists are working to restore damaged reefs. Despite this, there is still a general lack of public understanding of the severity issue and it is important that the situation facing coral reefs becomes common knowledge. Along with researching a genetic solution to coral bleaching, I want my generation to recognize that we have the ability to help determine the future of our reefs and become more involved.

Meghna (Chili) Pramoda

Poetry - Finding your voice

I’m Meghna (Chili) Pramoda and I’m an eighth-grader+ at Davidson Academy. I call Las Vegas home. I love writing poetry because poetry reveals my inner voice and soothes my inner being. Today, I’m sharing some of my pieces in the hope to inspire others to express themselves, share their ideas in a bid to create a better world. Though we are in the middle of a pandemic right now, if our circumstances allow us to use our voice, we can turn our voices into instruments of power. Despite the advances humankind has made, we live in a largely divided world. How much better could it be, if only we each valued life - our own, and that of others? How much better would it be, if only we recognized that we are more similar than different? That we may phenotypically manifest varied and interesting characteristics, but genotypically, we are practically identical! I share my poetry because my voice is my tool of choice. What is your tool, what do you care about, and what do you choose?

Pranav Perumal

Nanobots

I want to create a system of nanobots that fully integrate with the human body, and act as a supporting backbone for human development. I want my nanobots to reside not just in the bloodstream, but also in the muscular system and the skeletal system. This way the body will be protected from all types of sickness, whether it be injuries or illnesses. This system will at first be fully autonomous and pre-programmed, helping the body on a microscopic level. Once this system of nanobots is established, the next step would be to give this system a conscience, in order to give it the capability to be self-learning. This step will be crucial in connecting the bots together, and will the system better evolve and adapt to new and unforeseen problems.

Pratham Mahesh

Eco-friendly Stadiums

My name is Pratham Mahesh and I am a Junior at Monroe Township High School. I have been designing a green soccer stadium for the past year. My scientific literature review focus is on graphene, eVTOLs, different versions of eco-friendly concrete, intelligent self-adapting solar panels inside glass regulating temperature to store/release heat, and Pestalotiopsis microspora (fungi that can digest polyurethane plastic). I am the starting center midfielder for my state championship high school team, looking to play in college. My love and bond for the game is unbreakable. Incorporating my two favorite things (soccer and civil engineering) to create an eco friendly stadium is my dream.

Richard Wang

Quantum Mind

My name is Richard Wang and I am currently a junior at Wissahickon High School. I am researching how to apply quantum computing to agriculture in order to help feed the world. I have a twitter page (https://twitter.com/QuantumMind2020) and a medium blog (https://richardwang-qm.medium.com) where I post and write about news in the quantum computing industry, and a website for Quantum Mind (http://quantummind.ai). I am enrolled in QubitbyQubit’s full year quantum computing course that is currently running, and am also self-learning QAOA to better understand how to create Quantum Mind. One day, I wish to make my project, Quantum Mind, a reality.

Rohan Vuppalapati

Mental illness

My name is Rohan Vuppalapati, and I’m a junior at Waubonsie Valley High School. I’m interested in math and computer science, and I’m interested in pursuing a career in that. My Ted Talk is about mental illness, a topic that’s extremely important to me and millions of people worldwide.

Samarth Mannikeri

Tales for a Good Night’s Rest

I am currently a freshman at Pennsbury High School, graduating class of 2024. I enjoy playing the Alto Saxophone and Piano. In my free time, I like to play tennis, catchup on technological innovation, and watch anime… and sometimes, sleeping in. I am a national ambassador of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program, which inspires healthy eating and physical activity. I am also a significant member of the National Speech and Debate team. I aspire to make a contribution to the medical field, as I believe that cutting-edge technology will have a significant impact on our future.

Sia Chitnis

Soil

I’m Sia Chitnis, and I am a junior at West Windsor Plainsboro High School North. I am working with genetic modification to increase water retention to save our soil, which will save us. Soil, so intrinsic to our life, has been severely damaged. I realized that in order to offer soil a helping hand, returning it to a pristine state, I would need to genetically modify the soil to retain water. I am building a greenhouse in my backyard to experiment on acetobacter bacteria, through CRISPR, to increase water content, cellulose, and carbon in soil.

Siona (Dolly) Pramoda

Connecting and healing through music

My birth certificate calls me Siona Pramoda; I go by Dolly. I’m a middle schooler who lives in the city that never sleeps, Las Vegas. I love to learn so much that I sometimes think I live to learn. I’m curious - does music from my violin produce sound waves that look like that ripple on the pond I made by skipping that rock? What does a soothing melody “look” like versus a shrill tone? Why are some mathematical problems almost comforting to solve? Is it familiarity that makes it joyous? Why do different people enjoy different types of music? If the arts are a universal language that doesn’t have to be mastered to enjoy, is there a path to using these waves to deliver connection through music? I share my endless curiosity about how things and people connect and how we might use music to inspire and heal the human species through the tunes of my violin.

Sonia Kurian

Sentience- The Beginning of a Revolution

My name is Sonia Kurian. I am the Founder and Director of Sentient Movement and a junior at East Brunswick High School. I am working on a campaign for the Legal and Civil rights of Flora and Fauna in the Tapajos Valley of Northern Brazil. It is a call for action for the crisis in one of the most beautiful valleys on Earth. Deep in the dense rainforest of the Amazon sits the Tapajos valley-- home to 14000 indigenous people fighting for the rights and protection of their land. The Rights for Nature is essential for the survival of humanity, without it will be the end of all species on Earth.

Sudiksha Mallick

TRUE ME

I am a junior at South Brunswick High School. My website is TRUE ME. Our goal is to help teenagers recognize stress and understand the impact of it so they comprehend the negative effect that stress can have on one’s life. We will provide a platform that is safe and protected so they can discuss their issues and form friendships. These teenagers will be able to meet every week to talk, creating an online support system. This will decrease the feeling of loneliness in teenagers, leading to reduced depression rates. Exchanging ideas will let adolescents see things from a different point of view and will help expand their understanding of the world allowing them to form their own identities and begin to fight for their own future. My goal is to major in cognitive science in college.

Tanvika Boyineni

Quantum Computing

I am currently a junior at South Brunswick High School. I plan on pursuing quantum computing as a career since this is something I am very passionate about. I am currently researching how quantum computing can impact the medical field and, specifically, how it can be used in tandem with micro/nanobots to detect anomalies in the body. Additionally, I am involved in multiple computer science-related classes and extracurriculars, which helps broaden my knowledge in this field. topic: I will be talking about how implementing quantum computing in our society will lead to an evolution in the medical field. Specifically, I will be presenting some information on a current project I am working on. This project is about how microscopic bots can be used to travel through blood vessels and pick up information that will then be sent to a quantum brain that can diagnose and detect what is happening within the human body.

Will Nguyen

Group Think

Half-marathon runner. Pianist performer. People person. After serving under various organizations at Rutgers University, William Nguyen hopes to rationalize the idea of groupthink through anecdotal and historical evidence in order to invoke change