Theme: Beyond The Mist

Do you remember what it feels like to be in a dense mist? In such a hazy moment is the dominant feeling fear about what you might encounter next or uncertainty about which way to head? While we indeed encounter mist that challenges our physical vision, what of the metaphorical mist we encounter as we navigate life itself?

Mist in life can represent uncertainty—that feeling of having no clear way out. Such a feeling can be deeply debilitating because the need to be in control of our own fate runs deep in human nature. We wish to feel safe about the future, trying our best to ensure that every step we take is one that leads us in the right direction. Yet, we are bound to face moments of unclarity, disorientation, and struggle; moments like the loss of a loved one, receiving a rejection letter, or falling into addiction. How do we deal with such personal mists?

The metaphorical mist can also act as a veil that masks ugly but critical truths around the world. This past year, we witnessed extreme social and economic injustices: for instance, for the wealthy, worldwide mandatory lockdowns represented disruption of their daily activities; but for the poor, it meant hunger, despair, and economic instability. Although some may have purposefully decided to look the other way, several others have unknowingly fallen prey to misinformation while many more live in ignorance. How do we seek out and identify the truth?

At TEDxNTU 2021 we warmly invite you to come explore and go beyond the mist in its distinct forms. We bring the spotlight on those who have emerged out of the mist, those who can offer illuminating inspirations and guide us by sharing ideas that focus on unifying us, challenging the status quo, and putting us back on track. As a community we aim to cocreate answers for questions such as:

· How can you find meaning in your life through the arts?
· Why is solar panel technology in need of a complete overhaul?
· How can daily emotional care heal our trauma and pain?
· How could understanding and communicating with plants change the world?

Our collective journey through the mist and beyond will feature the following practitioners who are offering innovative ways for going beyond the mist.

Nanyang Auditorium
50 Nanyang Avenue
Singapore, North West, 639798
Singapore

Andy Ho

Empirically Creative Healer

Andy Hau Yan Ho is a social scientist, educator, and psychologist. He holds a double Doctorate from the University of Hong Kong and the University of Nottingham, specializing in Thanatology and Lifelong Education. Andy’s research focuses on psychosocial gerontology, arts and creative ageing, end of life care, and community empowerment. Since joining NTU in 2015, Andy has successfully completed the first-ever Landscape Study on The Arts for Ageing Well in Asia, while founded several innovative and acclaimed psycho-socio-spiritual interventions. He is the first Asian recipient of the ADEC Academic Educator Award in 2018, while receiving the Nanyang Education Award in 2019, and conferred the Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Hong Kong in 2020. Andy’s social and scholarly contributions are recognized with distinction by academic, professional and government bodies around the world.

Annalisa Bruno

Futuristic Solar Technologies Activist

Annalisa Bruno is a Principal Scientist at the Energy Research Institute @ Nanyang Technological University (ERI@N) and at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). Her love for nature and passion for the sparkling and never-sleeping metropolis have always driven her curiosity: can sustainable forms of energy be real and efficient options for our beautiful planet? She believes that to respond to the worldwide energy needs without destroying the Earth, renewable energies must become the most efficient and cheapest available options. Annalisa’s research focuses on the development of innovative, versatile and sustainable, highly efficient solar cells. Her team recently developed scaled-up perovskite solar cells which have achieved the highest power conversion efficiency ever recorded.

Chen Xiaodong

Plant Communicator

Xiaodong Chen is President’s Chair Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics (by courtesy) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He is also the scientific director and principal scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) at A*STAR, Singapore. His research interests include mechanomaterials for flexible devices, sense digitalization and programmable materials for energy conversion. Recently, he has been leading efforts to create conformable sensors for communication with plants. So far, he has published over 330 high profiled scientific articles and serves as member of the editorial board of more than ten prestigious international journals. An internationally renowned and prolific scientist, he was awarded more than ten reputable awards and fellowships, including recently the Falling Walls 2021 award in Engineering and Technology.

Devi Sahny

Ed-Tech Disruptor

Devi Sahny grew up in Antwerp, in Belgium & attended both French and American international school. She pursued a degree at Georgetown University in Philosophy and Economics. She was a Teaching Assistant for many courses. It was then that her passion for teaching started. She graduated with first class honors and spent the first three years post University at Goldman Sachs in Investment Banking. She realized she very much missed education, so decided to embrace an education venture in Singapore, where she started her company, Ascend Now. Devi is very passionate about involving students more in the process of learning by personalising their curriculum and giving them more autonomy. She is a Forbes30U30 recipient.

Hakim Young

Humanitarian Peace-Builder

Dr Hakim Young is a medical doctor from Singapore who has organized public health, humanitarian and peace-building programs in Afghanistan for the past 18 years. He worked with an inter-ethnic group of young Afghans dedicated to building non-violent alternatives to war. He is the 2012 recipient of the International Pfeffer Peace Prize and the 2017 recipient of the Singapore Medical Association Merit Award for contributions in social service to communities. Witnessing the everyday struggles of ordinary Afghans, he realized how daily emotional healthcare was essential not only for his well-being, but crucial to help him and his friends pull through different crises together. He has since been applying the growing science of emotions to improve his health and work and encourages everyone to care for their emotional health every single day.

Walid Abdullah

Researcher of Politics

Walid Jumblatt Abdullah is an Assistant Professor at the Public Policy and Global Affairs Program, Nanyang Technological University. He completed his PhD under the Joint Degree Program between National University of Singapore and King’s College, London. He works on relationships between Islam and the state, political Islam, and political parties and elections, with a special focus on Singapore and Malaysia. He has published in journals such as Democratization, International Political Science Review, Government and Opposition, Asian Survey, and Asian Studies Review, among others. Walid has been promoting political awareness amongst younger generations, having starting initiatives such as his Instagram Live series called Teh Tarik With Walid, where he has discussions with politicians, policymakers and influencers, in a bid to make politics more accessible.