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).

MIT Stata Center
32 Vassar Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139
United States

"Carina" Letong Hong

Carina Letong Hong is a double-major in math and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During undergraduate years, she has published 9 research journal papers addressing open questions posed by top mathematicians in their respective fields. She is a recipient of the prestigious Alice T. Schafer Prize awarded to one undergraduate woman in the US for excellence in mathematics, and one of the four 2022 Rhodes scholars of China constituency.

Afika Nyati

FOUNDER, VERASCOPE; MIT BS '18

Baptiste Bouvier

Born to French and Japanese parents, I've been blessed to live in the beautiful cities of Tokyo, Sydney, London and Boston throughout my life. I owe a great amount to my parents for an environment that was both flexible enough for me to follow my different dreams and firm enough to help me identify and stay true to my values. I'm grateful to them for speaking to me in their own native languages from birth, and I've continued that love for cultures by pursuing Chinese for the last seven years. It doesn't make sense for any one culture to have identified the best way to live life. And so I'm fascinated about differences and will take any chance to have my assumptions tested. I do that through hosting a podcast, readings books from different cultures, and having conversations with as many people as possible. At MIT and in my life, this translates into work in negotiation and conflict resolution (e.g., helping to teach the undergraduate negotiation class, doing research with HKS on negotiations in moments of crisis), public policy (e.g., supporting the Australian government to apply machine learning to education datasets), healthcare (e.g., developing a computer vision algorithm to detect diabetes from iris images), and entrepreneurship (e.g., starting MIT's first entrepreneurship club; supporting the governor of KY to promote entrepreneurship).

Brendan Smith

Brendan Smith is a Materials Science and Engineering PhD student working in the Grossman Group at MIT. He is broadly interested in the development of early stage nanoscale materials and their transfer from the lab to industrial and societal applicability. His specific interests include, technologies involving water treatment, clean energy, and sustainable materials. Brendan’s work involves the scaling and implementation of durable, low-maintenance filtration membranes for the removal of heavy metals such as arsenic from household drinking water in rural India. Ideally, the outcome of the project will have a positive impact on those inhabiting regions in India and other developing countries where safe drinking water is currently unavailable. Outside of the lab, Brendan enjoys spending time in nature through hiking, camping, and snowboarding. He also loves to travel and experience new activities! Brendan graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BSc. in Nanotechnology Engineering in 2013 and plans to finish his PhD in 2018.

Chris Pentacoff

Historian, MIT Hack Gallery

Daniel Kokotov

Dan Kokotov is VP Engineering at Rev. Rev's vision is to unlock the full potential of speech for everyone, everywhere, by marrying best-in-class AI with the world's best human transcription force. Prior to that, Dan worked on software for cancer research and infectious disease tracking.

Daniela Rus

Daniela Rus is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT. Rus’s research interests are in robotics, mobile computing, and data science. Rus is a Class of 2002 MacArthur Fellow, a fellow of ACM, AAAI and IEEE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy for Arts and Science. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University.

Deblina Sakar

Deblina Sarkar is an assistant professor at MIT and AT&T Career Development Chair Professor at MIT Media Lab. She heads the Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek research group. Her group carries out trans-disciplinary research fusing engineering, applied physics, and biology, aiming to bridge the gap between nanotechnology and synthetic biology to develop disruptive technologies for nanoelectronic devices and create new paradigms for life-machine symbiosis. Her inventions include, among others, a 6-atom thick channel quantum-mechanical transistor overcoming fundamental power limitations, an ultra-sensitive label-free biosensor and technology for nanoscale deciphering of biological building blocks of brain. Her PhD dissertation was honored as one of the top 3 dissertations throughout USA and Canada in the field of Mathematics, Physical sciences and all departments of Engineering. She is the recipient of numerous other awards and recognitions, including the Lancaster Award, Technology Review’s one of the Top 10 Innovators Under 35 from India, NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award and IEEE Early Career Award in Nanotechnology.

