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).

European Space Operations Centre
Robert-Bosch-Straße 5
Darmstadt, Hessen, 64293
Germany

Alessandro Donati

During his day job, Alessandro is the Artificial Intelligence & Operations Innovation Manager at ESA's European Space Operations Centre. With over 30 years of experience in satellite operations, he has been a pioneer in supporting space operators with machine learning and AI techniques for mission planning, subsystem behaviour prediction, and anomaly detection and prevention. But by night, Alessandro has devoted himself to practicing Laughter Yoga, bringing joy and new perspectives to the groups that join him.

Andreas Dreizler

As a successful researcher, scholar and professor, Andreas Dreizler has published more than 380 papers in professional journals, conference proceedings and textbooks in the field of reactive flows and diagnostics. Moreover, he is a member of national academies such as the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), and is part of the Executive Committee of the International Combustion Institute.

Emmeline Charenton

Having grown up in the black forest near the french border in a binational household, Europe has always been a certainty for Emmeline. It was when living in New Zealand that she gained more perspective on the European history and its culture, thus intensifying her feeling of belonging. She therefore completed her studies in European Studies and Political Communication to gain a broader understanding of the culture, history and the functioning of the Europe and the European Union. She now works for the Franco-German Youth Office (Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk), which was created in 1963 with the Treaty of Elysee to enable young people to have exchange experiences.

Luise Volkmann

Luise Volkmann is a sound artist living in Cologne, Germany, who mainly stands on stage or composes. Her interest in the mutual influence of society and music led her beyond her musical practice into musicology and cultural studies. Her curiosity took her to live and work not only in Germany, but also in France and Brazil. Since 2021 she is a docent in the Master Expanded Media in Darmstadt.

Marcel Isbert

Marcel Isbert works as an Artificial Intelligence Manager at statworx and is a member of the advisory board of AI Frankfurt Rhein-Main e.V., Deputy Head Region South-West at KI-Bundesverband e.V. . As an expert in his field, he is also a member of the Artificial Intelligence Alliance of the European Commission. Having studied Business Psychology (M.Sc.), he draws attention to the influence of trust when dealing with AI and emphasizes this in his work in management consulting, holding lectures on AI and as a keynote speaker.

Paolo Ferri

Through almost four decades at the forefront of Europe’s journeys in space, Paolo went from Operations Engineer to Operations Manager on various scientific satellite missions, followed by serving as Flight Director on Rosetta, Venus Express and Goce. His career has been capped off by eight years as Head of Mission Operations for ESA, overseeing all of ESA’s robotic mission operations.

Paula Grosser

Having lived and studied in six different countries Paula has experienced various cultures and environments. Soon she came to realize that water related problems often occur where people are especially exposed and vulnerable. Therefore, she engages in paying a contribution towards investigating and implementing projects that address water availability and security. For almost two years, she has been committed to volunteering with Engineers Without Borders. Here she is a technical representative for a project dealing with the construction of cisterns in Kenya. The project works in cooperation with a local association that aims to continue the work in the long term. Besides the work with Engineers without Borders Germany, she also focuses on regional developments in water availability in Germany. As part of a PhD at the TU Darmstadt, she is researching the impacts of climate change on drought and low flow in a regional river basin.

Thomas Niederkrotenthaler

Besides being an Associated Professor of Public Health and leading a research group with focus on suicide prevention at the medical University Vienna, Austria, he is the founding chairman of the Wiener Werkstätten for Suicide Research. The Foundation is one of the leading suicide prevention groups in central Europe.

Wolfgang Wimmer

Wolfgang Wimmer was an ESA staff member for 36 years, mainly in the Mission Control domain. During this period he was actively involved in the preparation and execution of mission control of 34 space projects, for the last 15 of which he was responsible as Flight Director (e.g. HIPARCOS, ERS 1 and 2, EURECA, ITALSAT F2, INTEGRAL) for all critical phases, including complex mission rescue operations for projects suffering from major onboard failures. With his operational experience he was also involved in a number of feasibility studies for future space missions and in a large number of requirements-, design- and flight readiness reviews. He retired as Division Head in Feb. 2004.