Emelie Eldracher

Emelie's passions include Artificial Intelligence, coxing, fashion design, and martial arts. She recently enjoyed learning about the world of entrepreneurship in her Founding Teams course. This year, She is looking forward to exploring Comparative Media Studies and Computer Science.

Glenn Weinreb

Glenn Weinreb is the Director of The Manhattan 2 Project, a non-profit that specializes in identifying the lowest cost way to resolve climate change. He has authored over 25 articles on this topic. For a list, see manhattan2.org. Glenn is also the founder of GW Instruments, a manufacturer of data acquisition hardware and software. He founded this company in 1985 while an electrical engineering student at MIT. GWI's products are used by scientists and engineers to interface sensors to computers for purposes of measurement and control. GWI designs hardware, has it manufactured by a firm in the USA, and then sells worldwide through a network of distribution channels. Mr. Weinreb developed GWI's products and therefore has much experienced designing analog and digital electronics, writing software (embedded systems, Windows/Macintosh application software, website) and doing mechanical design. Also, he is experienced with raising venture capital (from Sigma Partners), setting up distribution, management, sales/marketing, web design, and manufacturing.

Hugh Herr

Hugh Herr is creating bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. Time Magazine coined Dr. Herr the ‘Leader of the Bionic Age’ because of his revolutionary work in the emerging field of Biomechatronics - technology that marries human physiology with electromechanics. A double amputee himself, he is responsible for breakthrough advances in bionic limbs that provide greater mobility and new hope to those with physical disabilities. He is currently Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, and co-leads the Yang Center for Bionics at MIT. Herr is the author and co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and patents, chronicling the science and technology behind his many innovations. These innovations include active Leg Exoskeletons, Powered Ankle-Foot Prostheses, and neural interfacing technologies. A powered ankle-foot prosthesis called EmPower, which emulates the action of a biological leg and, for the first time, provides amputees with a natural gait, was named to the list of Top Ten Inventions in the health category by TIME magazine in 2007. Today the EmPower Ankle-Foot Prosthesis has been clinically shown to be the first leg prosthesis in history to reach human normalization, allowing amputees to walk with normal levels of speed and metabolism as if their legs were biological once again. In 2015, Herr’s MIT research group invented the Agonist-Antagonist Myoneural Interface, a novel surgical procedure for limb amputation and neural interfacing that allows persons with limb loss to control their synthetic limbs through thought, as well as to experience natural proprioceptive sensations from the synthetic limb. Herr has received many accolades for his groundbreaking innovations, including the 13th Annual Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment; the Prince Salman Award for Disability Research; the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in Technology, the 14th Innovator of the Year Award, and the 41st Inventor of the Year Award, and the 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research. Hugh's story has been told in a National Geographic film, Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr; and episodes and articles featured in CNN, The Economist, Discover and Nature.

Jan-Georg Rosenboom

Jan-Georg is a Chemical Engineer with a focus on designing polymers for people and the planet. As postdoc in the Langer and Traverso Labs at MIT and BWH/HMS, he uses polymer chemistry to advance sustainable plastic technologies and create novel drug delivery devices against a variety of diseases. Besides, he works with the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) and is a plastics sustainability consultant for several major companies. Prior to his work at MIT, Jan-Georg did a PhD at ETH Zurich under the theme “Lord of the Renewable Rings”, where he synthesized PEF, a bioplastic similar to PET, from cyclic ring-molecules. He also co-founded EquipSent, a social startup that organizes lab equipment transfers to low-income countries with the aim to "Enable Education Everywhere".

Linda Griffith

BIOLOGICAL ENGINEER, MIT; DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR GYNEPATHOLOGY RESEARCH Linda Griffith is a biological engineer, and Professor of Biological Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at MIT, where she also directs the Center for Gynepathology Research.

Marc Raibert

Marc Raibert (born December 22, 1949) is the founder, former CEO, and now Chairman of Boston Dynamics, a robotics company known for creating BigDog, Atlas, Spot, and Handle. Before starting Boston Dynamics, Raibert was professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and an associate professor of Computer Science and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. At CMU he founded the Leg Laboratory (1980), a lab that helped establish the scientific basis for highly dynamic robots. Raibert developed the first self-balancing hopping robots, a significant step forward in robotics.Raibert earned an Electrical Engineering, BSEE from Northeastern University in 1973 and a PhD from MIT in 1977. His dissertation is entitled "Motor control and learning by the state space model".Raibert was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2008 for biomechanically motivated analysis, synthesis, control, and application of multi-legged robots.

Natalie Artzi

Dr. Artzi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine, Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard medical School.She is a Principal Research Scientist at MIT and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. She completed her postdoctoral studies at MIT focusing on studying tissue:biomaterial interactions and designing smart biomaterials for therapy and diagnosis applications. Dr. Artzi is the recipient of multiple grants and awards, including the inaugural Kabiller Rising Star in Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology, One Brave Idea award, Stepping Strong Innovator Award and Breakthrough Award, Controlled Release Society Young Investigator Award, Mid-Career Award from the Society for Biomaterials, Bright Futures Prize, and the Massachusetts Life Science Center for women entrepreneurs. Currently, Dr. Artzi directs multiple research venues aiming to integrate science, engineering and medicine to rationally design personalized materials to improve human health, and has co-founded a startup company, BioDevek, which develops the next-generation biomaterials to improve outcomes following internal surgeries.

Patrick Kane

Patrick Kane is an author, disability rights advocate and Catalyst Fellow at Wunderman Thompson. Patrick became a triple amputee after contracting sepsis when he was 9 months old, and in 2010 became the then-youngest person in the world to be fitted with a bionic arm. The intersection of technology and disability in his personal life is also reflected in his career, as he frequently speaks on how technology is reshaping our definition of disability, and the importance of placing accessibility at the core of all we do. He has spoken at notable events such as TEDxTeen and WIRED: Next Generation, and was selected to carry the Olympic Torch through Trafalgar Square in 2012. He has also just finished writing a children's book on the history and future of bionics, which is due to be published in March 2023.

Pelkins Ajanoh

Pelkins is an entrepreneur and inventor. He was born in Limbe, Cameroon and graduated from high school with the highest score in the country in the Advanced Level. Afterwards, he immigrated to the US where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2018. In his junior year at MIT, Pelkins founded CassVita, a tech-enabled agribusiness that invented a novel technology for increasing the shelf-life of cassava – a highly nutritive but rapidly deteriorating tropical root vegetable – from 3 days to 18 months, effectively providing sustainable livelihoods to 500 farmers. Pelkins is an innovator at heart. In addition to founding CassVita, he developed several solutions for multinationals including Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, and General Motors, where he patented novel technologies for self-driving cars. His work has been recognized with multiple awards including Albert G. Hill Prize (at MIT), Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders (at MIT), Harvard Innovation Labs Social Impact Fellowship Fund, Harvard Social Impact and Change Initiative (Cheng Fellowship), the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, as well as by multiple institutions including the New York Times, MIT School of Engineering, Harvard School of Engineering, and the European Union. Pelkins is currently pursuing a dual MS/MBA degree from Harvard School of Engineering and Harvard Business School.

Sangbae Kim

Prof. Sangbae Kim, is the director of the Biomimetic Robotics Laboratory and a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. His research focuses on the bio-inspired robot design by extracting principles from animals. Kim's achievements on bio-inspired robot development include the world's first directional adhesive inspired from gecko lizards, and a climbing robot, Stickybot, that utilizes the directional adhesives to climb smooth surfaces featured in TIME's best inventions in 2006. Recent achievement includes the development of the MIT Cheetah capable of stable outdoor running up to 13mph and autonomous jumping over an obstacles at an efficiency of animals. This achievement was covered by more than 300 media articles. He is a recipient of best paper award from International Conference on Robotics and Automation (2007), King-Sun Fu Memorial Transactions on Robotics (2008) and IEEE/ASME transactions on mechatronics (2016), DARPA Young Faculty Award (2013), NSF CAREER award (2014), and Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Distinguished Teaching (2015).

Sasha Horokh

I am a freshman at MIT, majoring in Mathematics and Mathematical Economics. In high school, I did Math Olympiads and Competitions as a member of Ukrainian team. I also work on Mathematical Education in Ukraine opportunities from teaching at Math Clubs and Camps, being the team leader of Ukrainian teams, being a Jury member at Math Olympiads and competitions from city to international levels to co-founding MathFit in Ukraine (unconnected to Mathfit existing in US) that helps teachers in rural Ukraine to start and lead effective math clubs in their locations.I'm also a recurve Archer competing for MIT and a member of wrestling club at MIT. Until August 2021, I was a member of Archery team of Kyiv, competing at National Ukrainian competitions and Championships. Among my last medals in Ukraine, there's a silver team medal at indoor Junior National Championship 2021 and a team gold medal at outdoor Bukovyna Cup 2021. I also competed at Ireny Szydlowskiej outdoor Archery tournament 2021 as a member of Ukrainian team.

Sebastian Bauer

Sebastian is the CEO of Ubicept which provides new imaging solutions in challenging environments such as seeing motion in the dark at unprecedented quality. He has spent his career exploring new kinds of imaging with a focus on signal processing and information extraction. He holds BS/MS/PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany.

Selam Gano

Hi, I’m Selam. I am a polyglot, a polymath, and multiracial. I enjoy being and doing many things at once. That’s partly why I like robotics; the field is full of exciting, interdisciplinary problems. As a new engineer, I’m looking for opportunities in many different fields, and to gain exposure to as many environments as I can. I’ve realized that what I want most is to have a positive impact on the world. So I’m also interested in some of the world’s biggest problems–clean energy, water, sustainability, and equal resource access for all. In June 2018, I graduated from MIT with a degree in mechanical engineering and a focus in robotics. In my time as an undergrad, I was involved in many different projects and labs, including the MIT MCube Lab under the Mechanical Engineering department, and the Mediated Matter group under the Media Lab. I had several side projects too, including dabbling in Civil Engineering (primarily hydrology), with a well building project at my father’s ancestral home. And I also got paid to blog. If you’d like to know more about my other past professional experience, check out the “Portfolio” page on this website.

Sertac Karaman

Sertac Karaman is a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Director of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. He has published more than two hundreds technical publications, developed and commercialized technology through startups, focusing on robotics, autonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence. He has worked on driverless cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, distributed aerial surveillance systems, air traffic control systems, certification and verification of control systems software, and many others.

The MIT Logarhythms

In the spring of 1949, a group of MIT students came together to form the Logarhythms, the very first acapella group at MIT. Building upon the influence of barbershop tunes, the “Logs” quickly became a major musical force at MIT and the surrounding community. In the late 1990’s the Logs made the transition from barbershop to modern acappella by introducing vocal percussion and complex arrangements of modern songs. The Logs performed off campus more often and toured around the country and world to London, California, Texas, Ohio, New York, Florida, and all over New England. Last year, the Logs celebrated their 70th anniversary as one of the country’s finest a cappella groups. Their tremendous success is attributed to its alumni, who have shaped this group into what it is today. The active group looks to carry on their tradition of excellence.

Tomas Palacios

Tomás Palacios is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. He received his PhD from the University of California - Santa Barbara in 2006, and his undergraduate degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain). His current research focuses on demonstrating new electronic devices and applications for novel semiconductor materials such as graphene and gallium nitride. His work has been recognized with multiple awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the 2012 and 2019 IEEE George Smith Award, and the NSF, ONR, and DARPA Young Faculty Awards, among many others. Prof. Palacios is the founder and director of the MIT MTL Center for Graphene Devices and 2D Systems, as well as the Chief Advisor and co-founder of Finwave Semiconductor, Inc. He is a Fellow of IEEE.